OverDrive - OverDrive - December 10, 2024 - Hour 1

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

Join Mark Roe, Frank Corrado and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs and Devils' matchup, Toronto's lack of depth scoring under the microscope and Brady Tkachuk's comments on the Rangers' soft tampering on the team. They circle around the sports world in the latest edition of Confirm or Deny and Summer McIntosh capturing the Northern Star Award.

It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025. Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions. And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal. Plan. Portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN

or visit askkelvin.ca this hour of overdrive is powered by fanduel fanduel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score one of the year's biggest hits bringing in one of the biggest shows of the whole year i i don't know. It's a big day at the network. Let's say that. It's a big Leafs show. Yes. The big reason why you're listening to my voice and not Brian Hayes,

it is Mark Rowe alongside Frankie Corrado and Dave Fezjak from the Toronto Star. It is an overdrive night on the Leafs panel, so there's going to be a lot of eyeballs on that game. There already would be. Leafs-Devils, and it's a Leaf game but uh the boys will be uh hanging out with James Duffy tonight and we get to hang out for the next three hours so it's a win-win it's fun like I was just on a Leaf panel and I would love it if those guys went to Duffy and Billy Dodson who produces everything in the

studio and just said don't worry like we'll just we're just gonna do our thing and just like just don't like we're just we're just gonna do our overdrive thing don't worry. We're just going to do our thing. We're just going to do our overdrive thing. Don't worry about, you know, you're going to go here with this. Then you're going to go to this guy with that. How would that go over? You know TV producers by now. Yeah, there would be an underpants cam going early on. Wow.

So you're saying that they have James Duffy on the panel because they need an adult in the room? Is that what you're saying that they have james duffy on the panel because they need an adult in the room is that what you're saying i'm just like he's got a direct traffic right no one's better at directing traffic than duffy yes that's true sorry sorry no don't worry you don't have to look at me when you say that man piece of my heart broke there no no no no you just had put my name in the same sentence as James. That's a win for me. He said no one's better. He didn't say you weren't just as good. But just let it fly.

30-minute pregame show and just let it fly for 30 minutes and see what happens. Well, I was trying to get some scoops because I got here about an hour and a half ago and I was walking around and the powers that be, I ran into them and I was trying to get like a little scoop here there what can we tease and it's like you know the guy at the draft lottery who's got the briefcase and it's handcuffed to their arm like that's the rundown for tonight like i can't i got nothing case is here already

i know he's in at 305 and he was sitting in his car like just i don't know what reversing i don't know if it was like listening to music like if he had motley crew go. I don't know what he was doing. What, rehearsing? I don't know if he was listening to music, like if he had Motley Crue going, Kickstart My Heart, but he was in his car. He got open. Listening to Jerry's takes? Gave me one of these and he went in.

Oh. Okay. So he's ready to go. Any Elf Brothers sightings? Elf Brother on the panel, you think? I don't know. I don't know if Elf Brothers can be on. Luke Wilson, maybe?

Make a little appearance of Owen Wilson. Who knows? It could be a cast of characters. Yeah, you't know. I don't know if Alice Brothers can be on. Luke Wilson, maybe? Make a little appearance of Owen Wilson. Who knows? It could be a cast of characters. Yeah, you never know. Regardless of how it goes down, I'm very grateful to be a part of this process with you guys today. Very grateful to be a part of the process. Yes.

The process is really what it's all about. It's not winning. No. It's not the money or the jerseys that you can sell because of said superstars it is about being part of a process that we will collectively be together for three hours it's a privilege to be here yes yeah it really is well the grant we just had the grappler in and grappler made a good point like in terms of sort of you know humiliating yourself in front of the Toronto fan base with a very weak comment like the one Ross Atkins brought to us in the wake of whiffing on Juan Soto, which is worse?

Sheldon Keefe, and of course, at least we'll see him tonight in Jersey. Is it Sheldon Keefe's respect in the handshake line? Or is it Ross Atkins' privilege to be part of the process? The process. I don't even, I think Sheldon would have taken a mulligan on that because that's one of those ones where when you say it and you hear it back, you're like, that doesn't sound the way I meant it to sound.

But with Ross Atkins and what he said, we're grateful to be a part of the process or privileged to be a part of the process. What the hell are you talking about, man? This is a team that won back-to-back World Series. Okay, I'm young. I was born in 93. But back-to-back World Series at one point was a destination

for all the best players that wanted to come here and play and be competitive and win. And now it's like, yeah, we're just grateful that you let us talk to you. What is that? Well, and as much as Leaf fans want more than being able to say you're going toe-to-toe with the defending champs or cup contenders, what would you rather have, that or we got to have coffee with somebody? Yeah.

That's what you're saying. It's almost like I got a meet-and-greet with my favorite superstar. Yeah, I think respecting the handshake line was worse because it was like, we know we're about to get pilloried by our fan base, but the guys we just played think we're really good. We all know you think we stink and we can't win a game when it matters

to save our lives, but those guys over there, they think we're good. Just so you know, there's respect over there. Even though, do you really believe there was respect over there? Do you really believe there was respect in that handshake line it's hard to say because like when you're in those situations after you lose a series there's a lot of emotions you're looking at guy like there's a guy you know then the guy you hate then you shake hands with the coach and it's just like a lot of mixed things going on like i feel like anytime a series finishes

there's going to be a bunch of guys that win that series and look at guys on the other side and say, man, good series. That was really good. And they give you the look. And then you go back and you're like, man, we must have made it really hard on those guys. And not to bring this up because Leafs are playing the Devils and it's Sheldon. But that's kind of my experience with those situations. It always feels like there's at least a little kind of my experience with those situations it always feels like there's at least a little bit of that yeah but you don't share that with your fan yeah that's

why i think he would he would want to mulligan on it yeah i think that's yeah he would want to do over on that i i'll say this he could say that same line with his current team and it wouldn't have quite the legs that it did here yeah and you could tell if you listen to him with the boys yesterday in overdrive he sounds a lot more relaxed than he did during his time with maple leafs which i guess it goes without saying you're not dealing with the media as much the pressure while they have big expectations and while that organization's put a lot of talent together and they expect to do things it just almost seems like you're at a different pace. When you're on

vacation and the pace of time is just a little bit slower, not to say he's on a vacation, but it's not quite what it's like in Toronto or Montreal or even if you look at the New York Rangers right now. It should be a really good game. It feels like it was six months ago that they played each other to kick off the season, the second game of

the year on October 10th, but for a maple leafs team that has struggled to score recently they'll be up against jacob markstrom tonight and uh trying to go to know against their former team or former coach yeah so there's another quote from sheldon right where what was it like he said guys were texting him other coaches saying like welcome to the real nhl now yeah like that wasn't for me that wasn't a shot at toronto saying like that it's not the real nhl and in toronto it's just the scrutiny and the attention that the coach seems to get is so much more magnified in toronto than the majority of places i'm like montreal when they are when they have high expectations would be right there with Toronto. There's a number of teams.

But he lives in a different world now than he did in Toronto. He lives in a different world than John Hines does in Minnesota. Or go down the list, right? Or he did live in that different world. And now it's like, yeah, he can feel a little more relaxed. And he's got a team that's really good. And you kind of get into the conversation of you know between the Leafs and the Devils like what's what's the team that's more ready to win

like what's the team that's more knocking on the door Devils are a good team good goaltending their back end's pretty good Toronto's got a very legit shutdown pair now in Tanev and McCabe I would say Toronto's star players, probably a little more upside there. Goal 10, you can saw it off, but it's two very comparable teams in a lot of ways. Well, look, I mean, we all know the story with the upside of the Toronto forwards, right? And their star players.

We all know it's not about anything but what happens in April and beyond. So, you know, they haven't been those types of players when it mattered. But it's interesting how you look at this game tonight and you look at the situation the Leafs are in, and they're not scoring. And I don't think I ever heard Sheldon Keefe directly sort of call out players

in the way Greg Berube has called out essentially the entire bottom six saying we need more secondary scoring. Yeah, they're getting nothing. They're getting nothing. And I found it funny yesterday. Max Domi was trying to be a bit of a contrarian when people were saying, hey, you're possibly

coming back into the lineup. You don't have a goal this season. That must be a little bothersome. And Max Domi is like, no, it's not bothersome. Not at all. If you heard the quote. It a little bothersome and max domey's like no it's not bothersome not at all if you heard it would be bothersome um and then craig berube after that scrum essentially said yeah we need him to score we it matters that he's not scoring it matters that our bottom six isn't scoring and for all that let's face it guys like when your guy that scored 69 last year is on pace for 32 this year there might not be enough secondary scoring in the world to make up for the fact that austin

matthews is not himself right it's it's a bad year to not have secondary scoring and despite all that it at like we were talking about it last week on the panel on friday it's pretty quiet around the team because they're still winning games right like how many games were you like yeah this this one is is one they probably didn't deserve to win but goaltender made some big saves they got a couple timely goals and you win like that kind of stuff keeps the conversation pretty quiet when you know if they lose those games now all of a sudden we're talking about matthews on pace for 32 or the nick robertsons of the world and Max Domi who can't score. But like it's been three games now and they haven't had a goal from anyone not named Matthews, Marner, Nylander or Tavares.

Yeah. And the Washington game, you could have used one. That's one of those nights where you're like, OK, if the big boys can't get one, you need the depth goal. Like that's not too much to ask to say every, I don't know, seven to 10 games. We just need the depth night. Right. You know, like that's not too much to ask to say every i don't know seven to ten games we just need the depth night right you know like that's not asking too much then the pittsburgh game was was a whole like that's the back-to-back it's i don't know it was a bit of a mess special team yeah special teams penalties all that too many penalties yeah but like if you go

down the list okay domi hasn't scored camp Camp's not playing. McMahon's not playing. Robertson can't score. Connor Dewar, they got him last year. He had 10 goals by the trade deadline when he got him last year. He had more goals than almost anyone in the bottom six outside of maybe Cali Yarncroke. Yeah, and they were kind of surprise goals. Yeah, and Holmberg's done nothing.

And it's like, yeah, you're right. It's not like you're asking for nightly contributions, but the occasional surprise contribution, it just hasn't come. Some of those guys have just returned, so I guess there needs to be some patience with the patch readies. While not confirmed, it sounds like Domi's going to play tonight. McCabe is not going to play. What situation would you rather be in,

especially when you look at going into the trade deadline? A team that's dealing with secondary scoring issues or one that can't defend and you need that right-side defenseman that they're always looking for at the deadline and they never really get. Can they fix this problem in season a little better or a little easier than if they were giving up five, six goals a game and it doesn't matter that Matthews is going to score 70? Well, with Toronto, if all those depth guys were playing let's say average like if they

were just giving you their career average season i don't think depth scoring would be an issue i think it would be fine like they would all have to be back and in the lineup and playing but if they were all just giving you like their average year but they're not doing that right now a they've been gone they were ravaged by injuries and b the guys that have been around the depth guys just they're they're well below average when it comes to their production so that's you know you would think in theory if they're all back playing that and they're giving you their average output you're not in a bad spot like there is enough depth scoring there but they have to actually do it well it's interesting like i've heard a lot of different theories around it like is it the fact

that they're asked to play a different style under berube the north style right you know don't do not retreat do not circle back do not regroup send it forward toward their net at all times um does that tax you in a different way and there might be a theory that i could buy into except for the fact that you know the guys you mentioned like neil andrews having a hell of a year playing that way the varus is having a hell of a year playing that way mitch martin's having best year of his life playing that way contract year um somehow figures in toronto um matthews is the only one of those four that's having a down year.

And we know he's banged up. And we know he's banged up. If you're flying to Germany and you're seeking out that caliber of treatment, you're banged up. Call it what it is. And that's okay. At some point, when he feels like he's 100%

and he really is in a good place, then I'm sure the production will be there. We've seen it from him countless times where it's like, you know, that will sort itself out. But the other guys, and it's funny, like you bring up the star players and they're having success. You would think that the guys that are a little more meat and potatoes, the guys that are the depth guys that just go straight up and down

or are supposed to go straight up and down, they would be the ones to thrive under this first and then the guys that are more east west pull up they would have the harder time adjusting right clearly hasn't been the case no no it hasn't and that i find that kind of fascinating because i've heard people around the league suggest to me that their problem with not scoring like they were last year is the idea that Rube is asking them to do more at both ends, but it just doesn't hold water for the best players who you would think might be the ones that were affected most. But I mean,

let's face it. Like the Matthews problem is a considerable problem here. If it, if it lingers, right? Like he's had electric games at times, but he's also had some pretty dull looking games. He's taken more penalties than usual. What he's had electric games at times but he's also had some pretty dull looking games he's taken more penalties than usual what he's had three penalties in the last

five games doesn't do that very often in his career um what do you make of it frankie like do you see do you see a different guy that's going to be nursing something all season do you see a guy just is ramping back up after being gone for three weeks or whatever. Or that I think it's more just ramping back up. I don't know. Like it's, it's hard to say that, you know, with the captaincy,

there's more expectations or there's more on his plate. I think it's the same amount that would have been on his plate. Now it's, you know, maybe he's a little more vocal or he's the guy you kind of look to, to, you know, have the first word or the only word or the last word

in the room all that kind of stuff but i don't think that's going to weigh him down to this point i really just think it's a matter of you know playing through something and at some point he's going to feel a little more comfortable and we'll see it you know we'll see it kind of happen there i kind of thought after the the reuniting of marner and matthews that was going to be you know the the shot in the arm that he needed. And it might still be, but I think it's more about Matthews just getting ramped up and getting up to speed more than anything. Yeah, absolutely.

I don't think you take that time off with a significant injury that is of the nature of whatever he is dealing with and jump onto a moving train the way that, you know, the season is at this time. So I guess we shouldn't be shocked. And he's streaky. He's a streaky goal scorer. Last year, he opened the season with back-to-back hat tricks. And the year he scored 40, he wasn't streaky.

Remember, it was all these one-goal games. He didn't have the two-goal games, and he didn't have those um those multi-goal performances now like you always know that that's in the back of i think it's in the back of our heads that like if matthews gets going there's going to be a week where this guy scores six goals don't you just look at the game at the shooting percentage because you know he's always going to be among the leaders in shots yeah and when when he's going that number is really high and and some would say it's not sustainable i think with austin matthews it is i think we've seen enough from him that um you know he's hitting those spots where so far this year there's been so many times you're like

last year he would have scored there you know what i mean like yeah he's fired a little wider he just missed and there's so many times where it's the small details of the game that you would know better than us. It's a good point. Bringing up the shooting percentage is a good point because he's a career 16% shooter. This year he's 10.8%. And last year he was 18%.

So last year he was obviously shooting above his career average. And this year he's significantly below. That's way low. Way low. That's actually the lowest he's ever had. Ever. Even the year that he scored 40 so i at some point that's not gonna continue to be the case like that's that's gonna even itself out

it'll creep back up to that career average but yeah the shooting like look to the shooting percentage he's gonna get his chances and at some point like if he's feeling stronger feeling more comfortable like he's got to feel that way because if he's going to beat goalies clean and from distance, like you kind of have to have 100% capability to do so. Oh, without a doubt. But I mean, look, to me it's interesting how Berube has approached this, right? Like he's – you've got to love the directness of Craig Berube. I really do.

And I don't know how players feel about a Frankie, but you know where you stand with this guy. That's good. He does not mince words. He's basically just calling out Max Domi saying, yeah, guess what, Max? We'd like you to score more. We'd like you to be less selfless.

We'd like you to shoot it more. And guess where we'd like you to shoot it from? Closer to the net. And same with Nick Robertson, who is a goal scorer by trade who's not scoring goals and we all know nick robertson's had his grievances with this organization and a trade demand in the summer and you always get the sense that you know he's not particularly happy with the situation in life but i don't know what you can ask for more than a coach that just spells it out for you and says this is this is what i expect what about berube the other day said like i we got to still

help him out like you know how many coaches would have said at this point to a guy like that like we've done all we can man like or go to the gm and say i i don't know what more you want me to do like i've given this guy all kinds of opportunity but still craig berube to his credit is at least publicly who knows what they say behind closed doors but publicly is saying yeah we know he hasn't had the season he wanted but we still got to help him that's that's on us like yeah i give him a lot of credit for saying that at least he's not he's not torts in a way that he's going to bury a guy to the media and again i don't mean to jump all over torts because he also will do a lot of good things with players that we don't

see. And I've worked with enough former hockey players who will say great things about Torts, but his calling card is sometimes ripping guys to the media. And Berube doesn't go that far. Maybe if you listen closely, you're like, clearly

this isn't his favorite guy. Did you guys bench him for the third period the other night? Well, he did that with action, more so than words. And that's fine. Like, hey, you're going clearly well this isn't his favorite guy you guys benched him for the third period the other night did you guys well he did that with action yeah more so than words yeah that's fine like hey you're gonna get benched like if a coach can't bench a guy what are we doing do we even need coaches and anymore everyone in the building wanted a bench after that offside and the penalty oh yeah that just reeked of a guy that has zero confidence like just get this puck off my stick here you deal with it right did you guys see torts um get asked about matt vay mitchkoff signing the autograph on his way off no i don't know i don't know if we have it or not but we gotta we gotta try and find this thing i guess torts didn't know

and they asked him in a scrum and like you gotta like the look on his face is classic he starts asking like what? He did what? We'll get it. We've got to play it later in the show. Doogie confirming that Domi is returning and Grubankin is being sent down and ticket sales for the Marlies are skyrocketing at the moment. One of the fan

favorites is going down the street to play with the Marlies, but Domi, as we expected, will be back. That's somewhat of a shot in the arm. Not to say he's the savior. You just mentioned the sat line. It's a legitimate NHL player who has the ability to

be productive. That is as good as it gets as far as getting players back right now at this point in the year. He's had a couple of 20-goal seasons. This is not a guy with insufficient skill. Max Di can put it in the net uh when it's going his way it's not going his way this year uh but they need him let's face it like we're going to spend from now until march 7th the trade deadline talking about the

depth that they don't have that they need who they need to pick up and a lot of that is going to be about i think the degree of that conversation will be in large part driven by whether or not max domey kind of turns his season around because if he doesn't then you definitely need more depth up the middle because if he's not an option at center that's it that's exactly it right there i'm happy you said it because it's like is he going to be a centerman because if he is then you solve a problem if he's not haven't we tried that though but isn't it kind of like we we have tried it i thought like last year when he when he first got to the team he was playing the wing it looked like it wasn't natural for him like it freed him up a

little more being in the center of the ice as he went back to the wing felt like that transition was a little more smooth for him but But good luck finding a centerman. Yeah. Like, go back to the offseason. We've talked about this. Like, you could assign Chandler Stevenson or Elias Lindholm or that's it. But is that Duchesne? But is it easier?

And that was it. Is it easier in March to do that? Is it easier to get the Ryan O'Reilly that they got a couple years ago? Yeah, that's what you're looking for. He's got term. And that's the thing. Max Domi's got term here too, right? So you kind of need him to be some kind of solution for you.

Whether he's center or a wing, he has to be some kind of solution. Well, he's that class of player in this league, and there aren't many of them left, especially under the Leafs salary cap situation, where when you're making $3.75 million on a cap hit um in a league where you know there are guys making the minimum who can play you've got to be doing a lot more than the guys making the minimum yeah to justify your place in the world yeah that's that that's that sweet spot in toronto's cap structure that they've never really been able to nail right like they've always

had the high payingpaying guys, and they do their thing in the regular season. And if you just look at the regular season itself, you got your money's worth out of all those guys. They really find the basement bargain bin type guys. You got Michael Bunting at 925 for a couple years. That was really well done. They've hit on a couple of those.

The $4 million forward, $3 million forward, the Cali Yarncroke guy, that's that like pay demographic that just hasn't been able to hit in this cap structure for them. And it's hard because the guys that are really good, they're probably making five or six, right? So you're theoretically, you're paying a, I don't know, 1.8 to $2.2 million player. Cause you really want them.

You might have to pay them a little more to get them, but you're not getting like, you're not getting that. That's been tough. So it's the Leafs and Devils tonight. As we set off the top, a special broadcast with the boys there, they'll be in studio six with James Duffy,

Hayes noodles and O-Dog and Mike Johnson, who's going to be on the call with Gord Miller, is going to join us to kick off the 5 o'clock hour. Before we take a break, I want to get your thoughts on what Brady Kachuk had to say today because one of the big stories in hockey over the last few days has been this rumor, and that's all it is, is that the New York Rangers are going to swoop in

and take a Kachuk out of Canada and bring them to the state because the Kachuks hate playing in Canada and certainly wouldn't like playing with the ottawa senators this is all larry brooks is not me saying this um but today he spoke to media for the first time about those rumors and this is what the sense captain had to say i mean it's just no it's stuff that i can't really control so i'm be honest, it doesn't really bother me because it's coming from a place where obviously it's not true. I think it just speaks to the leadership that we have in this organization with Mr. Anlauer and Steve and how they have not just my back this time,

but the players' backs through their time here and through the future. I can't control it. I mean, of course, it's happened multiple times now, and obviously it's just not true. So, I mean, it would just be a waste of energy to get frustrated with something that I can't control. The reason why I signed a seven-year deal is because I believe in this team. I believe in what we're doing. I believe in everybody. Good for Michael in what we're doing. I believe in everybody.

Good for Michael Landlauer, first of all. I think the way he handled that, all this guy has done since buying the team for basically a billion dollars is have to put out fires that he inherited that weren't his problem. Now he's got reports of his captain, star player, other teams are targeting him.

Great. Like other teams can target whoever they want. Doesn't mean Ottawa has to trade him or should trade him. And Matthew Kachuk got a bridge deal in Calgary. So we knew there was an expiration date that was coming pretty soon and a decision had to be made. Brady just mentioned it. He wanted to be in Ottawa.

He signed a seven-year deal. And so, like, if D-Row got a nice girlfriend in your life at one point. Whoa, whoa, whoa. And everyone's throwing likes on her picture. I got a wife at home. I know, I know. At one point, it was a girlfriend. Okay.

Everyone's throwing likes on her picture, right? There's some DMs. Yep. And eventually, you probably went, and you throwing likes on her picture right there's some dms yeah and eventually you probably went and you threw out a nice picture out there arm around just marking your territory that's what michael and lauer did like stop sending dms stop throwing likes around this is frankie this is this is my player is the captain of my team his name shouldn't be in reports of of other teams thank you come on you you've been in the media long enough to know you can't stop the media from being the media i know you can't stop the media but you can stop other teams from throwing that out well you don't know

who threw that out there could have been anybody could have been could have been an agent could have been a rival executive could have been a parent parents are very vocal in today's nhl yes that is um that's the tricky thing i have no idea who it was but what i'm saying frankie i i i understand what you're saying like he's trying to mark his territory he's trying to say enough is enough but he's only bringing more attention to the fact that he's being embarrassed by rival organizations that think there's a vulnerability there and they can get this guy. And you know what? The only reason why that is is because Ottawa is not as far ahead as maybe they think.

Yeah, they're kind of doing what they've done the last few years. Yeah, I'm not going to say they're spinning their wheels, but they're not where they want to be. And I think people automatically assume that, oh, that means Brady wants out. Where, unless you heard it from Brady, then I don't know where you get it from. You're right. It's irrelevant until the player says he wants out. But the bottom line is, there's only one way to make sure he's not going to want out,

and that's to win. And they're not doing that. Like, it's eight straight years now, they're not going to make the playoffs again. And it looks like they're going to have to do a rebuild on the rebuild now that's not anlauer's fault it's not dave coolen's fault not steve stale's fault they inherited this mess this situation in large part but it is what it is and if you're living in it as a highly competitive player and there's a reason why teams covet players like br Brady Kachuk is because there's so few of them. Players that play with edge, with commitment,

with that kind of zeal, that kind of infectious energy, it's a hard thing to find in this league. A guy that can score 30 to 40 goals, get you 100 penalty minutes, fight 10 times, and beat the wheels off guys. But I mean, the downside of employing a player like that when you're a woe-be-gone franchise that can't figure it out is they're not going to want to stay there.

Their competitive nature just is not compatible with missing the playoffs. I guess you got to hope that there's part of him that says, I'm not pulling the plug on this. I'm going to be the reason why we turn it around or a big part of it. You got to hope that there's just that undying loyalty loyalty there where crosby has that with the penguins right like you have to hope there's that kind of loyalty but he won young i know it's easy to stick around already yeah i already had a ring apparently uh larry brooks had three sources tell him this so i don't think mike johnson is one of those sources but we'll get his thoughts on that again he's going

to be on the call tonight for Leafs and Devils. He's going to join us at 5 o'clock. Steve Phillips, we talked about the process that the Blue Jays were a part of with Juan Soto. We'll get his thoughts on that in the 6 o'clock hour. Super Bowl champion Ryan Harris is going to join us at 5.30 on the Monday Nighter and how that one ended, and plus looking ahead to this week's slate of games

and confirm or deny is coming up as Overdrive continues on TSN 1050. The TSN app, but also up on TSN 4. It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025. Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions.

And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal, plan, portfolio. Contact Kelvin the Money Guy and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN or visit askkelvin.ca. I can neither confirm or deny that this is in fact a segment. Austin trades Andrew Raycroft to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Tuca Rast. It's been my honor and a privilege to serve as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club. It's time for Confirm or Deny.

Do you regret giving all those gentlemen the no trades or no movement clauses? I can neither confirm or deny that. I can't confirm or deny. I can't confirm or deny that Confirm or Deny will be part of the Leafs broadcast tonight, but it's part of this edition of Overdrive. Mark Rowe in for Brian Hayes alongside Frankie Corrado and Dave Fezchuk. Let's begin with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Confirm

or deny, one of Mitch Marner or William Nylander will hit the 100 point mark this season. That's a confirm. All day, that's a confirm. This is the year for Mitch Marner. He's come very close. Didn't he have 99? He had 97.

He's on pace for 115 right now. He's come very close. Didn't he have 99? He had 97. He's on pace for 115 right now. It's going to happen. Mitch Marner is a 100-point player and this is the year he's going to do it. He's playing great hockey. I hear people say it's the best hockey of his career. This is really good hockey. Mitch Marner has played this kind of hockey

before. This is not an anomaly. This is not a revelation that Mitch Marner's playing this well. We always knew this is who he was, and this is the year that he gets 100 points. Yeah, it's going to be one guy. It's not going to be either or. It's going to be Marner. Neil Anders on it.

What, he had 98 points last year. He's on 84-point pace this year. After he got paid, what do you know? He could get 50 goals, though 50 goals though having a good year like yeah no i'm kind of being facetious but but yeah i mean marner is just on a tear here and it's and it's it's amazing to watch and i think it's amazing to watch how he's played without matthews as much as craig brubake can't help but put him back with matthews even though he insisted when matthews first came back that he might keep him apart.

But without Matthews in that nine-game stretch, it was something to behold, him being a little less deferential, a little more shoot-first, a little more aggressive. And then on the defensive side of the puck, he's been tremendous under Berube. It's a really great coach-player match, and I think it's showing in Marner's stats and certainly in the way he's played 200 feet. Yeah, he is the 100-point player who's never hit 100 points. I think everyone, when you describe players, point per game or their 40-goal score, Mitch Marner gets described as the 100-point guy

because he's essentially done it if you go per game in the past. And the 99, let's round up and give him 100. But I agree. No, he can't give him 100 if you can't get 100. Well, okay. I'm just saying in the sense of his ability to be able to. Yeah, I know. So let's go three for three with that.

I don't know if we'll be as confident with this one. Austin Matthews will hit at least 45 goals this season. You want to go? I'm going to deny it. I think it's just, you know, just haven't seen the same Austin Matthews. And, I mean, it's, you know, he's got 55 games to play here. And we all know a couple of hat tricks in a row could really change the narrative pretty quickly,

and he's got that in him. But, you know, there's just something about him this year that hasn't been as dominant as usual consistently enough for me to just say yeah of course he's going to get back on the train that got him to 69 last year i think he's just right now he's just in a different state i mean clearly you don't go to munich if you're 100 healthy and whatever's bothering him is clearly affecting him to some degree. And I just think it's going to be tough.

Right now he's on pace for 32. So to get to 45, it's going to be tight. I'm sure he's going to get into the 40s. But if I had to bet, I'd say under 45. That's where I'm at. I think it's in the 40s, so I'm going to deny it. It's in the 40s. It's under 45.

But I would say this. Do we really care? Do we really care if Austin Matthews storms back and gets 47 goals this year and the Leafs lose in the first round? Do you think Austin Matthews cares about that? When it's all said and done, if Austin Matthews comes back and gets to a point

where his body feels good and comfortable and he goes on, let's say he goes on a tear in the two weeks or month leading up to the playoffs, and who cares, he didn't get 45, but now he's on fire going into the first round, and he fills the net at that point. The number 45, I think, is just so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things for Austin Matthews. He had 42 years ago.

Who cares, right? And he played a lot that year. The numbers are relevant as long as he rolls into the playoffs yes exactly yes last year he was knocking on the door at 70 i don't want to give him the crown i know that you're a stickler can't round that up but what did he do in the playoffs he was great in game two and he's either hurt or wasn't himself for the rest of that series against the bruins yeah if you're if he he goes 44 goals in the regular season but is rolling and if he had two or three more game twos that's true yeah then he would have been yeah dominating and they would

have won we needed to go from the matthews game to the matthews series right yes trademark that do that i like it okay save that save that for the spring as well and maybe if he just takes the four nations face off off and doesn't play it and gets a couple weeks off, that would help the Maple Leafs. You know what? I don't think he would. I know. I don't see it. I think that the prospect of playing best on best and representing your country is way too amazing. And I don't blame him.

Okay, I'm going to skip ahead to a question that Doogie loves. He's really proud of himself. I don't know if you're going to have the same reaction. I think he was pointing at you, Frankie, for this. I was so distracted by the cologne odor when he walked in here. Well, it's tough. Yeah, it is tough. You've got to swim through it.

But you do a lot of Montreal Canadiens games. One of the bright stories in that city is Patrick Laine. Confirm or deny that he's going to lead the Canadiens in goals by the conclusion of this season. Cole Caulfield has 17 goals, I should point out. That's a deny. Cole Caulfield has 17. And Cole Caulfield is a very good goal scorer.

He's going to continue to be. It's funny that you mention Mitch Marner as the 100-point player that's never got 100 points. Cole Caulfield almost feels like the 40-goal scorer who's never scored 40. I know. Because he's been on pace for it. he's like he's just either hadn't been healthy and then last year his shooting percentage was way down like caulfield's gonna get 40 this year line a has basically knocked it out of the park since you know rejoining montreal he's got three power play goals in four games everything's going right for him,

but he's not going to catch up to Caulfield. Caulfield's going to, this is the year he gets 40. He's going to continue to have a good pace. Yeah, I have to deny it too. I mean, I just think, you know, you're right. They don't call him goal Caulfield for nothing. He's a natural born goal scorer, and he probably has kind of undershot his marks in previous years, and he really does

seem on pace to do you know his best work this year but then the thing with line is like you're just kind of waiting for the the next injury to happen in some ways not that you're wishing it on him but it's just it's been his career trajectory right where he just has had a hard time staying healthy had a hard time building on prosperity not that you're wishing bad things for him, but if you're trying to project what he's going to do, you've got to believe there'll be some setbacks before the end of the season, and therefore you go with the deny. Also, Joe from the Bridge always bringing it back to the Leafs.

A 40-goal guy who was never a 40-goal guy, Phil Kessel. Did he never touch 40? No. Really? Yeah. How? I know, it's crazy i thought at least once but not everyone can be the o-dog anyways let's move on to the nfl josh allen who did everything but win that game against the rams on the weekend should be leading the mvp over saquon barkley that's's 100% confirmed because last year,

all I heard was, well, McCaffrey can't be the MVP because he doesn't play quarterback. Even though every game the Niners were playing, you could guarantee this guy was going to give you a touchdown. Imagine going in every game, 6-0. That's what it was like for McCaffrey in the Niners last year. But no, he couldn't be the MVP because there was all these QBs ahead of him.

Well, why is that any different this year? Josh Allen has been unbelievable this year. And I know Saquon Barkley's had a great year. Like nothing, not going to take anything away from him. But if McCaffrey couldn't do it last year, why can Barkley do it this year when Josh Allen is having the season he's having? Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with you, Frankie. I mean, I mean Allen is just you know he's been the best player in the league by a lot of measures especially when you consider how important that position is and the reason there's

a reason why quarterbacks are MVPs almost almost always right because and the exceptions are just few and far between in years where there's not a dominant quarterback. But I will say this. I mean, Barkley's making a case, right? He's been that good. He's carried that team as much as he has. And it's made you at least consider the idea that the running back position is having a renaissance and that maybe you have to sort of compare the apples to the oranges and say, well, yeah, Josh Allen has been the best quarterback,

but this guy has affected winning in a way that you have to at least consider him. He is the favorite at minus 450. And you take a look at the contenders for this. You know, Jared Goff, I just think there's so much talent on that team. If you took him away and you put in, you know, just somebody who's been... Matthew Stafford? Sure. Well, that's a really good quarterback.

Well, I know, but that's who was there. Right. But if you put someone who is somewhat of a journeyman quarterback, I still think the Lions are doing well. Throw Sam Darnold in the Lions. Yes. They're just as good. You take Josh Allen off the Bills and put an average quarterback, I don't think that

that team- I think that team maybe makes the playoffs. And I don't even know if they can do that. Yeah, that's a fair assessment. Now, you can say the same thing about Saquon Barkley. Pretty much every NFL analyst says this is a very average Eagles team without Saquon Barkley, especially offensively. And you watch them against Carolina and Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, and there doesn't seem to be chemistry.

It seems like there's not chemistry off the field apparently either. But Saquon Barkley, like Christian McCaffrey, is the linchpin to that whole team. But I agree with you in the fact that almost always goes to a quarterback. And I even think that Josh Allen means that much more to the Bills than Barkley does. Let's face it. The stretch run's going to matter here.

These last four weeks are going to probably decide it. Because like Josh Allen, we all know he's got it in him to throw some interceptions he hasn't done it yet yeah he's been more disciplined this year a lot more discipline i mean so that could be a factor here and let's face it like the eagles have only lost two the bills have lost three and you know so i think the team that kind of comes up with the better record probably makes the case for their guy a little easier. It's funny. I remember sitting in the boardroom watching.

It was either a Monday or a Thursday, and we have all the TVs in there, and Luke's in there. He's watching the football game. I got a few hockey games on. We're going to do our postgame hits. And I just remember him saying, how are these guys, how have they not figured out that you need to go through Barkley all the time? The Eagles were playing.

They couldn't believe how much they were throwing it at the time. I don't think they make that mistake anymore. I think they have really bought into just like really driving it through with the run game now. Yeah, it goes back to the value of a running back and the resurgence of it. And the teams that don't have adequate running, you can see that that offense is faltering. I've watched that all season with the Dallas Cowboys.

That's unfortunate. I want to start with you, Fez, on this one because confirm or deny, and the timing's great because of the way that the Raptors played last night and the way that R.J. Barrett played, is the second best Canadian player in the NBA at the moment, or I guess second to Shea Gildress Alexander

you confirm or deny that yeah I mean right now you have to confirm it just because of the way Jamal Murray's falling off right like he's he's not himself right now and like we saw it in the Olympics where he just you know couldn't contribute and separate the way he normally separates as he did en route to really co-leading the Nuggets to a championship. Right now, yeah. I mean, it's obviously Shea Gildress-Alexander has separated himself as the best Canadian by quite some margin in the running for an MVP, even though it looks like Mr. Jokic is going to make it a very difficult race to win.

Barrett's done a great job. All the questions about him, and I still think they're valid in a lot of ways, like about his defense, which has been brought up by his own coaching staff in Toronto, not just the media. Those things probably can't be parceled out until the Raptors are a more relevant

competitive team, because right now they're just not. They're the fourth worst team in the NBA by record. And with Scottie Barnes hobbling off last night with what looked like a pretty serious injury, you know, they're probably going to sink deeper, but I'm, you know,

RJ Barrett's done a wonderful job of improving his weaknesses. And I think he's still got some room to grow. I'll confirm it too. And like, keep in mind, this was, he was supposed to be good. Like it was supposed to be a really good player.

And he comes over in the trade to the Raptors. And now you get a chance to see him even more take another step with Scottie out. But yeah, I think of guys like Andrew Wiggins. RJ Barrett's been really good. So I'll confirm it too. Yeah, when you take a look at the competition, if we did this same question a year ago, it was a deny because of Jamal Murray.

And that's really the one roadblock, I would say, for R.J. Barrett. But then again, let's not put the cart in front of the horse here. Jamal Murray's career resume is far better. We're talking about this particular moment. And we're not just talking about six weeks of an nba season as you point out we're talking about like the olympics showed it as well yeah you know between that and this year rj barrett at the moment is the second best canadian and really that that that trade certainly looks like a win-win for both organizations as you saw last night with oj and anobi and the knicks prevailing in the in the raptors you know doing the dignified tank and losing and losing one of their star players as

as leo routins points out it's not a bad thing that you lose scotty barnes i don't know wow yeah it's bad if you're darker rack of it and you're trying to win i go off for sure and the other thing is it's bad if you're trying to see what you actually have because they just haven't seen their lineup in full all season i know there's a manual quickly on the sidelines cheering them on and it's when we see that i don't want to call the three-headed monster but at least those three core pieces of the of the organization together it's been few and far between so anyways that's confirm or deny maybe we'll see confirm or deny tonight with the leaves and devils game on tsn4 um we're going to continue on with Mike Johnson to kick off the 5 o'clock hour.

Steve Phillips at 6 o'clock and Carter Hutton at 6.30. We'll get into the NHL with him as Overdrive continues on TSN 1050, the TSN app, and also up on TSN4. It's a brand new year. Time to review last year's financial decisions and set new priorities for 2025. Kelvin the Money Guy suggests the three-step approach. One, clearly define your goals for the new year. Two, create a plan tailored to your needs and ambitions.

And three, make sure your portfolio is designed to serve that plan. Goal, plan, portfolio. Contact Kelvin, the money guy, and set your plans in motion. Call 416-457-PLAN or visit askkelvin.ca it's a game night in newark new jersey the prudential center with the maple leaves in town to take on the devils uh looking to go 2-0 against new jersey uh this season uh the overdrive boys part of the broadcast which gets going at 6 30 eastern the game at seven o'clock so that should be a good contest it was

not a good contest when it came to deciding who would win the northern star award fez which you have been a part of many years i'm sure you've been a part of many debates not really a debate today with summer mcintosh winning it felt like the biggest formality in the history of the award or one of them i mean there's been other kind of landslide winners but this was pretty undeniable. Was there anyone banging the drum for anyone else? I mean, there always is somebody banging the drum for somebody. There's always people with different opinions,

and I've been in a bunch of those meetings over the years where that award gets debated. So you do get some off-the-board, kind of off-the-beaten-path sort of selections, but I just don't know how you could look at the field this year and not vote for Summer McIntosh number one on your ballot every. But I just don't know how you could look at the field this year and not vote for Summer McIntosh number one on your ballot every time. It just didn't. Well, the instinct is always go to the Olympics on Olympic year.

Even when you don't have a Summer McIntosh and say, okay, well, who won a gold? And did they provide the story? But when you win three and then you added a silver, I don't know, like Conor McDavid probably would have had to win the Stanley Cup and would have had to, you know. That might have changed the narrative. If McDavid's Oilers would have climbed back from that 3-0 hole,

won game seven, you know. And if he had a hat trick in game seven. Yeah, then it might have been, it would have been a much better debate. But the way it happened, not so much. Mike Johnson will kick off the 5 o'clock hour as we get ready for the Leafs and Devils tonight as Overdrive continues on TSN 1050 the TSN app and also up on TSN 4.