OverDrive - OverDrive - January 2nd, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jonas Siegel and Michael DiStefano for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss Auston Matthews' injury concerns for the Maple Leafs, his next steps to return to the team, if he should play in the 4 Nations Face-Off and possible additions to the roster. They also dive into Canada's tournament at the IIHF World Junior Championship and the matchup against Czechia in the quarterfinals of the tournament. 

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The smarter way to book travel. C-H-U-M-A-M Toronto is TSN 1050, an iHeartRadio station and the voice of Toronto sports. This is Overdrive with Hayes, Noodles, and the O-Dog on TSN 1050. All right, here we go. Overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app. Your home smart speaker up on TSN+. For all three hours, Brian Hayes, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, and there he is, Michael DiStefano, Al's brother, a champion.

Great to see you, partner. It really is. Great to see you. You look like a new man ever since yeah the two of us crossed the finish line and put together what was one of the great great seasons i think in gambling history i think so like i think it's very comparable to like what tom brady did in the super bowl against the falcons yes like we were down by nine games at one point that's the equivalent is 27-3, in my opinion.

I agree, 28-3. It was even worse. It was even worse. And don't shortchange Brady and Belichick, and don't shortchange Hayes and Brose. So it's a big day, Jonas. You must feel absolutely elated to be in the presence of greatness. Isn't it great for you to be in here today?

Is the word nauseating or nauseous? I can't decide which one. At these little hats on the table. Yes, these hats are so beautiful. Look at how beautiful these hats are. I know Joe from the bridge, I was on with you a couple of days ago. These were shown to the world online. Al's brother, you have yours.

It looks marvelous. We will be wearing them later. Luke's coming up in 90 minutes. We're not going to pull a Philadelphia Eagles here. We're not pulling a Nick Sirianni. We're not pulling a Saquon Barkley. Although, Saquon, it kind of sounds like he'd rather play and try to pursue the record.

I was thinking the other day, we take a knee. Just take a ceremonial knee. Give them an immaculate week. Let them have some wins. But I've changed my mind on that. I think that's loser mentality, loser behavior, and I want to beat these guys down. I want double digits.

We're up plus six, I believe, right now. I want plus ten, if not better than that. So we will be making picks. Tremendous information, gut instinct coming together at 530. And between now and then, we'll talk a lot about the Leafs. You're going to love today, Jonas. You're so lucky to be in here. It's really going to become a very obnoxious.

It's going to be called the Pepto-Bismol show. Yes, it's going to be an obnoxious tour for Al's brother and I. But we've got the Leafs in action tonight. We've got Canada in action tonight. And I don't feel great about either scenarios, quite frankly. I mean, the Leafs are a completely different story. They beat the Islanders the other day. And I feel good about them likely winning tonight.

This Islanders team is terrible. They've been good on the road. Doogie just had some tremendous information himself. The Leafs have won four or five on the road recently. But Matthews remains out and he spoke yesterday. Didn't really say anything of substance.

You don't think so? I thought he actually did. Okay, why don't we play the clip? Because I want to get into this, that Austin Matthews remains out. He's not going to play tonight. I don't think we're going to see him for a while. Is that your read on it? I don't think he plays until next week, at earliest. At the earliest, he'll play next week.

That would be my guess. Your guess, your informed guess, that would be my guess as well. It does sound as if it's completely the balls in his court. Like the way Berube phrased it, like like he'll let us know when he can play. I hate that too. That's basically saying you go do your thing, and whenever you want to join us, you can join us. And he's in one right now because the season has not gone well for him,

yet the team continues to win games. They're sitting atop the Atlantic Division. Here's what Austin Matthews had to say yesterday about his status, about the injury, and about, I guess, what we can predict the rest of the way. Do you feel like this is something, Austin, that with the appropriate amount of rest you will be able to put behind you at some point this season? Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, I hope so. That's obviously the goal. You know, it's tricky with these things sometimes. You know, it's a physical sometimes. It's a physical sport. It's a contact sport. Things happen out there sometimes. They're out of your control. Just try to manage it as best as I can and that we can.

It's been good progress throughout this week. I think it's always a good gauge getting into practice and seeing how you feel in that and competitive aspect drills and stuff like that so um a lot of positive signs like i said just take it day by day and you know hopefully just keep progressing and um i'll see where we're at maybe later in this week all right jonas your read on that was because you were there yeah you were in the scrum yeah i was asking some of those questions what did you take out of it that felt different or felt more you know allowed people to feel more informed in terms of what's going on with the play?

Well, so the fact that he mentioned not knowing if he's going to be able to get beyond it, that's not really, that's something I've been thinking about, that based on what we know about this, like this has been going on since training camp as far as we know. He tried to play through it, couldn't,ed nine games, three and a half weeks. Went to Germany. Came back. Tried to play through it again. Whether the cross-check itself in Buffalo was like the tipping point,

he kind of alluded to it was part of it but not the only thing. So we know he was battling it before. We can see it. You can see he's not the same 100%. He's laboring out there. He's not as quick. he's not generating as many attempts like that he normally converts on his shooting percentage all that stuff is down so it kind of feels like this is going to be a thing that he is going to have to just continue

to play for he mentioned playing through pain paying playing through discomfort like all that stuff i didn't totally know um so yeah like I feel like I'm a little bit better informed, but my reading of it, based on what he said and based on how this is going, it's just going to be a year-long thing, and he's just going to have to play through it. Yeah, exactly. And listen, playing through it in January is not a concern.

You don't have to worry about it. He's not going to play. It's all good. They're still going to win games. They have won games. His first absence, they were really rocking. This one, it's all good they're still going to win games they have won games this this his first absence they were really rocking this one it's been rockier right without him it's been rockier and at some point you're going to feel the absence of austin matthews that is going to happen and i

think we're we're in that stretch january is going to be a really busy stretch you're going to feel the absence of him especially against the better teams. Not necessarily against the Islanders, but when you play elite teams, you're going to realize this guy's not out there. But Berube had said prior to that Buffalo game where he took the cross-track, Berube was on record saying he still hurt.

That morning. Yes, exactly. That morning. I was of that impression that this is something that was going to linger for quite some time. My concern is now he's putting it out there that now you have to brace for it all season, which means into the playoffs. Ultimately, that's the comment that matters here. If it is going to continue to linger in the playoffs,

that is incredibly concerning. I was already getting to that point just on the outside looking in. We don't know what's going on with this guy. I don't see the purpose of him giving the update if he's not actually going to update what is going on. But he did update. But he didn't update in terms of what he's actually dealing with. That's what I mean.

He didn't learn anything new. He doesn't have to. Again, we've been down this road. We've been talking about it for three months with him. And it's not just Matthews. It's anyone that goes through any injury in the league. They do not mandate any transparency transparency whatsoever you're right he did say i hope it's not like this but that's still we don't know if it's going to be or not i don't think he knows

he may not he may not so again at this point it was an update that gets people riled up i don't know if it benefits anybody and what what I was a little bit, I thought it was an opportunity for him to come out. And if you're not going to speak on it, don't speak on it. And he's made it clear he doesn't want to. He's not going to. He doesn't want to address what it is. Exactly.

Which I have stated many times, I think is kind of crazy that this is the most popular athlete in the city. The captain of the Maple Leafs, the highest paid player in the league, and no one has a clue what's happening. I think as it goes on, it becomes even more ridiculous. But so be it. Again, not his issue because the league doesn't mandate anything.

But I was waiting for him to come out, and I think this would be in his best interest moving forward. If I were in his cab, say, guys, I'm not going to give you answers on this. He's made that clear. Matthews is not going to tell you what's going guys, I'm not going to give you answers on this. He's made that clear. Matthews is not going to tell you what's going on. He's not going to give you many answers. When I play, I'm going to play, and then I'll address how I'm feeling when I'm playing.

But come out as the captain and say, I want to talk about my team. I found it interesting that that didn't happen. But it should work that way. You're the captain of the team. What's he going to say? Do you not want to hear what he has to say about his team? How they're playing?

He's the captain of the team. That's not how journalism works. You don't come out and say, I'm only going to... Well, actually, that doesn't... That's exactly how the Leafs operate. But I wouldn't operate like that. He doesn't get to tell me what I can ask. But why would you not want to ask him about how he feels about the team

if he's not going to talk about himself? But he did talk about himself. The fact that he's playing through pain is like, I didn't know that. That's not great. You didn't see him playing through pain, Jonas? I didn't know if it was pain. It just looked like something was I mean, you guys can see it. Something is holding him back

physically. Oh, 100%. He is not himself. He wasn't skating nearly as well as we've seen him skate. This guy had no breakaway speed whatsoever. There was a game a couple weeks ago. Explosiveness is just not there. It's been completely gone. And you could deduce whatever back injury, whatever you want to say,

but you could physically tell. So I don't know if it makes you feel better that now you know for a fact he's dealing with something. We still don't know what it is, and we're just left to kind of think, oh, it may be X, Y, and Z. Well, but the problem is that we just don't know. And we don't know how long it's going to be. So I'm with you, Brian.

It didn't make sense. If he was going to come out and play tomorrow, okay, come through. You could talk about it. But if he's not going to play for another week and a half, maybe two weeks, we don't know. Maybe it's even going to be another month. We have no idea when this guy's going to be ready to go. What was the point of yesterday?

Well, I think I sort of said that's not how this works. He practices. Media want to how this works. He practices. Media want to talk to him. He talks. That's how it goes. Those are rules. That's how it works. But even when you're on, like he's on the.

Well, that's not true every single day. No, they. Let's not pretend like that's not. That's not how it works. Technically, the rules are if you take part in practice, you are supposed to be available to the media. Does it always operate that way? Not all the of course not they don't it's better for them to to do this like i don't i don't know why you'd be no what i'm saying is i i think the questioning about the injury and stuff now is just a complete waste of time because he's not going to give you

anything he did he's okay what did he give you jonas you knew he was injured you know he continues to be injured he He is now. What he told me, what I heard from that was, I don't know if I'm going to be a big player this year. Like, we'll see. Yeah. Which is very panic-inducing. But there's nothing beyond that.

He's the hell out of it. I get it. But I think we already knew that based on the fact that this guy's not playing again. He went to Germany and he's not playing again. Yeah. Like, there's something seriously wrong with this guy. I think if anything that came out of it, the details of it, was that

he basically admitted, if they target me and get me, I'm in big trouble. His comment of, I can't control what the other teams are going to do, and I'm paraphrasing, effectively indicates they could get me and put me in a bad place. What do you think is going to happen in Game 1 of the playoffs? What do you think is going to happen in Game 1 of the playoffs?

And that's the whole point. That is what is being projected here, and I think it's reasonable to do that, that this guy's whole season is really in peril, even if he's playing. If he's physically in the lineup, is he going to bring enough to the table to really be able to perform at the

level you need him to because he's your best player. But you'll remember in 23, they advanced to the second round, right? That was the year he was hurt. Didn't have a great year that year. He was hurt. He played through injuries that whole year. He had 40 goals, 45, or 85. Based on his standards, he didn't have a great year.

It's relative. Based on everyone else's, it's a great year. Absolutely. But that was the year they actually advanced to the second round. The difference was their team was deeper. They had Ryan O'Reilly as their third-line center, and obviously they still lost in the second round, so it wasn't enough. Can they go on a long run if he is this?

I don't know. I don't think it's impossible, but it's that much harder. Teams have done this before, like had to go on deep runs. I think in 0-2, Sundin missed a ton of time. Yeah, there was the Al McCauley steps up in the first two rounds. Exactly. Like, it's not unprecedented, yet this is a team without playoff success. So it feels like everything has to align for them.

Again, you don't need these answers right now. It's January 2nd. They don't play a playoff game for three and a half months. So we'll see how he is come that point. I'm just saying, I felt like as the captain of the team, I'm curious what he thinks about the team. You don't think people

want to know what Austin Matthews has to say about We've heard that throughout the year. What do you want to know? When has he talked about the team? Pretend I'm Austin Matthews. What do you want to ask me? What do you make of the way your team's playing? What do you make of John Tavares? Then why ask him to come out? What do you make of the way your team's playing? What do you make of John Tavares? That's great. John's like having a great time.

Then why ask him to come out? Then why ask him to come out? To talk about his injury. He's not playing. He doesn't talk to you guys. He doesn't say anything. But we're going on in circles here. I'm like Abbott, you're Costello.

I understand that, Jonas. But what I'm saying is it felt like an opportunity for him to be like, I'm the captain of the team. I'm never playing. I'm not around. Here I am. Let's talk. I'm going to give you my not around. Here I am. Let's talk. I'm going to give you my answer on where I'm at.

He's just going to give a stock answer. I wish I was out there to play with the team. I think they're playing well. They're getting their chances. We're winning games. That's boring. And that's all he can say. What's he going to say that's going to be so interesting?

You don't think he's going to have it? Man, he's going to be like, we need another center. Have you seen our center? I'd be curious to get his take on the World Juniors. You're an American. Are you watching? Did he ask him'd be curious to get his take on the World Juniors. You're an American. Are you watching? Did he ask him about the Four Nations? I'm not talking about you specifically.

It just feels like there's more there that I'd like to get into there with Austin Matthews. I wish I would have asked that, but it was very impromptu. Like, I didn't know he was going to be speaking. So, like, I hadn't spent all that time thinking, like, what am I going to ask him? But that, I mean, I can't see him playing. That's a big question mark. I mean, it is. But, like, who cares about, like, what am I going to ask him? But that, I mean, I can't see him playing. That's a big question mark. I mean, it is, but, like, who cares? He cannot play in that tournament.

He's not going. I mean, it's just clear cut. He can't do it. Like, you can't have the season he's having where he's missed. How many games has he missed now? 24 games? This will be 16. Yeah, so he's played in 20, yeah, whatever it's been.

And he's never looked like himself. No. So he's played in 20, yeah, whatever it's been. And he's never looked like himself. No. He's laying the framework here for a season that's going to be chock full of rehab and grinding and trying to feel better about himself. He's the highest paid player on his team. You're also, there's a PR element to it that I'm not sure this would be something that would be in his wheelhouse where he'd be thinking of, but I think you've got to be careful with it.

Like, you go play for the States, you can't do it. You're telling Leaf fans, I can't play for the Leafs. That's terrible. You cannot do it. It's clear time. You can't do it. Let's say he comes back and we're, you said possibly next week. There's that game against Carolina that maybe some people

are circling, or the Thursday is the game that he comes back. If he's back in January, it's perceivable that he could back. If he's back in January, like it's perceivable that he could be ready to go a month from now. Like that's the, I think it depends when he returns to, if we can have that conversation or not, if he's not playing all the way through it.

Obviously he's not playing. He's not going to go. But if he looks good in the next, he comes back and he looks good. He starts scoring seven or eight goals in the next 10 games. It's not, it's not the Olympics. Like it's just like some made-up tournament. I just can't see it.

Well, the one thing I would say is that there hasn't been any international hockey that he's been allowed to play in for his whole career. And that's, I feel for Matthews. I feel for McDavid. I feel for a lot of these guys who have been screwed over because there hasn't been best on best hockey. So I can understand that he would have a drive to play, should want to play. And he would probably be the captain.

I would think he's definitely the face of the team and likely the captain of the team. It would be a huge honor and a great opportunity. But I just don't see how, based on what he just said, if he's telling people this is something that is likely lingering for the year and I don't know if I'm going to get back to 100%, you can't put yourself at risk with a tournament like that. They're a roster deadline.

You just can't play. They're a deadline for when they have to let everyone know, hey, this is who's coming, and if Matthews can't go, who's the replacement? They've got to announce the replacements. I imagine the PA said, okay, if you're going to have replacements and we're doing this tournament, you've got to let us know. Because if not, you've got to know, okay, we're going to Aruba,

we're going to Mexico, whatever you're doing, you're going out like that's the week off that they have. But if you've got to go and play in this tournament, you've got to let us know. Because if not, you've got to know, like, okay, we're going to Aruba, we're going to Mexico, whatever you're doing. You're going out, like, that's the week off that they have. But if you've got to go and play in this tournament, you've got to have time. Of course there has to be. He can't pull out a day before, especially if it's lingering and you know it's an issue. I'm curious if it's in the next couple of weeks or not. Like, is there going to be a run-up where it's like, okay,

you get back next week, now you have two weeks to see how you feel, and we'll kind of circle back then if you're the general manager of Team USA. Yeah, I don't have an answer for you, Ellis Brother. I don't know. I mean, I would assume it's probably in the next couple of weeks. We're talking about a tournament that starts in five weeks. But I also don't think he'd want to come out and

make that announcement yet either because he doesn't want to cross that bridge yet. If I had asked, he would say, yeah, we'll get to that when we get to that. Yeah, he's not going to give you an answer on that. I hear you. So you think he should just never? I just feel like he's made it clear that he's not going to give you details on what's going on.

I hear what you're saying. I guess he said something technically original. I didn't learn anything because I always figured that that was the case. He confirmed our assumptions. He's fighting through something. It's not good. Surgery's not apparently on the table, right, according to Chris Johnston

and others, and I don't think Austin has brought it up. But I guess I'm just not surprised by the answer. And I'm just, my point, and I guess I'm not making a sound one, is now you're the captain of the team and you're not playing but if you're going to speak to the media I would expect him to want to speak on his team and I think there's a lot of leaf like why would you not want to hear

from Austin Matthews about what's going on with the Leafs isn't that the role of the captain but that would require someone to ask it like I just wasn't i'm not really that curious to know what he thinks about the state of the team like so who who makes you curious about like who nobody can start talking about the leafs that would interest you at all no that's like where would he rank on your list of wow i'm curious what austin has to think the captain of the team about how the team is playing or team related conversations i like to ask something to learn something i just don't know that all right i know what you're saying you don't see any value in asking the captain about the team i got like he's just he's not playing like ultimately he's gonna have to fall in the but that's the point i guess what i'm saying is this

would be his opportunity to actually breathe and say like i'm not in the fight but let's talk like i know it's not in his nature i i get it and i'm not sure it was in the nature of like sunday i don't know who would necessarily set up shop and be like but it feels like you could maybe gain some sort of positivity out of this if you're austin and say i'm going to direct this away from something i'm not comfortable talking about but imagine that i don't want to talk about my own health he's made that clear let's talk about the team. Let's talk about what's going on with this group. The problem is they're not playing that well.

So, like, what is he really going to come out and say? It's like, yeah, we're 2-3. We're sub-500 since I've been gone. We haven't been able to score a whole lot. We've been giving up a lot of chances. Like, he's going to go out there and just rip the team and he's not out on the ice? Like, I think that's the problem is I don't think you're going to ask him

how he's doing. He's going to give you a stock answer. If they're playing well, he's like, yeah, Mitch, he's not out on the ice? I think that's the problem. You're going to ask him how he's doing. He's going to give you a stock answer. If they're playing well, he's like, yeah, Mitch, he's stepping up. John's playing extremely well, sure. But they're not winning games, and it's not looking great. Well, they're leading the division, though, I was part of it. Let's not pretend like they're the Rangers. As a whole on the season, yes, they are.

But if you look at the last little bit since he's gone out, the team has not played very well. I wouldn't disagree with you. So your PR strategy is if they ask you about the injury, just change the topic and start saying, I don't want to talk about that, but I want to talk about the way the team is playing. I mean, what's the point of talking about the injury, though?

He doesn't want to talk about the injury. He's forced to go out there because you guys asked him to, and he's at practice, so he's like, I'll come out and give you a chalk answer. But I think if someone were to ask him, hey, the team you're the captain of the team i think he'd give you something i think he might get some engagement out of the guy i mean i'm curious what he has to say about the team he's he's austin matthews i'm not saying ask connor doer for a sit down yes and give you the full breakdown of the Leafs history. The guy's the most important and popular player on the team.

Highest paid guy on the team. The captain of the team. His season has been on an individual level effectively a write-off. He's never looked like himself. He hasn't put up big numbers. Yet, John Tavares has got 19 goals. Been his teammate

for seven years. What are you making, John? Stepping up. There's a positive. Wouldn't you say? I'm going to invite you down to practice one day. I'd love to have Austin on the show. That'd be great.

He can come on whenever he wants. I'm not going to pepper him on the back because he's not going to answer it. Right. But what do you make of it? We're almost at the halfway mark here. What are we thinking? It's a big picture. Big picture. Not nitty gritty.

You're the captain of the team. What do you make of what's going on with your club? I think that should be mandatory for the captain. That's so boring. That's boring. Let me ask you that. Asking Austin Matthews about the team he plays for is boring. How does this change?

If you're the front office, you hear this. You already know this. Does this change your approach to the trade deadline? I think it's a legitimate question why they're not contemplating the long-term IR move. Why are you not thinking Kucherov, Stone, work your way around the long-term IR,

put him on it. Why is that ridiculous? You're going to sit him for the rest of the regular season? If he's not going to be at 100% at any point during the regular season, how can you not at least entertain the idea? Why would at least entertain the idea? Why would you not entertain the idea? Think about how beneficial it would be to have $13.25 million on the board. Do you know how hard it is to sit for two,

I don't know personally, but from talking to players, to sit two and a half months, two months, one month, and then start playing the playoffs? Did you see Nikita Kucherov do it? Mark Stone? Did you see Nikita Kucherov do it? I did. How about Patrick Kane when he did it?

Okay. Didn't Vegas win the cup the year Mark Stone did it you see Nikita Kucherov do it? I did. How about Patrick Kane when he did it? Okay. Didn't Vegas win the Cup the year Mark Stone did it? Absolutely. Yeah? I believe Tampa did as well with Kucherov. Okay. I'm not saying it's ideal.

No. But don't you have to start thinking about it? You're already into January at this point. I don't think that that's going to happen. Unless surgery is on the table. Also, have you looked at the standings? You didn't answer my question. You just said you didn't think it would happen. I would not do it.

I would not touch that. No. You don't see any benefit to that? I don't. I mean, the rest isn't really. He said it's helping a little, but we saw him come back from three and a half weeks. Well, three weeks and three months, that's a different ballgame. I don't think you can miss three months and expect him to be.

You want him to be back to what he is, right? At his best? Ideally, obviously, that's in the best interest. I don't even think that would... Is that going to get him back to what he was last year? I'm not sure anything will, though, at this point. Then I'd rather... I'd rather have him. Because the standings are pretty close. They're not that far off from being in the wild

card. Tampa's coming. Well, Tampa's coming. Well, Tampa's got a bunch of games in hand. You just got to be careful. You can't assume this. You can't, but again, when it comes to his scenario and how he's feeling and how he's going to be playing, I think it's completely unpredictable at this point, too. Who's to say he doesn't return next week, take another hit,

and he's out for another month and a half? Ultimately, he's going to control it. Matthews isn't just going to put his hand up and say i'm going on long-term ir that's not going to happen and if he if he's going to play if he wants to play he's going to play like that that's the way it's going to happen but i'm saying if i'm in the background i'm at least contemplating every possibility because you ask the question how does this affect what they're going to do moving forward you got to have a concrete answer on what this guy is and what i don't i don't think you're going to have a clearly they don't have a concrete answer on what this guy is. Clearly, they don't have a concrete

answer. I mean, listen, you referenced Perube. No timeline. You'd love to have a timeline. We don't know. When he's ready to play, he'll play. That's it. I just wonder if now you look at your team and you say, you know what? We have to get someone better than X. Because maybe Matthews... David Kampf? Yeah,

exactly. Your number two center right now when he's not playing. Maybe you need someone better. You look back to last year. I remember arguing about this with you. And you were like, man, maybe it's the year you just kind of like. And they should have in retrospect. And this is why.

Because you just never know if your team is going to be healthy. You just don't know. Well, yeah, you can never predict the future. But this was, I remember arguing with you. Because I didn't think they were a good enough team. I know, but. Which they weren't. I remember one of my things I said to you is like,

you can't assume you're going to get this Matthews every year. Well, exactly. Now, again, we don't have to revisit the conversation from a year ago, but the point I was making last year was, I didn't think they were good enough to win a Stanley Cup. Like, I didn't see any trade that was going to be made that would put them in a position to do that. Do you see that now?

Well, again, I think a healthy Austin Matthews changes the complexion of this team. I do think with Tanev here, Ekman Larson here, if their goaltending is healthy, which it wasn't in the playoffs, again, something you couldn't necessarily predict, but also when we were having that conversation, Ilya Samsonov was a

disaster. Yes, you could have foreseen that you might need another vote. Am I more comfortable with who they are today than they were last year? Absolutely. And I think everyone probably is, and I would think Brad Trier Living Company are. But the assets and what you have available and who you're chasing and what you're willing to pay, these are complicated conversations to have. You have $13 million.

If you do the LTIR. That's not going to happen. It's complicated conversations to have. You have $13 million. If you do the LTIR. That's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. There's also not a lot to even go out. What do you have to give up? You're going to give up Easton Cowan? Fraser Minton? You don't have a first-round pick this year,

so you've got to dig deep and go three years down the road. That's the issue. What do they have in the farm system? What do they have in terms of picks to even go out and get someone of significance? Like, if Brock Nelson's a guy that people are buzzing about, Brock Nelson's going to cost you a pretty penny to get. Like, he's going to cost, you know, Yanni Gord, that's not the impact player you're talking about. Yanni Gord's not changing anything.

No. Good player, depth player, not an impact player. Good third. Not a top six guy. Not even close. You're not trying to get a top six. You're trying to get a top six. But you are, though. You a top six guy. Not even close. You're not trying to get a top six. You're trying to get a top six. But you are, though.

You're saying that you can't have David. You're saying you need a second line center. Someone who can at least elevate and step into a top. Like, Yanni Gord's not going to give you that. But a Brock Nelson. He could. Or go back down the Ryan O'Reilly train. Those guys can give you competent two-way third line center roles,

but then also in a pinch, an injury occurs, move up and play two seeds. But see, I know you two. You're not going to be willing to get in the game. You're going to be like, that's off limits. That's off limits. That's off limits. Well, it depends on who it is, though. It's difficult to have these conversations without knowing who we're talking about.

Like, if you're, you know, again, if you're talking about a guy who's got no term left. Who would be the top ad in your opinion right now? If you were out there on the market, you haven't looked into it yet? No, I have a list going. Yeah. Are you going to?

I'm not going to give you my list. Give us your number one guy. Ryan O'Reilly and Brock Nelson to me would be two of the top guys, I think. Like I would love to bring Ryan O'Reilly back into the fold. That would be a player I would have significant interest in. I would be reluctant to do that. I mean, two years ago, I don't know where his wheels are anymore. I don't know. Like, Nashville is a mess.

It's not his fault individually, but he's still got what left on his deal? Two more years? I don't know. I thought he was really good for them. He also chose not to be here, right? Yeah, exactly. You've got to ask yourself how you feel. Now, Berube's his coach now.

Berube being back, you don't think that changes the equation a bit? It could. Want to con Smythe with Craig Berube? It could. Could. Yeah. I would love to bring in... Okay, so hypothetically.

Yes. So you call up Nashville, you call up Barry Trost, and you say, we want Ryan O'Reilly. What are you prepared to give up? I mean, Ryan O'Reilly, it's interesting because he's got a little bit of age to him, but I probably would think about moving out from a Fraser Minton. I think I would put that in. That's a start.

Probably, I think Easton Cowan would be my only guy who I would not want to move out for Ryan O'Reilly. Okay, you've got to keep going because that's not enough. Fraser Minton. Oh, putting together a package here? Yeah, keep going. You think it's going to cost that much for Ryan O'Reilly at that age? Yeah.

If I'm Barry Trotz, I would hang up the phone if that's your offer. Minton, they got, what, a second rounder this year? You're going to take more than that? Yeah. Take Nick Roberts. He'll go jump from the bridge. Take Nick Roberts. Why am I doing that like they need they need centers like yeah well i mean unless they want to get out from underneath

contracts and feel like we've messed up here we gotta we gotta change something you know i'd have to look at his contract too he might have a no trade i believe he has no move yeah so i mean that's another thing he that may be completely off the table he may just not want to come back here yeah i mean they wanted to sign him. I don't even know if O'Reilly is an option. Maybe not. That's the problem. Is Lou Lamorello going to deal someone of substance to Toronto?

I don't know. Not for nothing. Yeah, you'd have to pay. Of course. And there's other teams that also want these players. Nazem Kadri is a name that comes up. But Calgary's back in a playoff spot now. That and the tree-living situation.

You talk about Lou, tree-living's in the same boat. So there's your answer, Jonas. It doesn't even matter what you're willing to pay. If the player's not available, it doesn't matter. I know, so you have to get what's available, right? But that doesn't answer your problem. If you're just getting someone just to get someone yeah what does that do for you but the option is to not get someone and be in the

situation you were last year where you lose in the first round it's like great you kept everything yeah again though if it's a guy that you don't think fills the hole what what are you accomplishing by getting somebody someone better than what you have like even are they like is how good is yanni gourd no i don't hate yanni gourd i just think you have. Are they? How good is Yanni Gord? No, I don't hate Yanni Gord. I just think you have to be realistic. What do you think Yanni Gord really is? A third-line center. Better third-line center than what they have now.

Okay. Correct. That's not going to cost you that much. Definitively. Yes, it will. For a third-line center? Yes, because every team needs centers. You look at what prices were paid for guys like that last year.

It's first-round picks. Adam Henrik cost a first-round pick. Yes, I think Henrik's a better player. Alex Wenberg last year cost a second-round pick. I would say that's where he is. Yeah. Maybe a second-round pick. But if multiple teams need him and one team is like, we'll give you a

first. Well, obviously, then that's where you have to make a decision. Is it actually worth it for you to do that? Well, and this is where we diverge. I know, because you would go all in every single year. Until you win a... But they've won one round, though, Jonah. Yes, exactly.

At some point, you have to have faith in the guys that you've actually built and committed to to say, you guys need to go do this for me. That's what I don't... That's not a way to manage. Yes, it is, because they did their heavy lifting with Tanev, who came in, who they couldn't pay the price for last year. Dallas paid, right?

Now you got him. Ekman Larson was a guy that they've paid. Stolarz is a guy who has a better backup option. I think the heavy lifting was done in the offseason. I think in a perfect world, you add, sure, but if the guy's not there, the guy's not there. But the guys are there. Or if it's going to cost you an exorbitant price that you're not comfortable

at paying, then you have to be smart there, too. But do you want to get to the end of the year, losing the first round, losing the second round? Do you think Yanni Gord is the determining factor of a first and second round? Maybe, because maybe in those situations, if I'm the coach, instead of having to use John Tavares,

or like last year, they had to use John Tavares, all these difficult they had to use John Tavares all these difficult matchups defensive zones starts galore now I can give those to Gord and now maybe I can get John Tavares starting on offense more and maybe now instead of scoring one goal he scores three goals and suddenly you win that series and then you go on and suddenly Marner has a series Neal has a series and then maybe you go on a long cup run I don't know okay yanni edmonton traded for adam henrik and i remember i was like you can't pay a first round pick for adam henrik they went to the cup final granted their best players were outstanding that's a very important detail yes

but connor mcdavid but they still said we have a hole in our roster we were going to try to improve it and we improved it and they did and then they brought him back. And it hasn't gone as great for him this year, but still. Whatever. I hear you. Listen, perfect world. I'd love to. They were playing Pontus Holmberg as their second line center. He's like one of the worst offensive players in the league.

Yes, I understand that. As their second line center like two days ago. Yeah, well, again, in large part because of the big guys out. I mean, obviously, Matthew. You should have better options than Pontus Holmberg. But that's why, you know who will be that at some point? Fraser Minton. But he's not right now.

I understand that, Jonas. But this is why we, and I'm not going to go around in circles. When you trade away picks and prospects every single year, then you get there and go, why don't we have anybody? Because you keep trading them. You know what also happens? You think a prospect is going to be something he's not. He doesn't become it, and you're like,

man, we really should have given up that guy. Timothy Lilligren. Oh, man, I can't give that guy up. I thought he was the greatest thing in the world. Not to me. I've never said that. I thought all the numbers were that the guy was the greatest. Those people are me did not agree.

Didn't you write about Topi this week? I thought I saw you write something about Topi. No, that was Josh Cole. I'm not. No, that guy's not. Is D'Amelo a superstar of the future? Well, that's the thing. He's not even anywhere. He's got no trade value

or anything nowadays. They're shiny and nice and most of the time they're just not anything of such. So you're not going to reveal any of your list? I can pull it. You don't have to. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I don't want to put you in a bad place. I don't want to do that. But I'm curious what you're thinking.

I'm curious what you're thinking. I'm curious what you're thinking. It's not like they're not trading for superstars. No, of course not. They're not available. Right. They're good players that help. Jonas' list. If you're the GM, you're just like putting your feet up on the table, relaxing.

I think at some point, if you've committed all this money to all these players, you've got to look at them and say, guys, it's on you. You've got to do it yourselves. At some point, you have to do, guys, it's on you. You've got to do it yourselves at some point. You have to do it. But that, I guess, is where my concern is, Jonas. If you think they've gone this long without playoff success

because of the Pontus Holmbergs of the world, exactly. It's because Austin and Mitch and Willie and John and Morgan, they don't step up when they're supposed to. Morgan's been a really good playoff performer. You can have both Willie and John and Morgan, they don't step up when they're supposed to. Well, they kind of did that last year, though. Morgan's been a really good player. But those are two.

You can have both things. You can improve the roster, and you can also say your best players need to be better. Both things can be true. Ideally, that is the case. I mean, the Kansas City Chiefs have gone out and gotten players to help. They traded for DeAndre Hopkins. They did not compare the Kansas City Chiefs to the Toronto Maple Leafs, though. Good luck. Please do not compare the two.

Let's get serious, Jones. Mark Masters. I'm exhausted. We're only 30 minutes in, man. I was low energy coming in here, too. I've been off for a week. All right. Canada, check you tonight. This will be uplifting. We get to talk about Canada.

Glass half full moving forward. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. The weekend brings Hurry Up Tomorrow to Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only. Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flights, and hotel from tripcentral.ca plus $500 cash. For your chance to win, enter every everyday at iHeartRadio.ca

and iHeartRadio experience the weekend in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca, the smarter way to book travel. All right, Overdrive continues. Brought to you by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Hayes, Jonas Siegel, Al's brother in here, Mark Masters, live from Ottawa in about 25 minutes. On Fando, Canada is a massive favorite in this hockey game tonight.

I understand the way books have to work because Canadians are going to be betting on the game. Are you going to hedge? I don't see how you can put money on Canada. I love being Canadian. I love this country. I'm the proudest Canadian. It was at minus 450 earlier today.

You can't pay that kind of juice. Is that what you would do? Hedge and then you're winning every way? It's probably the smart play is to sprinkle on Czechia, and then if Canada wins, patriotism comes pouring out, and you're so happy for them. But the way they've played, how could you possibly feel confident that they're going to win tonight?

You can't. It feels like a coin flip game tonight. And that's saying something in the quarterfinals on home ice. That's what it is, a coin flip game. They very well could win the game. And this tournament has always been two separate tournaments within one the group stage is about boxing day and new year's big games right finland and the u.s on new new year's eve beating up on inferior teams stacking this the game sheet

and then it's about the elimination round and the beauty of this tournament is it really starts tonight in terms of how you're going to be remembered. So Canada has the ability to completely rewrite itself and rewrite history and completely reestablish their reputation. But if they lose tonight, this team is going to be remembered for a long, long time, and none of it will be positive. You're already hearing, like, text chains have been all over it,

Twitter's all over it, like, oh, this might be the worst team that Canada's sent in a very long time. And, I mean, you look at the numbers, they've scored five goals at five-on-five through round robin. They played Loppy in Germany. Usually, they've doubled that number in those

one games and scored 10 goals right it's lafayette last year and they only have five through four games at five on five against those teams like it's they can't score they can't set a penalty box it's just been a parade to the penalty box for these guys and it's just it's really disappointing because it's supposed to be a tournament that Canada always, if not dominates, is top two team, them and the Americans, and it just has not been the case this year. It hasn't been

really been that fun to watch it, to be quite honest with you. It's disappointing, yeah it is, because offensively, as you just pointed out, there has been nothing. Nobody has stood out. They don't have a guy who scored two goals in the tournament. It's just no one has popped out. That Schaefer kid is near the top of their points ranking.

He played one game. He played two games. Two games. He played two games. And then you look at the way they've lost and the fact that it's on home soil. Playing in Canada is supposed to be a massive home ice advantage yeah but it can quickly flip when you run into a situation like this and that is my concern for them tonight is that i think there's going to be a lot of nervous energy

in that building i think the team has got to be very nervous and i think they're also going to be hyper focused on being disciplined which will take in large part, what allows them to have that home ice advantage, which is aggressiveness. Aggressiveness and physicality and intimidation. Like you're playing a Czechia team tonight. This should be a scenario on Canadian soil where the first 10 minutes is bedlam. And Czechia is thinking, we have to survive here because these kids are going to come out and they are going to be all over us. Dump and

chase, running people through the boards, going to the net hard. And it feels as if that has flipped where it's like Canada's got to survive the first 10 minutes. I was watching the game the other night, the Germany game, and I thought Gord and Mike did a really good job of explaining, like, detailing the

looks on some of the players' faces and how tight they looked in the warm-up. And Mike brought it up throughout the game. The crowd was ready to burst, and they just never capitalized on it. And eventually, the crowd tapered off as the game wore on. You know what I mean? They didn't take advantage of the fact that they were at home.

I don't know. It'll be more pressure-packed tonight because it's elimination, right? Well, that's a good check of your team, too. Like, this is a good squad. I think they lead the tournament in scoring. They got 25 goals through round robin. And that goaltender is no joke, either. Michael Rabel, kid, he's a good goaltending prospect for Utah.

I think he's got, what, a 9.268 percentage in the tournament right now, like a 2.47 goals against, I believe. Like, it's a good goal. So a team that's been struggling to score, you're running up against one of the best attendees in the game. Now, Canada's got one of them also. Carter George has been outstanding, right? He wasn't necessarily the problem the night against the Americans.

When you're shorthanded, give up three power play goals, it's tough. It's obviously tough. But, like, that's the thing. This is, and they lost last year in the quarterfinals to the Czechie team, did they not? If I recall, didn't they lose last season in the quarters to this team? No. Was it last? I don't know.

You've put me on the spot, Al's brother. I can't remember. I could have swore it was last year. And this is the worst Canadian team. Two years ago was in Halifax. And a better Czech team. Right. Yeah, no.

Well, I mean, that's the scenario that they've played themselves into by losing to the Americans, is, like, look at what U.S. is doing to Switzerland today, like, just blowing the doors off a team. Historically, that has been the case for Canada. You get a layup in the quarters where you know you're into the metal round at a minimum, but

now you've got a very difficult scenario on your hands. Would you play McKenna more? Yes. Yeah. Because I was watching that game, I was like, like man every time he comes on the ice i notice him but he doesn't seem to play that much i was just looking up he plays like 14 and a half minutes maybe boost that i don't know well i mean one thing i would say is they've been killing so many penalties right he doesn't kill penalties so he's not going to get on the ice there if it's five on five he should be playing a ton because he i believe he is their their most offensively you know dynamic dynamic player for sure and he has looked good to me yeah like watching him but

it's always like that 13th like you've talked about it like the the young player yeah he's got a cage on yeah not trusting on yes exactly that's the bigger thing is i don't think dave cameron completely trusts him yeah but they always seem to end up being the best player by the end of the tournament yeah you're like why didn't they play that guy more but dard two years ago but dard that he was kind of that guy and then last year the same thing with celebrini and now you've got this kid and it's like eventually just take the reins off and let him go because that's what they're all that's what he's there to do and he is so dynamic like this guy's got unbelievable hands like that goal like he's he's tank worthy like you know what's got unbelievable hands. He's tank-worthy.

You know what's coming. Next year, he's not in this year's draft. Next season, there will be, from camp onward, who's going to get this kid. And, yeah, listen, I think we're all pulling for them, clearly. The beauty of a tournament like this is you don't have to be objective. You don't have to be a journalist or anything like that you can simply just root for them right right jonas i'm not covering them so sure you don't feel comfortable rooting for canada no it'd be like it would be like if i was covering

them and i was like well we have to do this yeah i don't think you need to go that far necessarily i wouldn't put myself in the room like i'm not saying that necessarily but i can you know it's and i get it that it is more difficult if you're covering i know bob mckenzie said it forever that he used to get emotionally invested in the games he's like i gotta take a step back here and just be like i don't have anything to do with it i'm gonna call it the way i see it i think that's fair but on the outside looking in it's uh i'm nervous for them like i'm nervous for these kids because it's Ottawa, it's Canada. If you lose in the quarters, you've already had a terrible group stage, relatively speaking.

You just don't want to go out that way, man. You just don't want to go out that way. Mark Masters in about 20 minutes. Luke Wilson coming up at 5.30. We'll get into all the storylines leading into Week 18. We will have picks as well for Week 18. We'll get to that. And Saquon Barkley not playing this weekend at home against the Giants.

He's 100 yards behind Eric Dickerson, and he's not going to play. Sounds like he wants to, but the Eagles coaching staff not going to allow it to happen. So we'll get into that more as well with Luke. And the Leafs, of course, in action tonight. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. The weekend brings Hurry Up Tomorrow to Rose Bowl Stadium in Los Angeles on January 25th for one night only.

Get there with iHeartRadio. Two tickets to the show, flights, and hotel from tripcentral.ca plus $500 cash. For your chance to win, enter every day at iHeartRadio.ca. And iHeartRadio Experience, the weekend in L.A. Powered by TripCentral.ca, the smarter way to book travel. All right, Mark Masters from Ottawa, ahead of the quarterfinals for Canada tonight.

It was checky. They lost to them in the quarters last year. 3-2. So let's hope for a different fate for the Canadians tonight. Mark Masters will join us. Luke Wilson coming up. College playoffs continue. NFL playoffs.

By this time next week, we're gearing up for the playoffs, man. By this time next week, we're gearing up for the playoffs, man. And what I've noticed in my time off is the Josh Allen MVP conversation has obviously taken a bit of a turn, has it not? It was like slam dunk, slam, no question. And now it's like, oh, maybe it's Lamar. Three weeks ago, it was proclaimed it's over. He's minus 900. Three weeks ago, he was minus 900.

And now what is he? Yeah, look that up. Because I thought I saw it was something like minus 150. Three weeks ago, he was minus 900. And now what is he? Yeah, look that up. Because I thought I saw it was something like minus 150. He's still the favorite. He's still minus 400 on FanDuel? Okay, so that's still pretty substantial. It was down to 250 last week. Yeah.

And then he had the game that he had against the Jets, and people are goofing on Rodgers, and it puts you back into the, you know. And I think the Pro Bowl announcements helped him as well. Only a couple of Bills made it. A bunch of Ravens made it no patrick mahomes yeah 15 and one and doesn't make the pro bowl yet you look at his stats you can understand yeah why that's the case yeah you know there someone did a compare and contrast i think it was with aaron rogers actually if you look at the mahomes stats and aaron ro stats, player A, player B, you

wouldn't know who was different. You wouldn't know who was who. Which team was a 15-1 quarterback and which was a 4-12? Yeah. You wouldn't know the difference. Now, there's obviously more context that comes with the numbers because he's...

Jets are from behind all the time. Exactly. There's a lot of different reasons why Rodgers might be padding stats or whatever it is. Exactly. And Mahomes in a scenario where it's like, let's just run the clock out, whatever it is.

But the Chiefs have won a lot of one-score games, a lot of close games. If you guys both had a vote for MVP, who would you pick? Allen. Both Allen? Yes. You?

I think so. He has been. It's not that Lamar hasn't been great. It's just like I look at Derrick Henry. I'm just like, yeah, he doesn't have Derrick Henry. Well, that's it. My ultimate, I won't call it a mic drop, but I always look at it and I say, if you took Lamar Jackson off the Ravens and you took Josh Allen off the Bills,

which team's offense would suffer more? And undoubtedly, it is Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. So when you look at most important player, most valuable player, he has the most value to his team. And his numbers have been phenomenal. He's cut down the turnovers substantially. Lamar has been great. Lamar Jackson's phenomenal.

But I think Allen has been better than him this year. And I think it will go Allen 1, Jackson 2. Saquon Barkley is now out of it. Will Mahomes be in the top five or no? I don't think he will be. I think Joe Burrow will be ahead of Mahomes. Joey B is the guy getting a lot of late love. And yet they may not make the playoffs.

They need multiple things to break their way, including themselves actually beating Pittsburgh on the weekend. We'll get to that more in hour two. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app.