OverDrive - OverDrive - January 31, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: January 31, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the trade between the Flames and Flyers, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost heading to Calgary and Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier going with Philadelphia and the NHL salary cap increasing. Edmonton Oilers General Manager Stan Bowman joins to discuss the Oilers' season views, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl leading the way and the salary cap's impact to the team.

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This Hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, Overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker. And up on TSN 4 Brian Hayes, Jamie Noodles, McClennan and there's Dave Best, Chuck of the Toronto Star. What's going on? How are we feeling today? How's everyone doing today? Not bad. Everyone's okay? Everyone's feeling alright? I don't know I'm fired up guys

I mean I think we've got you know the NHL is gonna spend some money or I mean not the NHL but they've opened up the doors for teams to spend some money Hayes I could see the smile on your face yeah this is interesting I don't recall anything ever happening like this in 20 years of salary cap you know the salary cap world we lived in where the NHL or any other league makes a projection on what the caps gonna look like three years out. Yeah. But the insiders were reporting that last night.

I saw Darren Dreger say that they were hoping to hold off until the four nations face off. I guess everyone got wind of it so they said, screw it, man. We're just going to send it out now. And the NHL and the PA again are forecasting significant salary cap bumps. It's currently 88 million. That's what the salary cap is this year. That's the ceiling of the cap. Next year, it will be 95.5 million.

After the year after that, 104, the year after that, 113.5 million. In other words, it's going up 25 million in three years. So that's, yeah, it's a lot of money. I mean, obviously it says that the league, they survived COVID. Remember everything was, we don't know if we can keep going and we're in big trouble here.

Remember Gary Lane and on thick. I don't know if we can play. I don't know if we're going to survive this. Now all of a sudden the cap has skyrocketed and they have been forecasting this for a while that it would bump up. Just, we didn't necessarily have exact numbers and these could fluctuate a little bit but tell me if I'm wrong I don't remember knowing the cap or having an idea of what it could be

three years from now. Yeah I don't remember them ever saying hey here's a three-year run and what is the benefit of doing that I'm not sure obviously the PA wants it maybe the GMs want it I'm always a little curious like what's the league getting out of this? Well, that's what I always wonder, right? And I think with the league, if you have a kind of skeptical eye at this, you might be saying to yourself, wait a second here, you know, the league's in process of negotiating a new CBA with the players. So good news, and hey guys, look how great our league's doing right now. That's maybe a good thing to throw out there when you're negotiating with a party.

Right. To make them feel good. They're feeling good about their lives. Maybe take out some of the, if there are people in that, you know, there's always hawks in the players union that want more and want to go harder at the commissioner and want to negotiate harder. This may soften those hawks a little bit or make it tougher for the hawks to make the argument that they need to go harder at the

league. Yeah, I agree. Because all he has to do is say, point to it and go, look at how well we're doing. And it's just magical all of a sudden that the escrow is off the table now and guys are going to get a little rebate check. To me, you're heading into the age of okay like the league has done well you guys we've been talking about this forever I played in the late 90s Chris Pronger was making 10 million a year the top paid player this year is who Matthew said what 13

five point two five yeah yeah that's what 25 years later where basketball's at 60 million guys are making a year or whatever, and I go different sports, different TV contracts, I understand that. But you would think that the league would have kind of progressively grown and it really hasn't from the top down. And to me, I think this is a good sign. Now I will say with the Canadian dollar and what's going on, it could get ugly. If a team's spending $113 million, that's $170 or whatever it is. Yeah, it's a lot of money, man.

The exchange rate is brutal right now. Yeah, I am curious about that as well. There's going to be the haves and the have-ns, but with a ceiling comes a floor as well. So if it gets to 113.5 million, there are percentages that are steeped into the CBA where you have to meet that. I don't know exactly what that number is or what that projects to, but it may very well lead to some teams saying,

we're gonna floor it, and we know what teams those are likely to be, and some teams that are gonna just straddle the bottom. And I guess we're gonna have to sort that out as we as we move forward here. And I'm sure Canadian teams and smaller Canadian markets are nervous about that. But if you're a bigger Canadian market like the leaves, it should be irrelevant. I mean, it's it better be irrelevant. You know, you can't start claiming, wow, wait a Max Scherzer, you just gave fifteen

point five million. Right. You can't come back and say, well, we, you know, we don't want to get quite to that level when it comes to the maple leaves. So it's, it's a lot of money that's going to be available. A lot of flexibility. What I can guarantee you is there will be stupid contracts and managers will screw this up. That is never going to stop. It doesn't matter if the cap is 10 million or 113 million. There will be managers that screw it up, hand out dumb contracts, and then get handcuffed

and say, we just don't have room. Right. Like, well, here's your opportunity, right? You can weaponize this. And I know in Toronto, everyone's looking towards Marner and Tavares, and I understand that. I don't look at this as, oh, now you just give them what they want because you have the freedom to do it. I look at it the complete opposite way. I said look at how much room you have to weaponize here. Like if, do not change

your stance one iota if you're the Maple Leafs because if it's with Marner, if it's with Tavares or if it's not, you're going to have tens of millions of dollars to spend and to really flex your muscles over the next three or four years where you can completely reshape the way you do business and reshape the whole roster based on this level of flexibility. It is a, it should be an, it's an incredible opportunity. The question is, will they seize it? Will the Leafs seize it? And will the other teams that have the money and that are willing to spend to the ceiling, will they seize it? We don't have that answer right now. But it's a great opportunity

to really flex your muscles and again, weaponize cap space. Yeah, but the cap space goes fast, right? Like that looks like, man, they could spend $30 million. Well, if Marner gets exactly what he got the last time he signed, which is 13.4% of the salary cap, that's a $12.7 million cap it going forward. If he gets a little raise, which I think he might want, I think he's going to demand judging by past behavior and past negotiations, even if he goes to 14% of the cap, which would put him under Matthews' current deal, which was like 15% of the cap, that's 13.5 million.

That's almost half your cap space gobbled up by one guy right there. Exactly. Snap of the fingers. Exactly. Stroke of the pen. Yeah. That's where you need value contracts. I look at teams that have depth that go

Okay, I'm I'm all right paying my third line left winger 4.25 million because the top of my roster makes nine and I don't know nine and a half ten You know you name it you still to your point Brian You can't be crazy can't be a drunken sailor just because you think you got a few extra dollars I did think though with the cap bumping up next year, will that allow managers to be a little bit more aggressive at the deadline here? Maybe what I mean by this, if you trade for somebody who has term left, that now it's not just grabbing an unrestricted free agent guy because, oh, that's an expiring

contract we can deal with this summer. If you covet somebody and he's got another year or two on his deal, you can work that into your plan moving forward and the cap moving up. So, I think if anything, this projected cap, you're like, okay, I am going to have a little bit of extra money to play with in the interim right now if I want to sign a guy or I'm sorry trade for a guy who has a few years left on his deal that is cost certainty. So I kind of thought about that. I'm just thinking you get crazy if it's the Cadres or it's a Jacob Trubas got another

year on his deal. Guys like that who I don't know what Calgary is doing. That's a massive trade last night. We will get into that. That's your guy, Brian. I love Morgan Frost. Always been a Morgan Frost guy. Shout out to Andy Frost, the whole Frost crew. And speaking of those two, they fought last night. I love Nozom Kadri so much. Like, Truba buried him twice. Buried him. And the second time he said screw it, we're going. That's it. I had enough.

I'm getting up and going right at you. They need, I would do anything to have Nazem Kadri back in Toronto. Throw all caution to the wind. I would approach her like I do the Scherzer deal. It's just great to have him in town. Just have him here. He's a big personality. He's a great guy.

I want to see Naz back in Toronto. And nobody wants to be here more than Naz. That's right. Never wanted to leave. Exactly. He did everything he could to stop the trade, right? He said, I'm not going here, I'm not going there. Originally, he wasn't going to Calgary.

No dice. Here's the thing. They love him there and they're making moves around. They're playing well right now. They're playing well and they're battling for a playoff spot. I don't think, if anything, I love the move for Calgary on a couple different fronts Craig Conroy got younger and more skilled You know and now Peltier is a nice player whose men's whose man goes Yeah, whose man goes sorry is a he's a wild card and he's older. He's not like he's 22. I believe he's 28

He's 29. I think so. Yeah, so I mean to me you get Farabee and you get Frost and you kind of have them fall into that retool in the middle of that group there. They're you know they're not 31 but they're not 21 they're in that mid-20s like to me I really like the deal. Yeah I think it's a smart play because you know Farabee had a fair amount of points. He had 50 points last year. Yeah. Like he plays with some bite like, and Morgan Frost is a guy who's really smart and really talented.

And he just didn't mix with Tortorella. Like Tortorella just not a mix and he's not alone. There's a line up like get the back of the line cause there's a, and Kuzmenko's got something coming his way when he rolls into town and Torts is waiting for him. Even Torts had the Russian in the Kuba change. I had Mitch Gov last night. Yeah.

He's losing his mind on Mitch Gov. He's barely playing him. Well, that was a lazy... In plan as they're being. I will say that was a lazy play that cost them the goal against. Absolutely. But, you know, and then they pulled. Didn't Frost get pulled halfway through the game?

I think everyone who got traded got pulled, didn't they, Luke? Well, that's what I... This is what always fascinates me. We're talking about a salary cap. That's going to be 113.5 million. This is a league that generates billions and billions of dollars. You have all day to work out a trade. Now we'll figure it out after puck drop.

Like you really couldn't have like crossed the D's and dotted the eyes before the game. That happens every once in a while. Yeah. Our buddy, Mike Kamelari, remember Cami famously got traded halfway through. I think he once in a while. Yeah. Our buddy, Mike Camilleri, remember Cammie famously got traded halfway through. I think he was in Calgary maybe. He was either in Montreal or Calgary. He was one or the other. And like second period, they're like,

Cammie, you gotta go, man. You just got dealt. We asked him that. I remember interviewing him on that. And he's like, it was the most surreal moment of my career. Yeah. That's right. You're out there grinding and playing and giving it your all. and then all of a sudden

you get pulled out of the game halfway through and told you're traded. I would guess Morgan Frost was doing cartwheels down the high stepping. See it towards, right? He probably gave it to the old you're cool, you're cool, you're cool, you know what, you're cool, I'm out. Yeah, Mitch Cobb might have been saying, can I go with you guys? Right, exactly. cool you know what you're cool i'm out and it's got a lot of it said can i go with you guys right exactly exactly the program there they've they're on point and you know what we had any brayer on a couple weeks ago and brayer said like this they're all on on the same page

and internally like there are guys you're right there are guys who are going to struggle with the way that court towards coaches but there's other guys are like i have no problem problem with it so to me it's it's how it affects you individually you guys know I played for Joel Quinnville who was demanding but very fair I played for Darrell Sutter I played for Mike Keenan like like I I loved them because they I knew exactly where I stood now you didn't love every day sometimes there was a struggle but you but at the end of the

day, I think, and it's all right for trades to work out for both sides. I witnessed it last night. Jacob Chickren plays for the Washington Capitals and Nick Jensen plays for the Ottawa Senators. That's a trade. I talked to both sides, they're like, we're really happy with our player. And it's all right to have a trade where it works out for both sides yeah well what philly's doing here is they're looking for cap space and and they're committing to what they've they've launched a year or two ago yeah like they're not that good they know

they're not that good what i find interesting is calgary is kind of straddling the line but you understand why because they've exceeded so many expectations this year and they played well again these are young players they they haven't acquired guys in their 30s here these are guys who are still in their mid 20s still finding their way into the league that that can help them today and into the future so i think it makes sense on both sides but i think what philly's doing is getting out from underneath contracts and bringing in picks and they want flexibility and again this gets back to how we started the show with the cap going up so much. Billy's always been a spender, like historically

in the Ed Snyder days. And I don't know exactly where they are today in terms of ownership, but you have the potential to again, really weaponize salary cap room in the next two or three years, where if you can bring in young kids, bring them up maybe get ahead of it and sign them before they really pop, then you get them under contract at a lower number, that opens the door to really do some damage.

And I think that's the way Philly's playing it. And I don't think they should be alone. You look at Montreal now, they've lost four in a row, right? And everyone's starting to turn on Linay. I noticed that. Patrick, the last three games, just kind of floating around, not doing much. I noticed Habs fans are like, what's going on with this guy? Oh, you haven't seen him play? Yeah, what's happening with Patrick Lyon area?

It is, you know what? I believe Montreal, the highs and the lows, I've said this, I'm going to be consistent. I didn't think they were a playoff team, but I think they played meaningful minutes and wailed down the stretch. The goalie injury is going to hurt them because he's played really well. Crushing them, man. But at the end of the day, Montreal went on that run. And what happens, expectations, I don't, I hope internally the expectations didn't change. Like, hey, we're on a pathway. We like some of our young players. This Hudson kid is going to be a really great player.

We got the Demidov kid coming from the Russia like they've got a plan there It sounds like they got a young goaltender that they're given an opportunity, you know They got their starter like I think their framework is in good shape But what's happened is everyone's got all excited in Montreal It's a good and rightfully so you go of course even two or whatever It was a great run and there's still there's still kind of in it But you lose four in a row you're in trouble. And again, what happened? It's like what do you do with Jake Evans? What do you do now with David Savard? What like and this is what we talked about a few weeks ago and again with these numbers coming out with these projections if I'm Montreal

If Molson's willing to spend which I think he will be but like Montreal's in a weird place Because again the Canadian dollar and all that they've had struggles in the past They're incredibly valuable. They're gonna sell they're gonna make some money But if you're in a position where you know, you're willing to spend to that by Montreal I'm still loading up thinking like two years down the road Where you've got guys under contract like Coffield like Suzuki like Slavkovsky. You've got Hudson under control You've got kids coming like you just mentioned, you got your gold tenders who you think you figured out,

you can really get in on some big money. You know, like if you go look at a guy like Miko Rantanen, he's probably looking at this thinking, okay, like that's why, now that I'm out of Colorado, I'm looking at 14 million a year or 15 million a year, maybe Marner does the same thing, you know, and I'm not linking them to Montreal necessarily, but those are the kind of teams that may look at it

and think we got the money to spend here. Yeah. And hey, it couldn't have been a better morning guys for the agents of Miko Rant and Mitch Marner. Yeah. To wake up and see, wait a second, caps going up that much? Are you guys ever going to be,

can you picture a scenario where the Leafs and Leaf fans are comfortable with Mitch Marner making more money than Auston Matthews? Well look I mean it might just be the simple math this is about percentages of the cap the cap rising and if you just like I just laid it out that 14% number which would only be a point six percent raise that he'd be getting in terms of his percentage of the cap that would take over matthews under this ninety five and a half million dollar projection right now so he doesn't have to make a lot more money

relative to what he was making against the cap to go above matthews because he's signing with the cap rising yeah i i i find it tough and i i'd, but I think you've got a scenario where this isn't Dreisaitl McDavid, you know what I mean? Mitch Marner has never, ever been arguably the best player on the planet or close to it or won a heart. Dreisaitl's different. So Dreisaitl did leap McDavid. But McDavid I did that what I

thought about seeing 113 I'm like how much is McDavid are going to chew up like we could he get 20 might get 20 million. Yeah, he might he might get 20 million that because he's coming up at the right time to write you know, so I, I think a lot of these players that are available, we can throw Sam Bennett into the mix that guy's going to be a very coveted, unrestricted free agent. Ranton and Marner, all the players that are coming up, yes, you're licking your chops, but are you again, coming back to Brian's original comment, are these managers going

to be stupid and just blow their brains out here? There might be somebody that gets crazy, but also you still have to, I think it's a great reset for a team that's too top heavy. Yeah. That's the way I look at it. My answer is, I think this stuff is irrelevant personally if I'm the Leafs. Like I might be willing to go to 13.25 million,

which is what Matthew's deal is. He didn't sign that five years ago either. Like this is the first year of his new deal. Like I don't care what the numbers project to be. I'm not paying anyone a penny more than Austin Matthews. And I think it would be, I think it would be malpractice to do that. And I'm not saying Marner shouldn't ask for it

or even Marner could make the case for why he should get it based on the percentages and everything that you're saying, Dave. But let's also not be naive here. Everyone knew that it was going this wasn't just today the league and the agents said oh wow I didn't realize it was going everyone knew it was coming everyone knew it was going up that's why Matthew's only signed for four years also because he wants to re-up and start making more

money I'm sure a few years from now and he very well could and he probably will but I'm not I'm not I I'm not, I'm doing, I'm taking my P's and Q's from what Colorado just did. And you referenced Dry Cytl and McDavid, I would apply the same logic to McCarr and McKinnon. McCarr, I'm willing to adjust my number for. You're going to have to, you won't have to. You have to, you have to, and you're going to.

I'm not doing it for Mitch. I wouldn't do it for Mico Rantanen either. I have an appreciation for what Colorado did. I got news for you. If you're not doing it for Mitch, you're probably not gonna sign him. Because this is the math the agents use, Brian. I understand that.

On an eight year deal, you're right. These guys are hardliners. I mean, like. Of course they are. But the Leafs are allowed to be too. That's my point, Dave. I'm not disputing that Mitch or anyone else has all the right in the world to negotiate in good faith. I'm not saying you're being greedy or stupid or anything. Everything you're laying out is factual. The team is responsible for team building.

I agree. It's the manager's responsibility to put forth a team philosophy and stick to it. Colorado said we're not doing it. That that management has won a Stanley Cup. That management has built a Stanley Cup. That management is looking at it and saying we're gonna weaponize now the flexibility that we have. We're gonna pay McKinnon. We're gonna pay McCarr and we're gonna work this out. It may or may not. It may work. It may not. It may work. It may not. But for me at some point you got to draw a line and if it's gonna go to 14 or 15 Yes, the caps going up. It's still gonna be way too much money to the same guys

Right and I'm again as I've said consistently throughout the year I'm not doing anything until after the playoffs anyway, right? I'm not doing any unless and even I wouldn't do this but I could see the Leafs doing this Okay, if you want to sign now but it's got to be under Matthews like if you want to sign right now for 13 million on an eight-year deal maybe they'd be willing to do that but I'm waiting to see how the playoffs play out and I think that's I think that's mandatory the way things have gone so far and I think you know Mitch has given himself an opportunity opportunity to do what he wants to do.

Yeah, he's a free agent. Absolutely. He's a free agent. So why wouldn't you see how this all shakes out and then you can figure it out on the back end? Unfortunately, this is where the biggest challenge is. We'll bring it home to Toronto. If he walks, what you're getting is cap space.

You're not getting an asset back like Colorado did. Colorado got cap space back because Neshkash makes less, and they got a player. Like they got a little bit of both where if Marner walks, they get cap space. They don't get Mitch Marner. Now you're chasing to find the replacement for Mitch Marner or change the dynamic of what your team looks like. So that's the haze you said the other day, glass half full, glass half empty. This is what we're going to be dealing with if Mitch Marner goes to free agency.

If you know where where do you replace him and you'll be looking for the new mitch marner or somebody or a different dynamic absolutely it's a listen it won't be easy i'm not saying that it's going to be easy but let's you know again it's easier to talk about this in terms of a pro marner pro core four january when they're playing regular season games right that's another element of it right like if if you if you go to the play if you get to the playoffs and they get knocked out again

That'll be nine years of Matthews Marner and Nylander with one playoff win How could you possibly justify continuing the philosophy you could justify guys you look at the TSN Top 25 midseason player rankings. Yeah,'s Mitch Marner, the highest ranked Leaf. Been outstanding. Number nine. He's been really good. Matthew's way down at 23. Was it nine on my list?

Matthew's at 23. Noodles, where was Matthew's on your list? He was top 10 for me. I'm sorry. That is asinine to me. That is crazy. Okay, so you accused me the other day of not understanding the assignment. I just had a tough time.

So let me clarify, Dave, when we went into this and we had a huge argument about it the other day. I have a tough time regardless of, you're right, Austin Matthews injury, not at the top of his game going, that player is better than that one. I just have a tough time doing it because I've seen the body of work. I know what they're capable of. And it's not like Matthews has two goals. He's got 20 in under 40 games. I just have a tough time going, Travis Connect is better than Austin Matthews in my head. And I know and I understand. I kind of booted the assignment. And Hayes was just proud as punch to not have McDavid at one.

I had McDavid at one. And he was at number one. He wasn't at one. He's not number one. Not two either. I would argue though, and this has the Quizmasters fingerprints all over it, he manipulates the numbers.

No, I don't think so. He 100% does. I don't believe that. And I know Kaz does and all of these guys, they change it around and all of a sudden it doesn't look. I think we should do a transparent ballot from them because I would love to see because I swear they change the numbers. Like they'd move it around like, oh, all of a sudden, because I'll get an email back

going, oh, it's funny you didn't have that guy on your list. And I'm like, yeah, I didn't have him on the list. Well, it's on their list. And so they bullied that guy into your list and i'm like yeah i didn't have a motherless what's on their list and so they they bullied that guy into the list somehow well i i i died yesterday with that the in the back door deals going on i don't see it that way whatsoever i'm having fun you guys know that i know that at the end of the day you know what dave i'd probably booted the assignment Well again to clarify what it is It's based on the play of everyone up to this point this season, right?

That's the that was what it was It's not projecting who's the best player the rest of the way or actually ranking best players Who would you have David would be number one there? Yeah, it's who has had the best year and listen I, I can reason with Matthew's, where was he? 23? I can reason with that. That's not outrageous. I'm not yelling and screaming about that.

I didn't personally have him top 25. That doesn't mean I'd have him 80th or something like that. He just hasn't played enough. And when he has played, I don't think he's been at the top of his game up until recently. But, you know, Dry Settle one, McKinnon two, McDavid three, Hellebuck four, Kucherov five.

That's your top five yeah i got you you know i i had a slightly different but not significantly different and here the other all great players have a great years here's my list just i'll give you the top seven that i had mckay david dry settle mckinnon hellebuck kucherov mckay mccarr hughes

i think that's the closer yeah that's great and they're all having great seasons and i really yeah you know absolutely i'd so i i don't think i booted at that bad but you know i just i felt i just had a tough time and i i'd rationalizing and it's not right or wrong but i just read i had a tough time not having a david at one and i understand rice i'd like one

deserves it i mean he's if if they're adding the heart out today he probably gets it right probably a i mean i i think he's he's not a lot here hello buck would be right there quinhus could be in the running and in the running there's a bunch of guys who have a great years but yeah uh... all right the lease are in edmonton tomorrow or they're they're practicing right now they're planning the orders tomorrow night

the bars is back nais is back it looks like stole ours is back So I think they're all gonna be in the lineup and playing tomorrow night doesn't mean stole ours will start But we'll get into that Stan Bowman coming up the GM of the oilers We'll catch up with him on this salary cap news that that has been handed out by the league today What it means for his team moving towards the trade deadline will tee up the game tomorrow and Mike Johnson coming up as well overdrive moving towards the trade deadline. We'll tee up the game tomorrow. And Mike Johnson coming up as well.

Overdrive continues, DSN 1050N on DSN4. All right, Overdrive continues powered by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Lisa and Edmonton practicing right now. Looks like Tavares will return, Nyes will return, Stollers will return. You know what I'm fascinated by?

What's that? Yanni Hakenpa is in Toronto skating. Alex Petrangelo has pulled out of the Four Nations faceoff before Yanni Hakenpa. Like this guy's still on the Finnish roster and he hasn't played and he's not even traveling with the team. Like, when is he going to pull the shoot on the Four Nations faceoff or is he just going to bomb out there and play 25 minutes? Well, is he going to replace haste get in all the

sudden like that's it you know i i mean the finished team they've they've lost uh... a player there like that i was going to play twenty two minutes or twenty four minutes but i don't know is hockey by you can't take him he's on the team he's on the finished team that i i i think they were assuming that he was going to play games Well, I'm just saying if Patranjali has already pulled the shoe, let's get a Yanni Hock and Pop presser going here

Enough enough Yanni. Come on. Yeah. All right, at least oilers tomorrow. Let's head out there Here's the GM of the Edmonton Oilers here's Stan Bowman. How you doing Stan? I'm doing great. How are you doing? We're doing well, we're just you know, talking about the four nations. I'm curious great how are you doing we're doing well we're just you know talking about the four nations I'm curious you know there is a defense spot available obviously for the Canadian team and there could be other injuries and other opportunities are you in a position to pitch your own guys like Evan Bouchard Zach Hyman are you in a position to do that with Doug Armstrong what is your role and you know how these teams are kind of fulfilling these different roles

that maybe they still have to have to find players for. Oh I'm not sure on their process or like how each country's done it to decide I think you know they have committees and they have like NHL GMs on there so I would imagine they're they're doing I don't know their process to be honest with you so I guess we'll we'll wait and see certainly we're happy to talk about the players on our team and explain how well they've played this season. And then at the end of the day, there's a lot of good players in Canada.

So it's a tough team to make, as you can imagine. But yeah, obviously I'm happy about the performance for our group here. And if they wanna know, I'd be I'm happy about the performance for our group here and If they want to know I'd be happy to promote our guys Well, you got a guy that played his first game the other night and it's drawn Klingberg You know, how did that situation come about and how happy are you that he you know landed in Edmonton with you? Yeah, well great to see him get a chance to play and oh he's worked very hard to get himself back it's been a long road for john uh...

you're looking back at the surgery and he really did uh... a lot of time preparing to get back to this point where you could play games uh... you know you work really hard at it and uh... the better press in the short time we've known him here. Very optimistic for what he's going to bring to our team. So he's looked great and he's only been here for whatever a week and a half and he finally got a chance

to play a game. I think when he gets, you know, it's hard jumping into a season 50 games in everyone else is playing that top level and you're just trying to get yourself up to speed and Practicing is when he's been practicing for a long time I think you need to get some games under your belt and I'm very encouraged where he's gonna be and I think we're gonna Help him get to that next level where he's got so much ability and so much talent. I think it's for him just being able to move to the better than he's moved in the

past, you know, he's never felt better with his hips. Uh, so that's a great sign. And, um, I'm excited to see how that looks when he's, you know, kind of in mid season form and he gets some more games under his belt. Dan, whenever there's international competition, there's always owners and GMs that are trepidatious about sending their players there for fear of injury or whatever might harm them. But I wonder, like, you know, I know McDavid's going and Canada expects it, but how happy, I guess, are you that there's no team Germany? Yeah, I mean, Leon's been outstanding this year. I think, you know, it's really a pleasure

to get to see McDavid and Dreisaitl every day and watching just their level of play. It's really a treat. They're such great players. So yeah, in Leon's case, I guess obviously it's not the worst thing to have him, get a little bit of relaxation there while everyone else is playing.

It's not that taxing of a tournament. There's not that many games. So I'm not that worried about our players who are playing there but you know Leon's had an amazing season he's such a talented player and you know we're lucky to get to watch him every night. We're chatting with Stan Bowman Edmonton Oilers GM and Leafs are in Edmonton playing the Oilers tomorrow and and the news came out earlier this morning that the NHL is now forecasting pretty significant cap bumps moving forward. I don't recall ever seeing a three-year projection from the league, but they decided to do that

today. The current cap ceiling is $88 million. Next year it'll be $95.5 million, then $104 million million, then 113.5 million. That's what the league is projecting. Obviously it could fluctuate a little bit. But as one of the 32 guys who have to kind of weaponize that cap space and utilize it to build the best team possible, how do you react

and how does this possibly change the way you operate on a daily basis knowing what these numbers are looking like and what it projects to be over the next three years? Well, you're right. It's a unique situation. We haven't had this before with the salary cap. There's never been this much certainty going forward. So I think we're all going to adapt to that. It's a little bit of a new world for us.

And I think, I guess in simple terms, of course it offers more flexibility if you're a team that has been right at the cap, then when the cap goes up, you've got a little bit more flexibility to change your team around or add new players. The flip side to that is I'm sure the agents just want more money for their clients then.

So. You figured that out eh Stan? Yeah, so net-net I don't know if it's much different. You're just kind of arguing over different numbers but it's still gonna be challenging. As far as when you have a good team with good players, they make a lot of money. And I have no problem with that.

Like the great players are the ones that help you win or get that competitive advantage over your competition. So it's okay when players make money. It means that they are good players and they've performed well. That's how they get their contracts. So I think how it will all play out, it means that they are good players and they've performed well. That's how they get their contracts. So, um, you know, I think how it will all play out, I think remains to be seen, but, you know,

certainly there are more options like that. Whereas in the past, maybe you just, there was no cap room. Now there will be some cap room. It then depends on how you want to allocate it, uh, and how many players you have coming up for new deals. And, you know, I think it's hard to make real concrete predictions on how that's going to play, knowing that we have this cap, the number ahead of time a couple years. I think we'll have to see how that all plays out but interesting for sure. What about getting these numbers before the trade

deadline? Do you see it affecting your trade deadline or the way the league operates in general? I don't know if it's gonna have a big impact. I guess the only way it would really matter at the deadline is if players you were looking to acquire had multiple years on their deals and now you know what the cap is moving up to so you might be more comfortable. But beyond that, I'm not sure that this announcement really impacts this trade deadline. So Stan, this is your first year in Edmonton, you take over a team that goes to the finals last year.

You get there and you get to see them every day, like you mentioned. Is there anybody on your roster, anybody within the organization that surprised you, good or bad, from a scenario where you're like, geez, I didn't realize that about that person? Well, I mean, I guess Connor and Leon just when you get to see them up close like obviously I knew they were amazing players but when

you when you watch them each day and you see the impact that they make every game it's it's really fun to see and so fortunate to have a chance to get to know them and they're they's such driven leaders as well so I can't say enough about The impact they have I guess the player maybe you learn to appreciate even more would probably be at home He's been probably our most Effective defensemen in every situation

And even and Darnell's had a really great season for us. I know, you know, watching him from afar, I didn't know him either, but I think our defense probably doesn't get enough recognition for how well we've played as a group. And that was, you know, when I first started, that was all I heard about was our, you know, their defense isn't strong enough. And, you know, you look at where we're at in the league as far as defending and the metrics on how we play as a team.

That's not all on the defense. I think, you know, sometimes team defense can be the way that your five players on the ace work in concert with each other. But I think back to your question, I mean, Ekholm's such a strong player for us. You know, he and Bouchard are really dangerous offensively when they're on the ice with our top line. It really is a true five man unit. And then he's our number one PK.

And you know, Aki does it all. So I know obviously I had a chance to play against him all those years when he was in Nashville and I was in Chicago and I knew he was a really good player. I think I have an even greater appreciation now for what he brings to the table. Hey Stan, your counterpart down the road in Calgary made a big trade yesterday and he was joking at the press conference that he'd been getting chirped in public about the need to improve the team and the fans were on him.

You're semi-new to a Canadian market. What's your experience been with interacting with the Rabbit fan base on the other side of the Battle of Alberta? Yeah, it's true. I mean the fans are so passionate here, which is fantastic. I mean the knowledge they have of our team and the NHL just at large, you can see it. It's really impressive and that's fun. That's what you want. Excuse me. At the end of the day when you have a team that like ours has been a competitive team for a while then the fans are they're very engaged and they're they're committed to your team and you can see the passion and not just

the fans that come every night to watch the games but around town like they know all of our players they know all backgrounds, they know what's going on around the league and you know you wouldn't want it any other way. I think it's it's certainly a fun environment to be around and I love it. Stan, in terms of the potential for chirping in the streets like Dave just referenced in Calgary about making deals, I mean I'm sure you get that from time to time. Someone's willing to tell you what they think you should acquire come the trade deadline. But I'm curious what you would describe

as a successful trade deadline for you and the Oilers. That's a good question. I think it can look a couple different ways. I mean, we certainly have a good group here and we wouldn't be in this position if we were really lacking in one particular area. I think it's trying to find maybe some other options for our team so that – because when everyone's healthy and we're playing on top of our game, you

know, we're a really strong team. We've got the good special teams, our goalies have played well, but then when you look at the other side of it is you're not always healthy and you're not always playing your best. You know, not everybody's always on top of their game the whole season. There's peaks and valleys and when that happens you want to have some other options for your coaches to, to work with. So I would say it's probably, um, looking at if we didn't have everybody going at the same time, what elements would be able to, what could we bring in that would

help us. And that's what our focus is gonna be over the next, you know, five weeks here, heading into the deadline. So continuing to monitor our team's performance. And, you know, we played really well since it was a slow start to our season back in October. But once, you know, from early November till now, you know, we've done a lot of good things

and we've shown we can win some different ways, whether it's high scoring games, low scoring games, special teams, goal-tending. We've had, you know, flashes of all of that. So I think it shows that we have some versatility. But adding some new players, it would be, you know, what elements do we want, whether it's a forward or a defenseman. Those are things that we've had meetings, you know, a couple weeks ago, we've identified a number of different players that we think could add something to that.

And now we want to see which of those players are available but we also want to see how we perform and then that'll probably push us in one direction or the other as we get closer to the deadline. Well it'll be your first experience with the Leafs in town and it's gonna be something tomorrow there's gonna be a lot of Leaf fans there I'm sure you're aware of that Stan it should be a great game we're looking forward to it here in Toronto. Enjoy it out there in Edmonton and thank you for doing this. Yeah, thanks. It was good to talk to you and I look forward to the game tomorrow. You got it. Stan Bowman, the GM of the Oilers. That's an experience, man, when the Leafs

roll through town for the first time. I think Edmonton's the only building they don't really take over. I don't know about that man. We'll see. We'll see. Believe me, I have buddies that are there. They get in there pretty good. Not in Edmonton.

Calgary, Vancouver, Winnipeg, all of that. They don't travel that well in Edmonton. Believe me. I just asked Struddy. Let's ask Struddy on Monday. I thought I recall hearing like a, didn't Wayne Gret within wain gratzky once a lawyer to take the crowd out or something like that i said that recently about likely fans shown up that was in the eighties

yeah tickets for five bucks back then he had gratzky and the fans are showing up well i'm different now but yeah i baby i'm wrong we'll see you know those who will hear a lot of goleafs go we'll see tomorrow hearing some go Leafs go. All right Yeah, I don't I don't think it'll be like Ottawa. Thank you. Well, that's nothing's like Ottawa I mean that was crazy like that was that was crazy Leave fans are always gonna take over Ottawa and Buffalo more than anywhere else. Yeah, and then I don't know I'd be curious what you would think is like the number three rank Detroit gets a lot

Montreal does the Western Canadian teams? Yeah, but Montreal like when was it they were there a couple weekends ago That was what would be the percentage 20? Yeah, probably 80 20. Yeah, 75 20 That's what I'm thinking like like maybe it's like 20% is like that's kind of what I'm thinking of it would be in Edmonton like 10 to 20 percent like Ottawa was like sixty it yeah you know but it's the majority but it's a motivated twenty percent it's a prized yeah they're loud loud they're ready to rock and make sure everyone knows they're there all right Mike Johnson coming up MJ's done it he's been in Edmonton playing as a Leaf we'll ask him how many Leaves fans were there when

he used to play there. Overdrive continues, TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. Alright, it's time for you to tell us where Al's brother has been hiding all week. Call us right now at 416-870-1050. 416-870-1050, the first caller through with the correct location, wins a pair, take us to see the Leafs play the Hurricanes February 22nd all right and another chance to find Al's brother and win-leaf ticket starts next week right here on overdrive brought to you by McAlpine Ford in Aurora our family the Ford family and

you and of course Al's brother has been at George Bell Arena oh yeah that's where he's been hanging out George but some of his clues stunk this week and he said it was in the junction yeah i think it's technically not in the junctions near the junction yeah i mean like you take st claire and then yeah like i was yeah absolutely sinker was because they'll get this week first of all i didn't show up on monday to have it they emailed that and then you know just as a a mail it in one.

That's very valid, very true that like astonishing that Al's brother couldn't get to the microphone in his living room to give us the clue on Monday. But he didn't and listen I'm a team player, I stepped up for my partner and anyway yeah I'm with you though like I read that and I kind of knew about the junction thing and I was like, it's not the junction, man. I do not think of George Bell as in the junction. Maybe it's in the same kind of general area. But it is a fun barn.

It's an old school barn. Awesome, awesome rink with the surrounding stands. And remember it had the, I believe it had a shared penalty box Like I'm pretty sure when I was a kid and I shared yeah shared that's cool box, which was dangerous Dangerous back in the day fight a guy that continued on in the box. Yeah, man I'm pretty sure it was a shared penalty box They may have eventually said we got to put a wall on a separator in there Yeah

We got to put a separator in there and Yeah, we gotta put a separator in there. And there'd just be like an old guy running the clock in there, and you'd be chirping like two 12 year olds snapping on each other, and the guy would be like, hey, give it, that's enough. Enough of that language.

Yeah, enough of the language, that's enough. Such a great building. All right, hour two coming up. Mike Johnson will join us. Lee Stoilers, tomorrow night, we'll get into that and much more Overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on TSN 4.