OverDrive - OverDrive - July 1, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: July 1, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' next steps without Mitch Marner on the lineup, the Canadiens' progression with their signings and the spotlight of the Canadian teams. TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins to discuss the trade market throughout the league, Brock Boeser remaining with the Canucks and offer sheets becoming significant in the league and Hayes hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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Tomorrow's chart toppers today. Discover iHeart New Music. Always fresh. Always first. Stream now online on your smart speaker and on the free iHeart radio app Final hour overdrive continues powered by fan duel bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score Dave Feshek of the Toronto Star in here Brian Hayes, Jamie Noodle's, McClennan. Happy Canada Day to everyone out there and Freeage and Frenzy, it's always a fun day there's

always stuff to get into there's always stuff going on but I would say the biggest surprise of the day for me was Brock Besser back to Vancouver yeah like I just assumed he was done and gone and then he signs a seven-year deal in return you don't want an eighth year if you decide you're gonna go and stay in that city you don't like you got what 7.25 I think it was something like that 775 or you could put another 7.75 in your pocket with the eighth year like I don't think that was probably the stumbling block. It's like hey, let's see What's out here? But weren't they trying to trade him last year?

Why is it the deadline they were very clear about that? I don't I Understand it and you know Brad tree-living may have shined a light on it where he was said with the more money guys wanted to you know keep their their players. Connor Garland was another guy that had asked for a trade and was on six years at six. Hey we're gonna stay. Now this team looks a lot more like the team that was really good two years ago. If they're healthy. If Demko's healthy. If Demko's healthy.

Who also got an extension. Who got an extension. They're bringing the band back together outside of JT Miller. You added Louis de Brust's son. You know, Jake. Jake de Brust. We had a good second half last year. Very good.

He's a very good player. It's a good team on paper. But again, what are you gonna get from Pettersson who had a really draw a big drop last year and now is no move is kicked in yeah that's the biggest if that's that's capital I capital F like if a lot of Peterson is the player you're paying eleven point six million dollars to or and if you can get that your Demko healthy now they have Kevin Lankin it the one thing that was pointed out to me Demco got an eight point five

million dollar extension it kicks in next year mm-hmm so they'll have 13 million in goaltending a year from now so you got you kicked it you kick the can down the road although she loves though needs he needs waivers yes so they're gonna trade him we're gonna trade him but I you know you look at it the Patterson though man like the no movement that's like they made a he needs waiver yes so they're gonna have a great rate and we're gonna trade him but i you know you look at it that is in the man like that the no movement that's like they made a commitment today yeah like vancouver basically said

say it was when like we're with this guy now yep like paterson you think you got to show up and you got a plate i think that's why best sir make sense i guess is that where you can score got a vendor canaan there but you gotta in peterson a chance to pop at eleven point six million But I think what has been proven here and like you mentioned tree-living said it and the leaf site I guess you know they went forth with it as well in terms of their approach to John Tavares

Is that the nature of the league is very conservative right you know players? Don't always want to change. They kind of like where they are and they're comfortable and they know everyone and they like the trainers and their families are set up. And the teams don't really either. Like Florida can make sense of, Florida of course, you tried to keep all your guys,

you found a way to do it. Some point you run into cap hell, but whatever, you're in the midst of a dynasty right now. Yeah, go ahead. But you know, the Leafs are like, we gotta find a way to keep Tavaros. They did that. Very good deal, very. Yeah, go ahead. But you know, the Leafs are like, we gotta gotta find a way to keep Tavaros. They did that very good deal, very good contract. But still, they were afraid of life after John Tavaros, especially if you compound that with Marner

leaving. Well, what a cap Marner. Yes. And they I think it seems that way. I mean, Brad said it like last summer, we were trying to engage. Right? Like there was there's a chance Marner's like 13 million a year. Yeah, I'm sure kicks in today. kicks in today. You know what I mean? Like if they signed him last summer, that very well could have been the case, if the Leafs had their way. Vancouver's like, we don't want it, we'll keep Besser, we're gonna keep Garland.

Winnipeg's trying to keep Bealers. You know, like all these teams are like, Provarov and Columbus are like, just I wanna spend my money on my current players. You know one team that's not? Vegas. Vegas is not shy to go big-game hunting and take big swings Like Jonathan Morris is so you know we we couldn't make it work away you go You know we're bringing hurdle you heard that hurdle was being dangled right you know like all of that type of stuff like you mentioned

It Alex Petrangelo will be a huge blow to their back end but you know they've had massive turnover and not just players it's been coaches it's been you name it they are a business and that's how they work that's how they conduct their business other organizations it's just you're right fall in love with the player hey let's let's make this work let's keep you here. I don love with the player. Hey, let's let's make this work for a to live without the players So it I don't know. What's the winning formula? That's well, I mean Vegas is one You know Florida did that to an extent. This is a little bit more extreme But you're talking about very very good players who have proven they can win

Now I would say Edmonton may be out of necessity because of the cap constraints, but they've Like they traded Cain for nothing. They got rid of Arv constraints but they've like they traded Kane for nothing they got rid of Arvidsson for nothing like basically Capspace lost Corey Perry they lost Connor Brown I think they maybe were trying to keep both guys but we're just not comfortable with getting to that number yeah and you know I guess from their standpoint like that's a team that's been to a cup final two years in a row and they're like all right you're

out we got to get better we're gonna change things out and you can see them identifying you know a couple things I think they need a lot like the Leafs the top six forward I think they identify we need somebody to play with Leon Drysidle like develop that chemistry and I think they're goaltending when your manager comes out and says we're looking at it there's only two guys in that position yeah exactly you're looking at it but who's not there I still believe it's going to be there but it might be 20 games into the season it might be by Christmas they might change out their coaching staff Glenn Gullitzen and not Chris Knoblaug he's

done a great job but Glenn Gullitzen now in Dallas Paul Coffey what does he want to do a lot of all their contracts are up I think their goaltending coach, they're looking at that. I think there's going to be change there, but it's not happening on July 1st, like everything. And they do have to be proactive. They signed this David Tomasek. He's a European player. He's been really good. He's 29.

He's never played an NHL game. They want to give him a look. They've got this Noah Feld. They've got this Matt Savoy, who's's 21 who was really good in the minors We haven't brought up Easton Cowan's name once well That's yeah, that's gonna be an interesting element this like his cow and a guy that is he ready to play I wanted to ask tree But I wasn't you know we just ran out of time. Yeah, it's it's an it is a very important point I think to bring up like could he be someone that steps in and I don't know if he's ready for the top six

But can he crack the crack the up and then start from there? Right, push, yeah. Here's Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, where do you stand on that idea that Cowan is either a guy they might flip to get that top six help or a guy that they might rely on to actually play and perform for them next year? I think if they had their preference it would be that he plays and performs entry-level deal, younger body, all the reasons we know and it's amazing that in Toronto like any other player who goes and wins a Memorial Cup and playoff MVPs and Memorial Cup MVPs and he'd

be like of course he's playing in the top six why wouldn't he play play in the top six? But with Toronto, you know, there probably are understandable question marks with Cowan if he can do that. But yeah, I mean, if somehow you can put him on the second line and it worked, that'd be really good. Like that would be a perfect person to slot in there at an affordable number. So I mean, and maybe that's what they want to see. Like maybe they will give him a chance, Although there is always you run the risk, you let

them try it. If it doesn't work then can you trade him for quite as much? I'm not so sure. But yeah, it's this is not the trade deadline. This is there's no finish line on what happens today. They can do this all summer trying to change their team, add players, subtract players, whatever it is. But for Toronto, yeah, I mean I think Brad Sureliving knows where their holes are, what they need to replace, what they need to try to augment, and Cowan would have to factor into that. But you know, if you're Nick Robertson, now you've not had the junior career of Ethan Cowan, I'm not saying he's the same player, but he might be saying, listen, I can score at the NHL level like

give me a look too like you know I think there's some a few guys that might be wanting to angle for some of those good minutes. So Johnny we just talked about the luxury of time. The one thing that I haven't you know really been able to identify is what team is willing to not not blow it up, but willing to part with players that are good players. Like everybody seems to be like, hey, we can take another step here this year. And I understand San Jose wants to get better, Chicago wants to get better, but they're not going to be playoff teams this year.

So is there a team that you would identify that maybe Toronto would circle and say, you know, give them 10 to 20 games and they'll be selling, you know, whether it's Pittsburgh or, you know, maybe an organization that we're not focusing on that believes they're not a playoff team, but they're trying to at least sell to their ownership to their fan base. We're going to give these players a run and see how it unfolds in the first 20 games of the season. Well, I mean, I think the obvious answer noodles is the one you mentioned Pittsburgh. Yeah. Like they have Brian Russ and Ricard Raquel. Yeah. Both are legit top six wingers. Both can score 30 goals and playing with good players.

Both have decent contracts that the Leafs or any other team could probably absorb. If you move out a little bit of money and if you give them picks and prospects and good young players like anything cow and caliber player you could get that guy you could get them now probably if you wanted but maybe you wait 10 or 20 games and Pittsburgh realizes they're not going to make it again and and the motivation for the team to move them and for the players to allow themselves to be moved grows a little bit. I think that will be a team that every other club in the NHL will circle and say, okay, let's watch them because eventually they're going to want to move off those guys. And the other guy, I don't know if he's the top six guy, but he's one of the best third

line players in the league is that Blake Coleman. Blake Coleman in his last year in Calgary, I don't know if they're going to want to extend him well into his 30s. He can catch a pretty price with how good he is and the contract he's on. So I wonder, you know, Calgary maybe not waving the white flag at all, but just saying, you know, we're going to move off some of our expiring guys, Rastus Anderson, Blake Coleman and bring in young talented players. That might be a guy as the year goes along that you could look at and say, he could help us. Maybe not on your first

line, but he's a very good player. He could probably play with Tavares and Nylander on a second line and help them. MJ, when you look at the DNA change that Brad Tree Living is seeking here, now he's sort of, we had him on earlier monitor in the show he sort of amended it to talk about you know it's a little bit about a little bit about bringing in different players but also about changing the internal mentality the stuff between the years and big moments and all that stuff but when you look at the way you know they're gonna proceed with now they brought in some guys here

we all know the list but in your experience like what can be the effect of the subtraction of a player as significant as mitch marner personality is significant as mitch marner like is there a way you could spend it obviously not replacing the hundred points but there has been moments there have been situations in sports of addition by subtraction just because it changes the mix somehow

how do you see that yeah i mean a pro two thoughts one you know it's i don't want to be one piling on mitch martin where the door and he was part of a group that didn't win but he wasn't the only root cause of the fact that they didn't win and it feels like the guy who liked it about you the problem uh... that somehow removing him and his and his game

or his personality will somehow free up the other guys to go and become greater than they were when he was around. I don't think he had that kind of influence, but there's no doubt. Like the personality of a team is largely. You guys can attest to this is largely dictated by their best players. And Mitch Marner was one of the best players. And so whatever that personality was, you guys can attest to this, is largely dictated by their best players. And Mitch Marner was one of the best players. And so whatever that personality was, you know, the other, the team would take some

cues from it. And Hayes, you've referenced this a lot over the years. Not that you have a problem with any one of the big four guys, but they're all sort of wired similar, sort of, you know, sort of quieter, sort of internal, sort of driven to be great on their own, but not necessarily outwardly emotional or demonstrative or someone who reacts in a physical manner rather than going and try to score. So I think, you know, taking Mitch Marner off of the team and replacing him eventually with a player who maybe does some things differently or reacts to stress differently

or reacts to tight situations differently, even if they're not as good of a player, will that help steer the team in a little bit of a different direction? That's what you're hoping for, Fess, if you're talking about DNA change from maybe somebody leaving the team. But the other part about it is when Tree talks about growth and the guys that are there dealing with things differently, if it was easy, they would have done it by now. This is not a new phenomenon. This is 10 years in the making. They've had plenty of stressful situations to learn, to react, and to in theory do something

different the next time through. They haven't as a group done anything differently. This looks actually quite similar year after year after year which is part of the frustration with a team this good. So it's easy to say and unless I'm not even being flippant here like unless there's a a commitment to like a sports psychologist or like you know like some tangible change other than just saying let's try to be different. Let's try to be bold. Let's try to be brave. Let's try

to be courageous and embrace the stress. They've done that before and it hasn't worked. So I don't know eliminating Mitch Marner talking about it out loud. I don't know if you can expect it to change significantly because I don't know if it was if they could have they would have yeah Well exactly and that's you know, there's gonna be a lot of carryover Yeah, there's gonna be a lot of the same team, right? You know, I and that's and they're a good team like there's still a really good team Like they have both their goalies all their defensemen Your your they're gonna add some depth. Yes Marner's out

That's a that's a very significant regular season piece in particular. But, you know, Waz in, I don't know enough about Michelli to make a projection on what he's gonna look like. You know what he's like though, Hayes? He might be, like, I don't want to stretch it too far. He plays a similar style of Mitch Marner, just not nearly as good. Does that make sense? Yeah. Like he he's sort of a complimentary facilitator, creative with the puck, pass first guy, not robust physically, relatively responsible and he might get you if he plays a good player he might get you 50 points. So versus the hundred Mitch gets but like that that that's sort of what he is. Okay well listen if and if it pops here then

that's a good find because they didn't pay a lot for uh... but beyond that you know this there's there's gonna be more additions there's gonna be doubt but the second big team like this year i i fully expect that they're still going to be a good team but florida's gonna be a great team now i think much for all has improved you know i'm curious what ottawa still hasn't store the rest of the offseason because they

they haven't changed a lot you know i have a kind of brought the band back for the most part. But it's going to be, Tampa's going to be good. I just feel like those are the teams. I don't think Buffalo's improved. I don't think Detroit's improved. I think Boston's still going the wrong way.

This Montreal team, you've got- They've got a center man. Man, oh man. Under 25, you've got Hudson, Suzuki, Caulfield, Demidoff, Slavkowski, Bolduc now, Fowler, Dobson, Gouli, Reinbacher, Newhook, Dobish, Innett and Kirby Dock. All under 25. Alex Newhook is still under 25. That's crazy.

He's 24 coming 25. I checked it out because I thought he was older. But they're gonna have to part with some of those guys like you actually might look at Montreal and go maybe new hook would be available or Kirby Doc might be available again I'm Anderson Gallagher yeah those guys because they're gonna have to move some players around to either add or you know just get a little bit more veteran presence but it'd be interesting

to see like I think they're better but they made the playoffs last year so they're trying to chip away you know Ottawa added Lars Eller but I think they're looking for Shane Pinto growth I think they're you know Dylan Cousins a full year there see what what he does like there's there's work to be done but I like that I don't Johnny that that Jordan Spence, I like the addition of him, that right shot D that they brought in. Like he's, you know, he's going to take Haminux minutes. Like so I think they're just trying to be better with it.

Exactly. Just a better player and younger, obviously. But these teams, like they're not going away. No, but this is the nature of pro sports. And I was trying to say this on the panel. Okay, put Florida in their own situation. Obviously, they're unique. They're returning versus the entire team.

What you're hoping for them is they get old and they get broken down and they get bombed, gets an injury. Something happens that changes their dynamic because we've seen when they're at their best with that group as they currently are they're better than everyone else but if we take them out and I know you can't but if you take them out of the Eastern Conference who else is much better than Toronto you can argue Tampa might be a little bit better and Washington might be a bit better and you know I don't know if Carolina will be good again who's much better than Toronto they're all lumped

together they're all lumped together but Toronto to me would be at the top or towards the top of that group of five or six teams. And that's as is. So that's not the worst place to be when you have a bit of calf space and you've lost a 100 point player who's such an important part of your team. They're still going to be good, better than good, and maybe will be better than that when they eventually get to whatever better than that when they eventually get to whatever they look like when they're all finished, because they're not all finished. And we'll see what that looks like as the summer goes on and probably as the year goes

on next year. Mike Johnson, a TSN hockey analyst. You know, in terms of the teams in the West are intriguing to me because, you know, we're talking about Vancouver prior to you coming on. Brock Bester, that was the biggest shock of the day for me that he gets to free agency and ends up resigning with Vancouver anyway. They keep Garland, they find a way to resign, and they decide to resign Demko, which is an extension which will kick in next year.

Edmonton just shaved off players. That's all they've done today. Calgary, I don't know, they got Dustin Wolf and then they got to figure out what else they're doing. You know, I think. I mean, I don't... Yeah, they've got a kid, a goalie named Devin Cooley that they liked last year. He was an all-star in the minors. He's going to challenge Wolf. I wouldn't be surprised if they brought in another goaltender to replace Lidar. Lidar left. Lidar went to Philly, which I was happy

for him because Philly doesn't have any goalies. They got that Ericsson and then they got this mutant Russian goaltender, yeah, who's like six foot ten. He plays dodgeball sometimes, though, in there. It's tough. Yeah, it's an opportunity for Lidar to possibly start and play games. That's a team that's still retooling as well. Like Philly kind of knows who they are. But you know of those of those teams in particular, Vancouver and Edmonton let's say, which one had maybe a more surprising day, confusing day, you know, how would you how would you kind of describe what those two teams did today? Okay, so for Vancouver, I say maybe not as surprising, but really quite confusing,

because when you factor in, you know, Evander Kane coming over, Garland getting his re-sign, Besser getting re-sign, so those are two guys, noodles you just mentioned, they tried to trade Garland and Besser in the last year, and eventually re-signed them. The reason why Besser comes back, and I think initiallyodle during the year,

they were hung up on four or five years max for Brock Besser. And then they realized they got shut out of everything else. Matt Duchesne went back to Dallas and they couldn't get the players they wanted. So they upped the years and that's probably why Besser went back to Vancouver, even though he couldn't get eight,

he still got more than what they were offering before. So that's all, that sort of makes sense. You know, they're all good players and they're important guys. They need more goals. Those guys all can score. We got, you know, everyone talks about Pedersen and him getting better and Phil Hedl, him trying to stay healthy. But then the one part we haven't discussed is they got Dempo on a big extension as well.

And again, Dempo, when he's good, he's an eight and a half million dollar goalie, I guess, sure. But when he's healthy, when is that gonna be? It hasn't been for several years. They signed Lanken into that big extension. They have Shelovs. The American League playoff MVP who now needs waiver.

That just that one was positive but also confusing. So I'm not quite sure what they're up to, Hayes, when it comes to the goal-tending situation. Maybe Noodle's going to explain it to me, but I didn't quite get that for Vancouver. Even though I understand the goal scoring, I don't quite get the goal-tending. Even if they're all individually good, I don't get the mix and why you would do it the way they did it. Yeah, no, you make an interesting point there, MJ. MJ, we were just talking about Vegas. I mean, obviously, there's going to be a lot of eyeballs on that team this year

from the GTA with number 93, Mr. Marner in the roster. With the terrible news about Alex Patrangelo being out for the year with multiple health problems here at this late stage in his career, how do you look at that team? Do you consider them a potential contender or is the death blow of losing your top defenseman, the guy that was the linchpin of your Stanley Cup team, just too much to overcome here? That's a massive hit for sure. Massive hit for sure. But they're going to be good again. I think Bruce Cassidy is an incredible coach. He really does get a lot out of his team. Jack Eichel is still very good. Hurdle, Stone, Carlson, Smith, they have a lot of good players. Out and down they go. I think even getting Sissons and

Lozol from Nashville and that Hague deal does shore up their depth, makes them not so weak at the bottom parts of their lineup. So, Theodore is going to have to be incredible this year and they'll be probably shopping for another right shot defensive. But I still think, you know, if you're looking at today, I don't love at all what LA did today. Edmonton got worse. They haven't gotten better yet.

They're going to, but they haven't gotten better yet. They just haven't replaced the players that they lost, you know Calgary like who in the I guess San Jose Anaheim Yeah, they're better. But who is much better than Vegas in the Pacific? I don't I don't know even with Petran's those injury fast that I would say anyone I would take Significantly maybe Edmonton but other than that I would expect Vegas to have a whole nice advantage in the playoffs again so they'll be good and Mitch obviously be really good there you gotta play good players and you know that stone plays right wing Mitch plays right wings you're gonna have Eichel, Hurdle, Stone, Marner like those will be the two I don't know

how they pair up but don't like and maybe maybe it's Hurdle and Marner together and Stone and Eichel together But like those are two pretty good duos to anchor your top two lines and I expect them to be really good so Yeah, I don't know like no one really seems to stack up to Florida. But other than that, they look pretty good to me Yeah, yeah, and those 93 Marner jerseys were ready to go weren't they? They got in that team turn around and turn around wow That's good work bring here. I was gonna say isn't that the tampering evidence though? There's not all the temporary evidence you need MJ. No kidding no

They took video of them getting pressed on at 1202 just to make sure no no we were not doing this until they would trade Was done, but yeah And I think with the Bob who said it best, the fear of tampering and the discussion that has happened the last week and maybe the last year has not curbed the actual tampering. It has curbed the leaking of the obvious tampering evidence that was coming out in the past couple of years.

It's still going on. People are just being smarter about how they announce whatever they've done prior to. Exactly. Exactly. And it sure sounds like Mitch might have had his eyes on the strip down there in Vegas as early as a year ago. So more power to him. He can do whatever he wants. He earned the right. The no move.

He enforced it. And many fans might not like this, but the reality is they don't, he got everything he wanted. He got the market, he got the contract, he got the team, he got what he wanted. And, you know, good for athletes, for exercise and leverage when they have it. Yep, and that's the reality. He's in Vegas and his return is gonna be quite something, man. It is gonna be.

Okay, so Hayes, right now, Jerry's percentages, many Jerrys to you. Yes. Likelihood that, obviously he's gonna get booed initially. Likelihood that the boos laugh and are kind of venomous all game, or as compared to just like yeah they boo them and they sort of forget it they probably applause when he gets his

tribute video what do you what's the percentage of it getting nasty the whole game 90% like I don't think it's a hundred because it's three yeah I mean 93% that's a better number because it is Toronto and Toronto is just not wired that way like that buildings not generally wired that way it has been though at times it has been for the whole team when the Leafs fail. It's not gonna be Islanders to virus. No it won't be anything close to that. Like it won't be anything close to that. Like it's you know and the Leafs I guess they probably will show they're gonna show some montage. You gotta do a video tribute for him.

Yeah I guess you do but if it's if it gets booed the whole time, what's the point? Right, like are you inviting negative energy by by doing it would he be perverted? Don't even bother because it's gonna boo the whole time. Exactly. Here's the other thing too guys. The schedule gets out what July 18th or something like that? Soon, yeah. It's soon. How they arrive and what I mean by that how Vegas plays here will also build up the vitriol If if Vegas plays the night before in Montreal type of thing It's like in and out he's playing there if they play on Wednesday in Montreal and play Saturday here And it's a three day and Vegas is here for three days practicing or two days practicing It's interviews. it's all like, that's where I think the buildup can either get pretty, a little bit more spicy.

Yeah. Don't you think? Yeah, I think it's possible. I mean, Marner, he issued a statement today online and I thought it was a classy letter. You know, I thought it, I found it quite interesting. He finally took accountability. He never did as a Leaf, but he did as a Gold Knight. You know, finally admitted I wasn't good enough

when I had to be. Finally admitted we just didn't do what we had to do to win. And again, it just, it makes you wonder, like, why wouldn't you just do that when you were a Leaf? Why not say that two years ago, three years ago? But that ship has sailed, it doesn't matter now. But yeah, I would say 93%. It's crazy and loud the whole night and he hears it and then we'll see what happens the rest of his career. He's gonna come back here eight times over

eight years unless they meet the cup final. You know, he's not gonna play here a lot. He chose the West I think for a reason and he's gone. He's as far away from Toronto as you can get. All right Johnny, I'm sure you're about to do the same thing. Get as far away from Toronto as you could get. Alright Johnny, I'm sure you're about to do the same thing. Get as far away from Toronto as you could possibly get. Happy Canada Day, have a great summer. Thank you for this. Alright fellas, happy Canada Day and we'll talk soon. You got it, Mike Johnson or TSN.

Hockey analyst. Alright, yeah, Marner's statement was interesting. Wouldn't you make it out there? Well, no, I thought it was, I to write. Yes. I'm not sure he he wrote We are the PR department knows that for him was they were bang on because it hit the notes With the fans it hit the notes the respect to the city respect to everybody I I thought it was it was the appropriate way to go out of 10 Yes, it was a really well word really one and it is interesting though that no one believes Mitch wrote it himself.

Well, we have been in contact with the guy for nine years. Yeah, it's never really heard the words coming out of his mouth. Honestly, nobody has a writing background for it. No, I understand. Unless you're Zach Hyman. I get it. I get it. I get it.

You do need touch-ups. You do need help in that scenario to sound. Can you imagine if guys actually wrote it and there's spelling errors and it'll run on sentences and stuff? You're like, okay, this is... I know, I know. That's what chat GPT is for now, Noodles. Yeah, you're right.

That's true. Correct my grammar. I wonder if you could do it. Mitch Marner, you know, do you go to chat GPT and go, write me a goodbye? He probably could. Yeah. I mean, he probably could. He me a goodbye. He probably could. Yeah. I mean, it's probably. He sounds really gracious and he looked good.

He took one on the chin. It wasn't good enough. You know, it wasn't good enough. Change is tough, not buying that for a second. For a guy that I think for the last year has been dying to get out of here. But anyway, Darren Drager coming up, Best Fets coming up, Overdrive continues,

TSN 1050 and on TSN 2. and industry leaders and more weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates, even if you're a total newbie. Stream This Week in Gaming on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, best bets coming up. Jays are on fire, man. George Springer, what do you have, seven RBIs today? 12-4, he hit a grand slam. Man, the Jays are flying. They had a big win last night, too. Well, for a guy who almost, what did he get, shoveled off the field last night? Wasn't it? He got his throat.

Didn't he, on the slide play, like I wasn't sure if he was going to play today. By Scherzer, again, the thumb. I haven't seen anything today on that had a hand down i do some weird stuff going out the words like i'm done around that's enough i'm done from yeah i was concerned about that anyway we'll see but listen you went today your game back in the yankees with two more to go in this series uh... user tsn hockey insider darren dreger drags would you make it today?

Good, you know, I mean it was what it was right and I know that's cliche to put it that way But when yet everything that went into Florida retaining their three top guys Some of the other deals that were signed internally for for teams to keep their players I Think we were you you know, had to reset our expectation of what this day would be all about and I think that some teams made the best of it and others are still very much in the

shopping mode but that's kind of the way this day can go especially when you're looking at a different CBA and something that general managers and the players and the player agents had to respond to in a real quick period of time. Drex, do you think you know with free agency not being you know the the the crazy day that we saw or we wanted does that shift focus more to the trade market then? I think we hung up on him. Oh, we lost Treggs. Did we lose Treggs? I was concerned that he was,

he was choking a bit. I thought that was the concern there. But I, basically, I don't know what's going on with Treggs. Thought process anyways. The market may have reset on a lot of players, but I believe like, you know, you look at a team like Edmonton, you look at a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs looking for top six.

If top six aren't there traditionally to sign, now you're looking at the trade market. So that's kind of where I was going with Dreggs. Yeah. We have Dreggs? There he is. Yeah. Okay. No, no, no, no.

I heard something about trade market and then I heard nothing. Yes, that's where we're going. Like is that obviously the next step? We mentioned the Leafs, the Oilers, like the Oilers have got to do something. You know, they just lost players today. You're right because you know, you don't have to have an educated eye to look at the remaining unrestricted free agents and there'll be some bargain shopping that happens in the days ahead and throughout the summer but not to the pieces that certain teams need. You're right I mean I think Toronto was hopeful but they weren't expecting that they'd get a crack at Brad Marshand.

I don't think that Brock Besser was a good fit in Toronto you know but they still have to nibble there to see. I'm sure that Brad Treloving has thrown his hat in the ring on Nikolai Ehlers. I don't think that Nikolai Ehlers wants to play in Toronto. I think he wants to literally stay out of the spotlight. He found it right at times in Winnipeg, so Toronto is a completely different beast. How do you acquire that top six forward that Toronto is in the market for? And it's going to have to be by trade. And I'd love to be able to sit here guys

and tell you, okay, they're targeting this player or that player can do it. And that could also be because teams don't know yet who is entirely available. And then you shift over to the Oilers and you're right. But what's obvious with the work that Stan Bowman has done is that they're opening themselves up for all possibilities and and maybe there is some some free agent work that can still be done for Bowman you know Manjiyapani I think was on their radar I was driving so correctly I don't think he's signed anywhere no no yeah you know beyond that then I think you don't have a choice. You've got to look at what is available to you and trade.

Brian Rustin has been attached to the Edmonton Hunters mostly in media speculation. So at least Dan Bowman has some wiggle room. But now the pressure is on Bowman too, isn't it? You know, you look at what Bill Zito and Florida Panthers did in basically bringing their lineup back. Sure, they lost some pieces, but the significant core of the Panthers is there, and the Florida Panthers were way better than the O'Haners in game five and in game six. That's just the reality of the situation. Throw Zach Hyman into the equation, maybe, maybe it's a little bit different. So again, unless there's just as magic top six forward that pops loose in the

market that we're unaware of, uh, Edmonton's got a bit of a problem here. For me, they do. For me, they do. Yeah. And then look, you know, they've got Bouchard signed the dry federal money is on the book. So they prepared for that by clearing out some of this money, but that doesn't make

them better. It just makes them compliant. And then they're looking over their shoulder again, and they're the Florida Panthers. So I can only imagine what Connor McDavid and company are thinking at this point, but that can change. Hey Drake, so many players obviously decided to stay with their incumbent teams this year. I guess that makes sense in the case of Florida. Marner was the exception in Toronto. But makes sense of what happened with Brock Besser here. Hayes was just saying that was his biggest surprise

of the day that you see Brock Besser hit free agency and surprise, he's back with the Canucks. Yeah, honestly I think that Adam Foote, the new coach of the Vancouver Canucksucks had a lot to do with that. And I might say the same thing of that's your damn code coming back, Connor Garland staying with a Vancouver Canucks. I feel like that group feels pretty good about themselves, but they're not done yet either. Right? You know,

you look up the middle of the ice in Vancouver and you see a Leah's Patterson, who's their number one, you know, they're just saying the right things, you know, he's working out hard. Uh, he's motivated of course, to prove that he's much better and will be much better. Philip Heidel is a big story because he's healthy and if he can stay healthy, then maybe he covers off their number two spot. But I think that Patrick Galvin is gonna continue to look. The Brock Besser saw enough that it wasn't worth him

exploring beyond the Vancouver Canucks. And he had, as of this morning, at least 10 teams with a variety of different formats and contracts, especially term and money, that he had to peruse. And that includes the Winnipeg Jacks. Winnipeg saw Brock Besser as being as good a fit as they could find in replacing Nikolai Ehlers. And it didn't take long once the market opened at noon

for Brock Besser and the Vancouver Canucks to come together on that seven-year term. So a bit of a head-scratcher, but more from Vester's perspective, I think, based on some of the other options that were available to him. With Jaren Dreger, a TSN hockey insider, I guess we could be into offer-sheet season, technically. Love it. Love it.

Yeah. Are we bracing for any, Where do we stand on that? Well, I mean, it, it, it, I guess more or less actively happened with John, Kay Andre Miller going to the Carolina Hurricanes because that offer sheet threat was real, right? So Chris Dury and the New York Rangers wisely said, all right, well, let's just figure out compensation. Let's make a deal. And, and make a deal and we'll do the sign and trade. And it got a bit more complicated, which is why we didn't spend a whole lot of time reporting

on it during our live coverage on TSN. I was told that the league didn't intervene. They had to iron out some of the rentals that can go along with a transaction like this because it's layered right and so they they had to get through that and the agency in the impoverished had to negotiate fully I guess what that sign would look like and it's eight years or a big number going to Carolina but the threat of the offer sheet was there what we don't know is whether or not somebody is going to sign off on an offer sheet for bo byron and the buffalo sabers

and we talked about this early in the day and um you know again when you're on life tv you don't have a whole lot of time to explain it and i'm not going to take a ton of time here but so i i think that the agent here darren Ferris, who represents Sam Bennett and Mitch Meyer, made it pretty clear, and has made it abundantly clear to Kevin Adams. Well, they have a request to the trade. He's two years, Byram is two years away from unrestricted free agency.

He has Arb rights. So I think the message has been pretty clear. You're never going to get better value on the trade front for Byram and Buffalo than you are right now. So take advantage of it. And it hasn't happened to this point. And my understanding is there is a team or teams that are interested in offer sheeting on Bo Byron. And, you know, if you come in around the 7 million mark, I think what is the exact number? Seven million twenty thousand or something. Compensation is a first and a third.

And that seems to be the sweet spot for any team that's going to want to sign Byram to an offer sheet. Not saying that's happening, but no different than threat of Keandre Miller and the Rangers getting offer sheeted. That's some of the pressure I think that's being applied in Buffalo. All right, Drex. Well, we appreciate you doing this. I know it's been a busy time, busy day. We got the off season now. So best of luck with that. We'll do it again soon.

Hold on. Where's Oh? I was expecting a question or two from the dog. He just sitting silent right now or what? Well, yeah, I mean him and Bob McKenzie, I think he's thinking about pulling the shoe. Like he said, I'm not saying Bob'sute Bob's gonna retire which he did which was incredible maybe he goes thinking I need to be doing the same thing I don't know yeah he's gonna pull that Jimmy Rutherford card from way back in the day when he scored 41 or whatever it was Jimmy calls oh hey oh where are you you're missing your exit interview your end of season Jimmy you and I both know that no I calls all the way all where are you missing your uh... exeter view your indices

jimmy you and i both know that i don't know i scored forty one l p in september yeah that's not pretty good about the game act and get back all right now as uh... as the dog is headed north that's exactly what it was and that's exactly what's happening as we currently speak so anyway we'll let dogs lie is that what they say sleeping dogs like that's it thanks drags appreciate it cable I have a great summer there's a Dan Drager at TSN hockey insider again the Jays winning this afternoon George Springer three for four to home run seven RBI the big is most on a game ever man guys been in the league for everyone a World Series MVP the big night Grand Slam and what

was that the sixth inning I believe we've been working all day but that's a big win man like they're a game they can tie the Yankees with a win tomorrow that's how you build momentum and you got a packed house Canada Day afternoon game Yankees in town don't crush them yep exactly and now yeah Tampa and the Jays are a game back in the Yankees. And all of a sudden New York is like they're, and this was, they had Fried on the mound today. Yeah. Or Don yesterday.

Like those are their two guys. Yeah, they're big boys. Those are the big boys. Yeah. So the Jays are in a position now where you should be thinking sweep. You're halfway home to a sweep here. You could kick, you could punt the New York Yankees from your city chasing you in the standings and and question themselves like they got holes you know holes in their pitching staff they got

holes in their batting lineup judge can't carry him like he's like he was hitting 400 for the early part of the season but he can't do it all year yeah and there's just too much pressure on that guy to carry care of the team. Absolutely. Sounds like Mitch Marner's doing a press conference right now in Vegas. I'm curious what he has to say. We'll see if he's got any opening statements. What I'm curious about is if the Toronto media is just gonna hijack the whole thing. Like if they're doing a press conference, it's not gonna be an open line press conference. I'm sure it's in person. Well, Kelly McCrimmon's there, Mitch Marner. Anyone from Toronto capable of getting out of Vegas quick enough to

just completely hijack the thing mark master just want to ask you about your time in Toronto people I can use yeah yeah you know that's coming yeah well put in a request maybe Mitchell come on for the first time in about six years I'm not holding my breath, but anything's possible. Hey, you gotta ask you gotta ask Hey, we got a day or the Vegas school nights to come on overdrive might yeah, I Highly highly doubt if he does I guarantee you we won't be here. Yeah, it'll be the tap man or Carol Nick or someone else You can make it happen. Doogie can't make it or someone else. Dougie can make it happen. Dougie can make it happen.

Get that done. Dougie can make it happen. All right, Best Bets coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on TSN2. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar.

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Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. All right, Best Bets powered by FanDuel. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the FanDHeart radio app. All right, best bets powered by FanDuel. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the FanDuel Sportsbook app. Naturally, I'm going to fade the Colorado Rockies tonight. I'm on Houston tonight. I'm going to lean into Texas. I'm going Houston, Texas.

I'm going to stick with a Texas parlay. Both of those teams playing poor teams. I mean, let's face it, Colorado Serenis and Baltimore's been awful this year So a Texas parlay Rangers Astros both on the money line tonight that pan plus 151 best bets powered by Fanduil Alright. Well, we've had we've had action. We definitely had action the last couple of days the last few months You know with everything that's been going on with the Leafs the Raptors the Blue Jays kind of disappointed though because I felt like wasn't it was it yesterday that I said I felt like all hell was breaking loose it didn't break loose today no no the trades and keeping the like keeping like teams keeping their own players I feel like that that was maybe the all hell breaking loose but

I don't know I didn't that's 10 years in a row I've said I felt like all that was maybe the all hell breaking loose, but I don't know I Didn't that's ten years in a row. I've said I felt like all your shot You just couldn't we were on the pathway to that I really felt like we were but nothing happened all the guys went back to Florida. Yeah, and the Marner thing was big I got a huge that's a sign and trade with Vegas. That's a massive story clearly it is Yeah, but beyond that it was just a lot of returning players nick healer still out there There's other guys still out there. There will be trades over the course of the summer That's gonna happen, but we wait to see what comes of it come camp two and a half months away Alright boys good stuff. Thanks for doing this as always thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out

We appreciate it everyone for tuning in today TV radio podcast web and of course up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings, enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m. We'll chat then. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you.

The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Gloria Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada. The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours.

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