OverDrive - OverDrive - July 2, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Join Aaron Korolnek and Dave Feschuk for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston joins to discuss the likelihood of a Nazem Kadri return to Toronto, Mitch Marner's introduction with the Golden Knights and Nikolaj Ehlers' next team. The guys take it or leave it in the latest edition of OverDrive Arbitration and Korolnek hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Bryan Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons. I'm from the Glorious Sons. Hi, I'm Nellie Furtado. Made in Canada.

The station that champions Canadian music. Loud, proud, and all yours. No passports required. Just press play. Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. Third hour of Overdrive. You're watching on TSN2, listening on TSN 1050. Up on TSN's YouTube channel, I'm Aaron Kuralnik, usually host of a show called First Up from 6 to 10 a.m. here on TSN 1050.

That's my friend Dave Feschuk from the Toronto Star who does fantastic work. One of the preeminent columnists in our country. Are there any left? I might be the only one. Yeah, there's a couple left. There's a couple left. The dying breed, but do great work, Dave. And on radio as well, of course. Now, Chris Johnson also does great work as a hockey insider here at TSN. He's going to join us in a couple minutes. Still no word on Nikolai Ehlers, where he'll ultimately land, although the expectation is we will find out today.

And it is a sad state of affairs if we're eagerly anticipating where Nikolai Ehlers lands. He's a good, really good player. Yeah. Really good player, but more of a, you know, it just speaks to the quality or lack thereof of this group of free agents after Florida ruined everything Yeah, and we thought it was gonna be Marner having the free agency

Tour it's Nick Ehlers. It's Nick Ehlers apparently is it's holding things up here Like taking a long time to decide about where he wants to play his next hockey game Now one of the deals that did surprise me came down late last night Andrew Manji Apani signs a two-year deal 3.6 a year with Edmonton and that did seem like something the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to be in on and I do wonder how close the Leafs got on Mangiapane and I think it's pretty clear the Leafs are looking for a top six forward still. Is he a top six forward Mangiapane or? Well well maybe you look at him as

like who's a better player manji apane or Matias Michelli who they traded for from Utah who do you think's the better player yes different they do different they do right I mean you know you know but Shelley obviously more of a playmaker water bug kind of passer first I mean manji apane yet as best as a 35 goal guy right how long ago was that it It was a while ago. That was 2022. Oh, it wasn't that long ago, but you know still I mean he's been he's averaged 20 He's averaged 20 through his career. So that's you know, that's pretty good. I mean he's a Obviously he's got ties to Brad tree living which is why a lot of people I think connected the dots and thought the the Leafs would be in on

Manji upon he's a Toronto guy So yeah, I was kind of surprised too. I thought the Leafs would be in on Manjie Pani is a Toronto guy So yeah, I was kind of surprised too. I thought the Leafs would be in on that and make sense for him I mean possibly saddle up next to 97 out there in Edmonton and have yourself a hell of a year or maybe or maybe Dry-sidle whoever it is gonna say one of the other Yeah, it makes a lot of sense Although I think Jeff Skinner probably thought the same thing when he signed with Edmonton and we saw how that worked out for him. Yeah, I don't think he's going to be getting the same type of contract He got last off season or Victor Arvidsson for that matter. Yeah, it doesn't always work out like you hope right? And I'm sure Monty upon is looking at it and weighing his options of which I'm sure we're numerous and he's like

All right, go play with McDavid for a couple years. Maybe win a Stanley Cup. Maybe score 30 I mean Zach Hyman scored how many goals next to McDavid on his line a couple years ago? So 70 goals playoffs included so clearly there's a path to which is very lucrative for Andrew Mangiapani but I would imagine he was highly sought after on a two-year term at less than four million dollars. He's a guy who could fit into almost every lineup considering the rise in the salary cap, but chose Edmonton and I can't fault him for that decision. Well, I mean look they needed guys. There's opportunity there. Desperately. They need depth up front to the Edmonton Oilers. They lost a lot of guys to free agency. Yeah, and to your point like it's it's not a bad kind of scenario where you say well

You might play with McDavid and if you don't you play with dry sidle and guess what Dave They've got holes to plug and you can fill one and that's that's a good place to be for Andrew manji-pani And I think that that explains why he's going where he's going but Edmonton still got more work to do Oh, yeah, how many guys would they have lost Arvid sin? They lost lost Brown lost Connor Brown. I mean it is a long list and It's gonna be a challenge to fill it because and Vander Cain would be another example he gets traded to the Vancouver Canucks and Robinson that their depth carried them in the and like remember it was a stretch of time where it wasn't McDavid and dry subtle scoring All those goals it was yeah

Matthias Yan mark and and Kane was carrying them and Connor Brown was scoring goals and and Arvidsson scored a big goal for the Oilers and then all that dried up. All that dried up. Remember Skinner scored something for the Oilers too. And the Panthers showed it too, right? You've got to have that kind of depth where you know on any given night it might not have to be your big guys carrying you. If you want to have one of those incredible long playoff runs that takes you right to the to the end of the thing it's it's got to happen sometimes you've just got to have those guys and very few teams have the luxury of that depth there is no team that has

the luxury of that same depth that the Florida Panthers have and I am kind of surprised at all some of the narratives surrounding I don't even play next season the Panthers have already won like I mean I think that's a little that's a little bit of a stretch again all it takes is and you mentioned earlier Bobrowski tweaking something and I'm not cheering for that but it's just a reality of the sport where they have no insurance for how dare you disrespect Daniil Tarasov that Dave come on but no you're right you're right of course and you know that these guys have endured a lot physically over the last couple of years So we'll see they still got to play the season

They still got to play the season and we are eagerly anticipating the landing spot for one Nick Ealers And we have a man on the line who might have the answer for us. He is our hockey insider Chris Johnston, CJ Nick Ealers. What's going on my man? Well, I don't know. I don't have a fresh update for you. I mean I was told earlier in the day that his intention was to sign a contract today to make a decision. But it's getting pretty late in Denmark right now and I'm not saying he's not going to. I just don't have fresh up to the moment whether it's going to happen. But obviously, you know, he was in a pretty unique position, I'd say with most of the top top names being out of the mix by the time they got to July 1st, you know, Claire to be their sign or we had the Marner sign and trade. Even Brock better took himself off the market. I mean, Nick Lai Eulers was in a position where he could take his time. And that's what he did. I know he spent the last day and a half here

having conversations with people from the organizations that were interested in his services. And what's unique about that is he actually gets time to think about where he's going, which is not something a lot of players can say that's signed July 1st or July 2nd in the NHL. I mean, as much as you prepare for it, I think the day is pretty hectic. And you just got to dive right in and make a call quickly. he's he's actually getting a little bit of you know silver second thought I'll call it to really make the best informed decision you can for his future.

Chris Dave and I were talking about Andrew Mangiapani signing a two-year deal 3.6 a year with the Edmonton Oilers. Was that a player that you believe the Toronto Maple Leafs were pursuing? They definitely had interest, you know, and there were some teams yesterday, I know that thought he was actually going to Toronto, but, you know, ultimately, obviously Edmonton managed to land him, and I think he's a sneaky good signing for the Oilers in this free agent market in the year

where, you know, there weren't really game breakers didn't end up being available to teams. You know, we're't really game breakers didn't end up being available to teens You know, we're really looking at kind of a secondary market But you wouldn't when you look at Mongey Pawnee's underlying numbers and I think his potential to pop if he gets, you know Some meaningful time beside Connor McDavid and or Leon Dreisaitl. I mean 3.6 million in the current environment, you, could look like a pretty good steal for them. So, the Leafs certainly, I think we're looking at all the options.

They like Nikolai Ehlers too. I just don't know that Ehlers wanted to jump into a hockey market quite like this one as part of the next phase of his career. And so, I do believe at this stage, we can say pretty confidently that whatever the least do to address the holes at the top of the forward lineup will have to be done by trade or maybe just be done in time it doesn't mean the trades happening tomorrow it might be something

that is a longer term project you know sometime before the trade deadline next season. On the subject of trades with regards to the Toronto Maple Leafs there has been some buzz about reported interest in Nasem Kadri of course was a Toronto Maple Leafs was actually signed by Brad Tree Living to the current deal he's on with the flames what can you tell us about that possibility? I can tell you that I have no reason to believe that there's anything cooking there you know I don't don't think that that's something, it's not to say it can't happen down the road, you know, it's not to say that there isn't some interest. I just don't think that Tawagry Flames are in a position where that sort of trade is

happening in the near future here. So you know, the truth is, is I get that everyone wants to identify these trade targets for the lease. I don't know that even they to identify these trade targets for the Leafs. I don't know that even they know who they are at this point in time. I mean, this is, this is a pretty unique summer around the NHL. A lot of the players we expected to be traded kind of in this window around the draft period did get moved. But now, you know, I just wonder how the trade market develops.

I think it's going to be more robust than it's been in years gone by. You know, half the league, frankly, puts up a gone fishing sign by the 4th of July in the NHL. I don't think that's going to be something that can be afforded to too many front offices at this stage. And so, you know, I think it's going to be the way that the least front office found it to be a grind to get through some of those contract negotiations before signing the deals with Tavares and Knives and, and, you know, getting to where they are now, I think it's still going to be a grind to fill out this roster, but you know, they are armed with a bit of cap space.

I think they have players that can be moved elsewhere to maybe even create more cap space if they need it. And so, you know, I, I, at this point in time, I just, I don't think the cadre rumors, I don't even know where they're coming from to be honest. It's hard to keep track these days. So much stuff flies around social media, but I just don't have any reason to believe there's any likes at this stage. Yeah, fair enough, CJ.

But I mean, you can see the sort of the germination of that idea because this was a summer where the idea was, hey, they might take a run at Sam Bennett. Well, no, Sam Bennett's signed. They might take a run at Brad Marchand. Now, Marchand signed back in Florida. There's this idea that they need a player with those types of characteristics, those playoff bona fides and the ability

to rise to the occasion and be a guy that can play in the pit of the cauldron of the Stanley Cup playoffs. And Kadri obviously has done that. He's got his cup in Colorado. Can you think of other guys who might be on the market who fit that bill? Because there's not exactly a long list of guys who have those types of career resume credentials.

Well, I can think of guys that fit the criteria laying out there, Dave. I don't know who's available though, because right now there's not enough teams trying to be bad in NHL. It's just a fact. I mean, Pittsburgh is the only team that I would say is actively rebuilding at this stage.

Now I realize you have teams like Chicago and San Jose that have been at the bottom of the league for multiple years and you know may still not yet be ready to even jump anywhere near playoff contention but those teams are are not looking to shed themselves of useful players they're trying to find more them you know right now so they can make that climb and so you know that's that's definitely challenging and understand where the cadre fascination comes from but to hear you lay it out, honestly I just feel like what irony the way you're speaking about it because it was obviously

the things that happened in the playoffs specifically with Nazem Kadri, the two suspensions he had in Toronto against those back-to-back series against Boston. I mean that's the reason he was traded to begin with. He wasn't belt out of town because he had a bad contract in fact he was on a very team friendly contract at that point in time. He wasn't dealt out of town because he didn't produce in a regular season. He was he was putting up the exact kind of numbers you expected. It was because they felt they couldn't trust him in the playoffs and now you

know that there could be a world where people are saying well you got to bring this guy back because of what he can do in the playoffs. I mean, it's just, just funny how these things come around. But, um, you know, I, I will never rule it out as a long-term possibility because, you know, we all know the affinity that, that Naz had for playing in Toronto. Um, you know, he, he really, he really relished quite honestly, I think being a first round picket, at least being a local guy, being in the eye of the hurricane, you know, he didn't mind even sometimes when controversy swirled around him, I always felt like he handled that pretty

well. You know, he didn't shy away from it. He was, you know, I think he was able to handle the market. So, you know, if there was a world where the flames are ever truly putting him on the market, I think the Leafs would would be there but i'd it just don't think we get the net that reality right now tsn hockey insider chris johnson our guest is our three of overdrive the latest on bone byron is why because there's been talks about a trade and

offer sheet in the lot of speculation surrounding the sabers defense and what's the latest on that one well i mean it's it's it's getting interesting I'd say because you know obviously that there is legitimate offer sheet whispers out there for Byrom I do think he's a player that teams are are looking to see if they could you know structure one of those in a way that would you know help extract them from Buffalo because that's ultimately the point of an offer sheet right I mean I know that we sometimes think oh oh, you can cripple another

team, make them make a bad decision, but ultimately you're trying to get the player. And there's a ton of interest in Bow and Byron, the player. But you had Kevin Adams, you know, meeting the reporters in Buffalo this morning and talking about how they're going to match any offer sheet that he gets. And so it's a bit of a stalemate. It's getting somewhat public and the pressure goes up under those circumstances. So, you know, the Sabres are more than willing to trade buy from him. I think the biggest issue they've encountered is getting someone back who can help them in real time. You know, I don't think they want to make a futures deal. It's the same reason they wouldn't want to let him walk as an offer sheet candidate

if he actually does sign one because they'd be getting draft picks in that case. And I don't think that at this stage of where the savers are at, the draft picks hold much appeal for them. I mean, they've drafted far too often far too high in the last 14 years and still haven't been able to get back to the playoffs. So they need, they need actual players and, and so they haven't found the fit to make that kind of trade, but I do believe they'll still stay at it. And you know, you have a team like the Calgary Flames who's, you know, entertained some trade talks on Rasmus Anderson.

You know, I think it could make sense in a world if the Flames can find a way to move Anderson that they're signing, that they're doing it in concert with making a trade to get someone like Boon Byrom signing him. So the interest goes beyond that with Byrom too. So you know, this, as I said, I do think this is gonna be a new year, summer than usual in the NHL. And it's only gonna be a few of us left here to talk about it while the rest of the gang

are up at the cottage. Well, boo hoo for us, CJ. But it could be fun, man. But let me ask you this one, CJ. What you watched with rap detention last night as overdrive was ending with Mitch Marner taking the stage in Las Vegas for his introductory press conference down there, I wanted to get your reaction.

I mean, like are you hearing buzz? What is the fallout in terms of the Leafs dressing room to see one of the core four, one of the linchpins of this Maple Leafs team over the last decade in another uniform Well, I think it's fascinating myself and and you know my view and I was sitting, you know five Five are played away here back in Toronto. Just watching it all, you know the press availability But I mean bad to me Mitch Martin look, you know

you know, the press availability, but I mean, man, to me, Mitch Marder looked, you know, like he'd had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders. I mean, pretty excited, obviously, for this next chapter in his life. You know, he's become a father here in the last few months. I think he sees this as truly a turn the page kind of moment for him and his family. And he's joining a team that, you know, basically its entire existence has been truly going all in to win every season and I think as a player what more can you ask he's doing it also while being paid is that alongside Nico Rant is the highest paid wingers in the league at 12 million dollars a year so you know it's a total home run for Mitch Marner you know thanks to well time will tell if it's a home run

for the Golden Knights but I know they certainly loved the first impression they had of him yesterday. And you know, how it leaves us all here in Toronto is, you know, I'm not too sure. I mean, I think that most of us would agree that have been close to his team, like we have the three of us is this is probably overdue that, you know, more than once have we either talked about or written about that the need maybe to consider something other than the strategy the team had embarked on with building the team around four highly paid players. And now, in turn, it ends up getting forced on them that Marner leaves. It was his decision and clearly, and he left for, you know, while Nicolas Wah is a useful

player for the Leafs, he's obviously not in the same class as Mitch Marner. And so now it gets now it gets spicy just in terms of what the Leafs can do to move on, you know, because Marner is a he's a diminutive guy, but he leaves a massive hole in the lineup. Right. Like he where do you find someone who is a top penalty killer, who is on your first line producing 100 points points who's obviously a power play wizard, you know, played three on three for them when they get to overtime. I mean, he truly is one of the most useful forwards in the league at that. They recognize his shortcomings. They recognize that the playoff production wasn't there. And I can understand why you get to this point in time, but you know, there's

just no, there's no replacing that with, with one or even two even two players I don't think but that's the challenge that Brad True Living now faces. Yeah and clearly a guy like Austin Matthews is going to have to step up with Marner gone his line made a guy who scored 69 goals just a couple of years ago at a down year is there any reason to believe that Matthews health is compromised at all heading into the offseason or the expectation is 100% full go come September? That's the expectation. You know, I've heard nothing to suggest to the contrary. And you know, last year that was the way when he returned that that was the way he felt

it was it was something each week during training camp that that led to that this season being what it was in terms of, you know, the time you missed during the year, the trip to Germany and, and never got back to what was a hundred percent. So, you know, he's, he's obviously had some degree of injury history as a lot of players do when they get nine or 10 years into a pro career. And so, you know, I, I can't say how that's going to go because a lot of it will be what happens. But certainly there's no reason to sense that there's,

to anticipate that there will be those limitations. I think he's full go in terms of his training and expects to be healthy next season and obviously he's gonna be looking to have a bigger year personally because that's gonna be required of him i think in a world without mariner mariner kinda made some allusions to talking to teammates on the leaf cj about vegas guys who play for the gold knights ryan reese max patch already and how you know they were essentially giving him good reviews of in the nevada desert how do you think that goes over in leaf land

that these guys are talking up a potential landing spot for one of the prize free agents in Maple Leaf's history? Yeah, I think it felt a little bit like saying the quiet part out loud. You know, I'm not surprised to hear those kinds of conversations happen. Frankly, they happen in our business. I've been in a position where I've been thinking about leaving a job and you talk to the people what's it like over there? You know, what's the environment like? I do think it's a normal conversation to have,

but, you know, they may not appreciate that becoming public knowledge. And look, it was Mitch Marner's right to go live and play where, you know, he wanted to play. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. And what would you do if a colleague asked you about, you know, something and you had some experience? I mean, it's probably not gonna sit too well,

but on the list, you know, when the duck settles, I also don't think it's all that serious. And, you know, this league is a small town and everybody kind of knows each other and those sort of conversations, I think, are pretty typical. It's just not that, don't always hear someone mention that he had those conversations when he's buying a microphone

Right and and the small town this of the NHL leads to the fact you don't always hear people complaining about tampering There was some there was some suggestion the least might raise a stink about tampering here CJ. What are you hearing on that front? You know from the league end of things it doesn't sound like they have any concern now Obviously if they're presented with new information or some kind of proof of something, I guess that could change. I do think the fact that ultimately a trade happens, it just feels like it's not going to happen. Look, it's shaky ground.

There's definitely a lot of gray involved with tampering. I think to prove tampering, you really need a paper trail. I think in this case, it just felt like the team in this case being the Gold Knights wanted Marner and that Marner wanted to go to them. But the Leafs also engaged in trade talks with the Gold Knights too. And so I don't know how that would ever be adjudicated. My belief is it will probably, you know, go down as part of the, just another layer of this overall story. Um,

but I'd be surprised if it resulted in any sort of punishment or anything of that nature. And, and you know, I don't have, again, I don't have any reasonable beliefs or even pursuing that. I think some of this is just conjecture and it, you know, comes out of the emotion of everything going on as well. So, you know, perhaps I'm wrong on that, but my sense is this will probably fade into the background now that the dust has settled on the whole Marner era. Chris, you're the man. I know a lot of our analysts and insiders have headed up north, or in Muskoka or the

Quarthas or wherever, but you're still here grinding away ahead of, I guess, day two of NHL free agency. And thanks for coming on the show today we really appreciate it yeah I'm adjudicating the Pious Suitor sweet steak nice so yes there you go exciting stuff thanks buddy see you guys all right that's Chris Johnson TSN hockey and center I do think with regards to the Leafs almost as fascinating for me is who they look to pursue as a top six forward is how they conjure up the assets to acquire said top six forward. Let's just say Calgary calls Toronto and says, hey, Nasim Khadri wants to come, and this is all theoretical, wants to come back to Toronto, we want to trade Khadri what are the least please have no traffic so forget that prospect wise they have

Easton Cowan who I don't think they want to trade for a 34 year old making 7 million a year like maybe maybe not they have a really strong defense you're not trading tan ever McCabe Morgan Riley think you wouldn't be opposed to trading frankly he's got a lot to Thank you wouldn't be opposed to trading frankly He's got a lot to say but that yeah everything to say he has a no move Brandon Carlo has I believe an 18 List he's tradable which is why he's coming up in these cover. That is my prediction Yeah, is that the least ultimately I don't think they want to trade Brandon Carlo

They traded a lot to get Brandon. Yes, and I'll walk you for a Brandon Carlo replacement Yeah, they traded that that is true They traded a lot to get Brandon Karlo. Yes, and they'll be looking for a Brandon Karlo replacement. Yeah. The way that they traded. That is true. They don't have a 6'5", 6'6", right shot defenseman who's physically, too physically imposing like a Brandon Karlo. I just don't, I don't know how else you get anybody. If you're not going to trade Cowan, you're not going to trade Karlo, you don't have any

draft picks, how do you get an impact player? It's impossible. Well, I got news for you. You gotta trade Easton Cowan and you might have to trade Carlo. Because you're right. I mean, and the question is, you don't want to trade a 20-year-old

who burned up the CHL like Easton Cowan did because he's obviously got a great career ahead of him. But you might have to. You're not talking about a timeline of a 20-year-old here. You're talking about a timeline of a team year old here. You're talking about a timeline of a team who's well past due meeting their potential. And they may never meet their potential if you do not put the pieces in place

to maximize their chances this season. Yeah, and I think that is one of the most fascinating questions facing Brad Tree Living. I don't think he wants to do it. And again, look at what they just gave up to bring in Brandon Karlo. First round pick and their second best prospect in Fraser Minton. And I think they're probably people

who viewed Minton in a similar light to that of Cowan at the trade deadline last year. So like Minton might be playing for Boston next year. That wouldn't surprise me at all. So it's a tough spot they find themselves in, but they have, again, you think back to the Scott Lawton trade. I love Scott Lawton, he makes a million and a half dollars. You have Nick Wadden, now Lawton's your fourth line center. You just gave up a first round pick and one of your best prospects in Nikita Grebenkin,

who, you know, varying degrees of people who believe in Grebenkin as a legit NHL player going forward here, but you would like to have that first round pick back, that's for sure at this point in time. How many first round picks would you like to have back in all these win now transaction? Alinos first round exactly like it Ryan O'Reilly's first round pick All right, right O'Reilly at least showed up and he didn't want to play out. He did So that was at least win one series now

It wasn't win anything significant now, but they were there have been a lot of win now Transactions that led to losing now. That's exactly it and that's something they're gonna have to juggle right trying to look at this hockey club in the years to come with Easton Cowan who could be an NHL player next year for the Leafs. That's something that is that we don't talk about enough I'll use Easton Cowan as an asset yada yada yada What if Easton Cowan can play in your top six next year? Is that impossible? No, it's not impossible.

So maybe that's your answer. And then, I don't know, that's something that they've got to figure out, but it's a dilemma, a conundrum, some may say, for Brad Shrevely and Elise. Yeah, and look, they created it through many, many years of bad decisions and doubling and tripling and quadrupling down on the same team and the same concept and and here we are

But you know blame Brendan Shanahan blame Kyle Dubas blame any number of people that aren't here anymore But it's Brad tree leaves problem now to figure out Jays Yankees in about 40 minutes from down at the dome. It will be Jose Barrios against Will Warren. We still have overdrive arbitration to come. Plus my fan duel best bets on this Wednesday afternoon here on TSN2, TSN 1050 and TSN's YouTube channel. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious?

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Stream This Week in Gaming on the free iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts. Now is that gonna be a problem? Yeah, it's gonna be a problem. It's gonna be a problem for them. It's outrageous, egregious, preposterous. Overdrive. Arbitration. I've been wanting a piece of them for years. You think we got a case? Your face is my case. one of these in the beginning. You think I got a case? Your face is my case. All right it's time for overdrive arbitration we're back here it's our three Aaron Kuralnik Dave Festruck from the Toronto Star. You know how this game works Dave. We present a scenario and it's a take it or leave it situation and we're going to start with Austin Matthews. Amanda we've discussed a lot this afternoon in lieu of his partner in crime Mitch Marner departing for the bright lights of

Las Vegas. Austin Matthews is awarded 50 goals next season. Do you take it or do you leave it? leave it? Oh I take it. I take it coming off a 33 goal injury plagued slump of a year. Yeah I take it especially since. How many guys scored 50 this year? One? Leon Dreiskeidl being the only one? Willie was right there on it. Let's say okay I think 50 might be a stretch. How about 44? Would you take 44 if you were Austin Matthews? What are we changing? We're changing it on the fly. Look, I mean the bottom line is with Austin Matthews, I would take 44 in the regular season. It's better than 33. But here's the thing though. It really doesn't matter to me. I want more than what did he have in the playoffs? Is that a three? Yes, three goals in the playoffs. I want more than the three goals in the playoffs next year. Is that

possible? It is very possible. You throw in an extra more than three goals in the playoffs then I'll take that. I think you would take five, six, seven, maybe ten goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs for Auston Matthews. Yes, I too would take 50 but Auston Matthews, his production production this year the scrutiny on him is going to be unlike any other season in which he's played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for obvious reasons. Like I think Matthew Nyes will be playing with Austin Matthews. I don't know who's gonna be on the other side but think about the collection of talent that Austin Matthews has been afforded over the last

half decade plus now with Mitch Marner one of the preeminent right wingers in the National Hockey League. One of the great point producers in the regular season that this league has and now he's gone and who's replacing him on his wing? Is it Mattias Michelli? Is it Max Domi? Maybe it's William Nylander. In that case I think Matthews would be thrilled but then you'd essentially have nothing as far as your second, third, fourth lines with offense. That's a concern. It would be a major concern.

My guess is Matthews and Nyland are on separate lines. So it's not like he doesn't have the ability to produce a ton of offense with or without Mitch Marner, but he's going to be a guy who's facing a lot more pressure this year than in past years, Dave. Well, look, I mean, there's been lots of plenty of time during his career where they didn't play together. Mike Babcock wouldn't play Marner and Matthews together and they both did okay. But yeah, it's bottom line is the regular season numbers, aka I think we've all come to realize.

There's no concern for you that the Toronto Maple Leafs in question to make the postseason next year. Well, I guess if Matthews gets 33 goals again. Yeah, that's, again, I look at this team and I'm the furthest thing from rooting for it, but they are one injury away from one of their big players from looking like a pretty bad offensive team. And that's Matthews or Nylander.

They need those guys to be healthy and they need those guys to be producing, because if they aren't Like if you have a season where awesome adage is missing 30 games next year good luck finding offense there That's a problem like yeah again That that's that's the luxury that the Leafs have had over the years With Marner with Matthews with Nylander and they have been so good without those guys in the lineup Morgan Riley to like you look at the Maple Leafs records without

some of these guys in a regular season without some of these guys, they're staggering records. It almost doesn't make sense how they've been so good. It's because they can kind of pick up the slack for one another when they're out, but you know, Marner departing and when maybe the Leafs still have, the Tree Living still has an ace up his sleeve and can find somebody else to produce a lot of offense But that's that's a concern and perhaps one of those guys is Matthew Nyes He is the next subject in overdrive arbitration awarded 60 points with the Maple Leafs next season. Are you taking that? I'm gonna leave that a K. That's not gonna be good enough for me Wow. It's not gonna be good enough for me

Really? No, I mean. High expectations. I just, hey, with a nice big new contract comes high expectations, okay? I mean, this guy, he's coming off a 58 point year, but I look at that as the ground floor. I don't look at that as the standard. I look at that as the jumping off point for a guy who has to be more productive.

If this team is going to be better than it's been without Mitch Marner and with the changes it's being forced to make this offseason, guess what? Matthew Nives has got to be a big part of that and he's got to become the player they hope he can be. They didn't pay him thinking 58 points this season was his ground floor. I think they paid him thinking this guy can get 60, 70, 80, 90 points. Yeah and I do think it's within the realm of possibility that could happen and that Matthew Nyes is going to be playing on the top power play unit. He's going to be standing there net front. He's going to be playing with we believe Austin Matthews all year long

and if you're doing that you should be racking up the points and will the least power play be as good this coming season as it has been in the last number of years with Marner out there maybe maybe not but it'll still be pretty good I mean you have like think it'll still be good and and we don't know who'll be playing the point I would assume Morgan Riley's probably your power play quarterback again and I'm sure there's a lot of people out there rolling their eyes like again seriously we're going back to that but least power play was pretty good like a top five power play for a large majority of those years with Morgan Riley as the PPQ piece yeah that gets

overlooked I mean they did I would guess that'll happen yeah they did they did now in the playoffs it was garbage but yeah you know a lot of stuff was garbage come postseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs all right I think I would I would take the 60 points personally for Matthew Niles. Would you? Yeah, I think so. That's a good number. It's a good number.

Okay. It's fine. Two more than he got this year. Yeah. After giving him all that money. But I could see, I could see a situation in which he, you know, destroys that number. Well, that's what you're hoping for. Yeah, I think so.

And again, everyone's got to pick up the slack a little bit as far as point production for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mateus Michelli might be playing on this top power play when it's all said and done. It's a possibility. Yeah. So that's a little bit scary. Did it 57 points a couple years ago but we'll have to see what the Leafs ultimately do. Alright so Chad Kelly of the Toronto Argonauts who was ruled out today, he's not starting on Friday against Hamilton down at BMO field is awarded five starts with the Argonauts

Take it or leave it. Let me jump in here. You gotta leave that five starts now. He hasn't played yet this year It's not play games into it. They're forced. He's not gonna play this week So that's five then they have their bye and you heard Ryan Dinwiddie talk on my show first up with there by and you heard Ryan Dinwiddie talk on my show first up with regards to Kelly and a little bit of uncertainty but he's coming back from that broken leg he suffered against Montreal in the playoffs he was dealing with an ingrown toenail as well in camp that kind of set back his progress but five starts okay so you've got a small number I would be leaving that for sure you've got 13 games to go after this this week

So you would like what's a reasonable number here? It doesn't sound particularly promise nine. I'll take nine starts almost Oh, I guess the question is Eventually, they'll get Kelly back But this is the guy who hasn't played in a very long time is coming off a very serious injury After a season in which he suffered a pretty dramatic drop-off from his most outstanding players season in 2023 so my expectations for Chad Kelly are not overly high do I think he's better than Nick Arbuckle who's currently starting for the Argos I do but I don't think you're seeing Chad coming in here and is the best player in

the league like he was a couple years ago so So he's not the savior is what you're saying. I think that would be a little bit unrealistic to expect from Chad Kelly. I think he will improve the Argos for sure but I don't think he's coming in and just carrying this team to victories. They have a lot of holes and this game on Friday night is a very important one for both Hamilton and Toronto who are vying to keep pace with the Montreal Alouettes in the East. I mean three teams in the East with one win apiece and the Alouettes at three and one. Ugly stuff. Yeah it's pretty ugly but you know Hamilton comes to town who knows what could happen

for the Toronto Argonauts. Alright so let's talk about the Edmonton Oilers. They are awarded a short term deal with Connor McDavid but he does not finish his career with the team. You take that or do you leave that and let's for these purposes say the short-term deal is what a three or four year term? Yeah, let's say so. You know what I, I take it.

I take it. I mean, if he's going to leave eventually, almost everybody leaves eventually, right? The number of guys who play their whole career with one franchise, I mean, we're gonna have the question, Hayes is gonna be agitating for Sidney Crosby to leave Pittsburgh now that, as CJ pointed out, they're the only team in the league that is transparently rebuilding. Sidney Crosby's gonna be tempted to wear another uniform before his career is over. You would think so. A very big way here with Kyle Dubas having the Pittsburgh Penguins in shambles. So it's the likelihood of you playing the whole career in one place is very low.

If you can get four more good years out of the best player in the league. His total apex right there as far as. You've already got 10. You'll have 14 years. No, 15 because it would be a four-year contract extension beyond this coming season. So he'd essentially be 15 years in Edmonton if he gets a four-year deal from here, right? I mean, how could you not take that? I mean, I guess what's the alternative?

Is the alternative he gets eight more years and he never leaves? Yes. Yeah. Which could could happen I suppose I would imagine I mean that Marner no one thought he was going to take eight years here's why I like it here's why I like the idea the four-year deal though from a fan it puts pressure it's it's it's not LeBron taking one-year deals you know you could do that if you wanted to you could you could flex that muscle at the apex of your power as the best player in the league and say I

want to see what your what management is up to here I want to make sure you were putting me in a position to succeed every single year I want I want to make sure you are maximizing the potential of this team every single year Okay, four-year deal is not a one-year deal. It's LeBron and and McDavid They're not the same thing. But I do think it's better than just saying eight-year deal just says whatever happens, happens. I wanna be here.

Four-year deal at least exerts a little bit of pressure that there is a ticking clock that you gotta make this happen. I understand the notion that you're espousing there, Dave, but I would also say, if you're Connor McDavid, you could easily just threaten, oh, you gotta trade me. I don't wanna be here anymore. I think that the pressure is always going to be there with today's athletes simply because

of the player empowerment and how they exert control over their futures in a way that we've never seen in sports ever in history. So yeah, McDavid wanted out of Edmonton. He can still sign an eight-year deal after two years. In the summertime, he's like, listen, I'm not coming back unless you do this or that so I'm not sure how much that can get ugly It could it could definitely get out there. That's not how hockey players operate I mean the president of the teams is former a yeah, and I'm not saying that's something that you or will do But that's why the deal is the pressures there

That's what I mean, but the deal was built in pressure without having to go to those lengths of, I'm just gonna be that guy. Fair. The Raptors, they are awarded a play-in tournament spot next season. Do you take that or leave it? I'm gonna quote the departed president, Masai Ujiri. F. Brooklyn? No. Play-in for what? As Masai once said. Play-in for what? I'm not interested in the play-in. If I'm a play-in team, I'd rather be a lottery team because you need more talent. As Bobby Webster, the GM of the team just said

after the draft, they're still in talent acquisition mode. They may not be rebuilding anymore as they were last year, kind of weirdly because they had all these players under contract for big money, but they're in talent acquisition mode, man. Like if they can get one more, if they have a bad year next year something really bad happens and they're on that kind of fringe of being a play on team or a lottery team I'll take the lottery the Raptors are a team that I had just

have no idea what they're going to look like when the season actually starts because none of these guys have played together exactly never have Brandon Ingram's never played never for the Toronto Raptors Emmanuel Quigley's barely played for the Toronto Raptors. So I have no clue what they're all going to look like with regards to as far as with their relationships on the court. And you could just think about, well this guy can shoot and this guy can do this and this guy can do that. That's great. But until you actually see it in practice, I don't know. I don't know.

And that's a huge gamble because they are committing some serious cash to all these guys. Yacapurro's got a four-year extension, 26 million per. We know Barrett's making 30 plus. We know Ingram's making 30 plus. We know Barnes. They're all making 30 something million dollars. And none of them have accomplished anything.

No. Zero. So there's a lot of people that look at this team and shake their head. something million dollars and none of them have accomplished anything. No. Zero. So there's a lot of people to look at this team. It's crazy. It's crazy to think, you know, playing spot. I mean, they got to be creeping up on that second apron, the luxury tax, like the amount of money they're spending for a team that is just like a big maybe is a risky proposition

and this kind of goes back to what we were talking about before the show sitting in the green room if you want to call it that Dave. It's NBA ownership right now and you're seeing some of the biggest franchises in the league's history being sold, the Celtics and the Lakers amongst them. Like if I'm MLSC and I'm staring at the cap sheet for the Raptors and looking at it and all these guys are making 30 million dollars? Really? Really? Like that's how, that's what we're showing out for them? For what? Yeah, but on the other, yeah, no, you're right. There's, hey, like the Celtics sold, there's all

those stories around the Celtics were, was essentially the reason that Grousbeck family sold out of their big stake was that, you know, they won the championship and the place barely turned a profit. You know, like- Are championship and the place barely turned a profit, you know, like other Raptors making money I mean the money is in the accruing of the franchise value, which which I would be curious to know how much longer It continues to go up. Well, they just like they just had a record sale like when the Lakers sold for evaluation of 10 billion Guess what? Everybody else's valuation Skyrocketed is true. So, look, we've been, I've been on a lot of these shows

over the years where everybody said, it must be at the peak, right? We must be at the peak of franchise values. And they just keep going up, AK, and guess what? They're gonna bring in two expansion teams, and whoever. Everyone gets cash from that, right? And the players don't get to switch. Not the players, but the owners don't get to switch.

What, 300 million a team, 400 million a team? more than that now, I think must be not more than that All right I think it's you think about it if you're going Vegas Seattle I mean those are gonna be expensive expensive propositions very much So alright last one the Toronto Blue Jays in action tonight game three of the four games set against the Yanks are awarded the third Wild-card spot in the American League. Do you take it or do you leave it? three of the four games set against the yanks are awarded the third wild card spot in the american league you take it or do you leave it

i it will look i think i think i take it they can do better than that they should win the east right they could very well when the american right now on a night when they're about to go to bat against the yankees with a chance to pull even with the yankees at the top of the AL East. I mean optimism's at its height right now in Blue J land right as it should be because they're coming off a huge win yesterday the George Springer Grand Slam. You know you'd want to shoot for the moon

here and win the division you know for the first time in how long right? I mean and uh and do that but the Anthopolis Blue Jays remember when they won it on the road and Anthopolis was celebrating in the in the crowd or was that in Cincinnati or something like that somewhere on the road yeah you're jogging my memory on that but you're right but yeah I mean you'd love to win the division but the bottom line is it doesn't really matter how you get in as long as you get in so I'd take it yeah I would probably take it too because there's no guarantees no it's just a couple of injuries and there's a bunch of teams in the American League that are

hovering around $500. All it takes is a five game losing streak. Yeah. And you're back to square one. You lock yourself into a playoff spot. You play the number two seed and the or the number one seed excuse me in the in the wild card and you go from there. Yeah you got it. You got it. Yeah yeah. Yeah let's face it they're hot now. They've also been cold this season. They have. They have. But they've got, they're getting guys back. No Bichette tonight, but seems like he's getting close to returning. And of course, Santander. May never see him. Yeah. Santander. I don't know what's going on with that one. That one sounds weak. Keegan had some interesting. What was it? Subluxation was the term? Subluxation. Yeah. You don't like that. Keegan kind of had his eyebrow

raised at what's going on there. Yeah. You don't like that he can kind of had his eyebrow raised that what's going on there the big piece to that order because he's got a lot of power if he can find it that'd be a huge boost for the Jays but it's kind of starting to seem like perhaps a lost season for Anthony Santander I'll give you my best bets powered by FanDuel on the other side for Jays and Yankees to wrap up a jam-packed edition of Overdrive on this Wednesday afternoon. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you.

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Tap into Made in Canada now on iHeartRadio.ca or the free iHeartRadio app. Time now for today's best bets. They are powered by Fandul. Make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fandul Sportsbook app. Googie has been grinding away at the FanDuel Sportsbook app as he is want to do and he has conjured up this three leg SGP for tonight's Jays and Yankees game. Starts with George Springer to record a hit. Andres Jimenez who is

leading off tonight to record a hit an errand judge to plus total bases plus two forty on fanned today's best bets are powered by fanned all the first inning means as much as the ninth when you bet on baseball in the fanned all sportsbook app please play responsibly nineteen plus is relocated in ontario pretty much eight perfect night

to be a j's game dome is open sun is shining the beers are cold that is perfection gotta love it gotta love being at the ballpark on a nice summer night I guess they had the dome closed until just recently and now it just started to open so crisis averted by some big cheers like people are probably sitting there in the dome like what is going on why is it closed although I will say I was at an Argos game a couple weeks ago and we were on the sideline where the sun was just beating us down for hours on end and it was very unpleasant.

I had a rather bad sunburn. Still applied sunscreen of course. But when you're sitting in the sun nonstop and watching the Argos just lay an ugly one against Calgary. It was a tough fight, it was a tough kill. But terrific show today, Dave. Not under drive as some thought. I think it was still overdrive. I'm not sure. Tomorrow knows. Tomorrow knows. We'll be back tomorrow as well. Let's let the viewers be the judge of that. Thanks to Dukes, thanks to JP. Thanks everybody for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon

at 4pm. We'll see you then. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times. Now, learn the details of how they came to be. Join Ruby Carr for Encore, the stories behind the songs you love. New interviews and newly unearthed archive footage make for a fascinating weekly deep dive. Stream Encore, the stories behind the songs you love on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.