OverDrive - OverDrive - July 4, 2025 - Hour 2

Episode Date: July 4, 2025

Join Jim Tatti, Dave Feschuk and Michael DiStefano for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Maple Leafs Reporter Mark Masters joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' Development Camp, bringing a horse around the team and Anthony Stolarz's possible contract and the guys also dive into the Maple Leafs' trade assets and players who fit the roster. They also go around the sports world in the latest edition of Yes Guy, No Guy diving into the Blue Jays' division race, George Springer, Connor McDavid, Easton Cowan and Nikolaj Ehlers.

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. Oh, nice bouncy intro music. Welcome to Meloden Friday and Overdrive. Jim Tadej, Festjag, Al's brother with you.

Truly defining what Meloden Friday is on Overdrive, right? We can do that. This is the best version of mail on Friday. It's junk mail. It's a flyer. The junk mail that clogs your mailbox and you throw it out immediately after you get in. It's a discount ticket. So we were talking in the break about how the draft was last Friday, seems like a year and a half ago. Free agent frenzy day seems like probably six months ago. Yeah. A lot of stuff didn't happen there. I'm kind of interested, you know, a lot of people have said, well, you know, not a lot of sizzle there, some moves, a lot of re-signing.

But that's really kind of for me the evolution of the money and the cap going up is that people can actually pick their spot. Does that make any sense? As opposed to going into an auction? I guess people can pick their spots and their teams can pay what they want. How many guys did we see outside of Marner leaving to go to the Strip? We saw a lot of guys just decide to stay where they are. With the devil they know rather than test the waters of free agency because, one assumes, with the cap rising they got deals that they were happy with and they thought look I'll take the deal I'm happy with here rather than you know go

through that whole rigmarole of the free agent free agent frenzy and take my take my chances with who might be on the market. It was real interesting though because when you look at it like we see ELOs go off the board yesterday eight and a half six year deal and that was the the most amount of money handed out on for agency which worked out to a 51 million I think is the number in that range and I think a lot of us were expecting to see a lot more money than that handed out to some of these contracts and granted some of them you know did sign for for hiring up like Marner ends up getting 12 by 8 and so that number is higher there but overall I kind of applaud the GM's although they

had way more money at their disposal they didn't waste it and and that is something that I expected to see I thought we would see a bunch of guys kind of push the chips all in it's's like, wow, we actually have money for the first time in years, like, and just start throwing stupid cash at people. But didn't really happen. I thought there's a lot of, like, digestible deals. Even, like, the guys who went off the board a little late, like, that Pia Suter deal, I thought that that was a fair deal for him. He gets, what, 4.125 two years in St. Louis. Like, there was talk that that guy was going to command, especially once Tavares resigned and there was no other centers on the board. It's like that guy

might, you know, get five, five and a half million. Only St. Louis is able to get them for a little over four million. There's a lot of deals like that that I thought that were very, very fair on both sides. I agree. A lot of serviceable contracts that don't have a ridiculous term, but that sort of goes against what a free agent frenzy is. And then there was Tanner Janow's deal. That one, I still can't quite understand why Boston is paying Tanner Janow that much money. Well, and our good pal Carlo got heated

with another guy whose initials are CC, getting four and a half million over four. Because I think Carlos sort of sees himself, like if I would have hung around a little longer, I could do what Cody Cici does and I could do it better. But hey, Ken Holland sees something there that maybe nobody else sees. Mr. Cici. I had him for a couple years in Edmonton, so's it's he knows CC's game at the very least so they're clearly something that he likes about him big enough body I suppose but Toronto didn't do a whole lot here that's for sure did not do a

whole lot here and no a lot of people happen to see him move on and obviously Kenny Holland wanted to bring him back on to his squad and well see what happens in LA. We will see is one of my favorite lines join us in the maple to the hotline is mark masters uh... uh... and uh... mark is uh... reporting to us so obviously the development camp this week up all kinds of stuff leaf wise and of course some horse talk mark what's with the horse that's been the discussion down here today pretty much all day uh... delhi three in the world class horse trainer named jeff david

uh... from top of the border into development can't to give that to two and a half hour presentation to the least prospect today uh... and you know haley wickenheiser yesterday she told us about it and she admitted she wasn't sure how it could go with a little something different they wanted to try it by think that this week uh... she thought it was going to help the the players learn how to kind of manage their emotions, deal with pressure a little bit. And just talking to the players today, they seem

to enjoy it. Like it was something different. It did kind of break up the usual stuff, the usual feral for a lot of these guys. This isn't their first development camp. So obviously they've heard some normal guest speakers, which they do get a lot out of guys like Wendell Clark, you know Craig Brubay talked to them Brad Trey living they heard from the team's mental health Performance consultants to talk about pressure, but this was you know something a little different and we were talking to you know Luke Haynes and he was saying like this is something where you kind of learn how you build trust you build relationships The guy had to teach this untrained horse how to follow his movements and he said that you can kind of relate it a little bit to

how you build relationships with your teammates and how you have to build the trust there. So it's interesting, Victor Johansson, the team's fourth round pick last year out of the Swedish junior league was just saying he learned that you got to keep your eyes on the coach, that the horse trainer was always kind of keeping eye contact with the horse. So that was his takeaway. And it felt like all the guys had a little bit of a different takeaway. Noah Chadwick talking about the leadership and how you have to, again, similar kind of idea that you have to kind of build trust with the horse trainer with the horse and you have to build trust with your teammates.

So definitely different story here today than I'm used to seeing at the Leafs Development Camp. And what does it say to you, Masters, that this is sort of this focus on mental toughness and mental wellness and dealing with pressure and understanding how to control your emotions. What does it say to you that the Leafs have made this a focus of their development camp? I think it says that it's an issue, that they're not as scared of it, that they're confronting it and they you know there's no secret what's been going on for the big club during this run. How they get to

these big moments and you know it hasn't worked out. So I think it says that they're meeting that kind of head on. The prospects kind of enjoyed that as well and might as well start them young, right? Like start a ready to start your career. I know they've talked a bit about social media and the expectations and how things are different in Toronto as well and I think that's important. That's what you've kind of got to learn right away if you're going to be a professional hockey player especially if you're going to do it in a market like Toronto. Anyone standing out so far out there for the on-eye sessions Mark? No I wouldn't say

that you know it's tough tough to say I've they've had two on-eye sessions they're all they're going to have one more tomorrow that's down from five last year and Wickenheiser was explaining that they did more on ice sessions coming out of COVID. They really wanted to check in on the guys, see what they've been up to. And now they just, you know, it's early in the summer. They don't want to push guys too hard. They don't want injuries to pop up. Clearly there still has to be an on ice element to this camp. I mean, hockey players have to play hockey, but I don't want to read too much into it. Clearly there was the fight yesterday. So that certainly stood out because I haven't seen that in a while at a development camp. So that raised eyebrows, but no one I wouldn't say is

popping from just a hockey perspective, although we'll see what Wickenheiser says tomorrow when she gives her full debrief on the camp if someone has stood out to her. Certainly you know you you can't enough lou cobbler there for their topic in last draft he looks pretty big you know he comes as advertised the big presence on the ice uh... seems to move alright so you're just kinda getting your eyes on some of the guys that you haven't seen we just talked to will bell fifth round pick in the most recent draft out of the u s that national

team development program boy he he's dirty he's he's that he, he's physically imposing. So you're just kind of getting your eyes on some of these guys for the first time and those are your bigger takeaways than maybe anybody kind of what they're doing in the drills or on the ice, for me at least. So Mark, I want to go back to the horse thing, just because it's an easy narrative. And when we're talking about changing the DNA, which might be a regrettable statement now but i mean this goes through the whole

organization and i respect that but anybody who really is concerned about the story line only cares about at the top level so how does that like how did how do you do that and it is there any sort of uh... thing that's happened over the last week and a half that that changes your mind in any of that?

No, I wouldn't say that. I think that DNA changes maybe isn't as, you know, I think when you heard Brad Trailor living talk about it immediately after the season when he did his debrief, you kind of think of it as a big thing. And I think of it more of a subtle thing and like the negotiations with Matthew Nyes and John Tavares and how they played out is maybe part of it, you know, changing the DNA a little bit. Two guys where it was, you know, they didn't meet, reach free agency. They, they, you know, signed, John Tavares said he left money on the table and certainly for Matthew Nyes, he could have looked into

becoming a restricted free agent and what that might have, you know, led to. And even Bradshaw Living, you know, being patient here, being patient here, not making any rash decisions in free agency, even though there might be an inclination to run out and do something immediately after Mitch Marner leaves. So I think that the DNA thing is more subtle. Obviously there's nothing subtle about a horse. I know the guys are talking about how it was going wild

when the guy tried to put a saddle on the horse today. It was fucking like crazy. And that caught a lot of the guys are talking about how it was going wild when they tried to put it when the guy tried to put a Saddle on the horse today was fucking like crazy and that caught a lot of the guys off guard But I think everything just adds up so, you know whether it's what's happening in development camp here What's happening at the negotiating table? What's gonna be happening at training camp? Everything will add up to to a DNA change for the leaf Well, obviously the biggest, you know loss for this team over the offseason is Mitch Marner and that's Bay. It's 102 points out the door and also the right hand man for Austin Matthews and we're kind of pondering this earlier Mark. With Marner out the door and what was the stat?

50% of Matthews goals last few years have come from Mitch Marner? With him going out the door, will expectations be adjusted or should they be adjusted for Austin Matthews moving forward? I don't think so. Obviously the injury was a big factor in the most recent season, but he had a lot of success early in his career. When he wasn't playing with Mitch Marner in the Mike Babcock era, obviously he had his most success with Marner. But I look at how hot he was down the stretch a couple years ago when he was playing with Bertuzzi and Domi, and that line was just on fire. The guy is so good. I mean, he's one of the best players in the world. He's a Hart Trophy winner. Matthew Knives is an emerging power forward talent. I think that Austin Matthews Matthews assuming he's healthy is going to score a lot of goals next season. He is going to be a very very very effective good player for the team. My expectations for him they'll change.

If anything I expect him to maybe you know raise it you know be emboldened by it like take even more ownership on that line without Mitch Marner there. So I don't change my expectations for Austin Matthews at all. We've been talking, Mark. I mean, Tree Living has said that he wants to add another top six forward before the off season's over. And Al's brother and Tatman and I were going over the potential trade pieces that you could actually offer a team that that had the top six forward that you coveted if you're tree-living how do you feel about the idea of them including Easton Callan at age 20 into a package if it was the player that they desired? You're probably gonna have to just with you know how

depleted their prospect pool is I I guess Ben Danford, their first round pick from last year, is another player that might be attractive. But it feels like, listen, to get something good, you're going to have to give up something good. And again, they don't have a ton. We saw Fraser Minton, Nikita Grubin can go out the door during the trade deadline period. So yeah, that's just the way it's going to have to be. I mean obviously you could trade off of your roster as well. Nick Robertson's a restricted free agent. So many times we've thought he might be done, but he doesn't seem to have a ton of currency on the open market in terms of what other teams are interested in. We know he requested a trade

last season, that didn't happen. The team has liked his skill set and wanted to keep him. So, yeah, I mean, I would feel like depending on what the return is, that's something that you might have to do to get what you need and what you want. I just, I sort of spin around in a circle on this because I do the editing of the movie. So if I plugged Mitch Marner back in, they still wouldn't be good enough because they weren't good enough this year if you take them out then you have to replace them in and still get better at the same time I don't know what the I don't know what the answer to that is do you well you know they're going to be different that's for sure without Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner is it was an incredible player and is an incredible player and was a big reason why they had a lot of success in the regular season. I still think the team is set up to have success in the regular season, perhaps not as much success but certainly more than enough to be a playoff team and then you get to the postseason and now you've got to find a different mix and the different DNA that we've talked about and you know at least you know we've said it time and time again during this era that it just didn't add up, right? The core for this core group, it was just not set up.

They got to the key moments and they didn't believe it. It felt like that they could do it. That's just how it looked when you see the efforts in games five and seven, or the performance, I should say, in those games. So now with Marder gone, will that be enough to lead to a different feel? I don't know. Clearly Brad Trey Living has talked about bringing in someone new. He's not done yet. I don't want to make any sort of conclusions on their offseason just yet because he's said he wants to continue to add and specifically a top six forward. So we'll wait and see.

But yeah, it's tricky. Like it's not easy. A lot of teams are trying to figure out the right mix. They're just at different levels, right? Carolina's, you know, with Nikolai Eilers the guy to get them over the hump from their hump is the Eastern Conference final Leafs hump seems to be first second round so a lot of teams trying to figure this out. Yeah I was gonna ask you with that Carolina team you know

there's they've been to two of the last three Eastern Conference finals masters you've watched them closely we all have and yet they haven't been able to get over that hump of the Panthers. Nobody has. Do you think, when you look at the way they've, you know, they added Kay Andre Miller, they added Ealers, like do you think it gets them closer? Do you like what they've done or how do you look at the way they're approaching trying to become the preeminent Eastern Conference team? Yeah, they're trying to change their mix as well, right? And so they've always seemed to have lacked that extra scoring punch at the end.

The problem I think every team is dealing with in the East is just how do you beat Florida? Do I think they're set up to beat Florida now? If Florida's healthy, no. I just, you know, it's gonna be very hard. I don't know what any team can do right now to try and beat Florida the way they've been going.

You just got to hope it catches up to them, I suppose. But they're trying, right? They're changing the mix. I like Miller. I like they've changed the mix now upfront and on defense in a significant way. And they're still going to be a good team because they've built that foundation. So I like, I like what they've done. Will it be enough?

I'm, you know, skeptical at this moment, but that has more to do with the Florida Panthers than the Carolina Hurricanes. Go back to the Leafs quickly, Mark. There's obviously been a lot of fanfare with the Marner situation, Nye's Tavares resigning. It's been quite quiet through free agency, not a whole lot to report there. But kind of under the radar, a guy who the Maple Leafs could extend this summer is Anthony Stollers, who's coming off an amazing season and kind of fought that number one role from Joseph Wall. Would you say that he should be a priority to try and get signed to an extension this summer? And what might that look like considering that

he's had, you know, just kind of an up and down career, but one really solid season last year with Toronto? Yeah, I don't know if it's, maybe you want to see a bit more, right? Like, you know, Brad Trier Living hasn't been asked about it, but he had an incredible year last year. He's dealt with injuries, of course, in the past, including last season. So maybe you want to see it continue. Can he be right at the top of the league?

I mean, he had the best save percentage in the NHL amongst the goalies that qualified last season. Can he continue that? It's interesting. I talked to Lane Lambert when he got hired as the Seattle Kraken head coach. The assistant coaches don't do interviews in Toronto, so I just curious to pick his brain. I asked him about the playoff series and one of the turning points that he listed in the series wasn't just game five and obviously the performance game seven but

Anthony Stolar is getting hurt. They really did feel like that changed things and that is you know, it hurt them, right? There was a drop-off there from Stolar's to Walls. So they they held them in high estimation the the the coaching staff but I can understand why they'd want to see more before you make a bigger commitment. Goaltending can be so random at times. So I don't know what that contract would do. It would look like he's such a, it's such an interesting path to this point for him. But let's see if he starts, you know, it's not going to be, you know, it's a good time for Anthony Stoller to be playing at this level and kind of he would command a lot when you look at the goalie market that we just saw.

Not a lot of, you know, you know, guys that you can bank on are available. So I don't know what that contract will look like. I don't know how eager they are to extend them because Tre Leving hasn't been asked about it. I haven't heard much about it, but it's going to be fascinating just to see the way he starts the next season and can he stay healthy and just build on what he did last year. Masters, I know you always are keeping one eye on the tennis over at the All England Club.

Now that there's no Canadians in the fight, who do you like in here? Do you like Djokovic's chances of winning one last slam here in the face of the young guns that are there to take his crown? Yeah, I do. I mean, listen, he went bank on it. Like he's not obviously the favorite. He has to have a problem for him He's running into the problem that all of the the up-and-coming challengers had during the big three era

Which is yet in order to win a trophy you had to beat two of them And that's what he's going to have to do is you'd have to be both Yannick center and Carlos Alcaraz To win it, but he's looking great like he looks looks, you know, straight sets against Dan Evans in his last match. If I feel like if he's going to get another one, it's going to be at Wimbledon and it's probably going to have to be this year. It just feels like you're fighting Father Time every year that advances. So I like his chances of getting to that semi and then we'll see how Alcaraz and Sinner are looking. Alcaraz dropping a set today. Sinner's kind of been mowing them down so we'll see but yeah. Let's just say I like the way he's looking and he's obviously got a great track record at Wimbledon. It's

just hard though. Alcaraz and Sinner just seem to be on another level right now. Mark, thanks very much. Appreciate it. Enjoy your weekend. I will. Thanks guys. Mark Masters joined us in the Maple Toyota Hotline Drive, the built-in Canada fuel-efficient fun to drive Toyota Hotline Drive, the built in Canada fuel efficient fun to drive Toyota RAV4, gas or hybrid models available. Visit mapletoyota.com. Jokovic's 38 years old playing against these, what is it, Alcara's is 22, Sinner's 23. Yeah.

Bit of a gap. Plus 500 right now, third best odds on fan duel to win Wimbledon. Alcraz and Sinner both heavily favored actually, they're close. Plus 120 for Alcraz, Sinner second, plus 145 and then there's that drop off. So the books are expecting for these two youngins to go battle it out once again in a slam, but you can't count out Joker at this age he still can play he can still play so plus 500 not too bad not too bad yeah thinking about a sprinkle I might sprinkle my little sprinkle sprinkle little Bay Salt sprinkle on on the joker there just a pinch just a pinch that's

right I want to circle back to the leaf so I've got their their forward grid in front of me I've got fifteen forwards camp uh... and it the way it stands right now everybody's penciled in the chile on the top line i can't get their mcmahon the second line i can't get there either i mean it could happen uh... and then you've got wassering robertson and dole meet and lot of the seven yard crook in

lorenzo the extra they don't work is that if it's in but but i would have on the fourth line that count in camp i mean there's a lot of bottom six forwards there i i i i i'm not suggesting that that's how they're gonna start somebody's gonna go here but does that the the the collection of people go does that bring back the top six winger i i i who is it

it not in less khalen is probably one of those guys or there's been some speculation that maybe Brandon Carlo could be a piece that they use to try maybe one of the goaltenders like maybe that you you know decide all right do want to go forward with wall we want to go forward with stole ours and and move the other guy because there's a lot of teams out there that are looking for goalie okay. Oh absolutely. Okay let's think that went through though okay what's happened since those two guys got together every time one of them's playing well or they're both playing well what also happens one of them gets hurt yeah that tells you you need them both yeah absolutely you cannot i agree with

it's taking years to get there i would not go that route, but it is an option that they could consider if the correct piece came about and they needed to move off of one of those goals. I wouldn't do that. I don't think I'd think about it, but they don't have a lot of options. That's the problem. No, they don't, but you're talking about trading the goaltender and the defenseman, and quite frankly it took nine years to get there with the defense and the goaltending. So that leaves Cowan.

So if you do want to make an addition to this team's top six, there really is only one player that can certainly be appetizing to other teams that doesn't necessarily have a role on this team this year. He's going to have to compete and put forward a solid effort at camp. I know the junior numbers were sparkling coming off an OHL championship, but the NHL is a different beast. And last year, Craig Berube wasn't ready to see him in an NHL uniform, and he's going to have to prove it again in this upcoming training camp that he's ready to do it. But if they continue and they add another top-six piece, that makes it even less likely for him to make the team. So if you have this one, two-year window, you kind of have to consider it.

You have to consider trading Easton Callan for a win now top six piece I mean you've got to be saying to yourself is he his own version of Matthew Nyes? Not exactly the same player, but could he do in two years what Matthew Nyes did? I got to believe the answer is probably a no Well, it would be the ideal scenario for the Leafs. It would be wonderful Then you get back to the Blue Jays story Where was barger when all this was was supposed to happen in spring training? Not in anybody's list, but look what he's done. Right. Well, you just hear the story. Look, you just see the CHL production. You see the

winning, which is nice that he's been on winning teams and he's been a big-time player on winning teams at the junior level. But then you hear this, you know, it's about puck management. And if you're playing for Craig Berube and you've got puck management issues at age 20. That's his number one mugga boo. Well, it's going to be a problem. You're not going to get on the ice, let alone be a top six player under Craig Barubei or any coach worth his salt. So those mistakes just aren't tolerated at this level.

They can't be tolerated in the playoffs for a team that wants to get over the playoff hump, multiple playoff humps ideally. So it's hard to imagine him doing it but it would be the easiest path to fill in the hole you need. Right? As if this guy just wows you and completely overachieves and problem solved. Yeah if I had to put a Jerry's on that happening like Cowan winning a top six spot this year at campus like it'd be what 20% 25% chance feels low I think you're gonna get that that would probably be my my neighbor so if you could trade him for like just

to throw it a couple like a cod Brian Russ is a name that I like a lot I was thinking about yesterday like if if you could pluck a Brian Rust if Dubis is willing to trade with the maple leafs I love to have Cowan well I mean who drafted Easton Cowan? Yeah. Who drafted him? Yeah, exactly. Right? Like the, what's his name now? He's down in Pittsburgh. He was the... Yeah. Dupas's right-hand guy. Wes Clark. Wes Clark. Thank you. Wes Clark. Thank you. Wes Clark is the guy who drafted him, right? So he's now in Pittsburgh. Maybe that they would, you know, decide to bring him in and, I mean, Russ is a 30orer, right? That replaces a lot of the offense that Marner left and he's got term on his deal. So it's not just for one year, it's three years, which is the exact same amount of term that I think Matthews has on his contract.

So that kind of lines up if you can make a deal like that. Ricard Raquel is another player in Pittsburgh. 70 points last year, 35 goals, 35 assists. There are some guys where it makes sense, but it has to really make sense to move off of a top prospect like that. I like that because then it forces a lot of people down. You still got too many bottom six forwards, but you can move them. Yeah. To make the money work, maybe you can find a taker for David. There's still some teams that need to get to the floor. There yeah. There's a couple teams that aren't even at the cap

floor yet. So here take on camps 2.4 and get yourself there get yourself closer to closer maybe you know give them a draft. What do you get back for that? You're not getting anything back. You're getting nothing back. You got them off your books. Yeah that's what you want at that point just move the salary out. Yeah. And we'll get some wiggle room here. Pretty much. Ryan Reeves maybe it's 1.35 I can bury that contract that's you can bury it but you can also get rid of well what's camp a two point forest yeah yeah yeah see that more years I believe so yeah I think you want to move that that yarn croc is another player that final year potentially but camp would be

the one that I think you circle, probably the one that they'd like to move the most, I would think. Those two wingers you're talking about, you play them with Matthews and Nyes, it's a different look on that line. Totally different. Absolutely. I don't like it. I think Cal Davis wants to do business and help out the Maple Leafs.

Well, that's the question. Well, now that Codger's been brought up, Calgary has not been willing to do fair deals, fair business with Brad True Living either. So it's like the main options that are being thrown around, there's a little wrinkle in that with those two teams and the general managers there don't seem to want to do business with Brad True Living. So I don't know. But I think you nailed it.

If somehow you could figure out a way to get Cadry in Rust. Oh, and? I don't know how you would do it. I don't think they have nearly a big bad hand. But in terms of a lineup, that's what you need. Yeah. That's the kind of move you need. Yeah, both of you guys. Yeah, in a moment. You need a shoehorn to fit them in. Two top six guys away, is that what you're saying, Taddy? They don't need one. Well, they are. They are. But they need two. But they are because they've lost the top right-winger and they never really had the

left-winger on the second line. That's true. Pontus. It was an open cast. Top six, top Pontus. It was a casting call there. Bobby McMahon's the placeholder there. And he could be, but he hasn't shown it. But he's fallen out of favorite times and...

Maybe he gets traded. ...not able to... Possibly, yeah. Yeah. He could be someone who they decide to move out. I mean, if you're talking about running for a Stanley Cup, both those holes have to... They're not negotiable. They're not, let's see if this can work. Yeah. This is who we have and it's gonna work. Yeah, it's just tough.

Top six, come on. There's not a lot there to... They don't have enough to acquire those holes and there's nothing for agency. No, no, there's nothing for agency. It's gonna be very difficult, extremely difficult to fill both of those holes. One could be doable if you're willing to put the right pieces in play. Then still one brick short of a load again. Well, yeah.

Well, we'll see. One or two horses short. Yeah, I like that. That's a good way to wrap up the segment. Coming up next, the highly anticipated and now approved Yes Guy, No Guy on Overdrive, the radio show on TSN 1050 and TSN 2. 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 I Heart Radio or wherever you get your podcasts. Madden in Friday, Overdrive, Jim Taddy, Dave Festchuk and Al's brother today, Mike Di DiStefano coming up at the top of the hour Richard Griffin will be by to

talk about baseball the Jays against the Angels tonight at the dome and let's just do a quickie update here while we can where'd I go with that the lineup changes tonight no the score where the Yankees Yankees scorekees for the engines are losing the met some of the series that's what i wanted to kick off the fourth of july little subway series actually down six five to the mess one so don't have a big as this former team love to see it's a homer double all i'd love to see it so i really love to see that judges got a homer two it's a slug fest over there in uh... and blushing meadow

twin several one i think we'd over the race so this could be another great day for the Blue Jays. In the meantime, a staple of TSN 1050. Yes Guy, No Guy. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, drivers and passengers, time now for Yes Guy, No Guy. Fully approved, fully okayed on Overdrive, the radio and television show. Yes Guy, No Guy, number one, Mr. Faschuk. The Blue Jays will win the AL Eastern Division title this season.

I'm going Yes Guy. I'm going first division title in what, a decade or thereabouts. And I just feel like, you just look at this Yankees team, they've got holes and I'm not sure they can fill them. The Blue Jays are going to be aggressive at the deadline. Blue Jays just seem to have, you know, the fact that they're winning without Santander, they're winning, that Taddy's point off the top of the show with contributions from a lot of unexpected places, the fact they're winning without a great run differential. There's a little bit of magic going on there that I think translates well to a team that just has one of those runs that they've been

try to have for an awful long time and come up short but i think i think this is the year yeah i'll piggyback that with a big ol' yes guy on that one i i love what's going on with the blue jays right now so they tried to do my it was is my best rod Black impression. I tried, I tried, I failed. There's only one Roddy Black at the end of the day. But I'm a yes guy on that one. The way that they've played the last month of baseball, they've been one of the best teams in baseball since

May 28th, 23 and 10. 10 they won nine of the 10 series since that date their first at batting average their first in the league with a 9.7 wins above replacement they don't strike out they're hitting with for power and interestingly enough I was taking a look at the Blue Jays top five wins above replacement since this May 28th date in the last 33 games. The names on this list are not who you would have thought they'd be at the beginning of the year. So in the last 33 games, the top five players in the Jays in war, Ernie Clement, Al Kirk, Addison Barger, George Springer, and Jose Barrios. Absent from that list is Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

And he has not played poorly. He just hasn't been a $500 million man. But you don't have to be when everyone else around you is picking up and scoring runs and hitting the ball well. And they're getting decent enough pitching from the three guys that you expect and Scherzer's back now. Eric Lauer pitches tonight. He's been doing really

well. Everything's kind of moving and shaking in the right direction. It feels like the vibes are good here in Toronto right now. I hope they can keep it forward. I'm going to say yes, guy. I like vibe. That's a big part of what I do. The vibe is there. So this is the fun part about sports is when your team starts to win and on a nightly basis, you look and you're surprised by who contributes to the win. Yeah. sports is when your team starts to win and on a nightly basis you look and you're surprised by who contributes to the win. Yeah.

Because it rotates all around. You know, we talked about the Hoffman pitching performance four to five days. There's a guy who's absolutely stretched to his limit and comes up with it. The Lucas at bat that eventually gives the game winning runs, right, with 14 pitch at bat to see a kid do that and you go wow look at I mean it just draws you right in this is the best part of it so I'm gonna go yes guy on that yes guy no guy number two George Springer has been the Blue Jays MVP for the first half AB. I'm gonna go I'm gonna say it is difficult I'm gonna say yes guy I will say yes guy because he

does lead the team with the highest OPS, leads the team in home runs and leads the team in RBI. So when you lead the team in all three of those categories, it's tough to not be that guy but there have been so many players that you could argue that could be in that category as well. Alejandro Kirk has been unbelievable. He's a guy who I think should be in there in consideration. But a sneaky one, Ernie Clement. I don't think Ernie Clement's getting nearly enough love for the season that he's having. You look at the last 28, or the last 33 games since that May 28th date, he's got the third

highest wins above replacement in baseball. All of baseball behind, I think, is Judge and Cal Raleigh. All of baseball. So Ernie Clement and Cal Raleigh all of baseball. So Ernie Clement should be in that mix there as well. So between those three you can pick one I suppose but when Springer is a top of all those categories for the full season I think you might have to give him the edge. Yeah, I think it's a yes guy I think I think he's he's kind of been emblematicatic of what we're talking about here because what was the expectation level for George Springer coming into the season?

He's coming off the worst season of his career last year. It looked like... The expectation for him was, can he stay healthy? Exactly. Can he stay healthy and hit 240, give you 15 home runs? When you ask that question, a lot of people kind of put their head down and Shrug their heads and say good luck right because it just had happening for him So for him I agree like Alia Alejandro Kirk to be doing what he's doing as a catcher has been incredible and you know

Absolutely off the charts, but I think springers kind of you know He's in a lot of ways his spirit of this team Yeah the way the way he plays with that full tilt enthusiasm and World Series MVP credentials and that stuff matters. For him to sort of be carrying things, to be leading the team in OPS, to be leading the team in home runs, obviously Vladdy, it would be nice if Vladdy was doing those things. He should be doing those things.

We're going to talk to Richard Griffin later on. Griff has been calling Vladdy the world's most expensive singles hitter, which he kind of is. I wonder how he feels. He hits them pretty hard. They're hard singles. But, yeah, I think Springer is a big part of the story about why the Jays are where they are.

So he'd be my MVP to date. I'd like to go with Kirk, but that's obvious. I think Springer is the guy. Just for a lot of reasons I think you have this visual of him running into a wall and missing the next three weeks because we've seen that so many times but he is inspirational. You look at the homers and the whole team just gets jacked and I think the jacket he's gonna own the jacket by the end of the season right? Oh yeah. It's not gonna back so it's it's fun you know it just it takes you back a number of years and and for those of us who've been around decades it takes you

back really go back 40 years to to you know 85 yeah and in that season where they are the series actually where they clinched against the Yankees that old C&E Stadium and so it winning against the Yankees like that legitimizes everything taking over first, but it's just great fun to watch and it's kind of a retro feeling. Yes Guy No Guy number three, Connor McDavid will sign a deal longer than four years on his next contract in Edmonton. I guess we had to clarify that it's in Edmonton. Hey, I got a no guy on guy in this really I've got a no guy longer than four years now

Do I believe this I'm not sure but if I were Connor McDavid's agent I would be telling him what MJ told us yesterday on overdrive Yeah, Mike Johnson our great hockey analyst MJ made a great case that McDavid's best pitch should be, I'll give you a two-year deal. You pay me 16 million for two years, 32 million total, because A, the cap's gonna go up, it's gonna be good for me, Connor McDavid, and B, I want to put this man's team on the clock to build the team that I need to win my cup in Edmonton. And I think that time pressure of having him on a very short deal would definitely benefit McDavid.

I think it would benefit the Oilers to have that urgency that says we don't have this guy for eight years. We don't have this guy for four more years. We get this guy for two more years after this one. We got to make this happen now. If I'm McDavidDavid I think that's my best interest I think MJ should be his agent because he sold he sold me on the the wisdom of that and but I'm a hundred percent behind but just let me interrupt here if he does sign two years for 32 million doesn't get in his own way because he takes he soaks up so much of the cap they can't sign anybody else. You got the best player in the world on the team you got to pay him. You're not gonna pay him. He's not taking you know 8.7 million dollars

Sidney Crosby. But if he's doing the two-year deal it's so that he can get paid when the cap goes up to 113 million at that point like that that could be the time where you stretch it you say give me the most you can Give me give me 20 million at that point I think I've got it with that man on that one where if you're only signing for two years I'm not saying pay him, you know dirt cheap like obviously you can still give them, you know 13 14 million Well, it can't be less than it can't be less than the biggest number in the league, right? So that's right now 14 Yeah, it can't be less than 14. You got to be more than 14 so okay let's just say it's okay MJ will be mad but let's let's say I give on that and

I say give me 14-5 yeah either way I'm with you in where I think it's probably a shorter term deal like I think that's that is McDavid's way to put pressure on the organization and give them a couple more years to figure it out but if I'mDavid, like I'm looking at what's happened in Edmonton this summer, I don't like it. No. Like they got pillaged. Like there's not a lot. They added really, and Mandrew Mungiapani is like the only ad of significance that they've made so far. Anything else? They lost Evander Cain.

They lost Corey Perry. Like they've lost Connor Brown. They've lost Evander Kane, they lost Corey Perry, like they've lost a lot more, Connor Brown, they've lost a lot more than they've gained. So if you're McDavid, you're looking at it and you're like, I don't know if I'm willing to make that extension right now. Like I got to see how the rest of this offseason plays out, but if you're the Oilers, can you even let McDavid get to opening night without a contract? That would be the scariest thing possible for the fans. The recipe for Cass. I don't know if they can afford that.

They've lost significant players over the last two summers and maybe it rears its ugly head. I'm going to say no guy, but for different reasons. This is the best player in the league. And when we go back to everybody in the last last week saying here's where I want to stay but you're not raising the bar the NHLPA has to be really upset about that nobody's raising the bar here up and if this guy can't raise the bar nobody can which is a

which is bad for business so I gotta believe that that he signs for less than four at at the at the best dollar figures you say and and he always has to be doing that. He can't lock in so he's cancelled out for the next eight years because how is anybody else going to up the bar? Yeah, I agree. Look, that to me is that's always been the sort of the agents argue it, right?

Now, it's not the players argue it. The players in this league have by far they've preferred security, they've preferred the long term deal, they preferred less drama, less things to worry about, less uncertainty in terms of their future. But to me this is, if anybody in this league has certainty about his future and his ability to continue to be a dominant player, it's Connor McDavid. So to me this is about making a statement to say, I believe in this management group, but only to a point.

Because so far, they haven't been able to get it done for me. I've held up my end of the bargain every year. They gotta hold up theirs in these next few. Okay, we'll step out, come back, and continue. Yes guy, no guy. That's now official, we're gonna continue. Yes guy, no guy. That's now official. We're going to continue. Yes guy, no guy. This is Overdrive on TSN2, TSN1050. Brian Adams. Hey, my name is 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.

Mailer in Friday, Overdrive, TSN 1050, TSN 2 2 overdrive is brought to you by Fendel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score and mail it in Fridays brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree aside and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less a fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food see you for $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza yes guy no guy here we go ladies and gentlemen boys and girls drivers and passengers round two of yes guy no guy and overdrive the radio show and just let me get my my ciphering out here we go yes guy no guy I believe

we're at number four Nikolai Ehlers automatically makes the the Carolina Hurricanes the top favorite for the stanley cup elers in carolina top favorite for the stanley cup that's a big no i at the we've discussed this uh... today already is a the path is a faith the and the fact that

it's got none do it with carolina for me nothing to carolina the way the panthers took over that the way that that is to go to carolina hurricanes in eastern final for me. Nothing to do with Carolina. The way the Panthers took out the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Final, 5-2, 5-0, 6-2, Panthers get one win and then lose 5-3 in game five. It was a trouncing and there's not one player that's going to change that. Maybe it's two players because Carolina's also had a Candre Miller on the back end, but Florida's the clear player favorites i mean boring doing the the the only real weakness florida has

is lack of gold and death in that there's so much writing of a broski staying healthy a b but i just don't see them being unseated as the favorite anytime soon unless they start having a goaltending crisis right and i you know there's a lot of teams that are in that boat too right but I no guy absolutely no guy and just because the Florida Panthers are the class they're the class and I don't think there's anything that anyone could have done this year that would have made me think

otherwise going into next season the Florida Panthers should be will be the favorites to three-peat and I believe the the books say the same thing okay I know interestingly like right when the cup final ended somehow Carolina was the favorite but that quickly flipped with money coming in on Florida as it rightfully should be and now they are the favorite I think it'll stick that way. Yeah Carolina's the second pick according to FanDuel. I'm gonna say no guy too because when I looked at their roster I like their forward unit it's really good. Blue Line doesn't compare to Florida's at all, neither does the goaltending.

So, that's kind of a big difference, isn't it? Well, look, they've played twice in the past three years in the Eastern Final, and it's been eight games to one for Florida. So I just, I don't think they're close. I mean, I'm not sure what other evidence you need. Carolina, here's the biggest issue, I think, for Carolina. You know, Nikolai Eh's a that's a nice ad they currently have yes for cockney me pence then as a two c

yeah you're not gonna you're not uh... stanley cup with cockney and is it to see i'm sorry it's by just don't see it happening against bennett against bennett sorry guy that's a sorry guy uh... yes guy no guy what we had number five easton cowan will crack the Maple Leafs opening night roster this upcoming season.

Is he going to be on the team? Like is he going to be with the organization? The question is, will he crack the opening night roster? I'm going to say no guy. No guy. Because A, he could be involved in some sort of trade and not even be an option. And B, I look at the roster right now and there's like where's he going to slot in? I don't see a spot where he fits on the roster as constructed and we believe Treloving came out and said he still wants to add another top six forward. So that's going to push guys down even more. Where's the spot for him on this roster? I don't see one unless he absolutely wows in camp, which is a possibility. It's not a 0% chance, but right now I think it's less likely

than more likely he is not on this roster opening night. I mean, I'm a no guy too, I think, because I think if they're serious about it, I gotta know the top six winger, as Mark Masters pointed out, what else are they trading for that top six winger? I just say there's just no easy, there's no easy trade bit in their roster right now uh the only probably you know if they don't make that trade maybe he beats out you know maybe he beats out nick robertson for that

third line winger spot right and maybe or maybe nick robertson no longer i don't have him penciled in on the open line up either no okay he's the rfa with arbitration right now he's he's he may not be but i mean there's those guys who fall in a big group is favor we theoretically be out but the idea is going to do it is twenty with puck management issues hard to match

yeah i'd say no i gotta say i'm gonna go against the ground to say yes guy just because at opening a roster and it's it's october uh... if you can't look at him at that point than than the whole seasons in jeopardy and i i just believe he's he's a much better prospect than that so i'm gonna go against the grain here just uh... barring any trade that we don't know anything about the mystic guy optimistic happy guy had glass uh... full

guy let's go with that one uh... coming up next will have uh... richard'll have Richard Griffin and then Bruce Boudreaux. This is Overdrive on TSN 1050 and you're watching on TSN 2. Mail It In Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza.

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