OverDrive - OverDrive - July 9, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: July 9, 2025

Join Jim Tatti, Dave Feschuk and Michael DiStefano for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Blue Jays' winning stretch, the spotlight players in the run and the top winners of the offseason in the NHL. Former NHLer and NHL Network Analyst Jason Demers joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' lineup outlook, the Panthers dominating the league and Gavin McKenna's college route with Penn State and they also play Yes Guy, No Guy.

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Welcome aboard. Here we go, Overdrive on Wednesday. Jim Taddy, Jay Fess, Chuck from the Toronto Star, and Al's brother Mike DiStefano with you, guiding you through. Overdrive is brought to you by FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score coming up in terms of guests Jason DeBurr from DeBurr's from NHL Network at 420, Jose Bautista at 502 or 505 530 David Naylor talking football 605 Jack Armstrong and then later on Dallas Braden 630 Talking Major League Baseball great to have bautista in the house with us tonight do we back study obviously i grew up in in in this era

as a blue jays fan when he was just starting to arrive on to the scene that'd be great for me to have a chance that to talk to one of my favorite jays of all time i mean you talk about someone who meant so much to the city and with what the jays do right now in the midst of You know this this win streak they won ten in a row and have a chance to extend it and tie Batista's 2015 team that had not one but two 11 game winning streaks Yeah, be really fun to get a chance to kind of pick his brain a little bit and get inside the the head of an MLB player

During a hot streak like this Yeah, it's gonna be great. I mean the the Blue Jays continue to roll. Although you know maybe maybe the Pope is praying in Rome because the White Sox, the White Sox, his beloved White Sox have a slight edge over the Blue Jays right now. I can only assume it's some sort of you know religious intervention because the White Sox are terrible. But Blue Jays have a chance to sweep here, keep this thing going on the south side of Chicago today. So, man, it's exciting, exciting stuff. A clear sign the end is near when the White Sox have Vatican poll.

Yeah. I mean, who knows? It hasn't helped yet, but just wait. Well, you look at this run that they've had since May 28th eight the that they've lost and it would be two series since then one of those against the whites are yeah i think a few weeks ago so that it's funny they they go out there they could sweep the yankees they could beat the red sox right have a good series against all these other teams

and somehow the team that seems to give them the most fits over this yes seven eight week stretch has been the chicago white socks it's it's before it's it's befuddling. It's it's kind of strange but a lot of weird stuff's going on. Yeah well it'd be great to talk to him about like because those two 11 game streaks they had one was before the trade deadline in June and the others after the load up in August. Yeah I mean basically two different teams but they did it. Yeah that that's something too like it I remember hearing a story I think I was

actually from Alex Anthopoul who who said when when I Made the trade for David Price and the port was out there He had gotten a text from Bautista saying is this legit and like that that was it He was wondering if it was real said yes, and then I believe it was it the the response was a bleep Yeah with like 18 exclamation marks there was the text exchanged back from Jose so might be fun to revisit that that time in his life well you know cuz that was the beauty of that era and the beauty of that moment for Anthopolis and the Blue Jays was you know you there been there been previous

you know seasons where you knew that Batista was as you point out brother he was hitting his prime he kind of come out of nowhere and he had the you know he was in the top four in mvp voting a couple of times he had a forty home run season of fifty three home run season uh... and he was and there was always a push to add at the trade deadline and i had a lot of times that there was an underwhelming effort at least the perceived to be an underwhelming effort, at least perceived to be an underwhelming effort.

And finally in 2015, that changed. And yeah, Jose Batista wasn't quite at the peak of his powers, but he still, what, he had a 40 home run year that year and he led DAL and RBIs, sorry, in walks that year. So he was still a very effective player. Still a 913 OPS. Yeah, he was still a very effective player done 913 OPS yeah he was all I just think that when you go back to that time that's um like a front

office that were responsive to the fan base you remember the one offseason where they they brought in all those pitchers it was because the fan base and said look we want you to do something here we've been in the playoffs for a number of years and sort of the fan base demanded that they responded and I think that was that that could sort of slip into 2015 as well that that there was an air around in the in the stands that let's do something and they did. Yeah, and you know, we all know the famous story of, you know, Alex Anthopoulos getting called into Mark Shapiro's office in Mark Shapiro's early days as team president and

being chastised for trading away so many assets in loading up in those years. But you know, that was tone deaf to the idea of what Toronto had gone through watching this team underachieve for so many years, especially in the memory of back to back World Series wins in 92, 93. Like people forget that was the longest, the longest existing postseason drought in all of the North American sports at that time the blue jays and been to the postseason from 93 Till 2015 my entire life 22 years. I had never seen a playoff big game involved blue jays until that moment So it made a huge impression that I like that what I was all in on that

That's the beauty of Toronto sports is like if a team gets hot It graphs the entire city and it seemed like Toronto and even the Raptors look back on the Raptors run Doesn't just grab the city grabs the nation Oh absolutely it is it is all like when the Blue Jays are playing This city is so lively and like the patios are packed every night down on King West everyone watching What's going on watching these games? I? Absolutely this city craves success when it comes to their sports and what's happening right now at the Blue Jays the run that they're on it is very reminiscent to 2015 and we look ahead to the trade deadline can they

have as impactful as a deadline as they did back then and I think too you know you mentioned Shapiro had an issue with Anthopolis unloading the the the farm system back then. I wonder if things have changed now since he's gone through, what's he been here now, ten years almost? Nine years, right? Like now he's been there for long enough where it's like, okay, maybe it's not this often that success comes around and when we do have a chance, we do need to push the chips all in and maybe he gets that the sign off to Atkins to kind of

really push it all in this year and make that big bet. That's an excellent point. And I like your point about, you know, it's your first experience that way in 2015. When you go back to original Blue Jay fans, it went from, in quick fashion, it went from let's look at the team coming in because they weren't competitive to 85 where it's like okay and from 85 on until those back to back World Series wins, this was, I almost want to say an entitled fan base because they could feel it coming. Yeah, there was a nice build there.

And there was an expectation that in those days, I mean the Blue Js could outspend people and they did outspend people in winning those back-to-back World Series. But this is kind of, there are some parallels to the 2015 situation, because, you know, 2015 I think was unexpected to a large degree, because 50 and 51, when Alex Anthopoulos decides to pull the trigger based on the fact that he felt the team was better than its record, and they felt that it, you know, could be bolstered and could make a run and he was right you know they go all the way the LCS but this one's unexpected in a different way not because people had that expectations for this group in the past but because you know it's been such

an underwhelming start to the season well and window what had closed or stringers window is closed and andichette was going into a contract here at the time. Vlad, like think back to when the season started, Vlad's contract was not done. Right. That only got done in the first couple of weeks of the season. So you had, OK, well, what's going to happen with Vlad? What if the team gets off to a bad start?

Do they trade him? Do they trade Bichette? There's so many other pieces. And you had no idea what this season was going to be like. And if everything went horribly, I mean, so many other pieces and you had no idea what this season was going to be like and you know if everything went horribly I mean we could be on the complete opposite end of things right now where instead of talking about loading up a lot 2015 it where we probably are talking about all right what can they get for Bichette what can they get for Gosman for Bassett you know do you lose

Guerrero for nothing right like? Like, and I can't do that. No, I mean, obviously not. There's, there's no way that this team possibly, although you probably could have said that a couple years ago about Mitch Marner and well, he basically walked out the door for not a whole lot. But honestly, it's, it's, it's refreshing that they make the signing, they bring him in, they bet, okay, we still believe that our team is good enough. They made the signing on Alejandro Kirk. What a bet that was coming off of two down years for him They still had belief they made him the number one catcher. They let Danny Jansen walk

They didn't really replace him with a solid number two. I'm it's been fine But it's been out Kirk four to five games and he has been outstanding so the bets that they've made this front office has made, have really, really worked so far. And they've continued to dive into pitching and defense and for agency and through trade. And they always have belief that the bats will come through. And it's all kind of coming together right now. It's good to see. Well, one of the best transitions of all time, aside from what you just described there, is Bassett, who a year ago was giving you all the reasons why this couldn't work out and today he's talking about he wants to pitch somehow to help out in the three games that lead into the All-Star break.

Do we have that clip? He's talking about he wants to do anything to help this thing move along. Well, maybe we don't. We'll get to it later. But that's a good example of how this has changed. Well, you know, the one thing that really stands out to me, the buy-in, right, when you watch this, this, this team is, is the internal buy-in and they, you know, some of the reporters that cover this team really well have pointed out that the bad feelings

around the end of 2023 and the famous Jose Barrio incident getting pulled three and he was into a what looked like a really effective start in the playoffs and and the idea that this team was being run by computer spreadsheet rather than By instinct or feel or by human touch. That's a really good point I kind of want to jump into that for half a second So that that was a massive storyline coming out of that game where John Schneider Although he's you know, the fall storyline coming out of that game where John Schneider, although he's you know The fall guy the face of that decision He's the only one out there on the mound and pulled him out and put Kikuchi in

There was that underlying story where it was nuts. That's what the numbers had to do, right? That's what the computers had to do When you're watching the Ross Atkins was happy to throw John Schneider out of the bus and of course John's in those meetings John Schneider out of the bus. Of course he was. John's in those meetings. Let's not absolve John of this. Well he doesn't get completely off the hook. Like he ultimately does have a little bit to do with that but when you watch how he's managing games right now it does feel like he has a little bit more of the reins. Like the gut feel. It's like he's he figured out how to balance it. Like John Schneider,

he was a first year coach when he came when he was here, right? A manager. First time manager. Like maybe he felt at the time like I can't ruffle feathers, right? But now he's been here a couple years. He's had that vote of confidence and he's figured it out a few years into the job. Okay, this is how I can balance the gut feel with relying on the numbers and analytics. It's still baseball at the end of the day and the numbers are very, very important. We understand that. But I think that a big reason for why maybe this year we're seeing a run like this, like we had in the last couple of years, is because he's figuring it out and balancing things.

I think Schneider deserves a ton of credit. The Bats are obviously doing what they're doing. The Yards have been great. Bassett was awesome last night. But John Schneider deserves a lot of credit like the bats are obviously doing what they're doing the yards been great bass it was awesome last night but John Schneider deserves a lot of credit for this I don't have anything negative to say about him but sometimes I wonder if it just doesn't happen it just turns on its own and all of a sudden it creates its own sort of energy source in it and it just dissipates through the entire team and maybe maybe there's minimal credit here

maybe it's just time for this to happen well you could say that i mean that's that's when we look at it but they'd like the facts are they've been they went they've gone from last place last season the first place now quite comfortably uh... as we approach the all-star game the facts are this franchise has never won fifty four games before an all-star break and this team has

uh... until now you know that record last night right what's that they broke that really broke that record last night with that win and they have a chance that to have a system you know this game today in three at three more left so they could shatter that record now by the end of it all after they go visit the athletics in sacramento uh... for three before the all-star break but

so those things are real and but engine shiner's talked about it is in his press conference talking about how there was there's been an acknowledgement that they you know to your point I was probably like he was he was in need of learning he had to learn some things about how to communicate with players and he's he's tried to do it better the lines of communication you hear that phrase the lines of communication are open now and it's not a one-way communication like maybe it has been in the past where we're gonna feed this Spreadsheet down your throat you're gonna you're gonna you know You're gonna obey the rules of this team whether you like it or not

I think I think there's a lot more give-and-take now at least that's what we're hearing out of that dugout It's obviously you know when you're on a heater like they're on Everything easy to say it's easy to say how great things are you know if they lose eleven in a row will see and they could we've seen this team go very very cold the um... but you hear george springer saying this is a bunch of brothers in the room you hear that you hear a lot of these player here bassett talking about how you know he wants to be a part of this no matter what it takes

you know i think that the built-up frustration all the years of failure i think, I think it's made everybody aware that you've got to cherish these moments when it's going well and try and build on them. All right, let's hear the basket clip and then we'll move on to other topics. My only goal that I have is to win a World Series. And I think if our main arms in the bullpen are hanging or our main arms in the bullpen are used the next three, four days and they're tired and they need an extra day, we don't need to throw

them. So it's, again, it's just more so whatever snides, whatever Pete, whatever the organization needs. Obviously the pitch count was somewhat low today. If a lot of guys are down, then I can be up. So it's not so much I'm going to go out there and throw 97 and all that. It's just more so just giving guys a break if they need it. So that's a major change in a year's time.

Last August he was all this was not going to work. The sky was falling and there he is. Yeah, everybody was frustrated last August, right? I mean, this is another failure, another another team that just didn't live up to the potential it hoped that it kind of possessed and and there was a lot of people that just decided maybe they're worth you know the faith that everybody had put in them and but give credit to the front office they've been as maligned as any front offices yeah seen in this town for an awfully long time

absolutely and and they stuck to what they believe is correct and a lot of people were raising eyebrows and Right now lots of crow eaters. I don't know. Here's not yet. It's an appetizer It's a pro appetizer. Oh, yeah, it's it's frozen. You got a pair. It's a that maybe marinated I don't know on the grill, but it's you could marinate the crow It's it's ready to be it's ready to be somewhat prepared but i'm not ready to eat yet i mean there's a long way to go here right like oh now we've heard griff uh... richard griffin are great contributor here is he's already publicly apologize to george springer

heard for it like many people should for essentially presiding over the the funeral of his career calling him washed and and suggesting that he had nothing left to give springer of course uh... is is all star worthy even if you're not heading to the all-star game as of yet although there still could be some injury replacements between now and next week in atlanta but so there are some people that probably deserve an apology i'm not sure

chapparro and atkins deserve anything yet because again this team they haven't got over the finish line yet and so on there's a long way to go to actually but let's start with winning a playoff game yet which they haven't done yet under the uh... under the tutelage of these guys so one of our topics uh... that we have all three of us research was winners uh... from the uh... n h l offseason going back to free agent frenzy or if that's what you want to call it

trades whatever and i got to tell you when I did the research for this I'm looking at that sheet the TSN website. I go this is like day four Day one was like day four in a normal year where everybody's all the big guys are signed and now we're gonna sign these guys But this is what happened after the Marner deal right away is you look at the list you go. Wow, this is lackluster Yeah, I did did underwhelmed in didn't it yeah it was one of the least climactic free agency days in yeah history of the league a tip-tone for James Duffy and the crew that day that's for sure yeah I mean they're good at it so it was still best in the business still awfully entertaining to watch the show but yeah

in terms of what came out of it that will remember forever not very much other than things that happened before July 1st. So we have a list of three so lead us off AB. All three go all three. Joe from the bridge will put up the board. There were there were a few teams I think did do a lot and I kind of stretch mine deeper into the offseason not just from July 1st I think the draft and some trades and some things that happened prior to for agency counted towards the team's offseason and for me I'm taking a look at a couple of clubs. I like what Utah Mammoth did. I really like their their decision to go out and and aggressively pursue JJ Peturka. I think that he kind of slides into the top six.

It's a really nice addition for them. I felt that the return that Buffalo got was a little underwhelming. I mean, Michael Kesterling might turn out to be a decent top four guy, but Paterka, I mean, back to back 65, 67 point seasons, you put him in the top six in Arizona, where there's some really good talented young players that are all growing at the same time, all in that same age range. I think that's a really good addition. They grabbed, sorry, the Utah Mammoth. They grabbed the Nate Schmidt and Brandon Tanev as nice little depth pieces as well.

So for me, I thought Utah was one of the teams that I thought certainly improved their odds at making a playoff push next year. I like the New York Islanders summer as well. And I can date that back to them jumping from 10 to 1 and winning the draft lottery and being able to select Matthew Schaefer as part of the reason why. This kid seems like a stud. Like I've listened to a couple of his interviews now seems like an absolute salt-of-the-earth kid. He can play. He's going to be a stud on the Islanders blue line for years. Like sure they moved out Noah Dobson but they quickly replaced him with someone who might be able to take

on that role in the next couple of years but also getting Matthew Darsh to kind of lead this franchise forward. Like it's more off the ice stuff that I think is what allowed the Islanders to be considered a winner for me and that's why I had the Islanders coming in at number two. I really liked what the Montreal Canadiens did this summer. They had Noah Dobson and then they're able to swing that trade for Zach Boalduke giving up Logan Mayu. You know, you look at the roster now, that's a deep team. That's a really deep team. They're well balanced. They're young. They're exciting. The Montreal Canadiens, I think, are gonna make some noise next season. I like that. Dave, what do you... Well, I want? Well I'll say yeah, just your point about Matthew Schaeffer. I don't know if the kid can play, but he can give an interview.

He can talk. He can talk. Oh he can play. I know he can play. We'll see it in the NHL. Let's see it before we get into it. I know what you're saying. Yeah. But you know, I definitely know he can hold his own on a microphone but definitely that's that's a great side uh... okay my my uh... you want me to go here and i three nhl offseason winners uh... i'm gonna start number three since the trade deadlines as for the trade that free agent frenzy show was maybe a little more sizzled in stake

i'm gonna go a little off the board. I think the third best winner was the elbow room. Yeah. Now the most famous live dive bar hockey bar in the world. Thanks to all the free publicity that the Florida Panthers bestowed on it this year and last year. What they didn't they comp them like a five like half a million dollar bill well I believe that was another club much classier club much more expensive club that could comp the Panthers allegedly at least according to Matthew Kichuck yeah on that was that was the famous 11 right in Miami Beach right but the elbow rooms not in Miami Beach is not South Beach it's it's it's Fort Lauderdale Beach it is it is not South Beach, it's Fort Lauderdale Beach, it is not exactly the Ritz, let's say.

It's a gritty spot. Gritty spot. It's kind of like this team, right? It's a gritty place that maybe, you know, they only accept cash at the elbow room, which can annoy people, but I think people are okay with it because it's not the kind of place you want to leave a paper trail. And so, yeah, I thought they they of all the winners you know there were there weren't a lot of other winners in this in this offseason but

the elbow room was there number two for me guys Trent Frederick okay not to disparage the player but when you've averaged 13 goals per 82 games in your career 12 minutes of ice time is your career average. And you somehow convince the Edmonton others to give you the maximum allowable term on your next contract at eight years times nearly 4 million. Yeah. Or times almost the NHL minimum. That's some good negotiating.

You, Trent Frederick are a winner. Not to say you're not a good player, but I think you definitely maxed out your potential as an earner on this deal. So way to go, Trent. Kind of like this year's version of Pierre Engvall when you're like, why seven years? Why did they do that? I'm not saying he's not good. I'm just saying like, you can't get a role player that kills penalties in his really good two ways. Sometimes three year deal times 3 million. Right. Got to be an eight year deal times almost four. I don't get that one. But you know, I'm sure I'm sure the oil is fans. I'm sure Conor McDavid is extremely happy about it. And then my number one winner guys, it's the Carolina hurricane. I think we all know that they had big ambitions.

They had a lot of cap room. They swung big during the season on Miko Rantanen. That didn't work out. We all knew that they were going to be swinging big on Mitch Marner if they ever had an opportunity. That obviously didn't work out. What they got in the end, I mean to get Nikolai Yelars, to get Kay Andre Miller on the back end even though we also heard that they had threatened an offer sheet on Evan Bouchard if the Oilers couldn't come to terms there yeah I think Eric Tulski and the Carolina Hurricanes I'm not sure they've done enough to make them any more of a threat to Florida as Eastern champions because they got you know they got obliterated by the Panthers in a way

that pretty much everybody did I mean it's it's, you know, the Leafs, you know, went to seven, but of course we know 6-1, 6-1 in games five and seven. But I do think that, you know, the Hurricanes did the best they could with the money they had and not bad consolation prizes. If you were aiming at Marner and Bouchard and you got Ehlers and Kay Andre Miller, that's pretty good off season. Yeah, I'd agree. I'm going to run through mine.

So my number three is that absent on sit in and to your point about that i have to totally agree the thing that really intrigues me about this hockey team is the young core leads the way so many of these teams are building they've got good young core players but they have to bring a lot of veterans to help them find the way and i could have very any other teams that do that but it's two or three in the same division that have that issue in the habs do not so i like that

i'm a number two is mariner slash vegas because i think they both got what they wanted i'd the best player clearly available they got him uh... vegas will will i guess cover around him or or support him better than the least good so maybe some are fans don't like that but i think that's going to be a good fed my number one winner with a bit of a history lesson is the panthers because

nobody thought they could resign all those guys yeah you know what we're talking about here's hockey history i just a quick rip through the the hockey history for the last thirty years to enrolls the best anybody can do you go into the eighties you've got the orders four out of five to miss one and then two you've got the out of this four straight you got the Habs four straight in the 60s you got the Leafs three straight in the in the 50s you got the Habs five straight and in the 40s you got the least three straight and that is the whole hockey history of teams that have won more than two straight cups in a row right there everything I just said

so that's what the Panthers are about to or would like to join so that this is historic yeah it's not a long list right, but the historic dynasties and now, given the constraints put on these teams, as much as everybody likes to, you know, lean on the no state tax situation in Florida. There's a lot more to it than no state. Anytime you win somebody that program good helps. Well, anytime you win somebody finds a torpedo, right? Yeah, I like it. They're just doing that. No, they're just winning. Yeah good helps. Well anytime you win somebody finds a torpedo right? Yeah. I like it they're just doing that. No they're just winning. Yeah exactly. They're just the best. They are the best and it's hard to imagine. Didn't seem to matter for Isaac Howard when he decided I don't want to play in Tampa, decided to come up to Edmonton. That's right.

That didn't matter for him. Didn't care about the tax. Nope didn't care. Now he's not making nearly as much money. He won't be taxed nearly as much as you know the the Kachaks and the Barkovs and the Bennets of the world, but, you know, he didn't seem to care about that. More hockey talk next, Jason DeBerris from the NHL Network. This is Overdrive on the Overdrive TSN YouTube channel, TSN 1050, TSN 2. Overdrive, Jim Taddy, Dave Fest, Chuck from the Toronto Star, and Al's brother Michael Stefano with you. A reminder, top of the hour, Jose Bat, Chuck from the Toronto Star, and Al's brother Mike Costefano

with you. A reminder, top of the hour, Jose Bautista, former Blue J will be with us. Talking about the J's in baseball. Right now we're talking about hockey. Jason DeBruyers is here, NHL Network Analyst and host of the Unscripted Podcast. Jason, welcome. How are you? I'm doing great now that I'm talking to you guys.

What's going on? Well, we just did a like a top three for each of us like who won uh... sort of the off season the free agent frenzy if you want to call it that the trades all that stuff and i think our winners the number one we did three teams each gains panthers and habs were number ones would be number one for you

uh... i mean look and you got to you got a really appreciate what the Golden Knights do year in and year out. I think it and Mitch Marner is huge. But I mean, what more can you say about the Panthers? I feel like that has to be number one. You bring back almost the exact same team that won the Cup. It's pretty impressive what Bill Zito and the culture of that team has done. And we can argue and yell about state income tax and stuff like that but at the end of the day they built a culture of these guys want to come back and are willing to take pay cuts in and

to do so and keep the team together so it's hard to argue that panthers are not the number one team jason when you look at that panthers team i mean hurricanes got better with dealers and can andre miller beliefs are trying to get better whether they can you know pass the whole the marter left the a hundred five points in their leading point getter over the last nine years is is up for debate in this town and will debate it uh... for many many months to come but

you see any sort of any sort of vulnerabilities with the path is a good or is this team just go march to another Eastern Conference Championship, another cup final, and maybe a third straight cup? I mean, not to quote a night's tale, if you've seen that with Heath Ledger, but the only way to beat them is when they're sleeping with a stick in the middle of the night. So, it's one of those teams that I think injuries,

if they're healthy, it's gonna be very tough to beat them. And now listen, I like what the Toronto Maple Leafs did this off season. I think it was time to blow up that core four. I had said John Tavares needs to prove that he really wants to take a hometown discount. He did that. Nick Was is a great centerman, great depth centerman and can play

up and down the lineup. He's really good. So I, and they got their goal-tenning that listen if, if, if Stolarz doesn't get hurt, Toronto had the opportunity to beat them, beat the Panthers and take them down. And I think if Stolarz is healthy, I think it's, it's, you know, they most likely do it. So just because I think they, they're the only team that really look like they have their number, but for the Panthers, I mean, it's just going to be, you know,

I think it's going to be based on injuries. And we keep asking the question, how many games is too many for this team before they run out of gas? And it seemed like they got stronger as the playoffs went on. So I'm interested to see if there is a limit on this team and when they do finally kind of hit that wall

because you do need so much luck. Your skill is such an important piece in winning a Stanley Cup, but luck is also equally as important because you need to stave off injuries, you need to stave off those bounces and they just seem to have gotten it and and seem to keep their energy levels up so, you know for me it's it's it's really gonna be about how can you attack their depth and

You know really make sure that you know, they're not healthy going into the first second third round So I think you got to play physical on them in the season just as much as he do in the playoffs. So you bring up the fact that you like what the Maple Leafs did by blowing up that core, Mitch Marner exit stage left and they haven't really found a replacement for him yet. There's still tons of time before we get to training camp. But you know, if they don't find that replacement or they don't get a hotter point guys, we don't expect to happen at this point. Like are they going to have to change the way that they go about things like is this team gonna look different without having such a dynamic player out there who plays

like 25 minutes a night for you for sure yeah there's gonna be an adjustment and you're gonna have to have guys that step up but I do think that they have four solid lines and I and I think that they have four solid lines and I think that they have a really good decor and goal-tenning and you look at Craig Barupa and the style he's implemented, you know, they're just going to have to continue to get even tighter defensively and play that hard-nosed system and I think guys will buy in and you know, listen, you can win a cup without having 100-point goal scores. It's been done, it's possible and this is is just a team that's gonna have to figure out

a way to kind of do that. And I think, tree living has been really good and really active and I could see them, I know they have enough right now to get themselves to at least the trade deadline or at least Christmas with a solid record. And I think from there, you look at a team that might be looking to sell and

you can make a move and bolster your lineup kind of down the stretch. So I feel like that should be the way and and the method that the Toronto Mapers should be looking to implement this season. And I think it definitely is a possibility that it can work for sure. Yeah, I think there's a lot of optimism that they could find their way. But I think we always sort of end up as you as we started like how do you deal with the Panthers because they they break you down they exploit things they targeted Tanev and clearly Marner in that series and you know I think

everybody agrees that if they won game three we'd be looking at this differently the Leafs but the Panthers story is you almost have to let it play out, don't you? Yeah, you do. And you know, my funny thing with the Panthers is, you know, I just feel like they get given a lot of free rein in the season and no one plays them typically as hard as they do in the playoffs. And you know, the Panthers ramp it up come playoff time. And yes, they do play physical in the season, but not nearly as close to what they do in the playoffs and you know the Panthers ramp it up come playoff time and yes they do play physical in the season but not nearly as close to what they do in the playoffs so I always wonder with all the trash talk and they've been doing if I'm around the league and these guys are running all over South Florida you know I would be playing them physical all season long and not especially not just Toronto but every team in the league if this is the team

to beat why would you wait till the playoffs? Why would you try to get, you know, I say pound to flesh, I don't mean in a literal sense, but you should be making it as difficult as possible for them in the season. I just don't feel, because the NHL season is so long, that teams try to do that, and they kind of play a different style,

but it's like, if this is the team to beat, come playoff time and they wear you down, well, try to wear them down in the season. So, you know, and they're definitely gonna have a target on their back because they are the team to beat. And until somebody does so that will stick that way until, you know, it finally happens. But yeah, I'm always shocked that teams give them a pass

in the season as much as they do. Jason, the big news from yesterday was Gavin McKenna electing to go to the NCAA for going what could have been a couple more, at least a draft year in the WHL. You played in the CHL in the queue for many years. How do you see this playing out in the future? Put yourself in your shoes back back when like would you have considered the nc double a route and do you think some more you know eighteen nineteen twenty year olds will prop well go that route moving

forward well i'm not i'm a perfect example of of that kind of system how can hinder players in the sense that i'd was got drafted as a sixteen-year year old and I had a full ride to go to a prep school in the states. To then you know my goal at that age and that time for whatever reason was to go play at Harvard as well and university but you know after you spend more than two days at training

camp in junior you lose a year of eligibility. So I went for the two days in Moncton with the Wildcats and they kind of convinced me and it was my choice ultimately, but they convinced me to stay to attempt to make the team and then I lost a year of eligibility. So that kind of went out the window and I feel like now you'll see more young kids starting in junior, which I think is great.

And you might see kids leave at 18, 19, if they don't get drafted and go play maybe to D3, D2 school. And you might get some, you know, 18, 19 year olds come and play junior if they're kind of highly touted. And it's just one of those things. I think if it's done right and in the right way, I think it could benefit both leagues and it's going to make junior major a little bit younger. And you're going to have these 19 19 20 year olds that will go play college

That will improve the the skill and talent level at the university level, but it'll also make You know, I don't want to say a safer place in junior But they've been trying to kind of reduce the the injuries and reduce fighting in junior. Well now you're gonna have a really young league to reduce the injuries and reduce fighting in junior, well now you're going to have a really young league. And I think that can benefit the young guys that are playing because they're going to be able to play with kids their age. And if they, you know, the good players are able to grow and I think it will ultimately help both leagues.

It just has to be done the right way. And I think there could be a really good sharing of prospects between both the university and CAA and junior. So, you know, for me, I would have probably, if I did not get drafted my 17 year old year, if this was in place, I probably would have went and played in, in, in, um, in college and figured something out from there. But yeah, you're gonna, I think you're gonna see less players also getting dragged into the NHL or the AHL at a young age, and they're gonna be able to go develop for maybe 20 to 22, 23, and come into the NHL as men and be more developed.

So I think it's gonna really create a good feeder system for the NHL. And I think, like I said, if it's done right between junior and college, I think it can only be a positive thing. Jason, thanks for your time. I appreciate it. Hey, thanks guys. Have a great one, all right? You too.

Thank you. Jason DeMare is NHL Network Analyst, host of the Unscripted podcast. What he's talking about there is it's going to take a number of years for the flow to find its... Because people are going to leave to go to the NCAA but but other people are going to come back in to the CHL it's not a one-way streets what I'm saying. No it's it's it's it's player to player opportunity and opportunity but the bottom line is look we all know people follow the money right. Oh absolutely.

If there's real money available to star players in the NCAA that's going to be something the CHL is going to have to contend with. Well the one league too that's not getting a lot of discussion right now I think like we talked about how's the CHL going to contend with the NCAA I think like the contention is just you become a younger league but the USHL is a league that I be concerned about more so. It was born basically because it was where people parked before they went to because nc-double-a Right as they were ineligible if they went to the chl right now You can go to the Canadian Hockey League and it's it's considered

You know the premier major junior league in the world now like the DC less guys in the uch in the ushl Oh, that's the league that I'd be kind of like, are we going to lose our celebrating? Are we going to lose our 16, 17 year old studs, the Matthew Knives of the world? That's where I'd be a little bit concerned. I think there was talk that the OHL would absorb a couple of those teams. They might, yeah, expand into the States. Yeah, obviously the supply system has been altered, so somebody's got to pay the price. well you got yet you gotta be aggressive because this is the survival of the fittest situation here right a lot of the general lies and if you're

if you're not eating you are going to be eaten but in this scenario and look man these these u.s. schools with their alumni base in their n i l uh... you know pods where they just collect money essentially to give out to athletes get deep pockets and they love to eat so so let me just throw this out just off the top you said the NIL money which is big isn't there like isn't there couldn't there be a CHL version of that well we've all we've always the money

gonna come from though I guess the from the CHL they're charging some real prices yeah but you've got a handful of teams who are making a lot of money, but there's also a handful of teams that aren't. Oh, sure, yeah. No, I mean, for sure. But if you wanna be competitive, you have to match, right? Well, you think.

I mean, I don't know about matching, but you've gotta. There's been a little wink, wink, nudge, nudge of that going on for a while, to be fair. Okay, but make it so it's accessible. I mean, you have to be competitive. It can't be just, you can only get it here because you're done if you're not here. Oh, I don't think there's any doubt

that's gonna be the next topic that has to be discussed is what are you paying these kids to keep them in the CHL? Look, I mean, I don't know what the financial situation of the Western Hockey League is, but they're losing something and losing Gavin McKenna, right? Absolutely. Now how could they match I'm sure there'll be plenty of people say how could they be expected to match

a seven hundred thousand dollar uh... paycheck that's the exception though like that that well it is section i know yet i don't see any on anyone else getting new anywhere near that type of money well mostly this year all deals are going to be probably in like the but if you want thousands of range out imagine which that could be. But it's like Carter Hutton said just down the show, it doesn't have to be 700 grand

U.S. to make it attractive. If it's 10,000, if it's 100,000, when you're coming from a situation where in the CHL you're making relative peanuts to a situation where not only will you get a, you know, an education at a, at a recognized us university, you're going to get the attraction of a shorter schedule with more, more time for physical development in the weight room. Matthew Nise is a great advertisement for that. We talked about this. And then on top of that, you're going to come out with, with money in your bank account. I mean that,

that hasn't been available to players. Yeah. All it has to be at least not, not above the table. with money in your bank account i mean that that hasn't been available to players yet all of these days at least not a not above the table that perhaps there were some stuff below under the table that we don't know but we're gonna have has always been that suggestion that that's gone on uh... you know never confirmed but the bottom line is it's clearly gonna have to become a competitive business on the financial side

if they want to keep players like Gavin McKenna in the future. Yeah, just come up with your own version. It doesn't have to be the same. But if you don't have anything to match that, then you're kind of operating in a deficit. It just feels like they're going to have to just convert like a super U18 league, essentially, is I think what it's going to come down to is they just try to attract the best 16, 17 year olds and then 18 if you're an earlier enough birthday.

The thing with Gavin McKenna too is he's a late birthday. So most kids in this draft age, in their draft year, they're still in their 12th year of high school. So they're not at that age where they can go and play in the NCAA anyways. So a lot of the players you can still get at 18 playing in the NCAA. It's once you get to 19 and some of the overagers is really what you're worried about losing in the CHL So let's go back to Gavin McKenna last night and here's this explanation on choosing Penn State Yeah, it was a super tough decision obviously there's a lot of great options out there

tough decision. Obviously there's a lot of great options out there but I think me, my family and everyone who's kind of part of my circle we all decided the best spot for me in the next year will be Penn State University. Yeah I think Penn State is a great spot for me. I got to kind of get a taste of what it's like got to bring along my dad and we both thought it was a great spot for me. I got to kind of get a taste of what it's like. Um, got to bring along my dad and we both thought it was a great spot for me. I think it honestly just makes the jump easier. Um, you know, going against older, heavier, stronger guys. Um, I think it, it really prepares you. And you know, I think even in the locker room, you know, hanging around older guys and being around more mature guys,

I think that'll help me a lot. Well, another option never hurts, right? Hey, man, it's a Really attractive offer isn't it? But I mean the point being Al's brother, you know I don't know if you can just seed the ground if you like if you the CHL Do you really want guys in their NHL draft year? Heading away from your league like that's not that's not good for business No, but I don't I I think the majority of the players that could be wrong but a majority of the players won't be eligible into their D plus one year.

Yeah, but if you're talking about the number one guy yeah and usually in one of those three leagues that guy plays there. Well, McKenna was born three weeks later, right? He wouldn't be eligible to go to university. Well let's just go back what if that was what if this was around for Connor Bedard? What would have happened there? Well we'll never know but it's but that but that's that's the gate you're losing and then that's yeah your point is the top end yeah exactly and nobody can afford to lose the top end on a regular basis. That's the bottom line like you're right the majority is the majority and they'll be there'll always be players in the CHL

this they'll fill those teams without a problem but stars are stars and they're hard to come by people to fill the net bill the seats you know people keep people on the edges seats those are the kids that are hard to find those the kids that become the buzzword names and and and the and the answer blaze you know pull off a

great to hear by grabbing one right from under the ch l's notes will break come back and play Yes Guy No Guy. Overdrive continues live on YouTube, TSN 1050, TSN 2. Overdrive, Jim Taddy, Dave Fest, second Toronto star in AB, Al's brother, Mike DeStefano, and ladies and gentlemen, it's time for Yes Guy No Guy. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, drivers and passengers, time now for an abbreviated Yes Guy No Guy.

So Yes Guy No guy number one Jordan Kairou would be a strong fit for the Canadians if the Blues traded. Oh yes guy I mean Jordan Kairou is a great player. This guy's gonna score 30 goals you know for the next five six years probably in the NHL he's on a decent ticket at just 8 million there's a long long-term commitment there so yes guy he would be a one. I'm just more so a little bit confused as to why St. Louis wants to get out of that. Exactly. I've never understood the other side of the conversation. It's a crowded right side, I understand, but like it's a good problem to have. Having too many quality right wingers, it's a great problem that have a fewer

the uh... the the saint louis blues but yeah i have to love to grab them i think that i think that i mean yes godness you know he obviously a good fit but i mean i think that the simplest explanation is the ticket it could be fair in some situations but a point one million uh... over the next five years i think i think the blues is just

get ahead of right then we we can do this cheaper we've got replacements that are cheaper and and so we would rather convert that position into assets and other spots right which is not a bad idea yes guy no get number two Gavin McKenna has started a wave for the current class of prospects well yes guy I think that's that's sort of what it is I I think Gavin McCann are going to the NCAA and opting to leave the CHL. Like we'll see a lot of overagers who are of age who are eligible to go play the NCAA do so. I think we'll definitely see that and as we were talking about just before what to break and through the break

it's gonna be interesting to see how the CHL kind of combats that to limit a mass exodus but I do think we'll see quite a few players kind of exit stage left. I think his teammate Caden Lindstrom is on his way out as well. Big time prospect from last year's draft top three pick so yeah I think we'll see this happen quite often. Yeah I'm a yes guy I think it's you know it's it's it's very simple i mean when hockey parents get to the stage where their kids are ready to uh... head to the next competitive level after playing minor hockey which is very expensive

for hockey parent i can tell you from personal experience uh... the idea that someone actually give you money suddenly but the play hockey is very attractive in the s a blaze for cover some real money here obviously maybe not all on the size of you know Gavin McHenness $700,000 payday but you know any any amount of money that's in US dollars and comes attached to an education that's guaranteed is gonna be attractive for kids that had the CHL is another option yeah and the money business when it comes in, it's better than when it goes out. So I'm going to say yes, Guy.

I think it's going to take a number of years to iron things out. So just as we're speaking that Jay's lost, 2-1 in Chicago. So the streak is over. The Pope's prayers are answered. You know, Vatican intervention again. That's what it was. Divine intervention. Stopped at 10, one shy of tying the franchise record coming up

At the top of the hour will be pleased to have with us actually 505 Jose Bautista will join us and you on overdrive live on YouTube TSN 1050 TSN to you've been listening to overdrive Powered by FanDuel FanDuel bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score FanDuel, bringing you everything from the game with all the latest updates. Even if you're a total newbie. Stream This Week in Gaming on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.