OverDrive - OverDrive - June 18, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins to discuss Connor McDavid's future in Edmonton, Nikolaj Ehlers' preferred destination and the Canadian teams looking to make moves. TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips joins to discuss Addison Barger making a statement with the Blue Jays, Max Scherzer's expectations returning to the mound and the trade deadline perspective. Hayes and O-Dog make their selections for the Travelers Championship and the FanDuel Best Bets.

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As always, every show up on YouTube Live on the TSN YouTube channel. You can find us podcasted wherever you find your podcast, the iHeartRadio app. We're up on TSN2, TSN Radio here in Toronto. Darren Drager in a few moments, the first official off-season primer with Drex, now that the cup has been handed out. We'll get to that with Drex. Steve Phillips on the Jays, there's a lot of good mojo with the Jays right now, back in action tonight.

The best bet's still to come. So I guess Trump was back at the White House, which makes this so much better. Yeah, it put up the flag better. That's what it was. So this clip is from the White House I thought this guy was in like Iowa somewhere Where the federal government in the US had been, you know donating money and some guys like hey, thanks. Good to see you There was a clip you sent to me noodles Noodles, where Trump is sitting there chatting with guys and guys are coming up. The guy running the crane up top is out like a light.

That's at the White House. That's at the White House. And the guy, he doesn't move. Trump is sitting there doing meet and greets and handshakes and pictures and the guy is absolutely... He is dead asleep manning the crane and I have such a great appreciation for it because he doesn't care who that is. Who's around, who sees him.

That guy is snoozing. Not afraid of the viz either. Like someone can catch this. I don't care. I'm dead asleep. I have to shut the mill down. You don't understand. It's hot.

It's been a long day. That guy had nine Budweiser's and a Big Mac for lunch. And he's like, I am shutting it. He was. I watched it the first time. Trump is 20 feet from the guy and he is dead asleep Do that thing that alone? Yeah that element where yeah anyone operating a crane would

Comb their hair like kind of be jazzed up and be like I'm gonna be tip-top because the president will be right in front Of me, right? He's comatose in the crane-top is the president will be right in front of me right he's comatose in the crane that guy is the most authentic american going he's got his genes on his his art at like you said he probably have the exact power lunch he's had every single wednesday for the last twenty years

and it could have been margo robbie out there handing her phone number out and he would be asleep I get it doesn't matter who it is doesn't make a difference who it is Trump is there in a suit at the White House and this guy's asleep Love that guy. We got to find that guy find that guy. That's that's Chevy guy that's crane guy Rickdy, the crane guy down in DC. Alright, Dregg's coming up here in just a moment. We got our picks as well for the Travelers. And of course our PGA picks are powered by TaylorMade. Having this zero torque putter, man, I am rolling the rock like...

I'm basically Jim Furyk out there. I'm Kevin Kisner. I can't get enough of it right now. It's so hot. It's so beautiful in Toronto. It's such a beautiful thing. It's going to be hot down in the Hartford area, so we'll get to our picks a little bit later on. But Drake's coming up on what is going to be a wild off season, and the beauty of the

cup being handed out is everyone's back in the dance now, right? Like all the teams can come alive and be like, all right, we're all playing now. Where are we going to go with this? Did you see New Jersey traded Eric Halla to Nashville? Yeah, that's a quick kind of how was played everywhere, man. Yeah. Like that guy has played for 15 teams or it feels like it. Yeah, well traveled. He's a well traveled individual He's a little player though. Like I said, he's a sneaky, you know, sneaky pretty good player the guy I Am fascinated with I mean obviously in this market. We talked about Mitch Marner and that Nikola Ehlers is fascinating for me

That's the guy that I think he might get a lot of interest throughout the league now help is his biggest challenge but he's a he's a unique player he had yet and i'm clear crafty player plays with speed yes mark and i got a little bit i'm sure he's gonna want nine sheets uh... well let's let's see what drag says to say about that here's darren drager to your son hockey insider uh... nicolai healers when you hear that name, where do you go first, Dreggs?

Well, I stay in Winnipeg. Winnipeg would love to retain Nikolai Ehlers, and what's the cost? I guess we don't know the specifics of that until you fully assess what the market is, but we can all appreciate what Nik Ehlers, when healthy, can bring to a lot of teams. You know, there's been a fair bit of speculation around the Carolina Hurricanes, what they might do, how a player like Nick Eli Ehlers might fit into that dynamic. And I can see that he's good defensively. Again, he's got that speed factor. There is a question mark because he is often hurt.

I checked in one of my Winnipeg sources a couple of days ago and was told that there's nothing new on that front. And look, I mean, Ehlers, because he's earned his right to free agency, he's a different personality. Like, he's a cool cat. He's excellent in the community. He's really good in the room. He's good with the media, he ticks a lot of boxes, but you know there's a sense with the others that he'd like to go to a place that's pretty quiet and when I think of Winnipeg compared to Toronto or Montreal or New York or any of the big markets, Winnipeg is small and would be pretty quiet. So if he's looking

for more privacy than what he might have in Winnipeg, then that might be a challenge in terms of many that dip their toe into the market. But he'll have a strong audience if he gets to July 1. Yeah, well, and that's ultimately the question here is how many of these guys get to July 1st? Sam Bennett, Aaron Echblad, Nikolai Ehlers, you know I'm sure there's a long list of guys who are UFAs. Do you get the impression that we could hear some news

over the next few days of teams locking in their UFAs before they even get to July 1st? Yeah, but you know Brian, I don't think that we're talking about the heavier hitters here. Now I say that and you guys probably watched some of our post game last night and Bill Zito of the Florida Pat there's just flat out said he intends on signing all three of his pending UFAs. I don't know where all that is. What does that mean though, Dreggs?

Is that just kind of half of the bag kind of post cup talk or what? Not from Billy Zito, well mean, this guy is, you know, I mean, I think we should acknowledge the work of the two general managers in Florida the last half a dozen plus years. You know, Julian Breezebaugh and the Tampa Bay Lightning, when they're winning Stanley Cups,

he'd go out and trade that line and he'd make a significant trade. You know, a trade that brought in pieces that made Tampa Bay better. Likewise for Billy Zito and the Florida Packers. So, I mean, when he said it, automatically, I got numbers screaming through my head and I'm trying to think of how all of this is going to work

because, you know, what was it, 10 days or so ago, you guys had Chris Johnson on, and he talked about Brad Marchand wanting four years at eight plus or around eight million dollars. Okay, well, what's Sam Bennett going to want? And then on top of that you've got Aaron Antwine. So I don't know how it works, but if there's a GM capable of making it work, it's Bill Zito.

So you've got to create some room and move some pieces that I think that he's going to do that. You know, now it's up to the negotiations take place. And then when you get to closer to July 1, you decide, okay, well, it's either going to work or it's not going to work. And look, right now, maybe deservedly so, Florida has the market somewhat cornered, don't they? Like Toronto wants to change the DNA.

They would love to get their hands on Sam Bennett. Brad Trueloving, Greg Barube, they all love the idea of Brad Marchand. They don't get a swing out of them. I mean, if those two guys stay in Florida, that pool gets pretty shallow in a hurry for a lot of the contending teams that are hoping that the U of A market is strong. So Drex, we talked about Florida. On the other side of the coin, the Edmonton Oilers, how active do you think Stan Bowman will be with his current roster and maybe not reconstructing it but looking to tinker and then add to the group given that they fell short?

Yeah, well, they're gonna have to add, and you know, getting the post-mortem in Edmonton would be fascinating to be a fly in the wall. You know, do they look at goaltending the way that the rest of us look? And it was a real tough comparison. You're talking about an elite-level proven goaltender in Sergey Brabovsky, and two guys that, you know, are okay.

And, you know, Skinner and Cal Peckert. But I still maintain that Stu Skinner is not the reason why the Edmonton Oilers didn't meet the Florida Panthers in the Static Cup final. There were multiple layers to the reasoning behind that. The goaltending for me has to be an area that they find a way or look to upgrade. They are working on a contract extension with Trent Redrick. He was real quiet and has been real quiet in Edmonton since arriving from Boston. You know,

you wonder if that high ankle sprain that he had when he arrived in Edmonton hampered him throughout the course of the postseason because he's got more grit and more upside than he was able to show for the winners. But that's going to be a big deal. It's going to be eight years and around three, eight, four million dollars per. It's not done yet, but I do get the sense that it's getting close. So now you're in the tinkering stage, but again goaltending looking at a guy like Frederick doesn't feel like they've got to add more pop like scoring and otherwise and by the way we haven't talked yet about the contracts that they're facing and extensions to McDavid

and Bouchard. You know there's there's rumblings around Evan Bouchard this guy is gonna command upwards of the eleven billion they got it how do you how do you take to the frontman twenty-plus million dollars in darnale nurse and and evan bush are with all the other areas of concern that you're gonna have to wrestle with the stand on the ground a long list of

need the wants there and i know you talked about mitch mar Marner possibly waiting until he kind of visits and does whatever he does. We were talking earlier about July 1st coming around and the McDavid extension. Like where would you see that? Would that be something that would be done immediately? I think Dry Cytle Doogie sent a note that he signed in September. Right.

Is that urgency stuff or is that something that'll get done down the line in your estimation? Yeah, I wouldn't say it's urgent, O. I think that Connor is going to want to take some time to decompress. Now as I was flying back this morning, I was going back and forth with a number of people around that file.

And because it's still heat of the moment, going back and forth with another number of people around that file and you know because it's still heat of the moment the disappointment is is significant you know there is that sexy side to this story what if he waits what if he just says now you know I want to take a bigger a better look I want to wait till the offseason I'm going to give you my thoughts as part of our exit interviews and then let's see what management does with that how is this team going to give you my thoughts as part of our exit interviews and then let's see what management does with that How is this team going to be different in training camp and better in training camp than the one that lost in a 16 series? To the the florida path is for me

I I mean, I hope that happens because then no different than than leon reis So if you get towards september now, we're starting to to wonder, okay, well maybe maybe they don't get it done. But that's dismissed pretty quickly because we know that Leon Dreisle and Connor McDavid are joined at the hip. These two are very, very close friends. And even though you guys will tell me that, you know what, it's a business, and you want to worry about the business side and winning and all of that, I think that does matter. And I think that that is a primary factor for McDavid. But I'm also then open to the possibility.

I believe he's staying in Edmonton, so we're not gonna be talking about this in fall, but what intrigues me is what is the length of that contract? What is the term? You know, would he go three, four years? Or is he just going to saddle up and take as much money as he can on an eight-year extension? That's where it gets, again, more intriguing and nobody seems entirely sure as to what

that possibility looks like. With Darren Drager at TSN Hockey and Sadr know in terms of the UFAs down in Florida, you mentioned you guys spoke with Bill Zito and he's going to do what he can to keep them. But let's say they all get to July 1st. That doesn't mean that they won't resign in Florida or whatever. But let's say they're all there. Bennett, Eckblad, Marchand. Let's put the Leafs in focus. How many of them do you think the Leafs will call? And how many do you think Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And again, when you get to July 1, you've earned the possibility of having as many offers on the table as you can attract, right? And Toronto has publicly stated that they're going for a different look here. And again, Toronto was pretty aggressive at the trade deadline. Used some quality assets,

and now you gotta be careful on the trade front. You know, sure you could move out some guys under contract, some of them are problematic. You know, I think of Domi who's got a modified no trade, I think of Morgan Rielly who's got a no move clause, all that stuff gets prickly doesn't it? If you're hoping to go down that path, I'm not saying they are but when you swing and miss in free agency, if Sam Bennett doesn't wanna play in Toronto, or he's now committed to staying in Florida,

and sure sounded like he did, again, he's almost intoxicated both by what's going on in the consumption, but also in the moment of winning his second consecutive Stanley Cup of the Florida Panthers, he made it abundantly clear that's where he wants to stay so then you look at Brad Marchand uh... and again all the contending teams are going to be in the mix and Brad Chilving as we know historically is the manager who gets his nose into everything

everything like he's talking to everybody so I don't doubt for a second that he's going to be keenly interested in all three of those guys. So Draggs, we talk about the Leafs a lot, Edmonton obviously, and is there any other Canadian team that you should say to keep an eye on? Like for me, I circle Vancouver, but is there somebody that we should be watching that may be proactive on a dumping player scenario or being proactive bringing in players?

I would look at Vancouver, you're right, Noodle, but I would also focus on the Montreal Canadians. I think that Ken Hughes and the Habs feel like they're in a real healthy place. And look, they're not going to abandon the notion of further developing their young players, especially on the blue line, but they look at the stride that they took, you know, in doing what they did in the second half of the season. They got a taste, right? So I think that they're going to try and improve either their two, three centers in Montreal if they can and add a little bit more scoring punch.

And maybe that position covers both of those scenarios. But Ken Hughes is open for business. And when you look at the Montreal Canadiens and the capital that they have as trade bait especially, it's interesting, it is. And the other team that I, I mean there's lots of teams that we can look at and talk about here, and non-Canadian,

but weirdly I got a feeling Columbus Blue Jackets are gonna do something. I'm not saying they're gonna land one of the top three agents. I think it's a stretch given where the Blue Jackets are, but they have an abundance of cap space, so maybe they could be a big game player on the trade fronts as well. But the two Canadian teams are intrigue me the most

in adding especially is Montreal and Vancouver outside of Toronto. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see what teams in the East in particular do when it comes to the benchmark that is the Florida Panthers because you can't just bow down to them every single year. No. They're not going to win every year. It feels like it right now.

That's not reality. That's not sports. They're not going to win every year. It feels like it right now. That's not reality. That's not sports. They're not going to win forever. What I'm intrigued by is how many teams try to find a way to mimic them or get their players and how many are like, I got to do it my own way here moving forward. Here's the thing, Brian. I don't know if you guys have talked about this since the end of the leaf season And doesn't always have to come back to the Leafs

but in this case you're talking about three very dynamic and and I'll call them superstar players and Matthew Zielander and Marner Yeah, it seems likely more likely than not the Marner is out the door But we just we just had a front-row seat to watch the Florida Panthers in pure display of sacrifice and commitment, right? And every player after hoisting that cup last night talked about, God, it's not about the individual stats, it's about playing a certain way to win the Stanley Cup.

And they're not looking down at their stats line, and they're not coming off the ice disappointed, pissed off because they didn't get a pass here or there. I mean I'm sure there's some of that but it's more positive than it is negative and I can tell you from first hand knowledge that you know right from training camp there was an internal competition statistically between Matthews, Nylander and Myer. Well, that's a tough way to win. It's a tough way to win. So when you hear Brad Trillin talk about the DNA change, automatically, again, my mind goes to, okay, well, is that culture?

Um, everyone, players included who watched Florida do what they did to a really good team, absolutely stymied the two best players arguably in the game in McDavid and Dry Cytle. How do you not figure that out? How do you not go, okay, I understand, it's not about me, it's about us. And I think that's one of the hurdles that the Maple Leafs are going to have to try and overcome here. Well, and listen, if Marner leaves, then he leaves, but Matthews and Nylander are still

there. You know, so everything you just said is pretty fascinating because if it's, you know, well, I got to beat this guy or that guy. Yeah, like Marner may just leave and okay, that's fine, but the other guys are still there and they got to learn it and they got to figure it out. Yet, they've been in the league for a long time. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know if they can't I don't know if it's

reasonable to expect that they will. Yeah that's that's the thing and we're not going to get answers to this until we get to next playoffs ultimately. Wow right and do you get like I know this is looking ahead but if we had to do I'm just on the fly like a mini Jare is like is there going to be an offer sheet? Do you think there's a chance there's an offer sheet just because of copycat and what happened that was a perfect storm what happened to Edmonton? Do you think that there's at least maybe the workings of potentially?

Before you go drags I'm saying a hundred percent I just with what st. Louis did last year and with what all of our guys have been saying about how everybody is excited to kind of add and there's not really sellers right now well guess what it's not exactly a cream of the crop pre-agent class so what's another Avenue these guys are stupid for not utilizing this Oh earlier and in their campaigns you look at the players that you could have put a team in a real bad spot Anthony Cirelli comes up and is an example Yeah, Tampa Bay Lightning somebody could have put the screws to them and had a great guy on their roster

But they just all we don't do that. Well Well, yeah for you. I'm with you. I'm with you. I mean, it's a tool in collective bargaining agreement that has just been misused. It really has. And there's somewhat of a gentleman's agreement that, I mean, I throw it out the window, like, come on.

And Doug Armstrong did. He 100% did. And you know, let's go back a long way. You know, I, I don't Pete Cirelli's hands were all over this from a St. Louis perspective, because he works closely with Doug and you know, he's, he's a sharp, sharp dude. Um, so he was heavily involved in this, but Edmonton was so vulnerable, vulnerable. And I, I think that that's the lesson though,

that comes out of losing those two good players was that every cap team went, uh-oh, all right, I guess there are teams that are willing to do that, so we better make sure that we're ready to go. And that was a big part of the motivation for Chris Dury sending Chris Schreider to the Anaheim Ducks. You know, I'm not buying that somebody was going to offer sheet Matt Rempe. Like I think I read that on X earlier today,

like come on. But I do know, and I was told by the New York Rainiers in fact that that was a big part of their motivation for dumping that contract and not retaining money was so that yeah, they could be active in free agency But to also protect themselves in the event that somebody came targeting one of their RFAs So I'm hoping for it too man. It just juices up the offseason. It does but I'm also skeptical Yeah, well, that's it man. I mean it's been available to them for 20 plus years and it's barely ever happened

So we'll see. All right Drake's Thanks for doing this. We'll do it again soon Okay guys have a great night Darren Drager at TSN hockey insider Don't forget TSN 1050 wants to give you the ultimate I heart radio experience this summer at Oceaga Music and Arts Festival in Montreal. Just listen to TSN 1050 on the free I heart radio app for 10 minutes every day. Click enter when prompted and you're in the draw. You'll see Olivia Rodrigo, The Killers, Gracie Abrams and more with gold weekend passes.

Plus, we'll hook you up with travel thanks to tripcentral.ca, a four-night stay at the Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain and $500 spending money. Listen every day for more chances to win details at TSN1050.ca. We'll come back with our picks for the Travelers, we'll catch up with Steve Phillips, get to our best bets. Overdrive continues TSN1050 and on TSN2. Guys we've talked in the past about Mario Lemieux, like you got to protect him, you got to protect Connor McDavid, best players, blah blah blah. Why aren't they doing a better? This Caitlin Clark is getting the absolute snot beat out of her every night. Like they're punching her on the... it's insane! Outrageous.

Yeah, and I don't believe the league did anything. The last, you know, kind of dust-up where she got kind of smacked and then she got pushed in dude she is the golden nugget of all golden nuggets like yeah what she's not is that sport in that we is and jay in the ratings the buzz like what she got injured recently the ratings fell off a cliff yet which is not playing uh... and it's a it's a difficult conversation to have because the other players are

players they don't care about caitlin clark like when you guys played you had respect for great players we tried to beat them yes and you can't just say okay there you go there's the lane caitlin why is it always her that's getting the the crap beat out of her? How come Sabrina Inescu, how come they're never beating the crap out of her? Well I don't know if that's actually happening or not but I would say that you know she, the spotlight is on her. Anything that happens to her also goes viral immediately. You know everything Caitlin Clark explodes. Clearly she's the face of

the league. I mean that goes without saying. But I don't know. It's been weird. There's been this resentment towards her by a lot of different current players, former players, analysts. Angel Reese hates her. But she's a competitor with her. She's trying like she's trying to beat her and she you know I don't really have as big of a problem with that I would have a bigger issue if something like her counterpart was like, oh, she's the greatest and I You know, what am I gonna do about it?

You know, I kind of respect the athletes for trying to beat her and maybe beat her up at times But it is on the league I guess to make sure everything's You know within the rules But it is on the league, I guess, to make sure everything's within the rules. Yeah, somewhat in the rules. I'll say this though. When Eric Lindros came into the league, that's when, oh, you were there, I was there. People were pissed with him because he did change the salary structure. He changed everything, didn't want to go to a team, all of that.

People were pissed with him. But as a player, I respected him because he dragged a lot of salaries up. He did change the dynamic, right? Like these people, you know, these particular ladies in WNBA should be thankful. I mean they're making bank a lot of them because Caitlin Clark is helping with generate revenue, that would be my, you know, yeah, but again, on the field, like Lindros got hit a lot and fought and like Scott Stevens didn't say, hey, you know, you made me more money. I tried to kill him every time he was on the ice.

You're right. You're right. So, you know, it's just not reasonable to expect other athletes to say thank you so much all the time. They're going to go after like that's the way it's that's the way it's going to be. All right, Jay's back in action tonight. The shed hits a bomb to tie it up in the ninth and then Addison Barger absolutely leans into one last night and hits a walk off home run.

First of his career, they switched up the order. It's bow and a barger into Vlad. Vlad was great last night. There's a lot of positive mojo around this team right now here's steve phillips or tsn baseball insider well ask you the adison barger question again it's a weekly occurrence what is this guy and at what point do we realize or are we ever gonna realize you know he's the real deal and this is actually happening and he's

someone that they can rely on every night. Yeah boy I mean what a game what a win that was for them you know and I still you know I need to see more finesse from him like I see him bully baseballs but the question is can he make adjustments and I you know I think back to Davis Schneider when he first came up a couple years ago like he tore it up when he first came up a couple years ago, he tore it up when he first came up a couple years ago. But then when he got the opportunity the next time around, when the league made that adjustment to him, he didn't have another place to go.

But first of all, I love Barger as a guy. He plays hard, he's gritty, he's a tough guy, the teammates seem to like him a lot. And so I think that he's given them some of what they need right now, but on a consistent basis can he not chase, can he keep the pitcher in the zone, is something that, because he's going to start getting fed a bunch of breaking balls now. He's showing he can hit the fastball. He's going to start getting up a lot of breaking stuff and pictures with a wrinkle in it it's going to be to see if you can make the appropriate adjustments to lay off

those first of all uh... and then if they you know from in the zone can he keep his hands back and drive past even spent a positive vibe for the jays the last little while here's been a bunch of comeback wins they're playing with you know they're bringing a certain excitement level when does the conversation can you take us behind the curtain of the comeback wins, they're playing with, you know, they're bringing a certain excitement level. When does the conversation, can you take us behind the curtain of the conversation, when

does that start? And the GM's approach to ownership on what and what they can and cannot do come trade deadline? Like is the team for real? What's the belief of both ownership and GM and how that transaction goes down? Yeah, it's a great question because I think that it's different for every organization in the involvement of the owners, the willingness of the owners, the desire to win is different in every organization. What is successful? Is it winning or is it making money? It's different in every organization

But what's not different is the job of the general manager is to manage up? the organizational chart as much as it is to manage down the organizational chart and so You know, I think you're at a point where you start talking ownership and in saying, you know, this is who we are I think we're going gonna need to upgrade here. The injuries have hit us in this area. I think we need to build some depth in that area. So you're starting to have some of those conversations already, just to set the tone on what the needs are.

And, you know, each organization is a little different. Like sometimes the owner will say, okay, well, you've got this kind of money to go get somebody, or they'll say, well, well you've got this kind of money to go get somebody or they'll say, well bring it all to me and I'll let you know whether there's money for it. Now those are the owners who say, I don't pick the players at all. I let my front office pick the players, but what they do is the money's available for the guys that they want and the money's not available for the guys that they don't.

So in the end, they're really the ones picking the players. They just don't wanna have culpable deniability, plausible deniability that it's not them picking the players. But I do think that some of those conversations are starting right now. It's a little unclear who's available. So a lot of it would be this player might be available,

depending upon where this team goes, we might have some interest in this guy. And you start playing out scenarios about where you might be able to go with different things. And then you hope the owner will start to come around with, you know what, we've got a certain amount of money available. What can you get for this kind of money? And you start laying it out there a little bit. And then if you have something that you want that's making more money than you have available,

what can you do to get that other team to eat some of the money to make a deal? And so you never discount anything. That's how I did it. There were some teams who said, well, I don't wanna go after this player. I don't wanna go after a player who's represented by Scott Boars.

This team's too hard to deal with. I'm like, I never, like literally there was a time that teams would say, I'm not making deals with that team. I don't even call that team. And I'm like, I relish calling everybody and you know, tried to find a way. But there really were teams that the general manager said, I never call that guy. That guy, he's a hot mess I can't get him to focus on anything

He doesn't remember what we talk about This guy always says no all the time and I I would never eliminate anybody I never limited an agent never limited it general manager I just my job was trying to figure out What they need trying to understand their needs and they're what you out what they need, trying to understand their needs and what they need to hear and try to match up with them. There were a couple times that I made trades at the deadline where other general managers said, how the heck did you do that?

I can never get a deal done with that guy. I'm like, well, you've got to play it out. I think Ross is more like that. He'll talk to everybody. He's not going to in any way eliminate any one team. But back in the day, there were many a team that would just not deal with certain other clubs. Was there any vulnerabilities known

about other general managers? Like, would there be one guy that you knew would have two bottles of wine in them after dinner and it might be a good time to chat, stuff like that? I think that there are... I think that's the key, right? In any negotiation is to know the person on the other side of the table. Know their needs, know their team, know their personality. For me, most everybody was pretty clean living when I was going through

it, but they did have tendencies. Dave Dombrovsky liked lists. He wanted a list of players from which he could choose from. He wanted a player to be named later in the deal that he could then send the scouts out to further watch some players to figure out which of the three players on that, you know, that list that he liked better than others. You know, that, you know, there were other gentlemen managers who said no to everything initially because it bought them some time to be able to go back to their people and he didn't feel committed, but, you know but he would go back and talk to his people and come back and say, you know that suggestion you made there, I would do it.

There were other teams that wanted only upper level players. There were some who knew exactly what they wanted and they would say, okay, I'll do this guy, this guy and this guy. You knew whether you had a deal done with them or not. But really understanding the other general managers is a huge part of getting a deal done. And knowing what their quirks are, what their styles are. There are some who always wanted to be the one at the end

to say yes or no as opposed to the one making an offer. That you needed to make them offer. Some like to make phone calls, some didn't. I remember Dan Duquette, when he was with Boston, Dan would get on the phone and was notorious for not talking. Like he wouldn't say anything. He would only want to gather information. He would never want to share information. And I remember that there was a time when Dan Duquette called Kevin Towers in San Diego. Kevin got on the phone and they both sort of said hello

and then they both sat there waiting for the other one to talk and then Kevin Towers about five to 10 minutes into it's like, all right, well, nice to catch up with you. And they got off the phone because neither, Kevin Towers was like, I'm not gonna talk if he's not gonna talk and Dan DeKette just would wait It out and not say anything hoping to get more information than he would give What do you need to see from Max Scherzer for that you're comfortable on the pathway back?

Yeah, I think it's less about what he does well first either Complete a game or let the manager take you out but don't take yourself out of the game right that's number one that you're at least you're through the time that you were in the game you were able to pitch whatever your capability allowed you to and then be okay the next day between starts because I think that you know making the start is one thing but the recovery is where he's had the difficulty that you know the thumb you know creeps up on him and is an issue for it and you know

I'm not sure that he's ever going to get that behind him and so I'm worried that that thumb will heal because it's been a lingering issue now for a couple of years and if it hasn't gone away in a couple of years then I'm not sure it's going to go away so you know and he always talks about how it's so important arm health you know the grip of the ball and and their recovery period itself it's it's gotta be go out there to do your thing but also let's see how you feel the next day rights the fully with their children games tonight will do it again soon

thank you for this but i'll walk here you guys break down the w n b a kate with clark and all that i was i was pretty good break down right there guys we're not about everything here man there's nothing that i love it i love it run top i love it they do they do go after her though whole yet most of the other people have they got to put a stop to it even i'm gonna make sure it happens

the obvious the thing like i like i feel bad and then when I see her put her arms out like what did I do? Then I kind of understand why they go after her a little bit. Yeah Well, I didn't do it. Yeah, she plays it up a little bit too, but she's a great player and you know They're getting a lot more play because she's in the league. Big time. Big time. Thank you, Steve Okay, guys, you got it. We'll see you Phillips or TSM baseball insider. Yeah, Caitlin Clark's a phenom, man. There's no other way to put it. Absolute phenom. There's an Instagram account. I don't know if you guys have seen it that they they track Angel Reese's first shot. Apparently she goes like she she throws

bricks apparently her first one and it's not a strong shooter like 15 games in a row it's like and so they film themselves and here's her first shot and of course like it doesn't go in and they're all high-fiving like and she she acknowledged it apparently she found out about it and went on her Instagram or tick-tock or whatever and responded to them so it was kind of funny i thought it was pretty good like uh... yeah i mean listen she's a household name now to write my every college player good player need w n b a but uh... that's a good thing to have rivalries man i got it's not on the

level of caitlin clark that's the issue like she's not as good but i think she's insanely jealous of the coverage of caitlin clark clark gets i think that's a good as a listen clark is getting more coverage than anyone in the history of women's basketball and totally deserves it totally deserves it list the ratings the the generating of attention and money and sponsors and all that would say suggest that that is that is true uh... best that's coming up and we'll get to our travelers picks will do that next

ideal drive pj pics are brought to you by tailor-made when you need more performance distance and speed from your golf ball it's time to switch learn more about the all new t p five and t p five x at tailor-made golf dot c a tailor-made just get so many great products right now the balls amazing this zero spider i told you if there's one different club you got it in your bag. I try that It's absolutely insane. I am Jack Nicklaus out there rolling putts Anyway, let's get to our picks. So you've established you want Rory. I'll take Scheffler. I'm taking the past champ I'll give you the

first pick or this third pick. All right. Let's let's keep this kind of on the rails here about a five pack. I'm going to go down the list a little bit for a guy that always plays well here and he's been a little bit quiet. Actually, what am I doing? I'll take the past champion Keegan Bradley. Okay, you're taking Keegan. All right, you're on Keegan Bradley I am I'm gonna take a guy who was in the hunt last week. I Can take Victor Hovland? Rick the guys got serious problems. It does see he was in second last pairing I'm gonna take a guy that I have difficulty watching because he's one of the slowest golfers in the history of the universe but he plays

well on this track and his name is mr. Cantile Patrick Cantley no I don't think I lay Colin more a co-op Colin more co-ops not one or two in a long time neither is Cantley these two guys are always a lock for the Ryder Cup. They haven't won anything in years. It's kind of strange. But Colin Morikawa, go ahead. I'm going to take a guy that has been, you just gifted him to me. They call him the X-Man. The X-Man. The Hender Shopley. Okay. I'll take a guy, I'll take someone that this is going to set you off

bob mackintyre i will take robert's in mackintyre bob mackintyre he'll be loves good feel the quality of your get depth in the field bob mackintyre's in the hunt bobby call peter miller and get some gear on you yes i know and it's like every major nike tries to just promote the words the new worst Bobby, call Peter Millar and get some gear on you. Yes, I know. I know. It's like every major Nike tries to just promote the new worst clothing of all. It's awful on all of them.

His hats look like his dog uses them as a chew toy. I know. It looks like he steals his hat from a trucker on the highway. He says, I got to wear that on the tour. The guy who fell asleep at the White House is a real estate on the house yes i'm playing clothing for bob mackin here shakha all right

who are the guy i like pendee i'm gonna take pendee who like that taylor pendra thoroughly uh... i'm gonna continue to go off the board i needed to more about then you have one more i think daniel burger and i'm gonna take maverick mcneely i'm going long shots i get scotty and i'm i'm i'm sniffing around the the edges

here i'm gonna take a guy that's one there before and you know what his name is Jim Furek Jordano Spieth He played good on the weekend man, he's won there. I think he's getting his jam back I'm gonna take Jordano Spieth. You know who else I'm gonna take Benny Griff. Benny Griff's my new guy man I love that Griffin. All right. Do you have a new one more picked at me now i guess you might i can't take

jay-jay spawn i'm not doing it i can't that i take daniel burger yet i'll take the burger i'll take hamburger daniel i already have him uh... what other canadians in connors is in his heart i need one more guy not even though they can all take nick taylor or picnic taylor i'll take nick taylor

care we're done that's enough died as i want any mccarthy he rolls the rock barry that daddy mccarthy find talent like who else can i say that i think i't think would like it's i know i got you like i know a guy that you like he does were two gloves he's also very slow erin rye rye i don't mind erin rye i'm not taking him but i don't mind them if he plays well take them uh... pg

experts by tail of a we need more, distance and speed from your golf ball. It's time to switch. Learn more about the all new TP5 and TP5X at TaylorMadeGolf.ca. NHL season's over boys. Give me your biggest takeaway from the 2024-2025 season. Jamie. I mean I didn't, a week ago I didn't Florida is is the gold standard like actually the state of Florida is the gold standard for hockey

now yeah that's so sickening to me that the state of Florida well I mean it's like the home of hockey so I want to go people watch the game You want to go I'll go a step further as you can spend 10 million on a goaltender and win because I know Vasilevsky is nine five, but like You do need goaltending. Yeah, but you gotta find the right guy to pay right? I'm only three of them in the world that are worth 10 million But that's the problem like if you don't if you can't get your hands on one of them, you're in big trouble. Dude, goaltender depth worldwide, worldwide is a problem. Yeah. Yes. Agreed. Agreed.

Yeah. This was the year of the state tax conversation, kind of the rubber hitting the road. Come on. That was. You just said it. The state of Florida is the home of hockey It'll it'll show its head here Bennett Bennett signs for like seven point eight million then Yeah, I don't see how Betman can't immediately come out and have to explain that He'll get something with an eight in it I think if he signs there, but even so even that now that that again it might work out

But the numbers would be well, that's ten.5 in Toronto. It's like, okay, well, you get to keep Sam Bennett for 8.25 because it's the same money. All right, best bets powered by FanDuel. I'm going to go with the over in the ball game tonight. The Jays Bats have been alive. You've got a couple of pitchers on the mound that I don't think you're gonna Go deep in this game. I think the bullpens are gonna be used I'm taking the over in the ballgame tonight best bats powered by fan-dual All right. Well tomorrow we got game six of the NBA finals and

We got the Jays we get the Travelers starting and finals and uh... we get the jays we get the travelers starting and we've moved towards the nba draft in the nth draft i guess common correct man and then free agency right behind that so to be a fun couple weeks alright thanks everyone behind the scenes for helping out we appreciated everyone for tuning in today tv radio podcast web and of course up on youtube live on tSN's YouTube channel. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at

4 PM. We'll chat then. Hey, this is Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast Encore. You know how some artists grow to kind of hate their big hit? This is one of those stories, but I promise, it's still a likeable one. Tune in this week to Encore, the stories behind the songs you love, or the incredible story of Vanessa Carlton's 2002 hit, A Thousand Miles. I recorded the episode while riding a piano around New York City. Not really, that would be cool though. Listen to Encore on the iHeart app or wherever you get your podcasts for stories behind all the songs you love.