OverDrive - OverDrive - March 16, 2026 - Hour 1 - Keegan Matheson

Episode Date: March 16, 2026

Join Aaron Korolnek and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! They delve into the Maple Leafs' win against the Wild, the outcome of Radko Gudas' suspension on Auston Matthews' injury and the direction of the roster for the rest of the season. MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson on the Blue Jays' season looming, Kevin Gausman starting on Opening Day, Jose Berrios' injury timeline and Bobby McMann's hot start with the Kraken.

If Bell 5 TV is now streaming, is it still TV? Is it still TV if there's no TV box? If I can stream all my favorite channels and pause and record shows, that's TV, right? A new era of 5 TV. It's streaming, but it's still TV. Well, glad that's settled. Bell, connection is everything. This hour of overdrive.

is powered by Fandul. Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Welcome into Overdrive. It is Monday afternoon. I'm Aaron Kurolnick.

That is Dave Feschuk, the self-proclaimed A-team here on the program. And, of course, we're live on TSN, television, radio, and YouTube. Feshuk, you know how it goes. When Brian, Jamie, and Jeff are off, Overdrive Reddit starts to freak out.

People poke their head around and say, the A team's here. And it kind of reminds me of, I've worked in radio my entire professional career, face for radio jokes. You know, you get sick of them after a while, but in this particular instance,

it is definitely appropriate. Great to see you nonetheless. It is great to see you. Yes, ratings will tank. No, no, no. Overdrive, Reddit will freak out. We can handle it. We can.

All the mean things that have been written about us, we've read them all. It hasn't killed us yet. No, that's it. You've got to have thick skin in this business, and, you know, my skin is not particularly. really thick, but yours is. Yours is. You're a season vet. I'm working my way to that status one day.

But nonetheless, we got a ton of things to get into today. Most notably the Toronto Maple Leafs. And I was thinking about this as we're sitting in the green room. Just how many things, how many repercussions there are and have been and will be from that Austin Matthews's injury on Thursday night against the Anaheim Ducks. I was in the building. It was something to behold. We know the story, the lack of response from the team. They do go out and win in the third period. then of course Saturday rolls around. They're playing with this renewed energy, this renewed vigor. Get a point from the Buffalo Sabres.

They go out second half of back to back against Minnesota. They beat the wild. And all of a sudden, the tank is over. This team is playing with an energy we hadn't seen since they came back for the Olympic break. And what do you attribute it to? It's just a sense of embarrassment from the club as a whole after how they responded or didn't respond to Matthews

and what happened with Radco, Goudis. There's no other explanation for, me. Well, we've seen it with this team before, AKA, when everybody in the world writes them off and is done with them, they turn it on. And they say, oh yeah, you think we're

gutless? Oh, yeah? You think it's a last season? Watch this. You think we're tanking? Uh-uh. We're not tanking. We are, as I couldn't believe, Anthony Stoller said, we are establishing a culture. Now, right. Ten years in.

Now, ten years into the Matthew Zera, 60-something games into this season, we are establishing a culture. And you heard Morgan Riley say, we're not folding up the tent quite yet. I'm not sure exactly what that means. The tent collapsed and is in tatters on the ground. They can't fold it.

That may be it. And the Leafs will have 14 games left. If they win every one of them, they will finish with 98 points and make the postseason. Clearly, that's not happening. But what I do think is happening is that they are ruining any and all chances of keeping their own first round pick this year. And again, the players don't care

about that at all. No. Zero interest. Does Brad Tree Living care? Maybe not because he might not be the guy in charge. Probably the only person who you could say with certainty might care is Keith Pelly, but what is he supposed to do? They're to playing without their captain and best player, their record without him over his career as a Maple Leaf is outstanding. Yes. And that's another conversation that I think needs to be had. Why do the Maple Leaf play so well without Austin Matthews, historically speaking, Morgan Riley and Nylander and Marner-Tavars, all those guys seemingly when one or multiple of them are absent, the team plays exceptionally well.

And what, five of six points against Anaheim, Buffalo, and Minnesota, it makes you wonder, why is this happening again? Their best players out and this team is thriving. Small sample size this year, yes, but you wonder how much longer it will continue with the New York Islanders coming to town tomorrow night. Without a doubt, I mean, it's fascinating. me on a lot of levels. And if you're Keith Pelly, you've got a lot of things to get to the bottom of, right? You've got to figure what the hell went on with this team this season, right? Because

there was every reason to believe, you know, they were a really good team. They took Florida the seven games a season ago, won the Atlantic Division, won a division for the first time in a long time. They looked like they knew what they were doing a season ago and it absolutely cratered this year. And then you see the low point, the sort of encapsulation of it all. And is the captain writhing on the ground in pain after a very greasy hit from Radkuddin and no response and you have to ask yourself the question. Is that because the guys around Matthews are gutless

or is that a comment on the way they see their captain? You know, could be a bit of both. Sure. Could be a bit of both. Not sure. Does it matter who's on the ground writhing in pain if the reaction will be any different? Considering some of the guys on the ice, again, I think it says a lot about them.

The four guys on the ice, Riley, Nealander, Easton Cowan, who's not doing anything as a kid, and Brandon Carlo, who now is a history of doing just that, that being nothing, in the face of adversity. We saw it with Anthony Stollars earlier this season. Carlo didn't do anything,

and now certainly we've seen what happened here. Big MacCa was standing there too when Missed Marchment damned into Anthony Stollars. You're right, again. Hang it on Carlo. It's a team-wide epidemic. And you have to wonder, again, talking about the repercussions of this Matthew's injury, how, if at all, this changes

the perception of management for what this team is, the culture that it has instilled in it. And again, we've seen this for a decade now. No one should be surprised at the way they respond or didn't respond. But at the same time, this was by far the most egregious example because of the predicament that they find themselves in with regards to their standing. Season's over. None of this matters. In the past, it was a playoff game.

Remember, Marshan and Lilligran, the high ankle injury that he suffered and no one really did anything. And again, early part of the season with Stollars, there's a litany of examples of just that. But the fact that it was a lost season and still no one really came to the defense of their captain and best player is astounding. And it's the most damning example. And you have to wonder, does that affect the way they proceed here, the final 14 games into the offseason? Do you let that one singular incident on top of many other incidents affect the way you build your roster, your organization, your culture, going forward or do you have to look at it as an anomaly?

That's what you have to figure out. And that's a tough question to answer. And look, I mean, the problem with sort of letting it, sloughing it off as an anomaly and saying, well, that was just one incident, extenuating list of circumstances. Radco Gudis, nobody wants to mess with that guy, even though we all know. Radco Gudis was lying on the ice after the hit. All you had to do was jump on top of them. Just do anything.

Punch him a couple of times. Literally anything. No one's asking Nealander to go drop. the gloves and go toe to toe with a rat co-go-go-it. It wasn't going to be that. No, of course not. A pile-up of bodies. And there was zero pile-up whatsoever.

But the point, like, the thing about this team, it's not just that incident, right? It really, that incident is sort of the microcosm of the bigger issue, which was a lack of response all season in big moments, a lack of bite, a lack of heart, a lack of guts all season. And that's with Matthews as the captain, right? Matthews as the leader. That was an absolute sort of encapsulation of the lack of leadership on this team with the so-called leader lying on the ice. You could say that's an indictment on the guys who should have come in, or you could say that it's an indictment on Matthews and the tone he has set.

The fact that the goalie, the number one goalie is saying we need to start establishing a culture now, I would say, speaks to a larger issue. It wasn't just about one incident. There's a feeling in that room that there isn't a couple. They need to establish it now. Well, and we have a spadio, Brad Tree Living. You spoke to Gino Reda down at the GM meetings. And again, Tree Living's a guy who, by my eye, seems very uncertain about his own future.

And I don't know how much can really be learned based on the final 14 games of this season. Like, I am quite certain. The board of MLS-E, Heath Valley, they have a pretty good idea of what they're going to do at the end of the season regarding tree living, regarding Brubay. Again, Tree Living's got one year left on his deal after this. So you're going to let him go into the final year of his contract. Again, there's no way he's getting a contract extension after this. So, like, again, it kind of seems like the writing is on the wall in that respect. And for sure, because they just witnessed the danger of the lame duck season in the final year of the Shannaplan.

Everybody wants to kill Brad Tree Living for trading away first round pick for Carlo, first round pick for Lotton. Guess he was standing over his shoulder saying, buddy, this is my last stand. Do it. We got to win. Like I have no other choice or I'm the president or I'm not and it's going to be because we win in the playoffs or we don't make those trades. That's got nothing to a Brad Tree Living. Now he was in the room. He could have pushed back. He might have been able to bring it to the board and say we can't do this. This guy's in a lame duck situation. But he didn't do that. Lame duck situations at that level are incredibly dangerous for the franchise as we just saw with Shannon planned. So yeah, they can't. They can't let that happen again. And we talk about the word culture, which is a very subjective term. What does that really mean? And in the case of the Toronto Maple Leafs,

they have been trying to staple guys to the core of this hockey team for many, many years in hopes that it would bring that intangible, that culture to the forefront. And obviously it has not done so. So does that culture start at the top with a new president of hockey operations, a new general manager, a new coach?

And again, Craig Barube, you would think would embody that very culture that you'd be looking for if you were a team seeing its captain lying on the ground, but clearly the coach can only do so much. Right, and we know and have heard in the second intermission of that game when Matthews was injured, I'm sure Baroubae went in there and tore a strip off everybody involved and rightfully so. And they came out, going win the game in the third period,

and they played two great back-to-back games against Buffalo and Minnesota. But why don't we take a listen to Brad Tree Living with Gene O'Retta talking about his view of the Matthews injury and his future in Toronto? About timelines. There's a timeline for how quickly can this team become a playoff team again. then there's a timeline for how quickly could this team become a cup contender again. Can you share some thoughts on the timelines? Well, like I said, Gino, those are things as we go forward.

We've got a plan to put in place, and we've underperformed this year. And as I said at the trade deadline, there's certainly some changes that we need to make. And all those things are the plan that we're going to formulate moving forward to get this team back to where we think it's capable of being. So those questions will be answered and certainly will look forward to letting everybody know what our plans are here as we get closer to the end of the season. Plan will be put in place. Again, we don't know what any of this means. It's semantics.

You're trying to parse through a word salad from, frankly, a general manager that's quite uncertain about his own position. And again, he did talk about Austin Matthews as well, did Shree Living and talked about potential of a procedure. Regardless, he's going to be ready for September. But again, I think the biggest question that is overhanging this entire organization is the tipping point of reality is Matthews future. And I think another repercussion of the injury is it kind of accelerates those conversations. He's not playing again the rest of the season. You heard his agent Judd Maldaver come out and just carve player safety and talk about Goudis. But I'm certain that Austin Matthews and Maldiv, everybody involved in the Matthews camp was looking at that situation unfold on Thursday night and say nobody went over.

did anything in the Rackogutus, that's the type of belief that the rest of the team has in their captain. That can't be a good thing for anybody involved. But again, how do you address it? I don't think the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to go out and say, you know what we need to do is go find every enforcer we can in the N.H. Like Ryan Reeves, can we get him back from San Jose? Like that, they've tried that.

Yeah. So it's more so, again, the culture and finding guys who can play with that snarl that you need, the snot that you need to use tree living parlance, while being able to produce like a real NHL player. And that's the line that they need to straddle here going forward. Easier said than done. Everyone's looking for those players around the NHL.

So good luck to find to them in a league that is virtually devoid of free agents. That's just it, right? Like this is not a good free agent class to be coming up with a big shopping list. And you're right. This has been the tension of the Shannon plan. Like Chanahan pointed to this how many years ago when he talked about we lack killer instinct, right? We lack grit, he used that word, right?

It's been the same issue going back, you know, half the decade, going back to when they blew it against Montreal in 2021, going back to when they lost to Columbus in 2020, when they just did not have that mentality of stepping on an opponent's throat. They couldn't close it out. They couldn't rise to the moment. Some of that was just the, you know, to your point, the snot, there was definitely a lack of engagement physically.

but it wasn't just that, right? There was a mental block. These guys did not perform well under pressure. They did not perform well when the going got tough. And that's just as important, right? And that's what they've been lacking. And they continue to lack it. And to the point of what's happening now,

this is when they perform, when all the pressure is off, when all the expectations have been, you know, dropped to the wayside, when the tent is collapsed on the ground and, you know, Morgan Riley says they're not folding it, but we all know the thing is a lost cost. that's when they say, well, now we can play.

Well, you don't think Mattias Machelli is a 25 goal score in the NHL or a 40 goal score, the pace that he's had since returning from the Olympic break. You're right. And to try to derive anything from these final, essentially, that's called the last 20 games this season, where it became abundantly clear that nothing was happening with regards to the playoffs. That's a dangerous game, too. The last thing you can do is start to fall in love with Bo Gru.

And God love him. He's been great. But, you know, I wouldn't be, you know, putting his name in Pence, and Warren Penn, certainly, into my opening day lineup for 2026 that regular season. And again, the same goes for other guys who are going to be given opportunities down the stretcher.

Micelli would be yet another example. Like, I'm not looking at this as anything real. No. So that's a very big concern. It's great that they're doing it, and these guys deserve opportunities. And frankly, you wonder if, I don't know, you give all these opportunities to Callie Yarncroke

and Stephen Lawrence and Max Stomie and Micelli in the early part of the season. What if Beau grew is getting those opportunities? we'll never know. But at the same time, that's another dangerous aspect that I think we're going to have here is you would hope that even if the Maple Leafs

did finish strong, let's say they won a bunch more games and they finished with the 20th worst record in the NHO. And they gave the Bruins the 12th pick in the draft. Careful. That's a slippery slope to be relying on these meaningless games when you're playing free, you're playing with any type of pressure.

You're just kind of playing for yourself more than anything else because that's a dicey problem. And you would hope that the guys in charge would understand that their bet has been made. You know what this is. You know what changes need to be made. Be careful evaluating something that really doesn't have that much meaning. Yeah, exactly.

You know, there are no stakes anymore. Zero. And this team's problem has been performing when there are stakes. So you're right. To pretend that it's the same thing. That this game is as important as the games that were played when they actually still had a chance this season. No, they're not the same thing. the cause is lost, it's over, and now, to your point, yeah,

Bo Gru, like, he should go out there and try and let it up. Good for him, man. But if he does light him out, sure for that guy. But it also raises a question. It's an indictment on the club if they had guys with the Marleys that could perform at this level that didn't get opportunities when, how often were we talking about their lack of scoring depth? How often were we talking about the underperformance of the bottom six all season, right?

We were talking about that an awful lot. Over is one of the top scores in the HL. And the question is, like, why wasn't this, if he's so good, if you believe in him so much, why wasn't he brought up a lot earlier when you had guys that should have been put under pressure to perform, should have been sat in the press box in favor of a call-up and weren't? Well, where do you stand on this tank versus no tank thing? Because, again, the Leafs could still tank.

Again, I think this three-game stretch, probably an aberration. I don't think they're going to play overly well here. And you look at their games coming up, they've got the Islanders, they've got Carolina and Ottawa, three teams that are definitely playing for something. And again, you're without Matthews. I know their record without him is incredibly good, but you would think there would be a drop-off

when you're playing, you know, Tavares, Domi, Quillan, grew down the middle, right? Like, that's a tough pill to swallow over a prolonged stretch. So do you think it is in the best interest for the Maple Leafs to lose out and do their best to get as low as possible? But are you in the camp of whatever? Just give the pick to Boston and you don't have to roll it over to the next.

two seasons and it does perhaps give you a little bit more flexibility as far as your plan going forward. Which camp are you in? I mean, ideally, I think you'd rather keep it. If you could, if you could find a way to get a top five pick, I mean, you would want that, right? Because let's face it here. I know people are saying, well, long term, it might be better to give it up now so you, because you don't have, you know, you don't, you will give an unprotected pick the following year, which is scary. But if you, like, now let's get serious here. If you believe in, the plan. And to my knowledge, the plan is to bounce back quick and have a really good season next year, if you believe that's actually going to happen. And you better believe it if you're

the one operating it that way, then you're better to have to have the player now. You're better off to have the asset now. I mean, it's like, it's always better to have it in hand now than later. Definitely. Well, again, I think it would also make, again, in theory, if there are major changes to the organization, it would probably make the job a little bit more attractive, right? If you're taken over as GM. Okay, well, we got a top five pick in the drawer. We got a future number one defenseman. Maybe we have Keaton Verhoff on our team going forward again. You're all of a sudden, okay, well, that's a bright spot. You could play for us maybe the next couple years and emerges as a quality asset. But I don't know, it's an interesting one, man. There's so much

uncertainty. But you could do it. It's such a complex issue. That and everything else is associated. You could do it. I think the problem that they have, and we saw it this weekend, it's woolen stolars are your problem. You can't be playing these guys if you, if you're trying to lose. they are going to steal points for you. And we saw it against Buffalo with, well, we saw it with Stolars last night against Minnesota. I mean, they're good goalies. And doesn't matter how many shots they face, how many high danger chances, they will steal games for you. And I don't know, Arter Actiama just got a three-year contract extension.

Get them in there. I mean, why not? And again, I think it really speaks to the uncertainty, top to bottom, in the organization that they are still playing for something. We're seeing Florida sit in skies. Marshan, you know what, buddy, go hang out of the beach. And eventually you'll see Matthew Kachukh, take a seat. You're seeing Sam Reinhardt sit, Babrofsky's splitting time. Florida knows that their pick is top ten protected

and they're going to lose some hockey games down the stretch. It seems like the Leafs are, well, we'll see how it goes. Yeah, because there's a lot of uncertainty. And I don't like that if I'm Keith Pelly because here's the thing. There's an easy narrative here, okay? You don't have to ask the players to stop playing. don't do that. You have a bunch of guys who've had chronic injuries. It starts with a goal 10. You've had health issues in goal all years. So Stolars and Wall, who've had a very difficult

time staying in the Kresol season. Guess what? You take some time, fellas. We're going to need you at full strength next year. You do whatever you need to do. Get your saunas and cold tubs and physios and chiropractors. You do whatever you need to do. We're good without you. We're going to try and develop Hildo B and act them off, right? Okay. Yeah. That's where you start. Matthew Nyes, you've had a chronic injury all year. You went back to Scottsdale during the Olympic break to try and treat it, still bothering you. You sit the rest of the games out or most of them to work on that

because we need you top form at the beginning of next season, and we know this is a very difficult injury that's held you back and really had a setback season. I mean, you go down the list. There's been a bunch of guys who've been nursing stuff all year. You can take out half your lineup, bring up a bunch of Marley's. Yeah, you may win a couple, but you're not going to win too many. Well, and again, I think if this was an organization that has sense of direction as to it being a certain one,

like again, tree living brew bay, they don't care right now about the tank or bringing up anybody or putting anybody in a disadvantageous position. They are trying to win games because perhaps if they win a bunch, let's say they win nine of the final 14. Does that do anything with regards to their job status? I would hope not, but perhaps it does. Maybe they view it as, listen, it doesn't matter to me. We're trying to win. There's no guarantees that I'm going to be around next year anyways. You're right.

And again, that's where I, if I was Keith Pelly, I'd be calling down, boys, tanks officially on here. We can't be winning these games. You can't be beating Minnesota. Again, I'm totally with you. You've got to get that draft pick in the cupboard as soon as possible. And again, there are no guarantees. Even if you get down to the seventh or sixth worst record, it gives you a better chance. Right.

The draft in the top five. That's all you're looking for. And sure, could it result in Boston selecting sixth or seventh? Yes. and that would be a terrible, terrible outcome for the Toronto Maple Leafs and a really exacerbate just horrible, how horrible that Brandon Carlo trade was last year. But at the same time, you got to make do with what you've got,

and that is their best course of action. And yet they're winning these games, which I don't think puts them in the best position to succeed going forward. No, it doesn't. It doesn't at all. And look, you could say, look, I've heard people say, well, just play it like it is. I mean, hey, New York Islanders won the draft lottery last.

year with a 3.5% chance, and they got Matthew Schaefer. And we'll see him in town tomorrow and I probably ripping home a couple goals, having himself a night in front of his hometown crowd. They were 10th worst, I think, when they got that, those odds. I mean, the Leifes right now, I think, according to points, percentage, the Leifes were ninth worst heading into today. So maybe you just say play it as a lies and hope for luck in the lottery calls. Good karma is what maybe the least will be looking for.

But if you don't mess with the lottery gods, maybe they'll be on your side. But here's the other thing. It's not like, it's not like we're making up. chronic problems here. Like those goalies haven't been healthy. They need, they would benefit from an extended rest here down the stretch to take them into an offseason where they could, you know, work on their bodies and try and become a little more robust and resilient.

Certainly, hopefully a little more than they've been because, of course, they haven't been very robust and resilient at all as NHLers. Like these are not fake problems. You're not making anything up. To me, it's not an unethical thing to say, we've got guys with injuries that need treatment. And I'd also say it would probably be good for guys like Dennis Hill to be in Artur Actiyama to get more starts in the NHL. Just in the event that you do make some major transaction in the offseason that does feature Joseph Wall or Anthony Stollars,

which I do think remains the most intriguing roster question beyond the Matthews possible, whatever happens there. Matthew Nyes, we know there was some discussion with him at the deadline. Wall would bring you back a very nice haul from somebody if you made a trade. Stollars, I'm not so sure what his value is considering the season that he's had the age, but he's a number one-ish goalie. Here's the other thing. The reason both those guys

don't bring you back anything automatically is one reason. Health concern. Yes. So you've got to take care of those. Guess what? Playing more games doesn't help that. Okay?

It's playing meaningless hockey in front of a team that's going to be scrambling around with a bunch of Marley's in the lineup is not going to help Anthony Stolars. Okay. He'll do it, but how is that to help him? It's a very fair point. Again, it was kind of a lost season for him early on.

He's been much better since coming back from whatever nerve issue he was dealing with. And hopefully for Dollars and maybe not hopefully for Maple Leaf fans. We'll see how it goes in the final 14 games of the regular season. Frank Carrados on the show today at 5 o'clock. We're looking forward to that. We'll catch up with Keegan Matheson on the other side. And my new favorite golfer on the PGA tour is on the show, Dave. I'm going to take a stab at pronouncing his name.

Are you ready? Sudarshan, Yelah Maraju. How did I do? Very well. Thank you. I did Google his name, and the first thing that came up was a column you wrote on him two or three years ago. And look at him yesterday at the players championship. Key five, bringing home 925 grand, the 24-year-old who plays at a Mississauga, born in India, moves to Winnipeg when he's four, moves to Mississauga when he's 11, and look at him now. He's a stud on the PGA tour on Overdrive at 530. And it's too bad the boys aren't here,

I mean, he's a Winnipeg guy and a Trilada guy. Yes, the best of both worlds. Both of overdrafts hometowns. That's exactly. And he's a golf guy. And he's a self-made guy, man. I love this guy. It's an incredible story.

I love him. He learned how to play golf on YouTube. I watch a lot of YouTube golf. I still suck. Sudarshan, dominant. Now, he's got that beautiful lefty swing as well. We love Sudarshan. Looking forward to him joining the show in about an hour.

Maybe Hayes can get him put in right hand. Yeah, maybe. That's what he might need. I'm Aaron Kourlick. Dave Festruck. Keegan Matheson coming up on the other side, maybe from his hotel room in Dunedin. I'm sure he's clamoring to get out of there. Home opener for the Jays right around the corner next Friday against the athletics, the homeless athletics, where are they from? Sacramento, Oakland, Vegas.

Yes, and there's some news about Vegas as well in the NBA, which we'll get to a little bit later. Coralick Festruck, this is Overdrive. Overdrive continues brought to you by Fandul, bringing you more ways to play your game, your way. Coralnik and Feschuk in for the trio today. Brian will be back tomorrow, but O'Neill and McClennan on a well-deserved March

break. Well-deserved. And I guess that's what the people with kids in school do this week. To go on vacations and do a bunch of fun stuff around the city if they stay in Toronto, right? As they should. As they should. The boys need a little rest, a little load management before the big stretch run here.

That's it. Very much. Very much. So some big news today. The NHL announcing that Calgary, Edmonton, and Prague will host the 2028 World Cup of Hockey. And it got me thinking about the future of international, I guess not just with hockey, but also with baseball too, with the World Baseball Classic ongoing, which has been a huge success, Aaron Judge,

popping the tires of it. And you're thinking back to the Four Nations, the World Cup of Hockey in a couple of years, and you wonder, are these leagues just going to take over all the international play, considering MLBs, reaping the benefits financially of the World Baseball Classic. The NHL reap

the benefits of the Four Nations face-off. And I know the Olympic Games are coming up in 2028 and the baseball players want to play, but is the World Baseball Classic sufficient to the point where they don't need to send their guys in the middle of summer and stop the season? What do you think? I think you just answer

it yourself there. The players want the Olympics. And that's been the case with the hockey players. That's been the case with the basketball players in the NBA, even though there's plenty of NBA owners that would rather their guys not be playing a tournament in the middle of the summer. And I believe that's the case with these Major League Baseball players. And this one, like the baseball one's going to be a one-off because it's like a special

circumstance because the Olympics are in L.A. And because it's in America, it's doable to include the Major League Baseball players for the first time in an Olympics. And I think there's a real push from the Players Association to get involved. That would be really, really fun. And I'm sure our next guest would be covering it in some capacity, staying there for many, many days on end, joining us live from, Dunedin.

Our friend Keegan Matheson from MLB.com. Keegan, the idea of going to L.A. versus staying in Dunedin for another prolonged period. I'm sure that really appeals to you, correct? I'd go to the surface of the sun at this point, for all this goodness, what day are we on here? L.A. sounds okay. You must be getting close to the end now, right? I mean, how many days have you been in Dunedon? And when is your flight back to Toronto?

This is day 36, and at this time next week, I'll be on my couch with a frosty Guinness. It will not be my first. Flying home next Monday. So it's been a good ride, fellas. I typically take a break in the middle, but I stayed down the full time this time. So it's been a long one, but we're getting there, you know, it's, there's worse places to be, too. I know that's not a sympathetic audience to complain to as I speak to people shoveling in the last few weeks. So it's, it's been good, but man, oh man, I cannot wait to get back to my kids.

couch, and I cannot wait to cover a baseball game that matters because I've covered a lot of stretching and a lot of practice here for four weeks, so I'm ready to get back. Well, next Friday, the home opener, Kevin Gosman will tow the rubber for the Jays. We'll get to that in just a moment. But what does your intuition tell you about baseball at the Olympics in 2020? Because there certainly are pros and cons of playing in that if you are Major League Baseball. What do you think happens there? Where my mind goes, guys, is you know how athletes want to be musicians?

musicians want to be athletes, calling yourself an Olympian is that one more thing a great athlete can do. If you're Aaron Judge, you're Bryce Harper, if you're Vladdy, your Tatis, your Soto, any of these big stars, you can call yourself an Olympian now. And I think that's going to be too tempting for players. And I think that guys, these two things don't need to be rivals. I think that the momentum internationally can begin to snowball here. Because this WBC has been fantastic. Okay. It takes a lot to get me to watch baseball. all outside of my work, okay? Because I'm at the ballpark all day.

I don't typically go home and watch more baseball at night. That's when I like to shut off. I can't stop watching the WBC. This is fantastic. You're getting people interested, people caring about it at an international level. Like we've never seen before, and I think that's momentum.

I think that carries into the Olympics. Like you say, maybe it's a one-off. We'll see where that goes. But the opportunity to call yourself an Olympian is going to be real tempting for all these guys. Hagan, I got to say, I was with you.

I was riveted to this WB. and I'm wondering, was the WBC and what happened last night with the ending of the great Dominican American game, was that the ultimate advertisement for the ABS balls and strike system? Sure was, man. If you have the classic case of one that needed a review, okay, nobody is trying to screw over a hitter. This is not complete malpractice.

An umpire's job is hard, but there are moments where you need it. Okay, and I think when a lot of people hear robot umpires, they're either picturing an actual robot or automatic balls on strike for every single pitch. This guys is why I like the ABS challenge system, where teams just have two or three that you save up and store throughout the game for major moments. Okay. I respect umpires and the job they do. I couldn't do it, okay? But for major moments, you need the ability to challenge. And for it to end that way, for the Dominican, which is the most fun I've had watching a baseball.

team ever. I mean, what a collection of talent. What a style of play that just celebrates their own skills and their own baseball culture. For it to end like that, damn, man, that is tough. So I hope that that's something that becomes normal across all forms of baseball. But good Lord, just the biggest example you could imagine. Yeah, well said. Kegan Matheson, our guest from MLB.com, covers the Toronto Blue Jays, who return home next Friday night, the host in the Athletics. Kevin Gosman will be pitching the opening day game for Toronto, which is no surprise, Keegan. But what was the surprise is the most recent status of Jose Barrios, where looked like he was good to go. And he has this insurance checkup on his elbow before he was going to represent Puerto Rico.

Did not go well. Now there's a second opinion happening today for Burrios. Does not look overly likely he's going to be ready for opening day? What do you think is going on with Burrios? And does that really make some sense as to why Max Scherzer might be. That's an important part of this team going forward. Yeah, at this point with Jose, I'd be shocked if he's ready for opening day. I don't see that being realistic at all.

But the information here has been interesting to track. I guess I'll say it that way. So the MRI that happened first, it's because he wanted to go to the WBC. To do that, you've got to pass insurance. That's the only reason an MRI happened. Jose hadn't been feeling anything. He hadn't been wincing on the mound or any of that. He actually looked good.

His velocity was back. He looked confident that this was the Berrios that the Blue Jays traded for and extended. It was a damn good pitcher. Okay, I know the last year wasn't good. That's a damn good pitcher. And now this pops up. And now he's going to be going to get that in-person visit with Dr. Ella Trash, or Dr. Meister, sorry, the other guy. Players do not visit him for fun.

Okay. This is ideally routine and the Blue Jays think this is just part of the process. but pitchers don't visit him for fun. So if you're the Blue Jays, you've got to hope this is just inflammation that you slowly get out of there. But the important part, guys, is that John Schneider said this is different inflammation from last year. So for 10 years, Jose Berrios was the Iron Man. You could not get this guy off the mound. It was his thing.

Now, in back-to-back years, in about a six-month period, he's gone through a bit of a dip in performance. He's had one type of inflammation. now two types of inflammation. These things tend to happen this way. They build up and build up. Going to be really interesting, guys. This is going to be a big news update here, the next couple days that we get from the Blue Jays,

but opening day, I think, has got to be out of the question by now, even if this is good news. And the lazy answer all along, guys, has been that the Blue Jays rotation would take care of itself. Always does. It's done that again here.

Max Schurzer slides right in. Well, that's the question. I want to ask you, I mean, we know from experience, Kagan, that opening day doesn't mean that much. Last year's opening day starter was Brillos. He was the opening day starter three of the past four years. The other guy in there, Alec Manoa, no longer around. So this is kind of a ceremonial thing about who's ready on opening day. It really doesn't matter who starts. It matters who finishes. But given the fact that you got Scherzer at his advanced age, you got Bieber with an uncertain health situation,

you got Trey I Savage being, you know, handled with, you know, vigorous care. let's say, in spring training. I mean, what looked like a massive surplus isn't really that massive anymore, and how do you sort of make sense of it? I like vigorous care. He is being aggressively cared for in spring training. This surplus guys has come back down to a spot. I didn't think it would be at already, okay?

The Blue Jays are fortunate they have Eric Lauer in there as a number six, essentially. But if this season starts, let's say everything goes well, Berrios just needs a bit, but he's not quite ready. You have that Gosman-Cece Savage-sur-Ponts. Okay, that's a good start. But if Trey Savage is only going to throw 50 or 60 pitches his first couple of times out, you probably need Eric Lauer to piggy back off of that. This gets thin pretty quickly, okay?

And you are hoping for a lot of things to go right. Now, I trust Gossmann, I trust Dillon Cs fully completely. But Trey is Savage, there's the workload component to that. That's going to be a factor. Max Scherzer says he is beyond his thumb, and I have not one to question Max Scher never would because I'm too smart to do that, but he's got a history. We'll see. And then Cody Ponce is coming back to the big leagues after rediscovering himself in Japan and Korea.

Love the signing, really excited by the pitcher, but there still needs to be some prove it there as well. So this has really gone from a massive strength and a problem of where the hell do these pitchers go to what looks like a normal rotation, what other teams are dealing with, where you're one bad news away from this getting a little risky again. So luckily the Blue Jays had that depth, but they need the rest of this to go right. Long enough to get Berrios back, long enough to get Shane Bieber back. That's going to be the big news this week, guys. If Bieber gets off the mound, okay? This has been slow and drawn out longer than I thought, frankly. If he gets off the mound this week, cool. He's probably six weeks away from being back. You're probably set. But if that's a

little longer, then it's just too many questions, too many things we're talking about. Well, it's wild because it wasn't long ago. We looked at Max Scherzer and we tried to figure out why is this guy want to sign with the Toronto Blue Jays. There's no way he's going to start games at any point soon. And just a couple weeks later, he becomes a very important cog to a rotation that has a lot of question marks.

Kegan, thank you for doing this, buddy. Best of luck over the final week down in Dunedin. And that Frosty Guinness will taste delightful when you return home next week. I see the light, fellas. Thank you. We'll talk soon. Thank you very much.

That is Keegan Mathis and joining us here on Overdrive. Do not think the dome is going to be open next Friday night. March 27th. Dude, I just looked at the forecast and I'm so depressed. It's like single digits for like the next 10 days. Well, I was texting with Duthey and Koliakavo this morning and golf course out in the west end of Toronto. He's opening up on Monday. And Dothi's like, oh, yeah, three degrees.

That's going to be a beautiful day. And I'm like, dude, I love golf. I'm not that desperate. going to play in 50 kilometer winds and four degrees and bundling up to no, no, like, it's just not in my, in my level interest at all. If you've got to get, if you've got to bring the winter golf clubs, it's just not really that fun. It really is.

What was in 1977, an exhibition stadium is a snowstorm? Yeah. In the first Blue Jays game. That's right. And it could probably very well be the same thing next Friday night. Unfortunately, they have a dome this time around in 2026. Yeah. Like the TFC just had their opener on Saturday.

It was for a reason. I couldn't believe. that by the way let's talk about bemo field the structure and do do he was showing us some of the pictures of the new grandstand that they built for the world cup oh hope i don't get those tickets oh my god it looks i mean hey it's uh let's talk about one thing it's it's it's ugly as it's not aesthetically pleasing it's let's be diplomatic yeah it is terrible it's a blight on our community okay and the fact that they're going to and not only is it ugly and looks very rickety. I'm very, I'm sure it's very

structurally sound. It does. It looks like my high school bleachers. It just looks like I wouldn't want to be up there. I'll tell you that right now. I ain't going up there. You can go, enjoy it. And then the fact that the tickets are going to be outrageously priced. They're already outrageously priced. Everybody's

getting in there on, you know, 10 grand a pop or whatever it's going to be. 10 grand a pop. I don't know what it is. Like, there will be 10. For the Canada games. Those will be the expensive ones. And then there's a quarter final game that could very well feature like in England and France or

Croatia, someone really good, those games in particular. I do wonder if Qatar's playing like some other nation where down at Bimo Field, again, we'll see how it all plays out, or Italy that would definitely be a different. Italy will be circumstance. Italy would be a huge job. But some of the other games, I wonder

just how, well, they'll be full. It's a World Cup game. It is, but not to the same level of anticipation, say, for Canada, game or one of those marquee nations. And maybe one of those names. Yeah. If it's a nation that doesn't have fans that travel, maybe it won't be as high demand.

I agree with you. Like I have a buddy who's going, I think it's going to Boston for Scotland, Haiti. And I'm like, wow, but the Scots, they travel. That'll be 50,000 blackout Scotsman ready to fire for Scott McTonamee and company. Without a doubt. In Boston. Without a doubt. Maybe it's in New York.

I can't remember. I can't get to track. But yeah, like, look, I mean, I hope it works out. like, but the stadium does not look great. And we'll see how it goes. Well, I'm more worried about the infrastructure and the logistical concerns getting in and out of the city around that time. It's an avid golfer myself.

I got to drive through on the QEW or, or even on the gardener to the QEW, how that's all going to work out. Should be an interesting time, nonetheless. I'm sure they'll have it all worked out down at City Hall. They know what they're doing. We never screw anything out. They know what they're doing. That's Dave Feschuk.

I'm Aaron Coralnik. Frank Harada will join us in about 15 minutes. We've got the next young star of Canadian golf joining us at 530, Sudarshan Yellow Marajou on the show as well. Overdrive continues here on TSN. Kuroln, Feschup with you. This is Overdrive on TSN, TSN YouTube's channel. TSN's YouTube channel.

You know, that's how you correctly pronounce things, Dave. You know, it's only my profession here broadcasting. Maybe one day I'll figure things out. Also up on TSN 1050. guy who's really figured things out in the National Hockey League, Bobby McMahon. Wow. How about his performance coming out of the Olympic break for the Leafs

where didn't do much of anything? Goes to Seattle for a second round pick in 2026, a fourth rounder in 2027, or maybe I have those two things mixed up. Regardless, McMahon, five points in two games since joining the Crackenkin. He's playing with Baneers and Eberley, and he is thriving, and he is going to make himself

some serious cash this offseason. he continues to play the way that he's playing. Well, everybody that got traded at Toronto, suddenly exploded. Off the sinking ship. Three goals to assist in those two games, as you point out. Scotty Lotton had two goals in an assist in his first two games in L.A. Nick Waugh, two goals and five games out in Seattle.

I mean, it's pretty amazing. It is. And McMahon looks great, man. And good for him. These guys were given kind of a second lease on life after things going really off. the rails with the Toronto Maple Leafs. And Nick was on a team that can absolutely win the Stanley Cup. Scott Lawons on a team that's using him in a more, I'd say, proper fashion than the

Leafs were, where he was playing essentially in the fourth line and Lon's on the second power play, playing 15 minutes a night. And Bobby McMahon, I mean, he was playing on the top line with Matthews at times, but it seems like he's a great fit in Seattle and you have to wonder what type of deal he could be in line for. We know that he for Sherwood contract that he signed after getting traded to San Jose 575 over a five-year term. Listen, I'm cheering for Bobby McMahon.

He is a great story. Guy was in the ECHL not long ago, and now he's on the verge of a life-changing payday as a UFA in a market where they're essentially devoid of quality NHL players, guys who can play in your top six, and it looks like Bobby McMahon is fitting in very well with Seattle. And look, this is a big moment for him, right?

This is a guy who's 29 years old. I mean, this is, like, you're not going to get many chances like this to be when you've been toiling, it took you a long time to make it to the NHL as it did for Bob McMahon, a very late bloomer. It's a big moment, and it's and it wasn't looking particularly

good there before the trade deadline when he was in a bit of a slump, and he wasn't the only leaf that was in a bit of a slump because they couldn't win, and yeah, you got to be happy for him. The one thing about Biden McMahon, very hard worker, very beloved by his teammates, and no doubt about that.

And I'm sure he's beloved by his new teammates now that he's absolutely tearing it apart. And his new coach in Seattle, they're loving what they're getting from McMahon. But again, it just kind of reaffirms the difficult spot. The Maple Leafs find themselves in when Bobby McMahon legitimately is one of the best forwards available as a free agent. That is not a slight on Bobby McMahon. That is a slight on the free agent class of 2006.

The top dogs there, Alex Tuck, Darren Radish, Rasmus Anderson. Yeah. Good players. Mason Marchmont. This is why you're talking about here. And it's not just that Toronto Maple Leafs. He'll be vying for their services. These guys are going to get some crazy contracts

because the salary cap is going up. Teams are going to be desperate to add talent, and there are very few players available because everybody resigns. Everybody resigns for the most part. And we'll see what happens with Alex Talk. He can resign in Buffalo. That is definitely within the realm of possibility of the season

that they're having. He's having a great year. Tough sledding, man. Darren Radish, the bell of the ball, who would have predicted that a year ago? Yeah, there's been talked that the Leifes might be interested in him. I'm sure they would be. Why wouldn't they be? Well, the reason you wouldn't be is because you don't want to buy high because you want to develop a guy like Darren Radish.

You want to find the unplugged gem, so to speak, and bring them up through your system and then turn them into something that you can sell or trade or just have the benefit of for many years. And that's been the problem. Like the Leafs, when you look at their defense corps, like, okay, we got Bo Gru come on up and, and Quillan's been up. And that's great. Like, where is the next defenseman? When you've got everybody in the defense corps, I mean, Carlos 29, everybody else is 30 plus. They need some young defensemen in a hurry here. And, you know, where is it going to be? Maybe it just will be. Buy high on radish and hopefully. Buy high on radish. Tanev comes back. You've got Ekman-Larsen. You've got Jake McCabe. There's your top four. And maybe whether Morgan Rowley comes back, you know, with his, you know, complete no move clause, that'll be his decision. But, you know, there's obviously some feelings that maybe a change of scenery wouldn't hurt him.

Well, you would think Radish would be looking for at least seven and a half on a free agent deal, right? Your point. He might have 70 points. It's a market deal. Like, if there's no other choices for GMs that need a defenseman, he's going to be able to name a price that's a lot higher than he might otherwise. We'll get Frank Carrado's thoughts on that. He's going to join us to kick off our two. Sudarshan, Yellow Marajou.

T5 at the players calls in at 530. I'm Aaron Kurolnick. That's Dave Feschuk. Hour 2 of Overdrive next. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fandul. Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. The newest tracks. Let's go.

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