OverDrive - OverDrive - March 18, 2026 - Hour 2 - Jason Strudwick

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

Join Bryan Hayes and Jonas Siegel for Hour 2 on OverDrive! Got Yer Back Podcast Host Jason Strudwick joins to discuss Leon Draisaitl's injury impact, Tristan Jarry's issues in the crease and Evan Bouchard being a finalist for the Norris Trophy. They also play Mini Gerry's diving into Auston Matthews and William Nylander's future with the Maple Leafs and Bryan dishes out his FanDuel Best Bets.

With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. Hour 2 Overdrive continues, powered by Fandul. Bringing you more ways to play your game your way.

Brian Hayes, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, a little mini jerrys later in the hour. Jason Strud were coming up. So Jack Hughes, you know, scored the biggest goal of his life last month and gold medal winning game. And it's going to be one of the more famous goals of all the time. Like that game will be played and revered forever and especially in American hockey history. And after he scored, he celebrated clearly, and I'm sure he didn't put a second's thought into the puck. Because why would you? When you score, you go nuts, you go crazy.

They're on the blue line. They're getting their gold medals. They're partying. Well, I guess someone grabbed that puck. Very savvy. Someone grabbed it and sent it to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

And now Jack Hughes, I think he was speaking with Greg Wosinski of ESPN, is complaining because he wants the puck. Does he have a gripe here? First off, I don't know how to feel about this. I don't know if I care that much. I kind of see both sides.

The Hall of Fame is basically saying, it's like it's ours. It's not his to have. Because I think the double IHF sent it to them. Yes, they gifted it to the Hockey Hall of Fame. And it's like, yes, he scored it, but it's like it's a team sport. It's not like his tennis.

But I could also see like, I think Jack Hughes said he wants his dad to have it, which something like that's kind of nice. But it's the team's goal, not your goal? Yeah. I don't think he's got a leg to stand on. I think like he's not getting it. You're not getting it.

it, nor should you get it. You scored the goal, good for you. You don't own the puck. It was the game's puck. If he grabbed it. Exactly. It's his pocket. That's totally different. He goes and grabs that puck. It's his puck. You can do whatever you want with it. You did not do that. It's like a home run ball. It gets into the stands. If you want it, maybe you can pay for it. Maybe the Hall of Fame

would say, you know, it's up for auction. Now, I don't think they would clearly because that's not right. Right. Like it wasn't originally their puck. It's in the Hall of Fame because it's going to commemorate the moment. that's where it belongs. But, you know, why would... I'm sure Hallibuck would love the puck.

I bet you Austin Matthews would. Mike Sullivan, Bill Guerr. A lot of Americans, I'm sure, would love that puck. I liked it. The Hall of Fame said, absolutely not. We're keeping this thing. If you want to come see it, come to town whenever you want. Come check it out.

Like, I really appreciate that Philip Pritchard is on the record saying, not his puck. We've got it. It's our puck. And we're keeping that puck. And I love that attitude. I think it's a great idea. You can come.

Yeah, come on by. Free admission, whatever you want. Bring your dad with you. You can pay. Yeah, bring whoever you want. Bring Quinn. Bring Luke. Bring the whole Hughes crew.

Is the Crosby Golding goal there? It's absolutely there. And what I love is that Sid's reaction, and I haven't seen it or heard it, I've just read it, but is basically my interpretation, this is not him. My interpretation is he's looking at Jack Hughes, like, shut up, you're such a loser for complaining about this. He would never do that.

Exactly. He said, I'd never even thought about it. And I never even thought about it from that angle. I was so happy the puck's in the Hall of Fame. I'm paraphrasing. But basically, he's like, yeah, of course. Should be in the Hall of Fame. One of the great goals of all time. Hall of Fame. History.

That's how you react to him. Sid's been there, done that. This is just an example of Jack Hughes. He's never been there, never done that. Never had a big moment in his career. He wants to own the puck. Okay. Ask for it. You got denied. Do I feel a little bit petty because I'm Canadian and I'm happy?

And if the Hall of Fame was in like New York, I'd be like, this is ridiculous. Give him the puck. I love that it's in Toronto. And I think that's a part of why he's pissed off. Send him a puck and said, this is the puck. But it's not really the puck. A fake puck. And then kept the real puck. I don't think that would fly. But he could get a replica made. Yeah. Get a replica made. but you know I don't know how actually angered he is in all of this you know like I'm sure he wants the puck I don't think he's losing sleep over it

but the idea of clouding yeah the moment at all by whole post when has not yeah exactly like just shut it's not like some the ref grabbed it you know what I mean that would be a play that some ref grabbed it and it's in his in his basement in Perry sound or something you know it was it's in the Hall of Fame Like how lucky are you to have an artifact that's there because of what you did? Yeah. And everyone who goes to see that you scored the big. For the rest of time, Jack Hughes.

And I'm sure I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it's like a real pretty incredible, like, popping exhibit. Exhibit for Jack Hughes, as it should be. Yeah. An incredible moment in hockey history, and he's supplied it. But I'm sure he's got a stick, right? Does he get a stick? He probably keeps his helmet, gloves, all the equipment. there's a lot of things you can keep.

It's probably lucky Bennington didn't grab that thing and rifle it into the crowd. Right? Like that was definitely a possibility based on the way Bennington's reacted to giving up goals in the past. Wasn't there a situation where someone took? Was it Bittington? There was one where, yes, Bittington did it.

Was it Ovechkin's 9? I think it was Ovechkin's goal maybe where he did he break the Gretzky's record or hit 900 or something like that. He did it recently and he put it in his pants. and then he ended up giving it to them. But there was a scenario like that. Chris Pronger grabbed the puck

when Patrick Kane, I think, scored the Cup winner in 2009. But Pronger gave it back. Well, that might be in the Hall of Fame. I don't know if he owns it or not. Just because he's Chris Pronger. He's like, I'm taking this thing. I think.

I think he literally grabbed it and he's like, I'm taking it. Because he knew the Blackhawks were going to come chasing it. I love that. So he was so, like, in the moment, he's like, I'm taking this thing. But I'm pretty sure he gave it back. All right. Here's Jason Strudwig.

joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. What's up, Struddy? Well, quite a bit, actually, if you're an owner's fan, they're missing one of the best three players in the world. Oh, best three. So that means one of Kutrov or McKinnon are not in the top three. Which one is not in the top three, in your opinion? Well, that's a tough sell. Top four, then I'll say tough. I love that because then it could be, it could be anywhere between, you know, you may still have them at two or three, but top four counts. Yeah, and they're being somewhat vague about the injury and the timeline. I saw that, you know, Knoblock said they'd reevaluate after the regular season,

and Bowman was speaking today and, you know, said believes it'll be okay for the playoffs, but I guess they can't guarantee it that drives out of will return. That has got to lead to a fair amount of anxiety in the market. Well, it does. You know, listen, the voters aren't in a secure playoff spot, but I do think they're going to make the playoffs, even without the big guy. but, you know, to get, you know, to get, you know, to the conference final against one of those monsters, they've got to be two pretty good teams, you know, not, none of those specific teams are playing great,

but they're pretty good, and I'm sure some will get better in their gameplay. So they need them. So, you know, today he said, Stan Bowman said he was optimistic that Leon would be available for the playoffs. So, you know, you take them for what that's worth. That's about four weeks, you know, so is it a knee sprain or something like that? I have no idea, but I'm thinking of a slower body. My Denise Brand, and I had those. It was about four or six weeks, and it's a playoff,

so maybe you get back a little bit early. So in the meantime, you know, other guys are going to get opportunities, and, you know, they're going to try to – they had a pretty good game another night against San Jose. You know, they got Florida coming up, Tampa. They got some decent teams to play here, but they need points. They need to – I mean, they'd love to get – or stay at the top of the Pacific Division. What is the plan for Tristan Jari the rest of the season?

Well, Chris Knoblock spoke maybe five days ago, six days ago, and I have not heard him publicly talk about a goaltending situation like this. Stu Skinner has been his goalie for most of the time before he was being traded. There was a lot of conversation. You know, he was always very protective of Stuart Skinner, you know, not really being too harsh on him. And this time he said, Tristan Jari is not the starter. Ingram's the starter, and we're going to try to find him some starts.

Like it was very clear. So it looks like Connor Ingram is going to be playing most of the games in an actual while. And here's an opportunity for Tristan Jari to kind of find his game. And maybe just take a deep breath and reset himself because the owners are going to need him. They're going to need this guy. But it hasn't gone well. And it's, you know, playing in front of the owner or behind the owners is different. They are getting better at their defensive structure.

But there can be high risk. And, you know, when they're playing like that, It's a lot of off-man rushes, a lot of slot shots. But, you know, like I'd say, the last four or five games have been a lot better at that. So maybe that helps, that will help a goalie. But I think there's some stays that Tristan has to make. And a reset with his goalie coach, a lot of quiet time with together, that might find because they will need him.

They need this goalie. I'm not even looking ahead to next year. I'm talking about what they hope will be another playoff push this year. All right, Struddy. Let me put you on the spy. You can answer first, Jonas. you can chime in. If I give you these two options for a playoff run,

the goaltending department in Edmonton with the Oilers or the goaltending department in Montreal with the Canadians. Which one would you choose? I know my answer. Okay, go ahead. I thought you're going first, Jonas. Go ahead, Jonas. I think I take Montreal.

Really? This seems less volatile. I know that there's not like a clear who is it, but I feel better about the option. You feel better? slightly. Okay. Struddy?

I'll go, I'll go Ingram. I'll go older than in the Ingram. This is why. I think that he has really quieted the noise around the goaltending situation here when he's played. You know, he gave up three goals

other than I against San Jose. You know, he played a good game. But he's very calm. He's very quiet. You know, when you see him interviewed, well, what do you think about this play by them? I'm just here to stop Pucks. Like, he's just very calm.

And I think that he is a guy to me of all the goalies of this group you've talked about is probably closest to the best part of his game and he was a good goalie when he was down in Arizona stepped away from the game for a little bit to kind of get some things sort of out in his life

and now he's back and it feels like a good story right here right now for Ingram and the Oilers. Yeah the Fowler kid is very That's the one that's in the back of my mind Now that's asking a lot out of a young player This is a stretch total stretch, but like it just like

you savage like popped into my mind. It's like, maybe if he gets a chance. How about Ken Dryden or Patty Warr? I mean, listen, Doeish, the numbers aren't great, but Dobish wins. You know, he's like a Jack Morris type. I'm looking at 22, 7 and 4. Yeah, his number, like I think he's got a, he had a sub-9 percentage last time I checked.

8-9-2. But he wins. So I don't know. I guess the answer is I don't like really either of them. And that's what makes me feel a little bit reluctant to visualize some like great long playoff run strutty. That's the issue I have with Edmonton

and with Montreal. Like both great stories. Like Montreal is a resilient bunch and they score. Their offense is loaded. They're puck-moving defensemen. They might be have the best puck-moving top four in the league or close to it. But if it's Dolbis and Nett and

Ingram and Net in Edmonton, I don't know. That scares me for both parties. Well, listen, like the Canaan, I think they're going to be a force for a number of years. My concern for them are some of their key players and how it looks like when things get really hard in the playoffs, right? Some of the size-wise, what does that look like for Hudson or Coakoff field when you have Kachuk or Barkoff or Seth Jones leaning on you for seven games? We'll see. We'll see when that time comes. On this side, though, with the Amton Oilers, you know, the Pacific Division, the team's,

have played well and teams have played bad over the course of their year so far. I mean, Vegas, is that a great successful goalie set up there? No, you're right. I'm not sure they are right now. The ducks have been up and down. The ducks have a lot of talent. They play pretty freewheeling

at times. So how does that affect their goaltending? You know, Seattle, I don't know that they have a superstar there. Maybe there's one that if Jonas really squints, you can see one. Bobby McMahon. Bobby McMahon. Another snipe last night for Bobby.

On fire. The legend of Bobby McMahon. Yeah. So, listen, I think the debate is pretty wide open. We can make a case for any team to get through there, but I don't think any team is perfect. So if you find your game, I think there's an opportunity for a team to get to the conference final

and take on a team that maybe played for sure one and maybe two absolute studs in the NHL in the first two rounds. with Jason Strudwick. We mentioned this Kutrovs that last hour. Over the last 45 games, he has 93 points. 93 points in 45 games. That is the most points in a 45 game span since Mario Lemieux in 95-96. Now, Lemieux had 112 points in those 45 games, which is absolutely absurd.

But I was surprised McDavid hasn't done that in a 45 game. span. I would have figured that was a lock. And it's a completely arbitrary number. You know, McDavid might say, well, I have all these points in a 30 game span or a 35 game span or whatever. But Jonas is a heart

trophy voter. Yeah. And we're trying to figure out what this is going to look like over the final 12 to 14 games. Where do you stand, as of today, Strudkutrov, McDavid, McDaniel, McKeon, Celebrini,

and what is the likely You heard that Kutrov can possibly win the heart, in your opinion. Well, that's a lot of responsibility for our friend Jonas. Yes, it is. It's a tough one. I think, you know, if you look back in recent years, this feels like one of the harder ones to call for a bunch of different reasons. Now, I guess if I'm trying to look at it, I do think Celebrini has a real chance of writing an incredible story. If his team gets to the finals, I know we've shared this before, guys, but they have so many points ahead of his partner, Wilson.

Smith. It's incredible what he's done. And there's a president in Taylor Hall and what he did with his group in New Jersey. So I think if he makes it, I would be leaning that way. What Kuthorov, McDavid, and McKinna have done is incredible. They have better support in Cass than what he has. So not to put pressure on you, Jonas, but that is how I would lean down. Of course, you have to make the playoffs. I'm really disappointed in you. I got to be honest. Listen, Celebrini, man. How do you argue against that case he just made? It's the Same one I've made before. He's in Edmonton.

Yeah. So what are you saying? That he should just automatically say McDavid? He has 115 points. Struddy's an objective man. He's the best player in the league. There's just no question. But that's not the MVP.

Their team has gotten worse from last year, and he continues to be amazing. And like, if they didn't have him doing this, where are? Dry settles, what, fourth in the league in points right now? Yeah, but you can do that. You can't do it with celebrating. You cannot do it with celebrating. I know that. Can't do it with Kuturov.

You're right? Well, they have some pretty good players. They don't have anyone that's in the top five in points. Okay. And McDavid has so many more power play points than all these guys. Because he's amazing on the power play. I thought you were a five-on-five guy. I am.

My mistake. Kuturov is also amazing on the power play. Yes, he is. Some guys are just like, did you see that play he created last night? It's like... Phenomenal. Nobody can do that. McDavid has like 47 power play points.

Because he's awesome on the power play. I just think, like, I think we're going to look back. I worry, Struddy, that we're going to look back. and be like, McDavid had three heart trophies? Really? How many do you think Sid had in his career? I think he has two. Exactly.

Can we look back on him differently? No, but it doesn't make sense to me. McDavid hasn't won, I'm just looking, hasn't won a heart trophy since 22, 23. So if you're telling me he's not going to win this year, when he's leading the league and scoring for a team that's, like, gotten worse from last year, he's clearly the best player.

I think we all agree on that. What are we doing? Well, I don't know. Like, I know these guys have been. I hear you, but it's not that simplistic. Like, again, a couple of years ago, he didn't win it. Matthews had 69 goals. He wasn't even nominated.

I know. Well, that's the order has screwed that up royally. I don't know. Well, there's an interesting story we could write, though, right now. With Leon clearly out for the rest of the regular season, let's say the orders, what do they have 13 games left, let's say they go 8 and 5 or 9 and whatever the math is 9 and 4. I think it's 13 games that left. And he piles up a ton more points.

maybe that's a separator, right? Maybe that's a separator. So it's going to be tough. Listen, I think for me, again, if Celebrating makes the playoffs, it's Celebrating to McDavid, then you've got to split hairs between the other two, the guy who's leading the league in goals, and then Kuteroff. And I think that's where it gets pretty tricky to figure out who your top three are. Yeah, I mean, Hala Buck won it last year. Should he not have won it?

No, I had him fifth. I really, I think. That's absurd. It's not. It's absurd. And it looks great now. But it doesn't matter what happens this year, Jonas. In the moment, the guy was the most valuable player last year.

That's your opinion. Okay. And the opinion of all the voters. I'm not a voter. With Jason Strudwick, how about Columbus dummy in Carolina last night? Like, they, Buffalo beats Vegas. They go into Vegas and beat them two nothing. It feels like Columbus is the new Buffalo, but do they have enough time, Strud?

Like, do they have enough time to get in and make some noise? I don't know. Well, I want to talk about Carolina for a second. I love the way they play. The problem is if we had to pick three teams, let's say Minnesota, Eminton, Vegas, I guess a big 14th, and then Carolina, of those four, which has less room to elevate their game? Who would you pick? Like, mine's Carolina.

Yeah, they play so hard. They're so good. So how are they getting, like, where do they? they elevate? Like, how are they getting better? What more juice can they squeeze out of that group? And Rod is such a good coach and gets them going, but, and maybe they, do they overachieve in the regular season? I don't know, but without a

legit superstar, how do they elevate? That's my fear for Carolina. I know that wasn't your question. But for Columbus, all you can do is just keep plugging away. What choice do you have, right? Rick Bonas has gone in there, and, I mean, does he get consideration for a coach of the year? Do you have a vote, Jonas? We don't get to vote on that.

I was going to ask you guys about that. I think the coach of the year is, like, impossible this year. Every year it's tough. Every single year it's coming. But like you could go like Dan Mews, you could go Marco Sturm. I don't know who you have. 100%. It's so hard.

And Rick, bonus, how many games are you going to coach? I forget, was it half the year? It's not going to. It was December he came up forever. No, it was January. Was it January? Yeah. It's like mid-jee games.

Yeah. Yeah, so how do you give, you know, can you give it to them? I guess you can. But, I mean, that's a tough one to handicap too, right? But I don't know. I mean, there's some pretty good races going on, but I don't know. There's a lot of turnover. over in the playoff teams, which is, I guess, good

if you're fans of those teams, bad if you like the incumbents. That's the beauty of it. Like, there's some races, man. Like, Columbus is right there on the heels of Boston and Detroit, and even Montreal, and the islanders, and, you know, the same thing out west. And, you know, there's a lot of races. It does feel like McCar, who I believe is favored to win the Norris on Fandole right now, but how does

Werenzki not get a possible first overall vote in that category? I think he plays more than anyone else in the league. Like 26 plus minutes a night. And that's their superstar. Who leads in points on D? I can't Evan check. Yeah, Evan Bouchard. Bouchard's, he might end up with 90 plus points, maybe 100.

Yeah, pretty crazy. Is there a chance you get to you guys? No. He's not going to, well, here's noodles and I. 100 points? Noodles and I were talking about this last night, which means you know it was smart dialogue when noodles and I were putting our brains together. But remember when Carlson, Eric Carlson and San Jose,

He just, it was, he won it because he hit 100 points. San Jose didn't even make the playoffs that year. They were terrible. It was just like, all right, what if Bouchard, I don't think he'll get to 100 points, but what if he does? If he gets 100 points, does he win the Norris? He would not get my vote. Would he be top three for you?

I don't know. I don't think I had Carlson, I think I could Carlson like third or fourth or fifth maybe. But who would you have? You'd have McCarr? Carr. Or Wrenskiy, Hughes. Schaefer ahead of Bouchard? Schaefer is in there.

Would you have Schaefer ahead of Bouchard? Yes. Oh, my, much. You could, hey, you could put Schaefer on your heart trophy ballot. Like, look what's happened there. Yeah. What he's done to that team is incredible. The energy is broad.

I think he's energized a lot of those players, including the big guy, Maddie Barzell, a little guy, I guess, in this case. But, I mean, to not have a guy who's getting that many points in Evan Bouchard, and then, listen, there is a bias towards his defense of playing. I agree. The early in the area was there. But I don't think he's, he's, he's, Those lapses aren't like what we've seen in it earlier in there.

He's found his game and he's defending and playing and scoring goals and making points. And I think he has the most primary assistance from D-Men, doesn't he? I mean, isn't that what D-Mere's supposed to do? Yeah. Now, it's nice to pass to 97 and 29, but he's not always passing those guys. So I think that matters. So I think there's a bit of a bias there. Well, he's got 78 points.

He was one away from 20 goals. And J.P. just said, actually, a fan to a war. Werensky is the favorite to win the Norris. Wow. Which I appreciate that. You've got... Lane Hudson's got 69 points. Werensky's 69, Macarra 68.

Like, what's crazy is Lane Hudson's right there, too. He's going to end up possibly with 80 points on a year. But, yeah, Bouchard, 78 points. It's probably 22 points in 12 games or whatever. It's unlikely he hits 100. But if he gets to 90-plus, man, you don't see that very often in the NHG.

shell from a defenseman. Yeah, he's going to get some... I have to go into the lab and, like, do some analysis. It's a process. Okay. Shoot me a text. Let me know if I'm way up much. He should at least be in the top three finalists. Listen, I'm not...

When I'm lifting or trying to push Bouchard on, you guys, it's not that I'm pushing down Varensky. He's much-watch TV for me. Schaefer, I love the way he plays. We know him a car, all these guys. But, you know, I think there's a bit of a bias there because of some of the narrative out there. East Coast bias. Yeah, you're right.

Right. No, you're right, though. Like, Bichard. I don't think, not East Coast, just general. I think just general defense bias. You know what? What doesn't help him strut? He didn't make the Olympic team. Yeah, fair point.

So, like, and the hockey community has the bias. You know what I'm saying? Like, Doug Armstrong and John Cooper, like, I don't want that guy, which is pretty wild. Yeah, I didn't. But, you know, you look at some of his plays, but, I mean, you look at the last couple years on the house. He's been an absolute stud. Now, that doesn't come into the voting this year. I understand that.

but you know you got to you can only see what I'm seeing in front of them right now you know other than the first part of the season so yeah well do you think he's a lock to make the World Cup in two years like will they rectify that problem or what's going to change in his game

that has hockey Canada believing in Evan Bouchard age I would think for some of the other guys right yeah like Perico's not Daudi Daudi Paredo's out Perikos out Jake Cedar are still in there no he's not Sanheim maybe is it

Harley's around. Harle will play. Yeah. Even Taves. Paves, like 31 or 32. Yeah, Macar. But Schaefer's going to play. Yeah, Shafers in.

Yeah. All right, Struddy. And some of those kids come to my D-Men camp will probably be putting those up to. Straight from Yellowknife right into the Hockey Canada program. I don't want to say who right now, but they're coming. It's going to be a tsunami. I'll strut with D-Man. That's why the Leafs are tanking because you've got that, you've got that engine.

cooking out there and it's the Leafs, they've been waiting for that number one defenseman for a long time. Forever. The Leaves are taking to coincide with that. You might be the president of hockey ops here. Well, there's a chance just because of my camp. I'm sorry, that's all

I do. I can't do busy to run that and to run the president of the Leaf Strud. If they offered you the job, would you take it? Oh, gosh. If you, I don't think I would. I don't love meetings. I feel like there's a lot of meetings involved in that.

So I don't think I would. I mean, I thank you for the offer. Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. I love the colors. But I don't like to wear suits and I don't love meetings. I don't think that's a profile. The president of hockey operations for the Toronto Maple Leafs,

Jason Strudwick, turning it down. Chris Pronger, I'd say, I humbly say no, but Chris Pronger would be. I think he's the guy. I don't know if he's even on the radar, but he's not afraid of any comment. He'll do what he thinks, much like Shanhan. I'd love to see that. I'd love to see that for the next 10 years. Sign me up today.

I'll leave fan and an outsider. All right. Well, there you go, Struddy. I'm going to keep Pallies by watching right now. Very disappointed, Struddy. He's scratching you off his list right now. I can feel my phone vibrating right now. That's so disappointing.

416. I got things to do. All right, Strud. You got a hockey camp to run. Yeah, I got it. All right, buddy. It's Monday mornings to take a beating from my friends. So yeah, I got things to do.

Okay. I'm glad we clarified that. Thanks, Struddy. We'll chat again soon. All right, guys. Jason Strudderick joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Red Tag Days are here with the all-electric Toyota BZ goes from 0 to 105.1 seconds in charges from 10 to 80 percent,

just 30 minutes dropped by Maple Toyota today. Struddy is declining the offer to run the leaves. How disappointing is that? But, yeah, Bouchard is an interesting case because his numbers have been great. But we didn't mention some other guys. Like, I'm just thinking of, like, most... The fighter. The Detroit.

What about Dahlene? Does he get in there somewhere? Absolutely. It's hard. There's only five spots. Yep. Absolutely. Like, I just, I think it's, and I'm not suggesting you're doing this or other people are doing it.

It's lazy just to say, Cal McCar, because, like, McCar, he does kill penalties. Like, defensively, he's pretty sound, but he makes mistakes too. Well, we just saw it at the Olympic Games. Yeah. I know that doesn't apply to the NHL, but. Bouchard has 10 more points than he does. And a lot of it is, well, he's the most offensively explosive player, or he pushes play.

I'm not suggesting Bouchard is better, and I'm not suggesting I would put him ahead of McCar on my list. But Worensky, I do think Dahlene has to be considered. I think Siders are really interesting one, too. Like, he plays a ton of minutes and Schaefer. And Schaefer, yeah. But has Schaefer been better? Like I know because he's 18, it's incredibly compelling.

But has he been better than Bouchard? He's, doesn't he have 20 goals? Yeah, Bouchard's got 19. So Bouchard's tomorrow night. Does that mean that cancels it out? I don't know. It's hard. There's a lot of great players.

Yeah, a lot of great players. All right, many Jerry's coming up. Best Betts later in the hour overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and up on the TSN app. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert. and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless. Big meetings land.

Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. If Belfib 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. All right, Best Betts coming up a little bit later in the hour. WBC is officially over.

Man, Aaron Judge, taking a lot of heat. But until he wins, I think that is the trifecta of superstars with the most pressure on them to succeed in win. It's McDavid, Judge, Josh Allen. And I think Judge is ahead of the other ones because you've made a very valid point.

Like McDavid is chasing an all-time great status. I don't believe Judge is doing that. Now, Steve Phillips would argue judges the greatest Yankee of all time or will eventually be. I don't agree with that. You consider Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig and DiMaggio and Mantle

and Judge is a better player than Jeter, but Jeter won all the time and personified winning. and as a captain of the Yankees and the aura and what he represents to that city and the fan base. But, you know, what Judge does at the plate is absolutely insane. The numbers he had like. Crazy.

They are McDavid-like, like the equivalent. I do think it's apples to apples. But McDavid has won a cons of might in losing fashion. He's put up massive numbers. He's clear-cut number one. You could argue Otani is maybe not clear-cut number one, but a head of judge or right there with judge. but because he's a Yankee

and because he's failed in the biggest moments like so substantially last night included I just feel like he's of the greatest of the great athletes right now he has a losing vibe to him that he needs to shed above Josh Allen and certainly above McDavid would your perception of any of those guys be different

if they never win? Yes. in like a substantial way? No, but it, I just feel like this is one of those things you and I will never see eye on. Like we'll just will never see eye on it. But sometimes it's just, it doesn't have to be that complex. It's pretty simple stuff.

You have to win. Like winning is ultimately the whole purpose of the sport. Right. And when you're considering it, legacies, like if we're talking pure talent, then that's a separate conversation. but if you're bringing in, like Tom Brady's not the greatest pure talent in NFL history, probably nowhere close.

I'm not sure anyone would have them in the top 10, most talented quarterback several. Wayne Gretzky was not the most talented player. It's just his IQ and his ability to get the job done was second to none. So if you're talking about legacies and greatness, you've got to be able to close your eyes and picture them winning.

I think it just, it has to happen. have to win. We'll never agree. Because it's a team sport. How can winning not matter it's a team sport? I know that, but it's like if you have a 20 year career and you have big, big like yes it's a team sport again, I always feel

like I'm the one like kicking down McDavid. I'm not. He's the greatest player in the world. He's one of the greatest players I've ever seen play and I'm rooting for him. And I'm not saying that in a patronizing way. I want to see greatness succeed. I don't really care to see judge win because I don't want the Yankees to win.

McDavid, I want to see win. I am openly rooting for him to win. And obviously, as a Canadian, I was dying for him to win a few weeks ago. But he was on the ice in overtime. He was on the ice when it was tied in the third period. Yes, it's a team sport, but, like, you got to step up and have that moment.

Yeah. You know, last night, Judge, he has up, you're there, you're in the dance, you got the opportunity. You're right. Like, you know, put the barrel on the bowl. He didn't do it. He struck out three times.

Like, I get it. It's a team sport. Maybe they still would have lost, but maybe he hits a big home run last night and they win. I just put McDavid in a different category than those guys. Why? Because he's, like, I mean, you could even say that with Josh Allen, like, the 13 second game. Like, he does everything. Totally.

What is he supposed to do? Yet, the Denver game was not good. But they have no. But then you could be like, well, like, who is he? I get it's complex. I get it's complex. The reality, though, is, I think. over time, the details of a game don't get remembered.

What remembers is, did you win or did you lose? Well, and I kind of-that's what happens over time. I think if you ask McDavid or any of these guys, if your career ends and you know when, it would be a terrible disappointment. And I think that's a more important. That ultimately answers the question. And I think vindicates where I stand is I think they would look at it and say, I cannot accept that.

Like, there's no way. Like, I would feel like I left someone. something out there in my career if I don't win. I mean, at this point, it's likely than not that he doesn't win, right? McDavid, Judge, Allen. All of them. Yeah, they're all, like, Judge is the oldest of the three. Who do you think gets to the most finals of those guys?

Starting today? Starting today. Like, I don't even know who I would think. I guess I'd say, Judge, because the Yankees are just, if he's a Yankee for the next eight years, which, again, I don't know if he will be. What is he, 32, 33? Yeah. say he's got another five or six years,

but the Yankees are always competitive. They're generally always in the dance. I mean, they haven't won since 2009, I think. Yeah, but he's been in a World Series. Sure. McDavid's been in two. Alan. Alan, like, it feels like

how was the show? Alan, though, can control his destiny more than the other two guys. Like, in the vein of the conversation we're having right now. Yeah. Like, Judge Chet is going to get four or five at bats in a big game, right? McDavid's going to play 22, 23 minutes. have the puck on a stick for two minutes maybe.

Alan has the ball every single play. Like the guy that can push it over the line based on his own doing is clearly Josh Allen. Yeah. But I don't know. I mean, I'm just, I'm curious. Like, I feel like Judge is, he's just the Yankee and that's it.

He's not leaving. McDavid will jump if he has to. Right? Like, I think... Two more years? Over the next 10 years, he'll stay ill. I think he'd have to. stay in Edmonton if he believes he can win every year.

But if it gets to a point where he feels like he can't, I think he'll chase it somewhere else. So I guess I'd probably answer McDavid. Because I think he, there's more of a chance he's going to leave. Like Alan, I think we'll stay with the bills. They'll just keep paying them. They'll build around him. They'll give him opportunities.

Judge is going to be a Yankee. McDavid, I think, maybe takes it into his hands over the other two in terms of where he's going to play in the future. What if you were to get like a Ray Bork cup? It would not feel the same. Yeah. It will count. And Bork was still really good.

Like he was still a prominent player on those two teams. But it was pretty clear he was chasing it at that point. That's the whole thing. Like winning in your prime also means, I think, more. You know, like if you, you got to win when you're the man. If you win when you're, you know, although that said John Elway won too late. He wasn't the man anymore. Manning won one of those late?

He won in 06, though. He was still in his prime. Yeah. Like when he first won, they beat the Bears, I think, in 06. He was Peyton Manning, Prime Peyton, 28, 29 years old. Right, I got a couple of mini juries here. I'm going to throw at you. Okay. Let's just get crazy right out of the gate here. Many juries, place a percentage on this. One of Austin Matthews or William Neelander is not a Maple Leaf next year.

Who? Just one? Just one? 5%. 5%. That is surprisingly low. Yes, I'm going to say higher. Somewhere between 5 and 20.

I am going to be higher than that. It's just going to depend on what Matthews wants to do. I don't think... How do you know it's not the team that might look at this and say we just have to go in a different direction? I just can't see it. It doesn't make sense. Tell me, explain to me that position. Well, and I'm not advocating for this position, but a clean.

slate for the new guy is something that does happen. Like when companies are about to be sold, the CEO who's currently, like, about to sell it, they tell him, hey, can you just kind of get rid of a lot of people, clear the books for me, so I'm not the bad guy when I arrive? Or they just want a clean slate so that they can put forth their vision. So it changes the expectation in the market as well. Like if a new person comes in and goes,

I'm telling you this is going to take me five years. Are people going to accept that if Matthews and Neeland or something, stole the team? They would get destroyed if it came out that they told him, you're gone. But I don't, they wouldn't do it in a, like a vicious way. No. They would just,

you just have to sell it to him like, hey, this is the direction we're going. I don't see that happening. I don't see it happening with him. I think Neelander could be a different story. See, I don't think that at all. Why do you think that? I think he's, I mean, they could go to him. But these guys have the whole

cards. No, I understand. It doesn't the wave. I'm saying it's more likely whoever is in charge concludes we're moving off Neelander than we're moving off Matthews. Sure. You would disagree with that? I just wouldn't

do that. I know. I'm not saying you wouldn't but could you make it? If let's say Keith Pelley, Jonas Siegel's hired as the president of hockey operations and Pelley comes to you and this is a ridiculous hypothetical but goes one of those two guys has got to go. To your

choice, who would you choose? I mean, one of them is signed a lot longer than the other. One of them is better than the other, so I don't... All right, you're not going to give me an answer. I don't know. The answer's the answer is the answer of the two, because he's a winger and, you know, he's just, I think the, I don't, I'm not, that one of them is gone before next season, 35%.

I'm still in the minority. Yeah. I think it's more likely they both come back. I think it's more likely they both want to stay. Yes. I get it's ugly right now and all that, but this is what they know. I think they have pride in being Maple Leafs

and they want to win here. And I think that has to be considered. Like if they want to win here, that's a good sign. Okay, now they've got to go out and show it and prove it and play well. Well, and it just kind of feels like there's this idea that these guys are like 35.

No, they're 28. They're not. Yeah. Like, Nealander is going to be 30, but Matthew's going to be 29 in the fall. Like, there's lots of... They got a lot of game left. A lot of game left.

But, yeah. And to be clear, I think it's more likely if there would change, it would be coming from the players' perspective. Going to the team and saying, I think I need a fresh start. I'm not sure that will happen. But I don't think it's impossible. I don't think it's a 0% chance that the team decides we've got to move off. That's like Nico Harrison going to the Mavs and being like, you know what?

This Luca Donchich. That's not, though. It's not. I know it's not to say. Dallas was in the finals. NBA final. These guys have never been out of the second round. Okay.

It's not, though. And Luke was, like, 23 or 24. No, he's not that young. Yeah, I think he's 26 or 27. Yeah, but he got dealt two years ago. Like, when they traded him, he was like 24 years old. 25. Something like that.

Still, I get it. I'm not saying Matthews and Nylander or like, but he was like particularly young in his career. Can you believe we're having this conversation now? Like, imagine I told you last whatever. that a year from now, we're going to be talking about this. I would... I would say you're crazy.

But if I told you 10 years ago, they're going to win two rounds, how crazy would it be? You're right. With the best teams in franchise history. They win twice. And they choke in the biggest games every single time. You'd say, well, obviously, you've got to move off those guys. Like, you probably would 10 years ago say,

10 years is an attorney. You give them that long of a leash to prove they can't get it done. Are you going to keep going? You can go another decade? So which one's the right perspective? Yeah. I don't know. I mean, I think it's probably the perspective I just laid out.

And that's what I'm saying. Like, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. And it's not blaming these guys. It's not like it's your fault or what have you. that the right answer might be, we just need to completely restart everything. And it's going to be incredibly tough and incredibly painful,

but hopefully in three or four years were the Montreal Canadians or were the Anaheim Ducks. I would not do that. No, I understand you wouldn't, but what if it's the right answer? You still wouldn't do it? How do we know if it's the right answer?

Well, we won't until you do it. I just don't think they're set up. I'd rather wake up in five years and say, man, they just kept poking and prodding and it did nothing and look where they are now. Now these guys are 33 and 34. Yeah, but at least at that point maybe you've built up a system of something to come next. They don't have anything to come next. That is why, again, it would be very difficult to do it. But you're just buying time basically for that next wave anyway.

They have a trade deadline. They trade some forwards. And look at the people they called up. Like they're like a 24-year-old Jacob Cohen, like fine. Yeah, maybe he'll play. They have no farm system. Bo Gru's 26. He's not a prospect. And Michael Bizetta is obviously not a prospect.

They got Danford. They got Cowan. Who knows what those two are going to be throughout their careers. I understand. It's not, but that's, again, I think that's making more of a case. You could argue both sides with that. I think this argument actually makes more of a case for the other one. It's like they're not good enough even with these guys.

It's not going to happen. How are they turning this over? Could they be a playoff team next year? I think they can. 100%. Yeah. I think, you know, there's a different coach, different vision, the goalies stay healthy and they play pretty well,

a couple new defensemen, player or two in free agency. They could 95 points to make the playoffs next year. Win a cup? I don't see that. But you don't have to win a cup next year, right? Like, to me, I would be looking at it with a longer scope. Yeah.

Where if you can turn the team around somewhat next year, get back into the mix, then you can go to Matthews and be like, You can extend. We're moving in the right direction. You can believe in this. But here's to finish your thought, although I don't think you were going to go here.

No, maybe. Next trade deadline? We're not trading picks to help this team. Do you have the stones in the stomach to do that? Because if next year is not about winning, then you can't be like, well, well, we're going to make the playoffs. So we should trade a first rounder and go get that guy and be all in because Matthews is a year left on his deal.

It depends. They can't coexist. I think you can. It just depends on what the trade is. it always depends on what the trade is. Like if you're going to trade a first round pick, it depends. Like if you're trading a first round pick for a fourth line center,

not great. Trade it first round pick and you get back someone who's like going to be with you and impactful for... How often did they ever do that? In 10 years. When did they ever do that? I mean, Jake Muzin, they did that. That's exactly what they did with Muzzin.

Okay. That's one example. One example. You're right. Lots of them were rentals. Ryan O'Reilly was a rental. Nick Falino. Brandon Carlo wasn't a rental.

Nick Filino was a rental. I didn't like that trade at the time. Yeah. All right. Best bet's coming up. Overdrive continues up on YouTube live. With corporate traveler, you get a dedicated travel expert and 24-7 support. So business travel feels effortless.

Big meetings land. Business grows. With corporate traveler, the booking is just the start. Search corporate traveler today. If Bellfib 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. All right, Best Vets, powered by

Fanduel, make your picks and assemble a same game parlay and seconds on the Fandual Sportsbook app. So we got the March Madness coming up, right? March Madness right around a corner. I don't have a bracket finished yet. Are you a bracket guy, Jonas? No, I used to do it and then I just gave up.

Okay. So we got a couple of games tonight. I'm not going to play that, but the Raptors are in Chicago tonight. They're laying seven and a half. She's a big, big number. Chicago's bad. They beat bad teams.

That's what I'm thinking. I'm going to lay the points. I know it's a big number, but, you know, Perthal's been healthy. The RAPS had some big wins recently. You know, getting past Detroit, big, big wins all of a sudden. Gritty win. You know, gritty win.

I'm going to lay the points. Raptors in Chicago tonight. Best bets powered by Fandual. Same game parlays around the sports world are available courtesy of the Fandall Sportsball Gap. Please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. All right, Jonas. Well, we got a golf tournament tomorrow. We got baseball spring training.

We got the Leafs. We've got a lot going on. We can talk about it tomorrow. It's fan day for the least tomorrow. Fan day. Perfect timing for that one. Perfect timing for fan day down at Scotia Bank Arena. But you're going to be back in here tomorrow?

Yeah, Kara's going to be here tomorrow. We're looking forward to that. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for hopping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today, TV Radio, podcast, web, and up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel. We appreciate it. We're out of here. Enjoy your evenings.

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