OverDrive - OverDrive - March 18th, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the Maple Leafs' win against the Flames, Auston Matthews' strong performance in the matchup, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar leading the Avalanche and Leon Draisaitl and Evgeni Malkin's impressive statistics. They also dive into the Maple Leafs' roster views and the line construction on the roster.

Wow, you've got the latest model! Nice! Ah, you should see it run! Bell PureFiber? Yep. Sheesh, that's got power! It's Canada's fastest and most trusted internet service. Cool if I give it a test drive? Promise you won't share the password?

Switch to Bell PureFiber, Canada's fastest internet, awarded by UCCLA. Starting from $60 a month. Visit bell.ca for more details and to check availability. Bell, internet just got better. This Hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All right, here we go, Overdrive, off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app your home smart speaker and up on TSN for

Brian Hayes the old dog Jeff O'Neill Dave Feshtuck of the Toronto Star what a beautiful day what a beautiful Tuesday opening day in baseball wow about that the Leafs are winning games the Raptors are losing by 40 baseball's back what a scene did you even know that baseball was starting this morning? I was up very early flipping through the channel and I saw Dodgers-Cubs and I'm like, I'll check it out. It's isn't that like the start of the season? Yeah that was a real game that Dodgers are want to know. I had no idea that that was going on. I knew they were going over there, but it just creeps up on top of you.

It's like, start a major league baseball, here we go. Yeah, it's quick. And, you know, Otani, you have Yamamoto on the mound, and Dodgers are off to a great start, and the Cubs get dragged over there and they get crushed, and they're probably coming home 0-2. And I found it somewhat humorous we were talking about it before we came on Dave you were referencing at the Tokyo Dome the amount of swag that is over there right like Major League Baseball they've set up shops naturally where they're gonna try to sell a lot of different paraphernalia and jerseys and hats and all that I have to think 90% of

it is Dodgers oh yeah like. Like are the Cubs. And one guy. And probably one guy in particular. Otani in particular. Although there are a couple of Japanese players on that team, like beyond Otani, who would be very, very popular. But I gotta believe Otani is taking up 80 to 90%

of the Dodgers purchasing. But I need images of the Cubs, like in a locker somewhere You know what I mean? Like just way in the back in the corner There's a couple of Cubs hats you can buy because who's buying the guys over there? No, what about just going over there period like I understand they always say this is about growing the gang guys or I Don't know. This is basically about Otani but if you're the Cubs and you're the general manager and you get the phone

call and it's like hey any interest in going over to Japan to get your ass handed to you a couple times and then come back like I would be like just no thanks man like well the LA Kings like there's so much travel in pro sports and it's so difficult I think they went to Australia last year to play an exhibition game Yeah, dude. What about San Diego? Why do you gotta go to Australia? Right get to Quebec City for a game go to Why what the hell's a game in Australia gonna do you think some kid picked up a road hockey stick and started playing because you Had an exhibition game there great. I don't know. I just don't see the purpose of it,

man. No. That one, to me, I had the same viewpoint. Like, I'm sorry, Australia is just not a market that is ever going to pick up on the NHL's program. I don't know what data they possibly had that suggested that was a good idea. This one is a grand slam. Like, Japan is a massive baseball market. Tokyo's Probably the largest baseball market outside of the United States for sure, you know possibly including Toronto and Canada for that matter I mean Toronto probably would be ahead of it because we have a team and you know We're in the same timeline time zone and everything but Tokyo it's literally the most populated city in the world They love baseball. They love Otani and now they love the Dodgers.

And I wonder if somehow we lived in this alternative universe where Otani was actually on that plane and came up here, would the Blue Jays be over there right now? No doubt. Like if Otani was a Blue J, would it be the Jays over there playing, whoever they're playing, the Orioles or something? And it's ninety percent jays swag and ten percent or eels in the back

that's just probably was was that it's happening or tony to jays was that like was that even closer was he just using the commands best tell us how was something like that something on the whole you know the answer i think you know it was all there was no chance he was going to be a blue time everybody bodies going to, everybody thought he was going to the Dodgers and he went to the Dodgers. You know, that was the simplest. I'm not saying they didn't have East Coast suitors to play off the Dodgers and make sure he got his number, which he did.

But yeah, the idea that he was ever coming here I think is far-fetched. But hey, he did show up to the spring training facility and toured it. And loved it by all accounts. And loved it. all accounts and loved it Loved so what's the agents play there is the agents play there? It's like bar play. It's like You gotta go buy the jays a couple stiff gin and tonics a little smoochy smoochy in the corner and then Right at midnight. You gotta just throw ninja dust at them and you're out of there Like that's oh, you're playing off the Dodgers in the corners

is what you're doing. You got your eyes on the Dodgers and you're waiting for them to come over and buy you a drink is what you're waiting for. The best kind of game plan that I heard that made sense to me and played out in the facts that we know, and I'm sure there are many facts we don't know,

was they needed an East Coast option that was not the New York Mets, because if you wanted to go to LA all along, which clearly he did because he grew up with the Angels and going across to the Dodgers was no big deal, but it was going to be a lot of big money, if you had the Mets over on the other side bidding, you knew that Steve Cohen was crazy enough just to say, whatever the Dodgers are giving you, I'll give you a hundred million more. And that's essentially why Steve Cohen currently employs, on Soto it's 765 million over 15 years after Otani got 700, some of which

was deferred with the Dodgers. So they had to have a foil on the East Coast and it couldn't be the Mets and the Blue Jays came calling. Yeah, that's, I mean when you put it that way, it's interesting that the Mets were never really involved by all accounts. Why is that? It's because that way it's interesting that like the Mets were never really in fall by all accounts. Why is that? Is it because he didn't want to go to the Mets?

He didn't want to go to the Mets. He wanted to go to the Dodgers. Is what at the forefront of all this he made up his mind years ago likely I'm playing for the Dodgers and I need to make this work and the way you laid it out is very makes a lot of sense. You need someone else probably maybe in the in a different league you know maybe they're in the American League maybe they're on the East Coast whatever it is we need someone else to prop us up so that the

Dodgers finally snap out of it and say fine here's your 700 million yeah and I guess in the end that's what happened. And the difference there was like this guy clearly it was not all about money for Otani like he that that was the thing he was afraid the mess with offer more and they have to go to the mess because he you know you can't look up multi-billionaire in the eye and say i don't want your eight hundred million or whatever he was going to offer them

couldn't risk that cuz he didn't want to go to the mess you want to go the east coast he likes the west coast it's closer to japan it's it's become home because he was there with in anaheim with the Angels So it made a lot of sense. Yeah, well, it's worked out for him I would say Oh Tony right MVP in a World Series year one and and who's gonna beat this Dodger team? That's the question. I mean the Cubs are a good team. They're gonna be competitive in the in the NL Central this year And it's one game

I mean they very well could win game two and come home with a split but it wouldn't be shocking if they got smoke tomorrow and I just I can't imagine the amount of money that Dodgers and Major League Baseball are making over there all because of Otani on top of the other you know Japanese pitchers that are now part of that Dodgers uniform but the Otani jerseys and hats and t-shirts and stuff it must just be off the charts over there so yeah baseball's back again the Raptors lost by 40 last night but the Raptors are not where we start today we start with the Maple Leafs who needed a game like that last night they needed a game like that last night and to their credit they showed up and performed you know I didn't need that like my our

buddy Donnie Nichols, Hazy, we have some conversations that are just so crazy about the Leafs. And they're so emotional, high and low. The other day, we were confiding in each other how concerned we were. And this morning, those conversations turned to, if they play like that on a rake. I know, I know. But like you watch that game and it's like Austin Matthews was so good and all

the role players just kind of fell in line and worked their ass off. They got a contribution from Domi with a goal and an assist. And then the big boy scores two goals. It's like, we talked about yesterday, what is their identity? It's like, if that could be their identity, where they work their ass off. And Claude Noel told me something on the panel once that was great.

He's like, if it's just work before skill, and you have those level of skilled players, you're going to have a chance to win like maybe that should just be their identity work before skill and you'll always have a chance But let's be honest everything fell into place the power play the goaltender made some saves It's like but you watch that and it's like man Can it look something close to that on a regular basis well because that's their a game Yeah, the big leagues you're supposed to bring your a game 65 games out of 82 the other ones there's a mixed bag and I would say the last time they played their a game

was when they were in Calgary like six weeks ago or whatever it was like everything in between it's been a long time like everything in between you know the Seattle game was okay Vancouver game they lost but was okay and everything since the Four Nations has not been anywhere close to good enough. So you're talking Calgary to Calgary in terms of A game to A game. But Matthew scoring twice for the first time in two months,

multi-goal game for the first time in two months was very necessary. And he led the charge last night. He played really well. Willie scores again. Power play three for three that that is ultimately when the dust settles what you're always gonna start with if it goes well for them right and quite frankly if it goes poorly for them is that's the identity of the team that's

the structure of the team Matthews has to be the best goal scorer in the world Willie has to be in the top five or seven, which is what he is on a separate line. That power play has no excuse not to absolutely cook opponents. And if you do that, everything else can fall in line properly. You can defend pretty well, you can get decent goaltending and you can do some damage. And you know, Calgary has been struggling and Calgary didn't put up much of a fight last night. Like Dustin Wolf gets pulled from the game.

That was his introduction to the Toronto fans and they just got beat up. Yeah, the Leafs. But that's what had to happen because the Leafs had been performing so poorly. Their coach calls them out. Their leadership group calls them out. If they didn't show up last night, it would have been panic inducing. And they did to their credit. They had to.

And now you turn the page over and I would argue the best team in the league is in town tomorrow night. Yeah. Like this with all the respect to Winnipeg and Washington, they've been great. This Colorado team as is as good of a test as you're going to find in the sport. And they haven't played since the weekend. They flew in today. They're going to be ready for you.

You got to do that last night. Plus plus plus they're going to be ready for you. You got to do that last night plus plus plus if you want to be Colorado tomorrow night. Step it up, right? Like this Colorado team, man, when you think about what they've done this season, right? Like the way they've revamped their entire roster, basically. Incredible. Like there's no, I don't know of an example. I'm sure it's happened many times in the NHL history, but recent history, I can't recall it to revamp your goaltending way back in December.

Then to just, like they've revamped all four centers. I mean, sorry, the three centers below McKinnon have been revamped in terms of Coyle, Nelson, and Drury. I mean, completely revamped down the middle, revamped in multiple other places. You trade a star. Nanchos comes in and Natchushkin comes back. Natchushkin comes back. There's another element to it.

Landiscock may or may not come back after a three year injury. He's on the trip, I think Landiscock's in town. I mean, who knows what he'll be able to bring after three years on the shelf in an unprecedented ligament or a ligament repair surgery. But I don't know, O'Dog, like to me, you call them the best team in the NHL, Hayes, I mean, there's no doubt to me that Nathan McKinnon is the most terrifying opponent in the NHL at this

particular moment in time. And with him, you know, being kind of given those reinforcements throughout the year, it is kind of a scary proposition as the playoffs show up here. It's also fascinating that earlier in this season we talked about revamping their lineup in one of the most shocking transaction in the history of the game in the last 25 years. Their second best player, they just looked at them and said, by the way, you're going out the door and you're going to Carolina, we're doing something different and that's just what we're doing. And now that we're talking about them, usually you'd be saying, man, they just

don't look the same without that rant. And then like, what a stupid play. How could they pass up on that guy? Instead, it's like, that's unbelievable general manager work. I think Kelly McCrimmon did the same thing in Vegas. Like, just win a championship, and then there's some turnover where I guess there's a belief that there's got to be some new blood

Something different just going at it and it's even difficult to say it where we live Going at it with the same group of guys is just not the way to do it You're gonna have some key things for them It's gonna be McKinnon and McCarr and some other guys on that roster But that's that's a shocking trade and I think it's some of the best GM work we've seen in a long time to be quite honest. Especially the goaltending, looking at it and assessing it and not just sitting back like we've seen numerous teams.

Carolina for one, they're goaltending. If they think they're winning anything with that goaltending and I know they've won six in a row, they're just not going to do it. But this guy looked at his goaltending out in Colorado and said, I'm not just moving one guy, I'm moving both. And he turned over his goaltending. It's just impressive stuff. Yeah, well what it takes is confidence. Like you have to, and that is, you know, at the forefront of where we are with the Maple Leaf scenario and this is the go-to debate, I think, within the fan base right now. And it it specifically revolves around Mitch Marner and ultimately it doesn't really matter what people think or what their opinions are

It's gonna be up to Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment And Mitch Marner if they want to continue their relationship if Marner wants to stay it sure sounds like the Leafs are gonna work that out And kumbaya they'll go on forever and it'll be Marner and Matthews and Nylander and they'll finish their careers here And they'll rewrite the record books and we'll see if they win in the playoffs But ultimately it's not even about how you feel about Mitch a lot of the reaction to the idea that you have to keep All of them is this terror that no one else can show up to replace them and what Colorado has proven here Is that you can do it? You can actually do it if you have the stomach for

it, if you have the courage to go and try it. Now a lot of things have to fall in your lap, right? You got to make the right trades, you got to bring in the right pieces, you have to have the right assets, right? If you're going to make trades, you got to have your first round picks and good prospects and all that kind of stuff. You have to have your house in order when it comes to the cap. There's a lot of things that have to be in order, but that's why you have a manager. That's literally why you pay people to manage your team And I think it's a I think it's a big part of why those guys have been People have been soil so loyal to them in the past

There was always talk about nobody wants to play in Toronto and those four guys got there or they signed one in free agency and they're like we're not letting go of these guys no way because we finally got some guys that are awesome players that like being here and screw it we're not letting go of them I think that's a massive part of the loyalty that's gone on yeah I think that's that's certainly a part of it even though I don't know if that was ever actually accurate that no one wanted to play here you know they didn't draft properly, they didn't sign the right guy,

they didn't make the right trades, they weren't a very good team. You know, I think, but I think that's a part of it. I think there's a fear of, you know, there's this PTSD within the marketplace and fan base that there was a time when it was really dark and it went a decade without them making the playoffs and no one wants to return there.

And again, I don't have an answer on how this is gonna play out or what the other options are if you move off a philosophy that has been in place here for nine years. And we'll see what happens with the playoffs. And if it all pays off, then they're gonna be able to put their stake in the ground and puff their chest out and say, we told you.

And if they do that, it'll be a standing ovation from everyone. I'll be leading the charge. But Colorado, because we're talking about it, is an example of this where they said we're going to flip Rantanen, then we're going to pick up Brock Nelson, then we're going to get Coyle. You know, then like we're going to go out and get Mackenzie Blackwood. Like we're going to have faith in our management to go out and seek

who we need to seek out. Washington did it right. OK, Baxter's done, Kuznetsov's done. we need to seek out. Washington did it, right? Okay, Backstrom's done, Kuznetsov's done, we gotta move off. You gotta put the right people in place to draft properly and say, you know what, that Dylan Strom guy's worth a shot. Pierre-Luc Dubois, we all goofed on that play.

We all said, what a stupid acquisition. Man, he looks good right now, right? Jacob Chickren, Ottawa wants to dump him, we'll sneak in, we'll take them, right? Like you got to have management to do you got to have the the wherewithal to do it the courage to do it. We talk of course you got to have luck. Of course you got to have luck. But here Luke Dubois got to work out if he falls flat in his face and he's a dog in Washington. Sure. And you're like you morons.

But even there's they they they turned over the bull tending to like washington said two guys out were bringing in two guys and got a workout for people to look at it same and that guy's a genius there's a bunch of guys that try stuff and it don't work out you're like that's the dumbest guy in the league you know that i don't work this does some luck involved for all of course of course there is and that's why you look at chris mcfarland and joe sackett there and i can i colorado front office you can have some considerably large stones say

ran in as a guy not only a great player a player you want to stay on the cup with you know i got has been historically great at the story the top ten playoff points per game guy and you're saying sayonara to you we gotta go with

of more of an emphasis on depth and it gave us more flexibility to bring in that depth. I mean, that's not an easy thing to do. And then by the way, speaking of luck, oh dog, as luck would have it, it could all look pretty ugly if you meet Dallas in the first round with Rantinen and you lose and they're on a collision course with Dallas in the first round. No, they didn't know he was going to be playing no

one they had a turn about ryan kalsius part about it is nathan mckinnon runs the show and he is in intense dude and i think he's pretty vocal on a lot of things on the ice anyway where things are going right barely this guy's like no pop in the dressing room like all this kind of stuff where it's a maniacal things on the ice anyway where things are going right barely disguise like no pop in the dressing room like all this kind of stuff where it's a maniacal burning

desire to to win and be the best like to take that guy off of mckinnon's line i'm pretty sure that in common said are you okay with this because the end of the don't even think about it that's that's the balls is part about it that's valid and and but also you you gotta consider who they still had when they moved off random and and this is where you can use the may please is

as an example in this this was not the intention of the first segment of the show to have this referendum on the core for where they're gonna go and always goes but it always kinda gets there and it's still a big portion of the leaf and right where we're going to be going in the next four to five months. You moved off Rantanen but you still got McKinnon and McCarr. Yes. If Marner leaves, Matthews and Nylander are still here. Those two are superstars and the one guy in particular is your captain, the best player arguably in the history of the franchise is still here. That's a big part of it. Like if you go back 10 years ago where the Leafs were,

totally different players, totally different circumstances, but there was more fear in I think in a way in losing Kessel Because Phil was the only guy at that level. Yeah, like they had nobody else that was as talented as Phil nobody else that you could maybe sell some jerseys on nobody else that could maybe score 40 goals and Now it's like, pick any of them. It doesn't have to be Mitch. Austin, Willie, if any of them, if one of them leaves, there's still multiple guys here from a marketing standpoint, from a building block standpoint. And the same thing in Colorado. You know, like Rantanen, as great as Rantanen is, McKinnon and McCarr are better across the board. And if you're an avalanche fan, you can stomach it because they won a Stanley Cup already

and those two guys aren't going anywhere. So that makes it easier to sleep at night. You're a season ticket holder, you're like every night I go to that rink and McKinnon's buzzing around and so is McCarr. After that, you can get rid of basically anyone and I could kill this. What a feeling that must be. And that's the point about Rantanen and I mean like the jury's still out obviously but how much they needed Rand and how much how much they're gonna miss Rand and we will see in the playoffs for sure but you look at it right now like it's been

almost 20 games with Natchez he's like a pointy game guy playing on McKinnon's right wing I'm not saying they're the same player they're very different players but I'm just saying like you hear Bednar the other night talking about how he looks at the, you know, the team logs scoring chances every night and he looks down there and he's like, seems like every night 50% of the chances are either Nate driving it himself, Nate creating it, or Nate being the secondary creator. Yeah. Like, it ain't anybody else.

No. This guy drives everything they do on him. That's the thing fast chuck like these guys like uh Vrantanen and Marner and leading certain scenario even Steven Stamkos can be an example. I bet you Steven Stamkos wouldn't mind setting up shop on the powerplay and having working with Kucherov right now because you realize how special player that guy is. So if you say you want to test the market or you want to do this or you're going to demand this like go and play with a different guy and see what it's like

because those those alpha dogs those big boys Austin Matthews Kucherov Nathan McKinnon it's a different beast man it's a different beast and if you want to go fly with somebody else solo out there and see what it's like go for it man yeah I played with some Hall of Fame centerman Ron Francis and Matt Sund what it's like, go for it, man. I played with some Hall of Fame centermen, Ron Francis and Matt Sundin. It's a different ball game than Joe Blow, I'm telling you, right now. Well, that is ultimately where Matthews, to circle back to him and how well he played last night,

he needs to be like a McKinnon type, a McDavid type. Now he doesn't play the same way. Like those two guys, like McKinnon and McDavid just blow past you. There's nothing you can do in the modern game with clutching and grabbing being what it is. Different way of dominating. But he hasn't been able to do it on his own in the playoffs. You know, like that's he is a little bit more relied. He needs to rely on his teammates a little bit more than those

other guys do. Yeah. Like you just said, what Bednar said about McKinnon, like McKinnon is a one-man show. It helps if he plays with Nate Chass, or he plays with Rantanen and McCarr's out there with him. Like that's gonna elevate him to another level. But he's in a position, we talked about this with Sid forever, like Sid in his prime, it was like, you put two guys on there that just know how to skate up and down the ice.

Kounits and Dupuis. Yeah, and all that was was that guy is going to drive it himself, get out of his way and go where you're supposed to go. Right. Be smart enough to orbit around him. That's McDavid, that's I think Dry-Cytle, that's McKinnon, that can be Matthews but he's got to prove that he can do that in the playoffs and you know that it just that's the question because these other guys the other you know wingers and playmakers and guys that are jumping on a train they're great players great players important players but generally speaking it is that one or two guys and generally they're up the middle or a number one defenseman that is

going to dictate the way play play is is going to be Yeah. You know, and the luxury of an Edmonton or a Colorado is that they got two of them. Like if McKinnon and McCarr are on the ice at the same time and they play a lot together, it's almost unstoppable. Like McCarr's got 25 goals. I know. On the year. Like he is, he's probably going to win the Norris. He probably deserves to win the Norris.

I think it's him, Warrenske or Quinn Hughes. Dude, look at Dreisaitl who he's been playing with all year. Yeah, exactly going out on the ice with pod Colson and Arfitson yeah arfitson's not a bad little player but he hasn't exactly been dynamite and Edmonton and Dry sidles wheeling around with those two guys leading the league and scores 50th probably tonight. Yeah. Yes Yeah, that's an interesting heart. That's a monster. It's an interesting heart trophy debate because, you know, McKinnon is the reigning heart trophy winner and the, you know, the front runner to win the Art Ross. Dryside is

right there. He's going to lead the league in goals. And to your point, Oh, dog, he hasn't exactly been playing with a murderer's row of wingers then obviously hella bucks been to your point Hayes I think you've called the best player the most important player in the league this year. Yeah, he has been I mean They're gonna win the president's trophy more than likely and the guy plays basically every night Which I have a great appreciation for but like I would for me if it's between dry subtle McKinnon. It's Leon for me He's got 22 more goals. Yeah, like that is that should be a and it's Leon for me. He's got 22 more goals. Yeah. Like that is that should be a defining element to this. If you're chasing the heart down, they're both great players. They both have very compelling cases. Dude, I saw same the year that Matthew's won. Yes. That's a significant amount.

That's a map. That is the most difficult thing to do in the league and the most important thing to do in the league. And the fact that he's doing it with guys that again are not at his level. And as much as mckinnon's having a good year mccarr is doing more to impact his game the overall team success than mcdavid is in edmonton yeah where are you stacking up leon drysidle with the goaltender and mccarr i would go drysidle one i i'd probably i probably would go with what we're seeing right here these are courtesy of fandel drysidles minus three hundred helibuck plus two twenty mckinnon plus eight hundred and then i think it's a big drop off after that

i think those are your three nominees those your top three dry settle halibut mckinnon i don't think you have to overthink it kutra has been really good mccarr has been really good you don't think helibucks gonna get like i don't know he's getting a lot a lot of He should. I'm with you O'Dog like I like those odds are those odds and then they're there for a reason because clearly there's you know there's money being staked here but but I'm with you like when you start really breaking down who's important to their team if you want to go that most important player as

the most valuable or the most indispensable player the guy you could not live without I mean how do you make an argument that Jets could live without? The one thing Dry Saito's got going against him is it's old hat for him people have seen that out of him it's not like he just snuck up on the scene and it's like hey watch this I'm gonna get 50 he's already done it he's already won a heart and I think people get they almost get comfortable with it and they're like that's what you're supposed to do

well they can't on the same boat though you want a lot of your last year like back to back hearts that's why i think that's why i think hella buck and i'm not saying he doesn't deserve it i think he's going to win the heart trophy because it is going to say their record was overwhelming in his performance was overwhelming and he's what is our trophy winner yeah well when you start looking at some of those advanced goalie metrics, like goal saved above expectation,

like he's just head and shoulders above everybody else, and then my thing with dry sidle is, and it's not to take away from him, and that you ultimately making these arguments start taking away from people, it's that he's the second line center. It's like I know McDavid's not having his usual year, but it's still McDavid going out there with the first line

and you get the benefit of being out there with the second line against secondary matchups. I mean, you know, McKinnon doesn't have that luxury and the point, you know, I was talking to some people in Colorado this week as you know, the Avalanche were making their way here and the point that's been maybe overlooked by the East coasters like us is, you know,

McKinnon has carried that team in large part during a ton of injuries like nukuschkin's been out and they you know leckinen's been out and they've they've had that their top six forwards it's you know at one point until a couple weeks ago had only played a handful of games where they had all six all year and he is like the undisputed number one center now they brought in the center

depth since the deadline but there's a reason they now they brought in the center depth since the deadline But there's a reason they had to bring in that center depth and he's dragged them to this point Where they could add that depth and still be in the playoff race, you know, I think that's that's been impressive Yeah, I mean listen again. I think they both have a compelling case I'm not surprised people in Colorado are gonna pump the tires of their guy I know, you know obviously everybody does if you called someone in Edmonton You'd say you wouldn't believe what this guy dry settles doing this year.

Yeah, but they've got McDavid. I understand that. But again, the counter Davis, they have McCarr like McCarr in my opinion, this year has been more impactful on his team's game than Connor McDavid has. Yeah. And, and McKinnon gets to play with McCarr all the time. Dry settles out there with Jeff Skinner and Victor Arvidsson. Like, you know, I, I, I, it is a compelling case both sides. I get it, but I'm not gonna downplay the greatness of Dry Settle this year because McDavid's there.

I don't think that's fair when you consider McKinnon was playing with Ranton in the first 40 games of the year, 45 games of the year. McCarr's out there just destroying the league every time he's on the ice. And base, and what is it? 65, 70% of the shifts they play they're playing together yeah close to that like McKinnon and McCarr out there a lot together so I just I hear what

you're saying and it is a reality that he's number two I think it's a good question historically like where dry subtle could land in terms of the all-time great second-line centers you know like I think Messier has held that title. You can't even call that guy a second line center. My point is Messier was. Messier was until he got out. When Gretzky left, and that's when he won his hard trophies. He won it in 90 in Edmonton and then he won it in 92 or 93, I think it was, in New York.

And Gretzky had to go. But you look at Messier's second line center, I think Evgeny Malkin is a guy who has somehow been kind of overshadowed the last seven or eight years. Like I'm not sure as great as Dry Settle is. Malkin in his prime, he may be better than Dry Settle. He may be better than Try Settle. That's a crazy comment. I don't think so.

And some of the talk tours McDavid directed at McDavid this season I think has been you think the you think Evgeny Malkin at 25 was definitively a worse player than Leon Drysidle at 25 is that what you're telling me I think Drysidle you got to watch yourself Holmes I think that is a bold bold while you listen your own slice i think if you put a poll up in their prime who you take in the honor of gino malcolm i think it will be overwhelmingly on dry so okay uh... and there's recency bias involved

i'd just think he's more of a goal scoring threat and i don't know is a bit is a better goal scoring threat i'll tell you what if this could be the year were dry so sets itself apart because then right now they both got one heart and both got one are ross that's right i don't know one guy's got a cons might good point and that would be a very market that's a big one yeah he's got a cons might look at but his other pull that out of your back part of i mean that's just common knowledge so i can't even know that

the first copy one it was him i think most people would think it would have been said but it wasn't you know he's like i'm looking at you know stats he's played a hundred and seventy seven playoff games got a hundred eighty sixty seven goals dry so i don't know how impressive i know how impressive i just think if you went to a poll which do you possibly should well it's what do you want your prime dry side or malcolm

i got people would take dries i mean to the other thing or die malcolm might just say if he had to be on this call right now uh... three stanley cup yes he does the address of has to my knowledge zero thank you for bringing that up there uh... i'm not were ganging up today

No, and here's just now here's the race something else later on. I'm not even I'm not even me and fast can go after Hayes I don't even know what I believe here. I'm not I didn't even give a definitive answer I knew that why we were just talking about number You know the number two guys and I mentioned messier and Malkin and I was just saying and I think this is an example Of it that people forgotten how great that dude was in his prime. Oh yeah. Like Malkin he got it either was a lot of injuries and all that but he had seasons you look at his numbers like this guy he won a heart he's he scored 50 at one point in his career you know in his prime man he was a guy that was putting a massive

points per game numbers and goals and he was a beast and he played with snarl he's a lot like dry subtle kind of the original dry subtle like played with an edge big body how do you move them off a lot of playoff success anyway like the answers today are gonna be dry subtle cuz dry settles in his prime yeah so there's people we're gonna track the pole all afternoon okay who would you take in your problem let me throw you another one out may be asking dry settles primer mark messian is prime i mean that is resumes pretty damn good okay

again message regarded as one of the greatest leader in sports that's not i didn't ask about leadership but pure performance a game twenty five-year-old mark messier twenty fiveier 25 year old leon dry subtle I mean, I think dry cells got to win something to get in the conversation with these guys, right? Like it's it's tough to be in the conversation if you haven't won anything I mean you've been to a game seven of a final that's significant

But it's not the not the real thing. He's a great playoff performer, man His his points for a game in the playoffs or top five all time it's incredible all right confirmed with the night coming up mike johnson will join us steve phillips coming up later this afternoon as well overdrive continues tsn 10 50 and on tsn 4 overdrive continues powered by fan duel bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score mike johnson in about 25 minutes we got a big one of muncher alternates absence that's a big big game can't wait for that game and i'll tell you what there's some old-school

veterans out there that want you to take back your comments anything regarding messier being overtaken one being our boss take it back yet listen i'm just presenting questions and that's what i'm here to do i'm here to ask i think the pertinent questions society needs to tackle and that's all i'm doing because we're talking about you know the great number

two centers and people throwing up your eyes for getting peter for spork and federal was a great better obvious about just think that federal for some skilled player that all he did was wheel around he was a hell of a player. He won the Selky Trophy, man. That guy was so good, it was disgusting. He was so Selky, man. Like when he started dancing with the puck, it was gross.

Dude, what about playing them in the finals when he got out there with Kozlov and Larianov and the other two on the back end. I skated around in a neutral zone and I'm like, there's no way in hell we're winning the final can't get the puck off crazy how good they were crazy how good he was federal so good memory was the first day with the white nike skates member he was like the that does it game changer when those gates came out and they did not remember that that he was almost the carolina hurricane

carolina made a massive Offer sheet on better off. Is that right? I remember that well, he went to Columbus Didn't you or Anaheim at the end of his no, this was like prime Fedorov Peter Carmanos and the Carolina Hurricanes made a huge offer sheet to Sir Guy Fedorov. I'm like We're getting Federoff. Wow. And then right at the last minute the Illich family was like even you guys on drugs. You're not getting this guy. Get serious man. Yeah cuz I remember at the end of his career there they are look at those white skates with those tucks out too man. Tucks out

you had to be a great player to pull off that look. Yeah yeah, it's like a vet's gonna yellow laces, right? You don't you don't pull at the yellow laces unless you're the best guy you have to be so good or a tint advisor You can't be on the fourth line with a tint advisor Dude, I remember skating out of Joe Louis arena and Anna Kornikova was just sitting on standing on Detroit's bench and I'm like This big time man. Yeah this guy's big time, man. Yeah, he's living a life, man. His girlfriend is Korna Kova, and she's a missile from outer space, and she's just standing

on the bench down at ice level. How did Scotty Bowman feel about that? Dude, I don't think anybody would say anything to fed her off or Kornikova. It was just like that's that's it was a Movement it was a big league maneuver by Fedorov. I love that move. Yeah, he was so good, man I played against his brother in Sudbury who? Thought he was his brother like played kind of similarly was a big guy with he had the flow like remember the hair on Fedorov when he first came into legendary flow legendary flow and what was his brother's name is the fador I think it was a fador Fedorov yeah he was

a great player he was a great junior player never made it in the NHL though to my knowledge I don't even know if he played a game in the NHL but Sergey was a different beast man he was so good. And there's another guy, exactly. He's behind Steve Eisenman. Your boy, Ronnie Francis, was behind Mario when they were in Pittsburgh. That's a good point. You know, like Lemieux and Francis is a one-two punch. Good luck with that. Well, it's basically a luxury. Yeah, you can't put the two label on these guys. It's just

a luxury for the organization that they had two guys. But you want to talk about Scottie Bowman in Detroit. What about when he said to Fedorov, by the way, you're playing defense now? I know. That was great. He started playing defense. Dude, that guy went out there as a D-man. Crazy.

Yeah. And that kind of led to like a whole new generation of people like fans yelling and screaming at players that should play defense. Right. Right. Like how often do we hear like we've heard that with Leafs, they're like Morgan Riley should play forward. Yeah, I've heard it the other way that Riley should maybe play forward or would you put

Mitch Marner on defense? I don't see how that would work. Although he's starting to figure it out to an extent as that power play quarterback, you know, their power play starting to get it together here like they're three for three last night and Max Domi You know credit to him. He's had a couple of big moments in the last week like he played really well against Florida He played really well last night There it and you got to figure out where he's gonna play who he's gonna play with but ultimately if you if he plays with energy You'll find a role for yeah you know like that's

that's on the coach to figure out where are these guys gonna play make sure they show up and perform the way they're capable of performing I think Bobby McMahon had a good night last night make sure you know these guys are playing up to their capabilities and everything will mold together you find a way to make it all work to his credit Hay like, not producing kind of some tough nights, still grabbed the guy and beat the living peanuts out of him. Like, there's something to be said for a guy that's just saying, I'm not going to go through as tough as it was for me, because he had a tough stretch, let's be honest.

And I'm sure he would tell you that. At least there's other guys in the league that just, I mean, my dad always used to say, you got to try to find a way on the score sheet somehow. If you're like run somebody over or do something, try to be a factor somehow. And you've got to give him credit because he just tried to work and do something. And now he's producing. And if you remember last year, it wasn't exactly a high producing offensive juggernaut through the first part of the season.

Then the second half he was on fire. So if he could do that and take it into the playoffs, that's all anybody's asking. I just can't believe watching that game last night how much I was loving it and I was like, God, is this what this team, like are these guys this good? This is what they're supposed to be. Like it looked like goal-tenning tending balanced defense right-handed shots out there some physicality intensity

cycling the park re-enacted says it was like power play special teams of like this is maple leaf overload this can't be true it was calgary they had a tough night and then they were good last night yeah it was long overdue they had they had to have that type of performance now i got a carry it over uh... but just don't drop off to a D. That was a plus. That was your A plus. Don't go to a D against Colorado. That's right. Yeah. Start elevating. Your new guys are starting to fit in. Brandon Carlos played really well. Like the last few games, he has really settled in and that's a big acquisition. To your point, you've got Tana

back and healthy now and I don't know how healthy he is But he's he's playing he looks like himself, you know So all of a sudden you got you have a top four here that should work for you I think that really is is what can pop come playoff time go attending They got to figure that out who's gonna play is it stole our so well. I would I still think it stole ours I think he's probably in the lead right now deserves to be has played very well this year But that's a position of need needless to say gotta have it I think it's Tholars, I think he's probably in the lead right now. Deserves to be, has played very well this year. But that's a position of need, needless to say, gotta have it.

But if you have a top four defense with size, with mobility, with veteran savvy, with experience, and all four guys have it, that can be a really big cheat code and competitiveness exactly. That is something that could be different this year from past years that we're probably not pointing to enough because there's been so much focus on the Marner stuff and what's going to happen with Matthews and why isn't he playing better and where do these guys fit and all that. It's deserved conversation and debate. But you have Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo here that they were not here last year. Like those are two guys who played a lot of playoff games, who are very smart players,

who are gonna filter in appropriately. Tanev is a top pair guy, Carlo is a second pair guy. Having a top four, if the goaltending plays well, that's the best way to start. That's the best, best way to frame, you know, a team in order to have long-standing success in the playoffs those guys got out of the philosophy in years past yeah exactly they haven't

been here is five eleven school guys and what was like a little greenish on ten you know the grand and tj justin hall and brody exactly it was a different it was a different philosophy that had never had a chance to win back there yep specially in a playoff series where it was just it was a different philosophy that had never had a chance to win back there yep especially in a playoff series where it was just it was exactly that ten of alone guys like ten of alone is gonna give you a higher percentage chance of winning just from putting him on the ice for 25 minutes we've seen how bad he's not out there right they they desperately need that guy like you talk

about most important players I mean he's he's up there on this team's list of most important players no No question, Dave. And to your point, Hayes, when you have the top four like that, suddenly that puts Ekman Larson exactly where he should be in the third pairing, where he thrived last year playing for a cup-winning team in Florida. So it slots incorrectly. If everybody can stay healthy in that group, it's a really good playoff-worthy group. Absolutely.

Mike Johnson coming up in about 20 minutes. We we're still waiting to hear on Max Scherzer. I guess he Rob Longley caught up with him. We got an update on his thumb, thumb gate, right? What's up with this guy's thumb? We're waiting on Max Scherzer's thumb. That's where things stand right now. And Hector Gomez reporting this week that the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can camp believes the Blue Jays will circle back with maybe some more money before the beginning of the season. We'll touch on that too. Why?

Why? Well, because they want to keep them, I guess. Yeah. Why not watch him play 20 games? That's possible. What if he gets off to a bad start? What if he gets off to a great start? Price goes up.

It's a long season. Exactly. More on that still to come as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN 4. All right, Mike Johnson coming up. Confirm with Deny around 530. We've sent Al's brother out into the city with another pair of leaf tickets and you have to guess where he's hiding for your chance to win them. You guys ready for the second clue of the week?

Hit me. I know where he is. Hey, Overdrive fans. Happy Tuesday to you. I'm back with another clue to get you one step closer to finding out where is Al's brother. It's going to self-repair a lease and flyers tickets for March 25th. Here is your Tuesday clue. This place is a favorite for many locals to bring their dogs and let them roam around in the dog bowl. For a guy like me, it's a good spot to grab a charcuterie board and pop up a nice picnic on a Saturday afternoon

Like this guy's taking charcuterie boards on the road now Can you imagine him taking that into an accidentally going into a dog park with the charcuterie board? Just getting mauled Hey, where is everybody and just German Shepherds attack Al's brother. I can't actually see that happening. Unfortunately I can visualize that pretty clearly. I can see it happening. Yeah, Al's brother with his chicken wings on a charcuterie board and just pit balls in German Shepherds chasing him.

Nighty night. Yeah. Tune in tomorrow for another clue. The first caller through on Friday with the correct location wins a pair of tickets to see the Leafs play the Flyers on March 25th. Finehouse brother brought to you by McAlpine Ford in Aurora, our family, the Ford family and you. Has anyone ever brought a charcuterie board to a picnic? Like to a park?

Is that possible? Like, cause it's kind of a nuisance to kind of get the board Yeah, you know sort it out appropriately like you could bring the ingredients. I guess but you're gonna bring a board too There's all kinds of gadgets I was at my daughter's hockey game the other day and a lady in front of me sat down and She had a bunch of snacks in a tray and she said this thing's called a snackle box And she opened this thing's called the snackle box and she opened this thing up and i'm telling you there was twelve different varieties

in the snackle box. I've heard of those. I don't think i own one of them but i'm not wouldn't be shocked if it's in my house. Yeah. Like with you know what it's like you going out with kids and like it's a circus. You're going to the rink for a couple hours you gotta bring everything okay snackle box got to look into that. I need that. Al's brother, do you think he's got a snack-o-box? Oh my god, under his pillow. The snack fairy comes at night and leaves him something.

Alright, hour two coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050N on TSN 4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. All new, all Canadian. The best of our great nation, one song at a time. This is Justin Bieber.

Hi, this is Terry Clark. We are Nickelback. Made in Canada, on iHeart Radio. Rock, pop, hip hop, and when it comes to country, it's the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada

on the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.