OverDrive - OverDrive - March 7, 2025 - Hour 1

Episode Date: March 7, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Dave Feschuk for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys discuss the major deals around the NHL Trade Deadline, the Maple Leafs acquiring Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo and Brad Marchand landing with the Panthers. TSN Hockey Analyst Frank Corrado joins to break down all of the headlines and moves throughout the league.

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Alright, here we go Overdrive, off and running. running TSN 1050 on the TSN app your home smart speaker up on TSN plus Brian Hayes, Jamie Noodles, McClennan, Dave Festchuk of the Toronto Star in here. The trade deadline is now what are we an hour past the deadline and there's still news coming in. 35 trades after that. Every single year it goes like this. Okay so I do know this because I've gotten heck from the league before because we're critical of it and they're like there's a queue right so everyone's in the queue but my argument was you go into the queue going we've got a trade and you work out the framework while you're in the queue right it's that

could be it's like hey I you know a team right at the deadline goes we got to get a trade done we're working with this team us in New Jersey we're in the queue right it's that could be it's like hey I you know a team right at the deadline goes we got to get a trade done we're working with this team us in New Jersey we're in the queue we're a hundredth you know the hundredth call you got an hour and a half to work it out like I don't know or do you have to submit that trade that you're working on how about we open up a couple more queues yeah it's like going to the grocery store and there's 45 people and one person's running the till. You're like, how about we get some other people up here? That's true. A few more people on the check-in. Yeah. There's ways to... You don't have to fax stuff in anymore. There's ways for us

to do this. Was it Chicago that got jammed up by a fax? Broken fax machine? They did. And the Maples famously did at one point. Yeah, there was a famous... That one I'm not aware but the Chicago one was significant because those were those work offers that you needed it was a qualifying thing offering like Andrew Ladd and Bufflin Versteeg yeah it was something like that it was that era after the first jammed fax machine or something is that insane that wasn't that long not that long ago where you're literally you have people that played in the national hockey league like have their grade 10 and they're like fax machine work here upside down. It's they can't really get it in properly.

But this cue I it is frustrating because all of a sudden you're right. It's four oh two. We're going to hear about trades probably right till five or six o'clock. Well let's let's begin with the you know, the maple leaves here and the deals that we know have happened. So Scott lot and was acquired by The leaves earlier this afternoon from Philly and they gave up a 2027 first round peg Yeah, that is top ten protected. So it's top ten protected if it ends up in the top ten It'll roll over.

We don't know all of the details on that. I'll try to find those out throughout the afternoon. But they also threw in Nikita Grebenkin. I don't know if Grebenkin had a future. He's a big personality. They might like him in Philly the way that he plays. Wow, you guys know. Remember I got in trouble

because I called him the hawk-tua of this market. And people went nuts on me. Yeah yeah it was a flash in the pan in retrospect for group a correct i'd i'd i don't know how much it will or hate i took a lot of as he was he gave the great interviews outside of the right way back to a full and pay a check and it was got no teeth and i i wish them all the best in all of that but you're trying to view the trial Leafs you're building for today You're not building for a 21 year old Russian to you know, so you wish him all the best

But I first that when I saw his name come across I'm like, oh well there there goes your boy Go back goes my guy Scott lot and is coming in at 50% Retained salary as well, which is pretty significant So you're they're paying him like just over 1.5 million for this year and next. Great value. Really good value for you know 30 year old who is a third line center right where if you got Brock Nelson you could argue that's a second line center. If you got Braden Shen maybe he could play second line. For me Scott Lawton that's the ceiling right. Like it's still if Tavares goes down or Matthews goes down you're going to move him up but you're not gonna feel overly comfortable about that right

But I do think he fits in better in that role than Max Domi or Pontus Holmberg Centerman like he's actually a said he's gonna be comfortable in that role. It's not a guy That's like oh, I played wing and I played center like to me He you know if you had a wish list and we had these wish lists and all of that outside of all the noise they addressed what they needed that's at the at the end of the day there's some bodies that went out that were you know space fillers humans we called them yes and you know what but Lawton is a perfect fit if you wanted a three c that's him that's your guy that's your guy he's not bringing you

the depth scoring that a lot of people thought they could use obviously the guy who's what he stopped at eighteen goals a couple years ago but it was abridgely ten fifteen goals a year wrote his career and it's not what is more than one max domi is on the last year that's a good point very good point but it's not you know it's not exactly rocknell's no you know which is it which is the next here up but look he's played on page four this year. That's a good point. Very good point. But it's not exactly Rock Nelson. No.

Which is a next tier rub. But look, he's played, he's got some playoff experience, albeit not recently, because the Flyers have not been a factor recently, but he's played 24 games in the playoffs, he's produced in the playoffs a little bit. I think he brings an energy and a forechecking relentlessness that this bottom six really hasn't had a lot of, and I think they use that. I think that brings like, kind of an energy and a kind of forechecking relentlessness

that this bottom six really hasn't had a lot of. And I think they use that. I think that's valid. I think it'll play well in the marketplace too. He's an Oakville guy, he's coming home and people love that. But I think that on its own, if it was just Scott Lotton, it would be deemed a disappointing day.

I think the Leafs needed to do more because of what Florida's done, and we'll get to them in a moment, what Tampa continues to do. But right under the wire, in the queue, the Maple Leafs acquire Brandon Carlo from Boston, which is wild when you think about it. But Carlo's, you know, he's a big right shot defenseman.

Leaf fans are very familiar with him because he's been in these playoff rounds over the years. He's got two years left on the deal at 4.1 million. We'll see if there's money retained on that. Ultimately, it's for Fraser Minton and a first rounder in 2026. The Leafs are not going to have a first round pick for the next three years of their own. Those first round picks are gone. And then Pittsburgh got in, I think, to basically find a way to make the deal work. Help out. Yeah. And Connor Dewar's on his way to Pittsburgh and Connor Timmons on his way to Pittsburgh So if you're a Leaf fan, we'll get to what they paid

but as of Saturday night presuming they can all get there better team today Scott Lawton third line center Brandon Carlo probably on your second pair Absolutely a better team today. Absolutely better team team. Better team today where for me, you were looking at it and going, not loving, this guy could work, could, should. Now you've got defined roles. Like you just said, if you're looking at the centers, Austin, John, and Scott Lawton as your one, two, three,

down the middle, and now Carlo gives you some versatility, right? So Tanev, if he, Tanev will be back, obviously he's going to be healthy and be back. But it's another long right shot. We were, I was talking with the grappler out there before we came on and he's like, what if Yanni Hawkenpah just showed up while he's still on the, he was still here, right? Yeah, technically around. But Carlo with a couple years left, like he's now a leaf, like that's, it's not just a rental for the rest of the season. And like,

this is a 28, 28 year old defense, 28 year old defenseman, five. And yes, he's not having the best season in Boston change of scenery. Well, that's the question because this year, you know, last year you could look at some of his play and it dipped off this year to me feels like Just a write-off in Boston. Yeah, it's like I think you have to consider that that you know, he's he's still 28 He's on term. It's not a huge price. He's a big body right shot But what sticks out to me is that this these are moves since Brad tree-living has arrived He's acquired Chris Tanev Brandon Carlo Oliver Ekmanen, and he signed Jake

McCabe to a contract extension. So you throw in Morgan Riley on that and I'm curious to see what Riley's future will look like after this playoff run. Ideally he stays a leaf, he's the longest standing leaf, but we'll see what happens there. But now you've got Morgan Riley's the highest paid player defenseman on the team at seven point five million. Right. You got him on term. You got Tanav on term. You got McCabe on term.

Carlo and Ekman Larsen like for this year and the next two afterwards, you have five defensemen all anywhere from the age of twenty eight to thirty four, thirty five, like all veterans that are respectable, that are responsible, that are big bodies. I think that's really significant that for years it was like, oh, you know, the Leafs can't find patchwork. Yeah.

Or it's small defensemen here, small defensemen there. But Brad True Living has done here and we'll see if it works. They still got to play the games. They don't get the Stanley Cup today because they made these moves. But historically speaking, we've been hammering at this for years, size on defense is basically mandatory in the playoffs. Like more or less mandatory. And Tanev's a big guy, McKay plays big,

Carlo's a big guy, Ekman Larsen's a big guy. Like they got some size now on defense and you can filter different, you know, you can find different looks. And I think it was necessary as much as the third center was something they were going to attack. I think it was mandatory. They found someone that could play defense and they got that in Brandon Carlo. And I think it does. It does a couple of things for me. I think to your point, you know, you, you, you fill out the size,

which pre-living essentially stated from day one when he got here, that's what he wants. You have to have it. He wanted big guys on the blue line and now he's got him so it does that it also slots ekman larcen into a more favorable position assuming carlo becomes the second pairing partner of morgan riley in the grand tradition of the bush can come into town to become more guys partner in luke shen coming to town right to become more guys partner i mean you know it slots at my last third pairing role, which is where he thrived last

year playing for Florida, right, in the third pairing. And also, maybe it can kind of rejuvenate Morgan Rielly. Well, stabilize him, right? Like that, there's a trickle down effect for players that come in. And I'll use, for example, the Edmonton Oilers, when they traded for Ekholm. Ekholm had not only effect on Bouchard, but he had effect on Nurse, because he took some of the responsibility away. So, you're going to find your pairings,

you're going to find your comfort, but what you did is add somebody who's not going to be miscast. You didn't add a six and say, can you play four for us, please? Or hey, can you take this five and play your off-wing and in four that's where I think it's all natural when you're looking at left right left right and I know Babcock was a big like left right type of guy but it is natural yeah like that's that's to me you're not

asking more from a player where they're out of their comfort zone or hey you've got a punch above your weight for the Next 20 games and you know we'll live with that No Everybody will be slotted properly if not anything and if there's an injury you've got guys who've played in those roles that can go up and you still have depth in Meyer, you know Benoit guys like that where they're here they're gonna play and and so I think they addressed everything they needed to do, and the crazy thing, and I know it drives you nuts, Hays,

is we're all GMs counting the numbers now. Like, how much are you paying for this and all that? That's the cap era. You just have to make it work. The money work, you made it work. But that's it, man. The cap's gonna be going up exponentially over the next few years. And I And I think you, you know, you got to build from the net out. They have Stoller's for another year,

they have Wall for three more. You know, you're locked in not at big money for those two. And again, on defense, now you have Riley, Tanev, McCabe, Carlo, Ekman, Larson. That's five defensemen that you have under term and you have some flexibility and you're not necessarily overpaying anybody and you know Carlo Carlo's a big body that even at that price even if he's on your third pairing I still think it makes sense you know it's you're not you're not paying him eight nine million dollars a year and again we'll wait to see the details but if there's some salary retainment and you get this guy at two point five You know, it's you're not you're not paying him eight nine million dollars a year and again We'll wait to see the details

But if there's some salary Retainment and you get this guy at two point five or three million that is a the price of doing business That's a bonus like that's it to me. That's that's like that's gravy like like because even if you got him at the full rate He's worth the full rate with something with a four in it But you got him at if you get him with something with a two in it Yeah, it's amazing. Like there's just, there's no downside to that. I know on the other side, people will go first south of the door.

Well, they're giving a first rounder and Fraser Minton, right? And like that's, we talked about it a lot coming up. Will they give up Easton Cowan? Will they give up Ben Danford? Will it be Minton? Will it be first? Well, it turns out they've given up two first round picks today and Fraser Minton. Yeah.

So those are, those were three of your five or six pieces that you had to work with. They did it, but if you believe in your team and the way that they've been operating, is Matthews is up, we're signing him. Willie's up, we're gonna sign him. Mitch is up, we're gonna try to sign him. We'll see what happens there.

Like that's the reporting that they're trying to engage in conversations with him. If you keep saying this is our philosophy and we believe it, then you got to prove it. You know, you got to prove it and you got to go in and Tampa's better, Florida's better, Toronto's better. Now you got to get that one seat back. I think Ottawa got better. Ottawa got better. Ottawa made moves. And you know, the other really significant storyline here, this being Toronto, is that

the Bruins, that we know, are dead. White flag. They waved the white flag today. Which is, They're trying to retool on the fly. Which is, listen, they've had a hell of a run. Like, I don't think anybody's feeling sorry for them,

especially in this smart play. But I'm, I think there's people in Boston that were like, okay, you're just limping your way in or whatever, like knock it off. It's the smart play to do this. It's the right play. in Boston that were like, okay, you're just limping your way in or whatever, like, knock it off. It's the smart play to do. It's the right play. And I think it was delayed when Tuca left, when Chara left, Bergeron and Kreitsche were

leaving and then they came back. This might have been two years ago, but then they went on that incredible run. Our boy, Monty took him. Monty, he was a great coach. But now it's saying white flag let's retool let's get draft picks exceed young younger players good for them but the team's not named Tampa Florida and Toronto you're looking at Ottawa and Detroit going good like right get out of Boston out of here that's one less team at that bottom

what I would say is careful Pasternak's still the Acovoy still there Swamen still there Yeah, right. You still got like Elias Lindholm. I don't know what he's gonna be in the future, but you know, you've got You got Lora who I think they like like they got a couple of young players and what is what has happened here You can see it is Washington has set a tone for a number of teams in the league to try to retool and move on the fly. Yeah. If you're not aware, Brad Marchand was traded to the Florida Panthers, which to me was a shocking maneuver. Like that happened right at three. I'm not surprised they moved on him because I think they had to. Once you determine Charlie Coyle's gone, Coyle went to Colorado,

Frederick was out, Brazzo they moved on. Like once you're going to do that, Carlo to Toronto, you might as well go all in. Like you have to do that. I think it's a smart smart play in Boston to do this. But the reporting was he's going to a Western conference team. Yeah. And my my thought on that was they don't want to see him, you know, burn someone in the East, like get them out of here. Yeah. And I think they did right by him though. I think they may have had options from the West and I wouldn't be surprised if Marchand said, if you're trading me, trade me down there. Because Florida and Tampa,

and I think Florida's kind of leapfrogged over Tampa the last two years, that's the team. And now the idea that Marchand's gonna return and Kachuk's gonna return and they got Seth Jones. And on top of the team they already have. They already have a team that's really chugging right now in Florida. Like it's not gonna be easy to get through that state.

I didn't see what did they what did Florida give up from Marchand? I still haven't seen all the details. It's like again they're in the queue and it's still unknown like that's the biggest thing Florida has you know really in essence become Vegas of the East. Yep. And which I'm waiting for something right now at 415 for Vegas traded for somebody out of nowhere. They've been shockingly quiet. Yeah, they've actually been the quietest. I mean, this Dallas team,

this Rantanen thing is fascinating. Wow. Fascinating. Yeah, that in and of itself would have been the biggest story of the day. That's a Netflix special. Yeah, so Miko Rantanen, last night it was being reported on pretty significantly. Pierre Lebrun came on our show and he said,

if he were to guess where he's playing as of tomorrow, it would be Dallas one, Carolina two, and then he'd take the field from there. And then it was reported on pretty significantly last night that Dallas had been given the right to negotiate because I guess they had a deal in place yeah and it turns out it's Logan Stankovin and two first round picks to Carolina yeah and Dallas was the one that was going to determine if they'd pull the trigger or not if they could get ranting into sign and he

takes 12 million a year on an eight-year deal, which is a lot of money Yeah, but I think he probably would have got more in Colorado If not the same if not the same why would you put yourself through this? That's the only thing that's a Dave I don't know how you feel but that's the the only perplexing thing out of all of this is If you probably sat him down a week from now and said candidly, if you had a do-over, if you could rewind time for six weeks, however long this has happened, would you take 12 million in Colorado

and call it a day on an eight-year extension? I think you'd probably say yes. But the trade caught him off guard. He gets a Carolina, he's uncomfortable, doesn't look settled in, even though his best buddy Ajo'sos there probably doesn't fit that system and then Carolina's going okay we need you to sign like we need to get this done and he's like I don't know what I want to do so now Dallas steps in so in

essence they turned call I mean Carolina turned who was it nesh cash yeah into Stan Coven and two firsts. Nature's and Drury. Nature's and Drury into Stan Coven and two firsts. Yeah. It makes, it's such an amateur play by Carolina. Like what, my read on this, and this is my opinion, I don't have insight, is Colorado played Carolina like a fiddle.

And what I would guess happened was Colorado started calling around saying you got to be quiet I can't have my boy find out that he could be flipped here and Carolina was like well I don't know if he'll stay with us and they're like well we don't want to talk to him so do you want to do the deal or not and the GM down in Carolina said all right I'll take the deal because you'll notice Jim Nill in Dallas was like I'm not doing that. Yeah, I'm not making a deal with this guy until I know he's gonna sign exactly and he put the he put The pressure on ranting it and what I wonder is in retrospect if Carolina had the opportunity to do that

Would he have already signed an eight-year deal with Carolina? Right like in other words in six weeks if they had the right to negotiate would Ranton and been like all right I get let's talk like we're gonna do instead of getting flipped being heartbroken getting to Carolina being like I don't know about it here and then having time to think. But the thing that bothers me if I'm an avalanche fan is like where was the communication between the avalanche and the Ranton camp if he was willing to take 8 by 12. I'm not sure he was though Dave. At that point? My guess my guess would be Ranton in camp, if he was willing to take 8 by 12. I'm not sure he was though Dave. At that point?

My guess would be Ranton was like, I want 13 and a half, 14, and he realized that's not how the league sees me. Right. And Colorado is actually accurate in their assessment because maybe Carolina was willing to go to 12 and a half or something. Dallas was like 12, take it or leave it.

And he took it. And they could play the tax free card too. Of course, which a benefit, but still. Yeah, it's still a number. At the end of the day, Ranton in Colorado was saying, I want this or I want that. And then six weeks later, it's like, you can get this, take it or leave it. Well, he was to, you know, to defend him, he did say he was willing to take less to stay in Colorado. But that's arbitrary. What does that mean? Yeah, he didn't get the number. But the is, like, this is a guy, if he was worried about the money, he had unrestricted free agency

at his disposal. Yeah. A few months. So I don't understand. There is still something. I don't understand the sequence of events here. Although what I would say is, if you're Colorado, you know, I love Ranton.

He's a great player, but they went and got Brock Nelson and... Charlie Coyle. Charlie Coyle today. And Nate Chess has been great for him he's been really like they're a better team that's the thing ranting in for those three players I think you could argue the other three with the depth they're actually a better team than when they had them six weeks ago

possible he's been a clutch playoff dude he's a great player here sure here's a team that won the cup went two Two years ago? Colorado? Don't like the goaltending? Two. Gone. Like both of you. Gone. Get the hell out of here. We'll bring in Blackwood.

And to me, that was significant. Then you're like, they're seeing something with ranting it. But I know it was leaked a little bit. I don't want to confirm or deny it. Oh, look at you. All right. But McCarr's got a big number coming around the corner. But I I know it was leaked a little bit. I don't I don't want to confirm or deny it Why all right? McCarr's got a big number coming around the course. Yeah, so you're looking at that. So you're going two years down the road You're paying you're paying him 18 million or what it's ever gonna be right? Well, so yeah The way it was put to me was these guys looked at their roster and said we don't want to be the Leafs

You know, we can't just have we don't want to be as top-heavy Yeah as the Maple Leafs, we can't have McKinnon don't want to be as top heavy as the Maple Leafs. We can't have McKinnon making this, and McCarr's gonna make more than McKinnon by some measure. And if we got Ranton at a huge number, and then it gets ugly fast. Right now, to your point, they've essentially swapped three for one.

You've got three guys come in to take the place of the Ranton and the Trushkins back. I was just gonna say, the Trushkins back too. Like they're a team That that that's massive turnover for a team That's one like you can understand if guys leave for free agency and stuff But this is big turnover one on top of it when they flipped ranting and imagine you told McFarlane and Sackett by the way ranting it'll be in Dallas in six weeks Yeah, their head would have popped off.

Because they were thinking, we'll trade it, but you're going out each. We'll see in Carolina. Yeah, as far east as you can get. Exactly. If we meet in the finals, bygones will be bygones. Six weeks later, these guys are in, this guy's in Dallas. They might play in the first round. And I think they will play in the first round.

We were talking about it yesterday. I think Colorado with these moves, they're going gonna chuck, if they leapfrog Minnesota, now you're looking at Winnipeg. Well Winnipeg's got to hold on. You're right. Like Winnipeg they picked up Luke, Shannon, Brandon, Tanev. They tinkered. Tinkered, bit pieces as they would call it. Bit pieces. Well those guys were good in leap uniforms. Yeah, Tanev's going to be on the fourth line there though. Yeah. In my opinion. But rightfully so.

No, I understand that. Rightfully so. Yes. If you've got that much depth and you can put a Brandon Tanev on the fourth line, you're a deep team. Yeah. To me. They're a good team.

And Luke Shen, you know, Carlo almost beat me up. Carlo Koliakovic. That's his boy, Luke Shen. I was like, ah, Shen can't really skate that way. He's like, what are you talking like? We're in the green room. I'm like, you traded for a 35 year old guy who's slowing down. Carlo almost got up and attacked me in the room. So apparently Luke Shen is gonna win the Norris this year. But my point being is that's me, we're just being a little bit snide. Luke Shen serves a purpose. Yeah. He's a leader

who's one, fantastic person, and he knows how to play. And he's gonna add to the depth of that group. But looking at this wild card, this race out west, Winnipeg, Dallas, Minnesota, Winnipeg's got 90 points, Dallas has 84, Minnesota has 76, and where's Colorado? 76. Yeah.

So they're crying. They're gonna be right there. Oh, it is gonna be a crazy race, and I think Dallas is playing Winnipeg next week, like early next week, and they'll be playing each other, I'm sure, a few different times. I think we're looking at Dallas, Colorado. Dallas, Colorado is a three-three.

Unless the wheels completely fall off Winnipeg. Yeah. Well, and there's, there's one team we haven't mentioned yet and that's Edmonton. We'll come back and get into it where they stand now because they were game seven of a cup final last year. And now all these other teams around them in the West keep loading up and loading up.

Frankie Corrado will join us. We're waiting to hear from Brad Treeliving. Brad Treeliving will speak with the media. They're out in Colorado ahead of the game tomorrow. When Treeliving speaks you will hear it right here on TSN Radio. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. Overdrive continues powered by Fanduo bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Hayes, Jamie Noodles, McClennan, Dave Feshtruck and there's Frankie Karato joining us around the table.

What's up, boys? Well, I would say, you know, it was we were over there doing Trade Center all day, and by 11 a.m., 1130, there was nothing going on. There was tumbleweed. Literally nothing. What is going on here? And then, you know, slowly as noon hit, a couple of deals started pouring in and yet I would say by the end, you know, I can't speak to volume, but the ranting and deal, Brad Marshann on his way to Florida, the two trades by the Leafs, you know, last night

when you look at what Colorado's done, like I would say now that the dust has settled and it hasn't completely yet, we're still waiting on some details, this is gonna be a trade center I think we're gonna remember for a long time. Yeah, it was the quality of trades versus the quantity and that was gonna be the case because of all the teams that are in the mix and the limited pool of UFA players and a lot of guys with term got thrown around, right?

Like teams were able to digest that. But I mean, if I asked you guys this morning, you know, could you think of the perfect landing spot for Brad Marchand? I think tops on the list would have been the Florida Panthers, would it not? Like imagine a line with Bennett, Kachuk and Marchand being out there. And what a mess. They have such an embarrassment of riches down there. Like they crazy. You've got Barkov, you got Reinhardt, you got Verhagy, hagi you know don't forget though they took swings on guys that weren't sure things right like that's the thing that you all have in rodriguez and right like the Evan Rodriguez is of the world the Gus horseling yeah oh yeah the least

item oh yeah but that he was a honest to God he was like a throw he was an afterthought he was yeah he was I don't even remember the trade they acquired him and did he get assigned a number Like I'm not sure I signed a number if you ever watch Rodriguez's Pregame routine is he goes out to the bench? He has his ear pods on and he's like down to the music and he's doing his visualization And I remember like watching him do that with the Leafs because I think I was calling a game randomly or doing something And then I kind of tracked his progression his career career, because here it was like a throwaway at the deadline.

I think they brought him in. It was a body they had to bring in and they flushed him. They might have flushed him to the Marlies. I don't know what happened. I'm pretty sure he was, he ended up at some point with the Marlies. And he's another guy from like the Buffalo graveyard of players. That's right. Remember that?

He was Jack Eichel's linemate in college, he signed with Buffalo and he was part of those guys that we don't talk about, right? Like we talk about O'Reilly, Al Mark, Reinhardt. Evan Rodriguez has had a really nice little career. He's blown up and won. That is a Netflix special. Players that have left Buffalo. Well now, like one of the bigger deals that I didn't even mention was Dylan Cousins

to Ottawa for Josh Norris and JBD, right? Is it? Yeah, Jacob Bernard-Dawker. Yes, so Bernard-Dawker who's going to Buffalo. And that was kind of the deal that got everything going. That kind of got the juices going. That was like, okay, that's an interesting move. Now from Ottawa's standpoint,

I find this quite interesting because they're in the playoffs currently Norris is a guy that they had committed to in the past he was a part of that core that they got in front of and signed and when he's been healthy he's been a very productive player but Dylan Cousins brings a bit of a different ingredient right he's a right shot defenseman he's got some size. Obviously Buffalo wanted to flush him out because his name was out there. It's just one of those scenarios where like both teams are trading, like I would have figured if you're gonna put a Cousins out there or a Norris out there,

you might bring in a different ingredient. It's a palate cleanser. Yeah, it's just kind of like one guy's 24, the other guy's 25, they both got talent and it's like you're just gonna go to the other team and hopefully Your career takes off. It's a shake-up though. That's what it is. Yeah, like Buffalo They don't need more draft picks They need live players that are in that mid-20s to to move forward with the group that they have they needed a core shake-up and

obviously Steve Stahels felt that Ottawa needed a core shake-up or if You're trying to build a team to go deep into the playoffs You're not trying to build a team to make the playoffs again. I'm not behind the curtain, but I was saying to the guys off-air Both organizations saw something in these players. They I'm sure they loved them, but oh wait, we'd like this I think you can win a trade on both sides because I've seen Ottawa do it this year the Jensen for Chickering both organizations love their player. You hope that both of these guys land on their feet you wish Josh Norris well. Dylan Cousins he's in a playoff race now that's the difference Buffalo is not and and there's going to be a lot of pressure on Cousins

because Josh Norris, the one thing he does when he's healthy is he scores goals. Yes, yeah he does. Well he scores goals and he was beloved in that dressing room. You see your captain almost in tears addressing his departure in a press conference. Like Austin Matthews called for a trade deadline boost in Toronto. This might be the pin to the balloon in Ottawa. like if you lost a guy that was loved like that, Dylan Cousins, to your point, Noodle,

he's got a lot of pressure on him to perform quickly. I would love to say that I like this trade for the Buffalo Sabres bringing in Josh Norris, but I have no idea what that looks like for the kid going there. Like that team's not turning it around in a hurry. He's obviously had his injury issues, but he's a really good kid.

Like I played with him his first year pro and I said this today on Trade Center on the TV side, but you know how when you're an older guy in a team, like you're on the bus, you're on the, you know, we were on the bus in the minors, but like you kind of take a little inventory on some of the young guys. We would talk about this guy glowingly all the time. We're like for a 20 year old kid, he just gets it. Like he was such a dialed in pro at such a young age, and I have no doubt, it's significant, but the injuries are the only thing that has held this guy back in his career.

That's what I don't get from Buffalo. That's what I don't understand what Buffalo's doing. Josh Norris, the stats when he's playing, when he's healthy, speak for themselves, but how can you have faith? He's got a lot of term left at at a decent amount of cap hit how can you have faith he's gonna be healthy like that that's what I don't get like if you're trading cousins you know okay you make that move well this is what you

land on on Josh Norris from Ottawa's point of view in the sense that when Stutzla Norris and Pinto are all in the lineup together, you would know. They win. They win. Really good. They play well. They play well.

That was... What does it look like? You know, Cousins has to have that same effect now, or else it's like, well, we knew that when Norris and Pinto and Stutzla were in the lineup, we won games. Now what? The only thing I would say, too, they've got some versatility there, is you could ask yourself if you're an Ottawa fan or in Ottawa management, is Pinto a two? Do you think Pinto can be a two? Yeah maybe can be but isn't right now? Well

that's the thing. He's been playing pretty well recently. So now my point being is you've got three guys that can play in two spots really and that talks to depth. So we were talking about the Lawton trade like Lawton is a three of what the Leafs, which is fine. I mean that you if you're looking at Ottawa, I think Cousins can be a really good number two centerman. I believe Shane Pinto can be a two as well. But now, you know, it's going to go Stutla down to Cousins into Pinto or some form of that. Which gives you an opportunity. Is there a team that sticks out for you guys where you're kind of wondering why they didn't do more or did they get left out?

Yeah, Brock Besser remains at Canuck. They traded Carson Sousi yesterday. Here's what I don't understand. What else are they doing? Vancouver said the prices were high. Okay, great. You're not in the rental market. But why wasn't the price high for Carson Sousi? Would you get a third round pick?

Like that type of defenseman got more than a third round pick. What did Luke Shen go for? He went a second and a fourth. A second and a fourth for Luke Shen. Brandon Carlo was a haul. Carson Sousi is worth more than a third based on this market. Today. Today. Based on today market. Today. Today.

Based on today's prices that we saw. And then the Brock Besser thing, you want to keep Brock Besser as an own rental? I have no problem with that because you're in a playoff hunt and you value playoff games, but don't insinuate that prices were high but they're not high for our guys. If they're high, they're high for everyone. They don't care that you're a Canuck or not. Well, and that's what I wonder. Vancouver maybe should have looked at what Boston did today

where Boston unloaded a lot of pieces. Like they made a declaration that we're gonna determine who's gonna stick around, but we're gonna try to bring in as many prospects and picks and retool this over the next year or two. Where Vancouver, pretty clear, they still don't know exactly what direction they wanna go in.

So I would agree with you when I look at Vancouver. I look at Edmonton too. They picked up Jake Wallman last night and Wallman, he's going to play. He's a good player and he's going to play and they got Frederick but you look at what Dallas did, you look at what Colorado did, you know Vegas is going to be stout, Winnipeg stout. Like what is Edmonton thinking today yeah like this Edmonton because I came into the season and it was a formality Edmonton's doing what Florida did they're going back to a cup final I don't think they're a top three team in the West right now they're not a slam dunk but I think you've got a their players have to play better like that's the

thing we're looking at it through a lens of like all right you know they've lost seven of nine or whatever it is let's say they're playing at their best let's say every team's playing at their best is McDowell would you rank the West David or is everyone's playing I would still think Edmonton's at the top you think they're better than Dallas and Colorado well how was Dallas spread out like I like Dallas is depth but they don't have McDavid and dry so nobody that's my point now they have Colorado's got McKinnon and McCarr but no one's got those two guys I think Hyman needs to David and Drysidle on that. They know. They know. But that's my point. At least now they have Rantin. Now Colorado's got McKinnon and McCarr, but no one's got those two guys.

I think Hyman needs to play better. RNH needs to be better. McDavid needs to be better. Skinner's got to be better. Well, yes. Stuart Skinner has to be a lot better. But Ekholm has to be better. Bouchard has to be better.

That's the spine of their team. Not any of them are having a career year other than Dry Sight. Wouldn't you though, Noodle's gone out and got a little insurance in that? But who? Well, I don't know who. That's my question. You didn't hear any muggers of them even kicking tires. Maybe they were. I think they were probably looking, but like who? I guess my question is, if St. Louis

was trading Bennington, that would be the only guy that I would look at and go Okay, you could probably bring in Bennington, but I don't think there's any number one available in the league that would be Significantly better than standard be lateral moves right now I think if you're gonna do the goalie move for Edmonton wouldn't you have done it like around the time Colorado did theirs Yeah, they went out and got Blackwood because like Blackwood came in and he played great right away. It's not easy for goalies to do that. Like you would know it takes a little bit of time.

And then so now you're at the point where if you make that goalie deal, it's not exactly tested and true that a goalie comes in at the deadline and has all the success right away. Like you need you need a little more runway than that. The only thing I look at is they they're running that back because they know what they have that's the only thing you do if you bring somebody in you don't know that's the only thing you don't know if that guy can fit it. I think Stuart Skinner fits their mold the way that they want to play and they've been playing awful

defensively in front of him so it exposes him he hasn't been consistent but if that's the group that they're gonna go with that are they good enough playing awful defensively in front of him so it exposes him he hasn't been consistent that's the group that they're going to go with are they good enough they felt that they were good enough last year they've added frederick they're going to get came back by the sounds of it they're just part of the data told him he's staying here i cannot go back to the point oh i just was reading uh... the comments there

from stan bowman is like they feel that they'll have frederick and came in their lineup and you add that in with Max Jones You know like that those are guys that they need that's because if Andrew Kane is that top six winger that they need They don't have that right now. They've got pod Coles in there Who's a nice heavy player, but he needs to be farther than finish that poor guy. He is a good player He gets so many chants. I love everything about that guy except the fact that he can't finish. You know what? If you were going to do something today if you were Edmonton, it would have been like a hockey trade. Like a guy in, guy out. I don't know if it's like Arvidsson.

Arvidsson for Raquel would have been great. That's the trade that would have been Edmonton today. Dry Set all year has been carrying his linemates. Yeah. Like all year and he's doing it in just remarkable fashion. I would like, I'm curious his thoughts after it. Like, he's like, man, like McDavid's got R&H and Hyman and they gotta get going. They gotta be better. But he's playing with, you know, guys that just aren't pulling their weight. And it's Arvidsson. Yeah.

Yeah. That's the only, their third line I think is set. Their fourth line they brought in some beef is frederick a guy that that is going to get a look on that left side i think they're suited to be probably a third or fourth line guy problem on bottom six yes i was there probably a banner came that would be the most likely one to help if he's not a hundred percent i guess outside of this are we gonna see now

two weeks from now? Kane flying around five fully anticipate Kuturov did remember And it goes you could check as well, right it's oh, yeah, it's also worth noting like Kuturov missed that whole year He came back. He was unbelievable in the playoffs. It's not easy to do that. Like if Evander Kane does come back, I don't think you're getting, right away at least, you're not getting the Evander Kane from like three years ago in the playoffs. Remember that like torrid run he was on?

Yeah. You're getting something different. Here's why I think Dallas got markedly better just with Rantanen. Their forwards, like you basically put Rantanen in there for Stankhoven. You can eat an apple off his head. little guy, but very very talented very very talented When I look at Dallas's the biggest thing for me is their D the right side like the blue right?

It's dumb. Like Dumba. That's I circle that that's the only thing I circle now and high skin is Yeah, well, yeah, but yeah, but he'll be back it sounds like. But my whole thing is every team, there's not a perfectly built team. I mean Winnipeg looks pretty damn good, like close to it, right? Luke Schrenz, a nice ad for them. But- That second line though, you still look at it, is it Profetti, Nemstikov? Size on that second line.

They needed a presence. I think the Nelson thing, like that really hurts, especially because he's going to Colorado. Because it's in the division. If Nelson went to New Jersey, okay, you can kind of wash your hands with that, but he's in your division. Now you got to play against him. Here's why I think I'm wrong on my statement about Edmonton. Colorado's won before and they got better today.

So now you've got McKinnon Neskash what are we calling him? Neskash? Naceus. I just apologize. The guy's in someone was saying he wants to be Naceus. I know it's just tomato tomato. Let's just say hey you're a great player number 88 for Colorado. Nacushkin wild card don't know. This guy might show up in the playoffs and do what he did the last couple playoffs. Nelson, Coyle, like they're, you know, Drew Ends there. Like they they are a deep team. Lackinen was a good playoff guy when they won the Stanley Cup. We forgot the Drury kit. He has their fourth liner. Yeah, I mean, Colorado's in a really good place. They overhauled their team from start to finish this year.

Amazing. And like anyone that tells you you can't do it, this and that, watch Colorado. Like watch Florida. Crazy how Florida can go out and get the big name every single time. How do they get the big guy every time? Well, one thing that I've noticed this, I don't know how you guys feel now, the teams that kind of loaded up today pushed themselves up from a group. So there's probably a 10 pack now where you probably were like, okay, I could see 16 teams

felt like they're, you know, cup contenders. Now you're like eight to 10 that have pushed themselves up into a different level. Now they're all going to have to play each other. And we'll see who finishes in the end. Well, that's the crazy thing, right? There's only one team standing at the end. Vegas isn't going anywhere, they're heavy. Colorado's not going anywhere.

Dallas isn't going anywhere. Winnipeg, Edmonton, so that's five out west. Two divisions you have to win. You have to win the Atlantic, and you have to win the Central. You have to. So central Yeah, you have to it so Atlanta you are in big trouble three in it the Atlantic and then who in the metro? Well for me, it's it's Washington if you're a believer Carolina's worst Jersey without Jack Hughes. I don't know I'm looking at nine without Carolina and with Jersey because I think the injuries and yeah, Caroline I don't know what I would say five in the West four in the East

there's nine lot of them in a pack of teams that That's where your Stanley Cup is likely coming. That's right. Maybe throw in one other team. Who knows who get out Yeah, LA get hot Alright, okay Frankie. Well, we'll see what comes of it man. Yeah, it's a long day. Got a lot of hockey to watch long day Well, yeah, we got games. This is the thing that you There should be no games tonight. No kidding cuz guys are sleeping half sleeping. They're on their phones Teams are disrupted guys are crying. Like, you know, it's just a pets heads are falling off a lot going on

There's a lot and there's a fair amount of games tonight. I gotta play tonight like well yeah and I'm I'm curious like Boston's in Tampa like what what is Boston possibly thinking with like you know Marshawn out of there Coyle out of there he's Coyle's a Massachusetts guy Coyle's been there for nine or up Carl's been there nine years yeah like he's not a culture changer there. That's the thing. Like those are that's the thing like that. That disrupts the fabric in Boston, which is tough. The end of an era. Absolutely.

But that middle stat like they did get some players like well, Minton step. You think I think they might play him. I wouldn't be surprised if they want to give like he's you know, he's not he's not 18. Right. He could play in their American League, but that would be an interesting for the Leafs.

Like you're tracking Fraser Minton now because he's in your division You'll be playing him four or five times a year Like if he turns into a player, I don't think he'll be a superstar or anything like that But if he's just a really good second or third line center, he's gonna play for a long time This isn't Ray Kroff for RAS. I don't think it's gonna get to that extreme. But Yeah, we'll see Great great. I think it was a I think it's a smart to that extreme but yeah we'll see great great great I think it was a good smart play for both teams I think Boston and Toronto the fact that like Boston made moves within their division twice yeah like Carlo coming

here and and March and going to Florida that's pretty wild you got ten years ago or more never man well never you want to have a fan base to react to that boss those are the two teams they played last year Leafs in the first round Panthers in the second been a lot of discontent in that fan base man Don Sweeney's under a lot of heat yeah sounds like Brad Trilliving actually might be speaking the media is that the plan here Dougie we're just waiting to set nothing come up in Colorado all right well why don't we keep roundtable in here Frank you haven't really talked about the Leafs in general. Like we've gone everywhere else.

Lawton, Carlo, how big of an improvement is this today compared to yesterday for the Leafs? I think the Carlo one is more significant, just based on the need to kind of take away some minutes from some other guys on the back end, play with Morgan Riley, like the type of game. Like they obviously signed Yanni Hakenpah for a reason, six foot seven, like 200 and a million pounds

You know and like so you bring in Brandon Carlo the long reach the the body type that you know Physical around the net like not gonna wow you with the puck But they value the stature of that kind of player so that makes a lot of sense in Scott Lawton like Like Jamie said it's a third line center every day of the week knows exactly what he is, feistiness. And one of those guys that you're going into a series against Florida or Tampa, Nick Paul or Brandon Hagel starts to punch you or Bennett starts to punch you. He's going to stand in there. He's going to punch back. He's going to stand in there. Not going to wow you offensively, but better than Pontus Holmberg would be offensively. Right. So it serves a purpose for the team. Well that's another good point because we do talk about

okay you need this offense and all that and sure Lawton obviously is not Alex Ovechkin, but the other option was if you don't make the move it's going to be Pontus Holmberg or it's Max Domey or Connor Doerr. Like you needed an upgrade. There's something had to give where you can flush a couple pieces out and ultimately when it comes to goal scoring, we know the guys that have to score. Yeah. Like it's gonna be the big guys and Knies and McManavie's healthy. Like there's six or seven guys that had a Lawton. You need one critical. You need this Stefan Matto. You need exactly like that. Big moments score a big goal. Again this is Lawton is a designated center.

It's not like, hey, we think home, we're gonna try Homburg here, we're gonna try Max Domey. This guy's a center man. That's all he's ever played. That's all he's played. Matthew Tavares, Lawton, Cam. That's your center. That's gonna be your fourth.

Exactly, so that's good. That's really good down there. Now he's a left shot, they're all left shot. In Gio, we're talking about that, right? Like it's nice for the left-handed defenseman to have a righty so you can like zing a pass it's a little different on the back end but that's what you got. Jake Evans wasn't available. Yeah right like that's what it is. Frankie let me ask you this one. Writing this week about how you know I made the case the Leafs needed

to get a guy to play with Morgan Riley on that second pairing because you know there's no highest paid defenseman in this league right now in a playoff team and Morgan Riley is that guy at 7.5 million who is a minus 17 and that's what Morgan Riley happens to be right now at this point in the season he's having a tough year and I saw a lot of feedback on you know on our website and my email and Twitter a lot of people are saying why is it every year it's about Morgan Riley's partner and not about Morgan Riley? Who's his partner has been over the years though.

That's what I would say. It's like he's had so much instability there and so many guys have tried out and Ron Hainsey was a great fit and Luke Shen was a great fit. And so you look at it and say, he just needs a stable guy who Morgan can go up and down the ice and not have to worry about holding back and just say like, because his instincts are good offensively. His knowing and understanding to jump in, he's good that way. So just put him with a guy who's really rock solid.

And he, you know, he might get that now with Brandon Carlo. He's got a better chance of getting it with Brandon Carlo than he does with OEL. But that's, you know, there is challenges with that as well. If you're not Hanesie, if you're not Shen, like it's not easy to handle the unpredictability of a game like that, but his offensive instincts are really good for a defenseman. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by FanDuel.

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