OverDrive - OverDrive - March 7th, 2025 - Hour 3

Episode Date: March 8, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Dave Feschuk for Hour 3 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the Maple Leafs' additions of Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo on the team and Brad Marchand's deal to the Panthers. They also revisit their conversation with Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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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. Final hour overdrive continues powered by Fandual, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Hayes, Dave Fest, check of the Toronto Star, Jamie Noodles, McClennan. We've got Raptors playing Utah at home tonight.

I haven't looked at the spread on Fandual. They got to be a favorite, playing Utah at home tonight. I haven't looked at the spread on Fando. They got to be a favorite, probably a big favorite. I haven't even looked. Well yeah, they might be a seven, eight point favorite tonight. Utah's an elite tanking team. It's the bottom ball. That's what it is. Yes it is, but Utah knows how to tank. They're very good at it. Utah can tank. The Raptors all of a sudden they go down to Florida and they win twice. Look up the spread, Dougie. I want to find that I made seven or eight maybe a bit crazy but it's got to be four or five points tonight Wow four and a half five five and a half for the Raptors like I haven't seen the lineup unless like Scottie's out it's so

it's locked down so that means there's something going on with players then they don't know who's playing tonight if fanguil is taking off the board then that what is it three and a half five and a half five and a half doogie's holding half of his button so I can only hear and a half what you say doogie and a half five and a half so the Raptors are five and a half point favorite tonight I mean that's against the worst team in the Westman conference yeah got 15 wins that's against the worst team in the Western Conference. Yeah. Got 15 wins. That's probably appropriate. I might lay the points. I think the Raptors might win tonight by double digits. Even if Darko doesn't you know doesn't play

anybody down the stretch which has been his habit lately. Jacoby Walter will hit big shots. Right. Doesn't matter who it is they're gonna find a way to win a game. That was something else. I mean it's tough. You can't jump on the kick because he's a rookie. It's a biggest moment of his young career. And he hit it too. He hits the shot. But he like, I drew up a play for Jacobi Walter thinking he'd miss that shot. You can't ask the players to thank. You cannot ask the players to thank. No you can't. And you see Vladi Guerrero was doing an interview with Spanish media and said yeah I was looking for the same amount of years as Juan Soto so 15 years but

less money way less money at least a hundred million less I mean it kind of sounds like this guy was looking for like a 15 year deal like six hundred million dollars 15 at 40 a year and I like I get why the Jays are like I get it like they should have never been in this position never and and listen if he 15 at 40 a year. And I get why the J's are like, I get it. Like they should have never been in this position, never. And listen, if he gets it from Boston, then that's the price and maybe you should have paid it. But he's a first baseman, he'll be a DH

for the last 10 years of his career. No doubt about it. And like 15 years, 600, this is one of those, if I had have told you a year or two ago, you'd say, are you insane? Who's the the how is that possible that kind of the Red Sox guy who popped his belt there Pablo Sandoval yeah well he got like a five year 75 million dollar deal it was popping belts he was Panda yeah and poppin belts like year one year two and he really was comfortable and he was a guy got caught liking Instagram during

the game like seventh inning stretch there guys on so but where are you then with the Jays that 15 years 600 million your golf can't do it you do that my what it reads to me is Vlad he was basically like I want to become a free agent now yeah so if you want me to sign it's 15 years 60 600 million, you know, like I'll do it, I'll stick around, I'd love to be a J, but we've gone this far, I'm a year out, Soto just got it. That kind of feels like it was almost negotiated, not in bad faith, but basically like if you really want me, this is what it's going to cost. If not, we'll talk down the road.

Well, there's been a lot of bad blood at the negotiating table between these two parties right i mean they've taken arbitration they've gone after sodo they've gone after ump teen other free agents yeah without signing their guy which tells you how much they love their guy which is not enough to pay him you know six hundred million dollars over fifteen years i would hazard a guess though but look, I mean, you'd be crazy not to throw that number out there because

you go in the New York Mets at the market by paying Soto 765 over 50. That's the thing. Like that. Listen, different players, different body types, different positions. So does a better player, more consistent, great in the playoffs, you know, but that changed everything. Like the whole landscape of baseball changed and in the end, if Vladdy doesn't budge, if you want to, if he has a great year and they win, he's not going to come off that number. Somebody might have to.

Someone might have to and it might have to be the Blue Jays. And you know, that's, it's going to, they're going to have to bite the bullet because clearly they looked at them thinking, I don't think they ever wanted to even hear the word like the number three hundred million now they have a lot of chances to be exactly they could have done that like three hundred million we're not going there no chance and now well yes and look you are not a role you know if what he in photo at their at their peaks in their best seasons you can say well there's

some Soto at their at their peaks in their best seasons you can say well there's some sort of comparison there obviously Soto's the superior hitter superior player but Vlad has been a much more inconsistent player than Juan Soto yeah and he's had those down years that make you go wait a second is there a trade this year there where you could do the I know we're gonna talk hockey or whatever but you could do the Norris for cousins like you could do the like is that might with the Blue Jays would look at with Vlad and go it's an interesting question out there that you know we'll pay the four or five hundred million to who just has a little bit more consistency in his game and is like maybe that's what they do it look that

at this year ago we feel comfortable spending four or five hundred million on player X instead of Vladimir it's. I don't know who that guy is that's out there that's looking for that. You know, is it more likely that they decide instead of spending all that money on Vladdy if they have it available to them, do they spread it out a little bit? I don't know, but you knew this was coming. It's gonna get out and I would guess at some point that Jays will leak what they were willing To offer someone will find out exactly what was kind of on the table

They haven't even played games yet, and we're already here with kind of laddie popping off about what he was looking for and Anyway best best power by Fandu later in the hour Mike Johnson coming up I think Johnny is he calling in is that the plan with Johnny? I don't know but yeah, the Leafs made a couple of moves today Scott Lotton coming in from Philly and he's got this year in next on his deal and Brandon Carlo coming in from Boston now for Lotton it's a first round pick top ten protected and what else was in that deal now I'm blanking I've got ahead of it., that's the problem is there's been so many trades in front of us.

There was trades leaking in. I'm seeing Nathan McKinney. It was a Grubbinkian. Grubbinkian, that was the guy. Top 10 protected for a round 2026. Yes. And they got a fourth in a six round back. And Lawton, and then they got the retention.

And the retention, 50% retention on his contract. He's a $1.5 million player now. That's, I mean, $1.5 million. He's making less than David Camp on their books. Really good value. Think about that. Really good value. And then Brandon Carlo comes in from Boston.

This is the one that was the shocking move of the day for the Leafs. Lawton, they were connected to Lawton the whole time. Right. You know, would it be Shen? Could it be Nelson? If not, it's going to be Lawton. It always felt like they were going to circle back and Scott Lawton at a minimum was gonna Be a Maple Leaf today, right Brandon Carlo from Boston and leave fans know him. He was there in the playoffs in 2019

He was there in the playoffs last year. He's been with the Bruins for nine years. Yeah He's been there a long time in the early days exactly the guys been into a cup final a part of this rivalry for a long long time he's got two years left on his deal after this at of this rivalry for a long, long time. He's got two years left on his deal after this at about 3.5 million, right? Because there's retention to it. 15% retention. But the Leafs had to pay a price for this. Fraser Minton, a first round pick in 2026, and then Connor Dewar and Connor Timmons

head to Pittsburgh to make all of the numbers work. But Fraser Minton and a first, basically what it shakes down to, I think if you're a Leaf fan, Fraser Minton and two first round picks out the door for Scott Lawton and Brandon Carlo. Here's Mike Johnson our TSN hockey analyst. When I break it down like that Johnny especially when you consider there's term left on both their their deals and the price is not exorbitant whatsoever right for either guy Carlo,otton at those prices for years to come, how do you think Brad True Living and Company ended up doing today?

Pretty good. I mean that's the cost of doing business, right? Like the first hurt obviously, but they're gonna be late first. Toronto's fourth or fifth or sixth in the league. You want retention, that's gonna cost you, take draft capital, so maybe those seconds become first because they get retention on those guys. The fact that they have term does set them up well. All of a sudden, you know, Hayes, you outlined it on the show today, you know, the defense are sort of locked in

for the next couple of years from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a good way, where they have important pieces under cost control, certainty on the back end. And, you you know they're gonna be here beyond just a rental so you know if you had to give up one of the three top prospects Fraser Minton, Ethan Cowan or Danforth, one of you know however you prioritize those guys they obviously prioritize probably Cowan and

the defenseman over Minton. Minton's a good player. You don't like losing him. He's going to be in the NHL for a really long time. I don't know if he's going to be a high level scorer in the NHL and they probably made that calculation that the ceiling on Minton or Cowan was a bit higher. But for the here and now, this is what they needed to do to compete in a very difficult division. It didn't get any easier today with the other teams with Florida and Tampa

have done the last couple days. But I think they would I have loved Brock Nelson in this moment over Scott Lawton perhaps but given the cost and everything else in the contract they couldn't do that. Lawton is a good player he'll help the team So yeah, I guess Yeah, it's what you have to do and they didn't pay too much They paid what everyone else was paying which is a lot, but that's just the cost of doing business so kind of a crazy day in trade Deadline

Deadline land Johnny and what shocked you the most was it was it the ranting in deal actually coming together and him signing long-term 8 by 12 in Dallas was it Brad Marsh and leaving Boston the beloved captain the only remaining member of the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship team what do you what surprised you the most when you look back at what we saw go down today? It's Marchand for sure. I mean, I think Ranton on a bigger level is surprising, but we had time to prepare for it faster.

Like we knew it might be coming. We knew the sort of teams that might be interested and that it might happen. Still, when you take a step back, I think Miko Ranton, one of the top 10 offensive players in the league the last several years, got traded twice at the deadline for a variety of reasons, but that wasn't that surprising. Dallas, we know, has become a real destination of choice.

Like when Seth Jones was going to Florida, he told Chicago, you can trade me to Florida, or you can trade me to Dallas. Like I mean, a lot of players see those two places given the climate, the taxes, the quality of team, um, that an attractive place to go. So that wasn't that surprising, but I thought, you know, Brad Marsh had been so public about wanting to be with Boston, wanting to stay with Boston and wanting to be a lifetime boss

to brew. And now he may go back in the summer, who knows, but I just thought when it's expressed so publicly, and he is still a good player, and clearly Boston is not gonna be hamstrung by any salary constraints the next few years, given what they did today, I thought that they would have found some middle ground to keep him a three-year, 20 million dollar deal, whatever it is.

So that one did surprise me. Then to Florida, of all teams you thought was after Jones they were done, but with the Kachuk money, it made it possible to get Marshand in there. And that team all of a sudden, their top three lines, when everyone's healthy,

if Matthew Kachuk gets back and gets healthy, they're no fun to play against on a lot of different levels. So that one really surprised me. I didn't see that one coming Yeah, like what seeing him in any other Jersey is gonna be freaky. Yeah And especially within the division, but I wonder if they did him a solid here Because the reporting was that they were gonna ship him out West and I wonder if he if he sniffed it out Okay, if you're gonna move me, this is moving to a place I can win and send me here

Because you know, Florida I just feels like the idea of Kachuk Matthew Kachuk if he gets back to 100% Kachuk Bennett March and March and on the same team is just gross Yeah, like it's really gonna be agitating Well, and watch them and those guys played together recently March and and Bennett like right wasn't that long ago that Bennett literally? Knocked him out laid him out with a pretty greasy. It was a greasy egregious like punch in the jaw Yeah, I mean forearm Johnny. I was that it wasn't like a forearm like it was a punch I was a punchy mark came into him. He punched him right in the chin with his yes, but it was a punch punchy. My friend came into him a punch him right in the chin with his but it was well

He was like this crazy. Yeah. Yeah, he was very sneaky dirty. That's Bennett can be but I Bet that the four nations experience Made this feel more likely more possible would Brad Marsh and have wanted to go to Florida the same way if him and Sam Bennett We're still at odds. Maybe I don't know would it have been more awkward in the dressing room when he walked in? For sure. I mean, these guys did not like each other. They had some moments on the ice, but they played together for Canada. They played on the same line at times. You know, they won together and they put all that other stuff, you know, water under the bridge. So yeah, if now I don't know how much they'll play together in

Florida depending on how the rope the lines shake out, but the fact that they have such physical players that are very good at understanding how to Push the limit of what's allowed without really getting themselves in trouble in the playoffs It's going to be just a nightmare for opponents And you know whether it's the first time with the Chuck on it the second line with Bennett on it the third line with Marchand getting themselves in trouble in the playoffs is gonna be just a nightmare for opponents. And whether it's the first line with Kachak on it, the second line with Bennett on it, the third line with Marchand on it,

no matter who you play against, you're gonna have someone giving you that little bit extra, that little greasy pop, slash, chip, face wash, chirp, whatever, and it just suits the Panthers personality just so perfectly that maybe we shouldn't be surprised, even though I just got through saying I was. Yeah. Well, and then, you know, Tampa's sitting there and they, they, Bjorkstrand scores the

winner I think last night. Yeah, he did. He scored the winner. We were talking about it earlier, is Kucherov got benched because he had two egregious turnovers and Kupit had enough so he benched him and then he put him on the third line in the third period after they tied the game up and he assists on the game winner with Gord and Bjorkstrand. So it's just like, listen, they are a nice fit. Florida got better, the Leafs got better. If you're sitting there in the Atlanta, I think Ottawa got better, although Johnny,

you and I were talking about it, we had it on the panel. It's just different. I think the Ottawa Senators, Cousins has to settle in. I don't know how you guys feel. I think there'll be a lot of pressure on Cousins. The Senators fans know what Josh Norris is. I don't know if a lot of people in Ottawa paid attention to what Dylan Cousins is as an NHL player. Sure you watch him as a World Junior player but there's a lot of pressure because Josh Norris Johnny you were talking about

he's a scorer we know what if he's healthy he scores goals. Cousins has scored 31 once. So he's a different player but it'd be interesting to see how he's gonna fit into that dynamic in Ottawa Yeah, that's a big trade and I always think it's a big trade because you know you're taking on a big contract and all the rest of it, but also because you are currently you know, what are they one point out of the playoffs right now and You know right down the stretch of days waited so long to try to get back in the class and you make a major Shake up the roster and shirt certainly guys. We saw Brady Kachuck shake up the dressing room kind of trade and long term I you know I understand exactly why Steve Stales would do that

but just in the short term like you can't have a three game morning period for the for the dressing room because Josh Norris isn't there you can't have ten days of Dylan Cousins getting settled or feeling the heat or whatever. They got to get up and running right away. So in that sense, it's a really aggressive move by Steele. But yeah, I mean, I think that's a good decision for the future. But it's the Atlantic and the Central are very similar in that there are three teams that are so good.

And any one of those three teams in either division could easily, and I say that knowing that Toronto hasn't done much in the playoffs, but would it stun anyone if Toronto somehow, if they won the division that they won the first round, Ryan threw a second round, and then like it's not out of the question that any of those six teams in either of those divisions could make the Stanley Cup final. But because they're in the same division, guaranteed two of them are going home in the first round. Like you had Dallas and Colorado playing the first round, which is the likely outcome of the Central.

Those storylines ranting back there, all the changes that Colorado's made, like those are huge teams, someone going home in the first round. It's gonna be the first round gonna be just wild. Oh, it'll be incredible. With Mike Johnson, so if I give you these five teams out West, Winnipeg, Dallas, Colorado, Vegas, Edmonton, where does Edmonton rank in that five pack for you in terms of projecting Family Cup success?

family cup success? Um, five? They're number five? Wow. Yeah. And you know, like I had Edmonton on my, you don't remember, but I had Edmonton on my preseason Stanley Cup winner. They made it on my team.

You weren't alone. Midway through you asked me to go off them, I said no, no, I'm staying with them. But I can't act like the roster on Dallas and Colorado is better than Evidence it is the roster is flat out better top to bottom I can't act like Winnipeg's not been the best in the league you know top three and goals against and goals for and power play and and say that you know they're not going to have a very good chance with the best goal in the world albeit I'll be in with this playoff failures.

And I just went and saw Vegas. Vegas is funny we didn't say this about Vegas. No one is talking about Vegas at all this year. And they are a good team. A deep and physical and underlying metrics are so strong. So yeah, like I get Edmonton has maybe the two best players out of all those teams, maybe not with Nathan McKinnon and Kale McCarr, but they have, you know, that guy, those guys. And I like a woman that went in the back end, but I don't know. The thing that Edmonton has going for them is the Pacific, right?

Right. Like they're gonna, they're probably gonna come second, whether it's LA again or somehow Calgary jumps up and gets there, they'll have at least a better path to the second round, which is one step in that journey. But if I looked at rosters, I would put Edmonton fourth or fifth, and chances of getting the Stanley Cup final are winning it, fourth or fifth in that group.

Mm, man. Well, yeah, that's quite a comment. Where do you have it, Mazey? Like, where would you put it? I probably wouldn't argue against yeah, that's quite a comment. Where do you have Mazy? Like where would you put him? I probably wouldn't argue against that, Johnny. I really would. I think... I argued against it just because of the two players.

Like I think... Who would you put them ahead of? Well, okay, so I had them... I mean, Winnipeg, playoff success, withstanding, I think they're ahead of Winnipeg just because who's going to shut down those two guys. So that puts them to four for me. And then Colorado, I think, is ahead of them. That's just because of McCarr and McKinnon.

But everybody else, Dallas' right side on the D, I don't like them. They've got Ljubusjkin playing on there. To me, that's where I thought Dallas has made some great moves And I like their depth, but I just my trust level so to me I think Colorado's had an Edmonton, but I think everybody else Edmonton would be on par with on par or better That was where I were man, but tell you what those two guys, and we know they're capable of it noodles Yeah, they would have to do so much to counteract the offensive depths of Dallas.

Dallas is like, you look at their top nine guys, and it is so deep and so good with what the year Matt Duchenne's having and Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Ben and of course the big guys that Hinton Robertson and now Rantonin like diamond fair about Grandland like they have a lot of good players up front so yeah I'm with you doodles and this is why it's a hard sort of game to play but and the fact that McDavid has and we're all gonna sort of trust that he's gonna turn into the usual supernova McDavid down the stretch in the playoffs, but he hasn't been. He hasn't been for a little while.

And that really also changes completely the, the, the opportunity for Edmonton to go deep. Yeah. All right, Johnny. Well, the stretch runs here, man. Now that we're through the trade deadline, we'll be night one of the cop Stanley Cup playoffs before you know it. Yeah. Like it, it is.

When a game goes quick, they go by really quickly man uh... great stuff today could see in your enjoy weekend will do it again next week i thought i'm a great weekend haze i didn't like the straight you're catching all day thank you not fraudulent or legitimate and you know how i would respond to that i agree

uh... inside joke if you saw it, you saw it. I just heard about that inside joke. I agree. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Johnny. Alright, there's Mike Johnson, a TSN hockey analyst, joining us here on the Maple Toyota hotline. But the other thing too you're talking about is there's gonna be out of the nine that we defined there's gonna be two or three that going home in the first round. Every year that's the case. Like every year we come in here. It's Colorado Dallas. Right, like one of them not making out. And two of

Toronto Florida Tampa are playing together playing against each other and Two of Winnipeg Dallas, Colorado I think unless Minnesota finds a way to get in there right right you know kind of feels like we could be talking Nine you go nine to five very quick very yes In ten days for sure and then you know the potential for a team to stumble you know like injury Bumbles you don't we don't know that the other thing too. He could ran and didn't hit the potential for a team to stumble you know like injury they are symbols you don't know we don't know that the other thing to be current and didn't hit the ground running in uh... in carolina exactly what's what what's to make you think he's going to get the

ground running in in dallas i i i guarantee that i'm a little bit canada me this is on him now this is on him now as he chose to listen i don't like my setting in carolina i'm choosing the trade to dallas he has to make. I don't like my setting in Carolina. I'm choosing the trade to Dallas He has to make it work. I think he will there Midnight tonight is the 1.6 million dollar bonus prize deadline in the Princess Margaret home lottery Don't miss your chance to win the downtown Toronto condo plus

$50,000 cash the condo is located at Toronto's vibrant Harborfront with stunning waterfront views and a host of amazing amenities You'll be in to win the nine million dollar grand prize So the oakville show home plus half a million dollars cash princess margaret's biggest prize ever Do not wait the 1.6 million dollar bonus prize deadline is midnight tonight dream of brighter tomorrows buy your tickets now at princessmargaretlotto.com all right we'll come back and revisit our chat with the maple leaf gm least we're active today scott lotton come on down brandon carlo come on down so you get a third line center and a right shot top four defensemen both acquired by the leaves today we'll get to our best bets later in the hour overdrive continues continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN Plus.

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20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston pizza. I'm sure Brad Trillivan would love a Boston pizza. Yes. Right? He's been in that restaurant more than any other restaurant ever in the history of his life. 100%.

Boston pizza. Got a few family ties. Yeah, his dad. I mean, you know, it's pretty amazing, though. Absolutely. He never gets brought up, right? Like that comes from the tree living. Isn't that his opening press conference? He said he couldn't even deliver pizzas. That's why he's in the hockey business. Yeah, he's a good pizzas. That's why he's in the hockey business Yeah, he's a good line. Well, he's been in the hockey business for a long time Yeah, he was a pretty good player. I played a few junior games with him in Spokane, Washington. Yeah, Spokane Chiefs Yeah, there you go. Well, um We caught up with him earlier this afternoon and because he's down in Denver you were throughout the idea of going to P.F. Chang It's that's where they should have had their meat.

That's your go-to place. P.F. Chang's, for sure. Right. Great place. Mongoli beef, you got the lemon chicken. Oh, there's great opportunity down there. Great opportunity. Yeah.

We began by asking Brad, like, why not P.F. Chang's? And if not, where were you? What are you doing down in Denver on Trade Center? Well, I would have liked to have been in the P.S. Chang's there with Noodle. We were hunkered down here at the hotel so yeah busy day. Absolutely well let's go through the acquisitions I guess we'll go in chronological order. You bring in Scott Lawton he's an Oakville guy he's got a

year left on his deal after this, they retain 50% of the deal in terms of his cap hit. Third line center, I know you guys obviously went out and acquired it, the whole city, the whole fan base have been talking about it for a long time. Why was it important to make this acquisition and why do you think Scott Laughton's the right guy for it? acquisition and why do you think Scott Laughton's the right guy for it? Well a number of things I think you know the first thing as you said I mean he's a Toronto kid that's not the reason you're bringing back here but I've been watching Scott since he was playing in Oshawa and the first thing that

everybody talks about when it comes to Scott is just such a character guy. I remember him, like I said, in junior, he's the captain of his junior team. Just the way people that have played with him, coached him, worked with him, just the highest level of character, very competitive guy. I think he just brings a lot of depth to the center-edge position. As you said, it's an area we've tried to look at for a while now. And, you know, even coming into this deadline, you saw, you know, there wasn't a lot of centers available I think this is the first deadline for you know in recent memory where you know there's a lot of teams going into you know going in there the night before and two nights before the

deadline where you know they could have gone either way in terms of declaring whether they were you know buying or selling so trying to get a sense of what you know what was going to be available in the market and especially the Senate position, the premier position. Um, you know, there's versatility in his game. Um, you can kill penalties, you know, he's got some bite to his game. So there's, you know, to me, there's not much not to like about Scott. And, and I can tell you like,'s a guy who you know you listen to some of the words that were spoken about him in Philly when he left there and the impact he

had and you know it's an emotional day for him. I mean this guy's been a flyer his whole career but he got emotional on the phone talking to him today coming home being a, what it means to them. So it was exciting to add them and I'm looking forward to seeing them join the group here tomorrow or tonight. So yeah, you guys in Colorado are playing the Avalanche tomorrow night. I made the mistake asking your head coach if he has an idea of what that game one roster will look like and the playoffs he shot me down pretty quickly last week and so we're taking it day by day but you know as a manager you have to be thinking okay this is how we can piece it together and

then Craig it'll I guess take it from there and as it currently stands you got Austin, John Tavares, Scott Laudin, I'm guessing David Camp is your fourth line center like when you look at that four pack up the middle and now the options that could go to the wing, how do you feel about your depth today as we creep closer towards the playoffs upfront? Oh, well, Brian, you're always greedy. You always want more. Yeah.

You know, and so we were trying to navigate that, but I, you know, to me, the object was, you know, you're trying to get as many good players as you can you know I think we're a better team today than we were a day ago I like our depth in the middle but you know not just those four guys the ability I always think it's it's important to have you know seven centers or seven guys that can play the middle it's such an important position you're gonna have injuries you know having guys that can you know move off the wall to the middle of the ice is, is, is critical.

And, you know, we've, we've got that now we've got, you know, and, and, and, and can do the different jobs, right? You know, we needed to take some, um, we needed to take a little bit of weight off guys on the penalty kill. Or I think Scott can help there. Um, and in key situations, you know, some, some defensive zone face-offs, um, you know, some of the heavy lifting there match-up wise. So I, I, like I said, I like to look at it better today.

Um, better. I like to look today than better than I did yesterday. And as you said, some versatility, the guys can sort of move back and forth. And, but you know, we still got 20, you know, 20 plus plus games to go and and it's still a grind to the end of the year so having that depth I think is important. So you made the depth edition on the forward side Brad and now you also made a depth addition and more than that on the defensive side. What sort of was the defenseman market like and how did you end up arriving at Brandon Carlo? Well the market was you know it was it was it was a it was a tight market you

know it was as I said you know earlier trying to determine you know a who's in and who's out who's available and who's out and who's available. And then those premium positions, not to put the wingers down, but the center iceman and then those right shot D, they're hard to find. And you could tell by the limited product, the prices were as good on the sellers. When there's limited product,

you can charge where you want to charge and see if people want to buy. Brandon's been a guy, obviously we've been aware of him and been a fan of this for a long time. I think he's been, and again you talk to the Boston dude, I think he's been a, maybe they, maybe, maybe they've had, they've had great success in Boston over his tenure there. And maybe not the sexiest name, but I think he's been a big part of that success. Um, you know, again, in some of the guts of the game pieces, penalty kill, um, you know, he's a big man. He's got, he's long, he's rangey, he's got great reach. Um,

you know, he's hard around the blue paint. So, you know, I just thought adding another right shot D, uh, was reach. Um, you know, he's hard around the blue paint. So, you know, I just thought adding another red shot D, uh, was important. Um, and to handle some of those tough minutes, you know, we've seen Tani's been out here for a week or so and, you know, be, to be able to distribute those minutes, um, and have somebody that can handle, you know, handle some PK time. That was critical for us. Um, so we like his. That was critical for us. So we like his size, we like his range.

You know, he's coming from, you know, a great program in Boston where he's been a big part of it. And again, he was excited about it today. You know, it's a switch for him. I said, I like the look of him already in the blue jersey than the black and gold thing he's got on. So, but real good, you know, we were happy to get him. I like the look of him already in the blue jersey, then that black and gold thing he's got on. But real good, we were happy to get him. It was a grind, but we were happy to bring him on board. With Brad, true living GM of the Leafs,

Leafs AFS tomorrow night. Now you look at it, you've been here for about a year and a half, two years. You have Morgan Reilly on term, Chris Tanev on term, Jake McCabe on term, Brandonilly on term Chris Tanev on term Jake McCabe on term Brandon Carlo on term Oliver Ekman Larson on term five veterans Five guys with multiple years on their deals How beneficial is that for you as a GM to know that you have that locked it?

You don't have any rentals currently in terms of those top five defensemen for you What does that open up for you in the future, knowing that you guys have all these players locked in? Well, it's important. And especially today, listen, I've said it publicly before, I prefer when you're out spending assets. And listen, we were shopping in the rental market,

meeting up to the deadline. We were shopping in the rental market meeting up to the deadline. We were shopping in the last two days. But you always prefer, you know, you pay a price and you don't like to see it walk out the door, you know, a few months later. So the fact that we've got, you know, an experienced blue line, you know, one of the things when we came in here, we wanted to add some length to the blue line. I think there's lots of versatility there. You know, you've got some guys, some lefties that can play on the right. It's a veteran group.

They all kind of do some different jobs. I think when we, you know, a lot of time we put into, you know, looking at how potential pairings would go and speaking a lot with, with chief. And I think you, you know, you've got buck movers, you got, you got some guys that can defend hard. So, but having that cost certainty and having those defensemen, you know, especially, you know, the big thing with, with term is we're, we're living in a rising cap era.

And, you know, so when you can get those numbers locked in, you know, the only day more difficult than the deadline day is July 1. And so when you're not out there shopping for defense and shopping for veterans defense and shopping for right shot defensemen on July 1. That was a big part of what we tried to accomplish here today and like I said, excited about that group.

Tree, in your press conference, you talked about the human element, right? Guys that are going out, you thanked guys for their service with the organization. Now that you get through the deadline, do you address the troops? You go into the room and have a conversation, hey, this is what we're doing, now we're trying to continue to build a program for something special?

Or do you allow Chief to have that conversation, or is it a combination of both of you? Yeah, I'll go down there tomorrow, like the way we were set up here today, I was at the hotel when the guys were skating. But yeah, I try to limit my time down there. They don't, you know, they they don't need to see me down there a whole lot. But I'm going to talk to them tomorrow. This is our group now. This is, you know, I felt the group. It was my responsibility to add to the group. They deserve it. I thought we had areas that we needed to upgrade in. Like I said, you're always greedy. You always want more. I thought we had areas that we needed to upgrade in. Like I said, you're always greedy. You always want more.

You never know how it's going to flow, but this is the group that we're gonna, we're gonna jump into the fight with you're starting tomorrow night. And I think there's, as you know, Noodles, the other part of it is, the team, the deadline is a difficult time because every you know everybody sort of wonder as a player and we lose

sight of that human part of it I know you know you guys do such great job and there's you know up in Canada there's not much coverage of the deadline. You've been here all day, we're as tired as you are. Uncle, we had a TV on like uncle. But the other part of it is, you know, as exciting as it is, and that's part of our job. We all stand up for it, this isn't something that we should feel sorry for, but a lot of guys get uprooted today. Like guys are getting on planes away from families and all those things. And again, not asking for anybody to feel sorry for them, but I think it's important that we understand that too. So today we're excited about bringing a couple of good players in, but we said goodbye to some good guys today who, you know, they're packing up their stuff and jumping

on the bird and their lights kind of got turned on this year. So I think it's important that things need to be handled the right way. Two good young players, you know, their lights kind of got turned on this year. So I think it's important that, you know, things need to be handled the right way. Two good young players, you know, Fraser Minton, who I think is going to be a terrific NHL player. And Nikita, Nikita Grvenkin, who, who, you know, we got to we got to see in the least uniform here throughout the year. You know, those are those are tough. But, you know, when you're when you look at the at your team, you've got to give to get. But I'll go into more on those. And you always want to give the guys something. I think as you're going out there, the guys aren't stupid. They're looking around them and seeing where

the competition is at. So you've got to be focused on not just doing something to do something, but we try to be focused and disciplined on attacking some areas that we thought we need to attack. But you always feel a little better when you can give the guys a little help the rest of the way. Well, you guys have 20 games left to go and a few games left against Florida, a game against Tampa. You're two points back in Florida, a game against Tampa. You know, you're two points back at Florida with a game in hand, that top seed in the Atlantic.

That's a pretty valuable spot. And I know you're aware of that. So we'll see where you guys take it from here, Brad. But I know it's been a busy day and congrats on the moves you made. And we appreciate you taking time for us. We wish you nothing but success down the road. Thank you for this.

All right, guys. Good job. There is Brad Trillivant joining us here on Mail It In Friday, Wish you nothing but success down the road. Thank you for this Sorry, good job There is Brad true living joining us here on mail it in Friday brought to you by Boston pizza Canada's favorite sports bar enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree aside and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less a fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food see you for a $15 fast lunch and your local Boston pizza well $15 fast lunch and your local Boston pizza well Leasing Colorado tomorrow looking for a response was ugly in Vegas. Yeah, it's a response and teams have been shaken up I think the best thing that these teams can do or players can do now is just go play hockey Yeah, because now it's over like the now it's about okay stretch run playoff time. What are we doing here?

You'll have new players filter in and you gotta get some chemistry going, all of that type of stuff. But now it's like, okay, this is the team for the rest of the year, now it's about getting points, staying healthy, all of that fun stuff. And really, this is when hockey gets fun. Yeah, that's the beauty of it, right? Right.

And we still got, we got races here, like obviously within the Atlantic massive race, who's going to get into the playoffs on both sides? Both wild cards are up for grabs in the East and in the West, you know, there's one wild card spot, but there's a countless amount of teams. You got Calgary, you got Vancouver, you got St. Louis and Utah who still think you're in like Utah's sniveling around right there, but also St. Louis didn't really do it now they got bad news with parejo parejo's out yes for probably the rest of the regular season yeah but they didn't unload shan they didn't unload brad and shan they didn't unload anybody else yeah you know really so yeah they're still i guess kind of staying in the hunt and going for it that's great so you've

got calgary vancouver st louis utah that are separated by three points. That's wild. Who's the best team on that, on paper? Is it Vancouver? I don't know. Not the way they've been playing, man. Like Vancouver... It's probably Calgary, the most consistent team out of that. They've been kind of, they had a really good start, but they've just kind of gone about their business and...

Yeah. I mean, they're there. Utah is very interesting. Now, Leafs fans are going to lay their eyes on them on what, Monday? Monday, you're in Utah, yep. They're a. Utah is very interesting. Now, Leafs fans are gonna lay their eyes on them on what, Monday? Monday you're in Utah, yep. They're a better team than people think. Like they're fast.

That's the one thing. Now, it's been a minute since I was in Utah and called that game, but I was there in October and they played against Ottawa that night and they started like a house on fire. It was Forsberg that stole the game for Ottawa that night, and they started like a house on fire. It was Forsberg that stole the game for Ottawa that night. But they are a very fast team. They've got some skill.

Their goaltenders played pretty well. That Vamalka has settled in. Callers had a great year. Yeah, I wouldn't. Listen, nothing is a layup anymore. There should be some teams now. Now I talked about before the separation like there are some teams going waving the white flag This is where we are. We sold off some assets

We you know, we talked about the Bruins now the Bruins got some decent players to that Middlestad going the other way He's and he's a young player. He's younger. He's on his third team, but They still have Swamen and Pasternak. That's the whole thing in in Boston like they're gonna try to retool here you still have McEvoy yeah you got Pasternak you've got you know you got Elias Lindholm that you're committed to and that's I don't know what the hell he's gonna be in the future but see that boss like 30 interrupt they lost last night with what 16 seconds did you see that play where theorov went to pass D2D and his stick broke? Yeah. And Jarvis skated. It was 2-2 going into overtime. His stick breaks and then he tries a two-pad stack

and Jarvis goes, all right, I'll take this and throw it in the net. Like that's how the Bruins season has gone this year for that. That was encapsulated. So yeah, there's some, you know, some teams that are going to be separated on the, on the bottom side. So yeah, there's some teams that are gonna be separated on the bottom side. Seattle sold off some players. Yeah, which they had to. I mean, they're not very good. They're miles out.

Yeah, we'll see. Chicago, not a lot of- Chicago, really nothing. They come out of Chicago? They kept Pat Maroon. They're gonna sign Ryan Donato. No one knows what the hell they're, same thing with Nashville.

What is Nashville doing? They didn't do anything. They had to trade with Pittsburgh. Yeah, they picked up bunting. No, but like, how, what's Barry Trotz doing out there? How many months ago was Barry Trotz talking about a rebuild? Yeah. And they didn't do anything at the deadline

in a disastrous season. I don't know what's going on there. I don't know. All right, best bets coming up. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app All right. We have not been mailing it in we've been bringing it all day But mailing in Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza Canada's favorite sports bar

Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree a side and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less So fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch your local Boston pizza you for a $15 fast lunch, your local Boston pizza. So yeah, we've got Raptors in action tonight. Get the Leafs in Colorado tomorrow than in Utah on Monday. A good game. Trade deadlines over, a lot of buzz, but the Leafs made moves, Colorado made moves. Tomorrow night's going to be fun. Yeah, but new faces everywhere, right?

All over the league, there's going to be new faces. For the next week, we'll be going, oh, we forgot. That's the crazy thing is there's trades still trick new for the next week. We'll be going. Oh, we forgot but that's the crazy thing is There's trade still trickling in at like five Eric Johnson got traded back to Colorado Colorado exactly Like there's a bunch of little deals that don't match register, right? Yeah It's not like you're gonna talk about them necessarily on TV or on the show, but it's good. They happen. Yeah, that's interesting Alright today's best bets powered by Fando make your picks and assemble a same game parlay in seconds on the Fando sportsbook gap I'm laying the five and a half Raptors Laying the points Raptors win possibly by double digits tonight

Oh a tank off with Utah and tabby Utah's pot committed to the tank Yeah, I mean the Raptors will start they're starting five and then who knows what happens after that sneakily try to take a well they're pulling but the fourth quarter it's basically you know there's guys on two ways out there like it's they're trying trainers playing you know trying hard enough man they don't want to cover they want to lose I'm laying the points today's best bets powered by Fandu a live same game parlays are now available for every NBA game on the Fandora Sportsbook app please play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario Dave great seeing you man great seeing you guys doing this as always there's Dave Festrack of the Toronto Star thanks to

everyone behind the scenes we're helping out today we appreciate that we're out of here enjoy your evenings enjoy your weekends we're back Monday at 4 p.m. we'll chat that. Melodin Friday is brought to you by Boston Pizza, Canada's favorite sports bar. Enjoy $15 lunch at BP where you get an entree, a side and a drink and you'll get it all in 20 minutes or less. A fast lunch doesn't have to be fast food. See you for a $15 fast lunch at your local Boston Pizza. All new, all Canadian.

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