OverDrive - OverDrive - October 8, 2025 - Hour 2 - Darren Dreger/Chris Johnston

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Dave Feschuk for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger and Chris Johnston joins to discuss Kyle Connor's extension with the Jets, Lane Hutson's possible deal in Montreal and Easton Cowan's status in the lineup. The guys dive into Connor Bedard's stance on the Blackhawks, the Maple Leafs moving on from the Brendan Shanahan era and Alex Ovechkin's future with the Capitals and Bryan gives his FanDuel Best Bets.

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Hour two overdrive continues, powered by Fanduel, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hasey, O'Dug, Jeff O'Neill, Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star, confirm a deny later in the hour. Insiders coming up, Darren Dregor, Chris Johnston, C.J. I'll be down at the Leaf game tonight. Leaves Habs, and it's funny how, like, they overshadow the beginning of each year, right? Where when the Js were in spring training and then coming up, it was like, go stand over there. The Leafs are coming down the stretch. Leafs are in the playoffs, and the Leafs took up so much oxygen. And the reverse has really happened here over the last few weeks,

an incredibly quiet camp for the Leafs. Like just not much going on. Easton Cowan, for some reason, has been recalled but not playing tonight, which I'm a little bit confused by. Yeah, after Barube has been pumping his tires, including on the show yesterday. It's weird, Hayes, how they said, they continue to say they love him, they love him, they like what he's doing.

They think he's an NHL player, and yet he gets called up to not play where if a guy like that i only say this because i did it myself it's a weird vibe i got called up played one game maybe two and then i was scratched like it was so weird coming off for warm up and paul maurice was the assistant coach and he just gave me the not the the head shake where he's like you're out and he did it like 10 games in a row and i'm like 10 games in a row healthy i'm like this is bad news but then all of a sudden there was a coaching change and he said you're playing so it's going to be fascinating what they do with the guy because he doesn't just

need to put his jersey on he's got to like play yeah he's got to be a contributor like I think they I think the upside here is tremendous and they got to be careful how they bring them into the league how they introduce them to this league and how they bring them along because

you can screw this up right like if you if you don't do this right you don't put them in a position to succeed and to O's point we know many many many situations where guys have been you know put in those healthy scratch situations or languished in the minors when they thought they should have been played in the NHL.

You know, it's a dicey prospect considering they have so much depth at the forward position. There's no clear-cut guys that are going to make a difference. So he's got to earn a job at the same time, you've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, and again, it's Baruba's call if he plays tonight, though.

Right? Like, that's the way it goes. So you can't have it both ways. Barubei wants him to play, or Tree Living wants him go to the minors. Burube fills out the lineup card. Exactly. He got called up. It's never that clear cut.

It generally isn't. And then why is he up? I don't know. I mean, maybe it's because the Marley's haven't started yet, and Tree Living wants him to start there. It could be that easy, and they're just not being open and honest about it, that they want him to start in the American League, give him 20 games down there. Later in the year, he'll be available. It's possible. But nonetheless, with or without count in the lineup, the Leaves are playing tonight.

and I think it was Lance Hornby that tweeted out today that Keith Pelly was giving a little pep talk to the guys this morning. I don't recall anyone doing that in the past. Shanny popping in there for a pet. Did Shann do that?

I think Shanney gave a lot of pep talks. I don't think he was the pepock guy. I just don't know what you're going to say to the fellas. Like, are you bringing up the Ryder Cup again? I just don't know what's... The Argos Bill's agreement. Just want to chime in on that? I don't know.

I mean, I've seen Keith speak in front of a group a few times. he is a compelling guy is an energy guy he brings energy into a room so i you know hey maybe that's all it takes yes chuck if you got energy and you can pump some let go ahead fire away he's a belief guy like he can he can he can get you believing in yourself you know i think that's his skill i think he can come in there and say i believe in you this is why you should believe in yourselves we all we're all behind you we're going to give you every resource this massive organization has to give you and we believe you can get it done okay i like that

idea. I'm okay with that. Now, the cynic in me, I'd ask the former athlete, though, like, if the players sit there, are they like waiting for the pep talk from the president and CEO? Did the Leafs actually think they work for Keith Pelly? I guess

would be the way I would phrase it. Like, I hear what you're saying, Fastchuk, if you work, you know, if you're an assistant, an intern, or someone that's trying to move up the chain, that can be amazingly compelling. I don't know if the players like, oh, I work for Keith Pell. I don't think they look at it that way. So I just don't know if I would be in there listening to it and then all of a sudden after he walked out, I'd be like, now I'm ready to go.

Do you know what I mean? Like I don't know if it would be the final thing from training camp to the regular season where if the president of the whole thing came in there, you're like, okay, now I'm officially ready to start the season. Right. Because usually they only come in there if like it's really hitting the fan and things are really bad. And you would know you're going to run into those guys at the Christmas. party and at the charity events and all that. It's not that it's not cordial. It's that you're stepping into their

world, like into the locker room, into the dressing room. But let's not forget guys. We've got an interesting dynamic now where ownership is changing, right? The guy who was typically the face of ownership, Larry Tanabom, is on the way out. And Larry was in there a lot. Larry went into that locker

room, an awful, like the Raptors locker room, the Leafs dressing room, an awful lot. Like, in wins, after wins and after losses, Larry Tanabon was shaking a lot of hands in there, patting a lot of guys on the back, you know, trying to bring them up when they're down, congratulating them when they're up.

So I think Keith Pelley's trying to step into that breach. Because there needs to be some bridge from the players to the owner. Representing the organization as a whole. And that is Keith Pelley, clearly right now. Yep. And that's, that's an important job. It is. There's no questioning that.

All right, we've got leaves tabs tonight. We got four games in the NHL. We had a few games yesterday in the NHL. We have signings today. A lot going on. Here's the insider roundtable. Darren Dregor and Chris Johnston joining us now here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Look at these guys.

Look at this crowd. I love it. How we feel in this afternoon, boys? I'm feeling pretty good. I'm parked at Cabellas. I'm going to say all is well here down at Scotia Bank Arena. Okay. And Dregs, you're in Winnipeg?

Is that where you are right now? Where are you? Yeah. Yeah. I'm in Winnipeg, specifically. Specifically, I'm in a parking lot at Cabellas. I got the work done early, did a bunch of sit-down interviews with all the stars of the Winnipeg Jets.

Obviously, I had to chew on the Kyle Connor signing, and then after that, Jack Eichel, but just a bit of downtime here and then get ready for their home opener tomorrow. Okay. Beautiful. Well, in terms of those signings, I guess we'll begin with you, Dregs. This is a theme happening throughout the league,

where if you're a star player, you stay in your respective market. Player wants to stay. GM and owner wants to keep you. And outside of Mitch Marner, everyone else has been kumbaya so far. What do you, is this just the new NHL?

And for how long is this going to happen before a superstar decides I'm actually going to test free agency? Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. And there's some good players that are obviously entering the final year of their contract that will be decent, unrestricted, free agents, but to your point, Brian, not to the level of Jack Eichael, or obviously Connor

McDavid, you know, Kyle Connor, Caprize off in Minnesota, but these are all cornerstones of their franchise, right? You know, no different than Caprizov in Minnesota. The Winnipeg Jets couldn't really look into the crystal ball and see a future, productive future, without Kyle Connor. And Kyle Connor embraces what Winnipeg is all about. He's one of those guys like Connor Hallibuck, likes the outdoorsy sort of life. He's got a young family. So it makes sense for him to likely tie his wagon for the rest of his career to the Winnipeg Jets. And I would apply that same log to Jack Eichael.

Now, Jack Eichael's getting more money, $108 million, a heavy front-loaded contract, right? But he sees the Vegas Golden Knights as near perfect fit for him. the Vegas Colonnite. See Jack Eichael is a perfect fit for them. So why mess with it, right? Just get it done and live your professional life the way you want to. We know that you're a contending team and you have a chance almost annually to win a Stanley Cup. Dregs, did any of these guys have a mandate where it was like this better get done before the season

or they pulled a Phil Castle and they didn't want to talk throughout the season? It seems like prior to drop of the puck they had to get these done. Was that a mandate for any of them? I didn't get that sense. I didn't. Look, I mean, you know, specific to Kyle Conner here in Winnipeg, they were talking on almost a daily basis. Kevin Shovelay off in the age, there, Rich Evans.

And as I said, you know, Kyle Connor made it clear he wanted to get a deal done in Winnipeg. However, the business side of things dictated that for the first time, the Winnipeg Jets had to pony up a signing bonus. $41 million. You know, it's not chum change. So there was an appetite to get it done. Nobody wanted it to be a distraction. And in a small market like Winnipeg, I can tell you guys,

this is like going into game on of a playoff series. Like the city isn't electric, but there's a buzz because of this contract extension. So I think McDavid didn't want the distraction, and Jack Echle is probably the same. They just wanted to get it done. But I don't think there was an actual mandate over. With Darren Dregor and Chris Johnston and C.J. You said you're down there at Scotia Bank,

and we were talking about this, you know, the Leaf lineup prior to you guys coming on. And we had Craig Baroube on yesterday, and, you know, he was pumping the tires of Easton, like he has for three weeks, and saying he's ready, and we want him up here, and maybe he will be available, kind of tipping his hand a little bit. And then Cowan gets called up tonight, and he's with the team, but he's not in the lineup, which would be Barube's decision. So how do we juggle this? Why does Barube love Houston Cowan think he's ready for the NHL, but he's not

playing tonight. Well, I think two things can be true at once. The Leaves feel that Cowan performed more than well enough in training camp that he earned a spot on the team. And that's, you know, that was reflected in the way Burrubay has spoken about him really since the early days of camp right through to hear the start of the season, you know, but the flip side of that, I think at the same time is, you know, they don't want to put too much on his plate.

And I think that they're kind of going through, you know, those two things. And, you know, really, it's kind of a weird last few days. I have to feel for Easton Cowan because he had such a good camp. It was all positive. And then because of the way the cap works, the Leafs sent him down as part of the gymnastics they were doing, you know, just for a day. But, you know, it means he couldn't practice yesterday with the team. And then rejoins them now. He's a scratching game one.

I mean, I would think he's a good bet to play in game two for them this weekend in Detroit. No, no guarantees if they win six or seven one tonight and everyone has a good. good game. It might be tough to take, you know, someone else out of the lineup at that point. But, you know, generally speaking, they obviously want to get him back into action here with the team, I think, pretty quickly. And if not, I'll go back to the HL. But the Leaps are in a tough spot with, with this player. Because I do think that they're kind of wrestling with what's the best for his development. But also, the league has changed the rules this year. And if any player gets sent to the HL, they have to play a game now. So it's not like you can send a guy up

You know, down one day, up the next day, and all of the stuff that we used to see in the past. And so when it comes to Stigalan specifically, I think where you're worried about or you're very cognizant of his development, you know, they're going to really have to plan when he goes down, when he comes back up. And so, you know, I get the sense that they don't have the exact plan in stone just yet. And, you know, they just want to ease his transition. But, you know, it's got to be a weird feeling for him, what they say, because everything was so positive in these last few days and, you know, all of a sudden it just feels like he's on the outside. inside looking in without a real clear explanation. It's so weird CJ because he was tied to his

line mates, Lawrence and Lottin and it was like everything was positive and when that went down, all of a sudden he couldn't play in the NHL which is a weird vibe for such a talented player. And if the Leifes do have success tonight and they don't change their lineup, you would think that's not good for Cowan. He's probably

got to go down. The one thing for his development is he's got to play. Yeah. Right. And I do think that that's not a bad big picture if he plays spends the first month in the hl i don't think that's the end of the world by any means i don't either and you know the best thing the best thing for east and count is he knew this year right there's none of this junior stuff anymore like he knew he's becoming a pro hockey player you know with the way the leaps have a set up here he knows he's going to

live in toronto and it's just a question of is he with the marlies or the maple leaps at any given time and um you know he's he's critically important to this organization i mean when when you're in the spot the Leafs are, you just traded away so many picks over the years. By virtue of that, you're not going to have a lot of prospects. And he's, you know, obviously at the top of their prospect list. He's moving into a player now. He's not just an

idea of a future thing. But, you know, getting him up and running, I think, is, they're going to do what they believe is best and be very thoughtful of this specific player. It's not just about the team. So, you know, I'm willing to give them kind of a little bit of time here to see what that looks like.

But, you know, I can't imagine you're going to see him scratch too often in the NHL. I think if that's the case, I'll just be playing games down at, you know, with the Barleys. With Darren Dreger, TSN Hockey Insider, Chris Johnston, our TSN Hockey Insider, Leaves, Havs tonight on TSN Radio. So from Montreal's

standpoint, they had a phenomenal stretch run down the stretch last year. Unbelievable, they make the playoffs. They go out there and acquire Noah Dobson this year. Where, what do you think the next step is here for the habs? Like, if they officially recognize themselves

as a playoff team. Do they feel like they have to continue to prove that? You know, they're still young. Demadov's here now. Lane Hudson going into his second year. Like, where do you stand on the projection of Montreal and the business that maybe still has to be done there? Yeah, no, there's still

work to get done there. They have some interesting storylines, right? We're still wondering, you know, about their number two center. In fact, you're looking at that second line in Montreal, and you could, in theory, put question marks beside all of those guys. And, you we've spent a lot of this, you know, preseason training kind of talking about Kirby Doc and

Patrick Gleeney. And, you know, there was some concern. They need Kirby Doc, a veteran experienced player with injuries behind him to get off to a good start, right? So by initially having him penciled in with Demidoff and Patrick Gleini, they felt like maybe that saddled him too much with the defensive cleanup playing with those two guys. So it appears they're going to give them a different look, but they have comforting going back. to that line. I look at their defense, and I mean, their top four is

rock solid. You know, they've got Kerry in their third pairing with Arbor Jackye, and maybe that's a temporary situation, I don't know. But I think that there's a real belief that they can go

deeper than they did a year ago. I think the way they played in the second half and how things came together late in the season last year, maybe went a little bit beyond expectation, but that's not where they're at right now. That's not. They expect to be a playoff team, plain and simple. And in the meantime, they've got that Lane Hudson contract extension, which, unlike Iko

and Connor and Connor McDavid, I wouldn't expect that this one is going to get done anytime soon. Why is that, Greg? That should be a layup, shouldn't it? After what's gone on the last few days, isn't that contract a layup for those guys to get him done? I mean, what is that layup? Eight times ten, oh? Because no Dodson's nine and a half, right?

Yeah. Well, if that's what he wants on the paper, then that's what you've got to put on the paper. Yeah, I honestly, I think it's been reported on well and fairly. There's a lot of emotion in that negotiation. You know, the family is heavily involved, and I think that wisely both sides have said, Okay, let's just put on hold for now, right? Cortex represents Lane Hudson has come in with a team approach now. It's not just one agent.

You know, Darren Ferris is overseeing it. Ryan Barnes is involved. There might be a meeting with Ken Hughes, the GM, Thursday, in Detroit. So tomorrow in Detroit, they haven't officially made that so. But it's a bit of a spicy meatball right now as far as the overall look at this thing is. So I think they need it to calm down. guys what did you make of the oilers continuing to do some business as the reverberations of Connor McDavid's contract extension continue to be felt around the league

how did you interpret Matia Secombe signing up for three more years at four million which is obviously a discount off his current cap hit of six million I mean is that is that a guy taking the lead of the captain or is that you know a little bit of a risk for the oilers given the fact that he is 35 years old and, you know, tacking three years on is going to put him into some precarious territory with injury and age. Well, I see it Dave as a direct, you know, fall trickled out effect, I'll put it from Carnar McDavid. I mean, you're right.

There's obviously risk at his age and, you know, he missed considerable time last year with injury and, you know, a lot of hard miles there, you know, been part of some long playoff runs and he's deep in an NHL career. But, you know, the flip side of that is this is not a free agent class as shaping up in 2026 as being overly strong. And in an alternate universe, if you wanted to test free agency, I think there would have been more money out there for a player like Matthias.

But he and his family love Edmonton. And I think it's a lot easier to commit to stay with the Oilers when you know McDavid's going to be there, you know, and you kind of have a better sense if you're in his shoes, you know, what those next few years are going to look like for the team. So, you know, I do see this as following the lead. And probably we can call this a small hometown kind of discount from at home because I know off the ice and speaking with him a little bit that that's been a place

that actually reminds me said of living in Sweden. I think he's really appreciated what it's been for his family and the lifestyle. And now the team has every reason to think they can keep being a competitor for the Stanley Cup. And that sort of cinches getting that deal done. well i'm curious if you know in a different world of mac david told them hey i'm leaving after this year would they have gone about business differently you know and i think that's kind of what you're driving at dave like you know mac david specifically said i like being here with the core guys and then immediately walman signs immediately at home signs in other words is mc david contributing

to that does he have that kind of power is there a lebron james element to this where we goof on lebron a lot. Well, he's getting this guy fired. He's getting that guy signed. He's getting that guy traded. You mean going to Ackholm and saying, I did it? You better do it too. Well, I mean, or, hey, keep back home because I'm staying and he's a core guy. You know, and if, like, is

everyone on board with all this, or is it, hey, we got to keep McDavid happy because he's signed for 12.5. Triggs, you can start on that. Well, maybe a little bit of everything. Do I think that, you know, Stan Bowman and Jeff Jackson go to Connor McDavid and make personnel

decisions, roster decisions? No. Do I think that he historically has had input and at times isn't afraid to share his opinion? Yeah, I think that all of that is true. And why wouldn't he? Right? He's the best player on the planet. He's a captain of the Edmontonauters. But Mike Johnson made this point on Monday night on our preview show, and I think it's valid. It was way easier. Obviously, Bowman and Company had been in negotiations with Jake Wallman, right? You don't announce Connor McDavid and then short time after Walman's deal gets done. But Connor would feel good knowing that, all right, we've got Walman done. Now we have Mattias Ekham.

These are two pieces that I'm comfortable with that we can win with, but you're not done yet. Like, are we good with goaltending? Let's see in 2025 games. You know, do we need pieces up front? Well, given the level of inexperience with certain players up front for the Edmunds, owners. Yes, Dan Bowman has some work to do. If not this year, then, in the next two, to keep McDavid happy.

C.J., we'll get you out of here with a question about the game tonight. You're down there in Scotia Bank Arena. This is the first time in 11 years Brendan Shanahan is not running the whole operation. Do you anticipate it looking, sounding any different tonight

in terms of opening ceremonies, in terms of how they unveil things? Game ops. Game ops. Because he was involved in that, like heavily involved in that. The Keith Pelley era instead of the Brendan Shannon area. Do you think it'll be different for the fan experience and what we notice at night one?

It's a great question. Honestly, I hadn't considered that angle to things. I do think it's possible. I know from speaking with people around the Leafs that they felt some changes behind the scenes, not just pursuant to Brendan Chanan being gone, but with

the change in ownership and Rogers, you know, having a bigger influence and ownership stake in the team. And so I do things are, I do think things are shifting a little bit. But, you know, I don't know if that's something we'll see or feel in this game. To be honest, I'm most wondering, like, what's the vibe going to be like in the ring? Is everyone going to be watching a baseball game on their phone? If the Jay's, hopefully, Vladdy hits another big run early in the game.

Is our people going to react to that? Like, it might be kind of a strange home opener just because there's such a big baseball game going on at the same time. But, you know, it's definitely the start of a new era. I can even say the little bit I've been around Leif's camp that there's been I would say a little more access granted to the reporters I think that that's something Keith Pelley if you remember talked about

in May but it seems like they're extending in all of branch I'm not hitting that on Brett and Shannon it wasn't his job to do those types of things but certainly there's big changes behind the scenes with the organization and I think it's only a matter time before we see some of those things manifest

itself and things that we can see or get a sense of at least in and the role I have here. All right. All right. Well, night two of the NHL. It's going to be a blockbuster this evening, man. You got Leaves Havs, Battle of Alberta.

You got Mitch Marner making his debut in Vegas tonight. It's going to be awesome. All right, boys, we'll let you get back out of it. Thank you for doing this, as always. Thanks, guys. There they are. The insiders. Chris Johnston, Darren Dregor, joining us from the Maple Toyota Hotline,

get in and go, where adventures take you and a new 2025 Tacoma for Maple tocoma or Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall visit MapleTotida.com. You think Keith Pelly was like, Carlton, I don't want you to come out there. I don't want you to bang the drum. I don't want the flag. I don't know. Totally different game ops.

You're being facetious, but Andy Frost was the voice of that ring forever until Shanahan showed up. That's right. And Shanahan decided he won't be anymore. Yeah. So that was one thing. The anthem singer, Shanney was all over. The anthem singer was different, what the song, the goal song was. Shanahan was involved in all of that.

So someone's got to be involved in that stuff. And I don't know what Keith Pelley's going to do there. I mean, Keith's a showman. Like you said, Dave. Like Keith gets, he's, it's the entertainment business and they're trying to win. And I don't expect it to be crazy different. I don't think it has to be crazy different. But, no, but Keith's talking about, you know, more fan access.

They're trying to give away tickets to the fans that don't get in the building on a regular basis. They're trying to make it more approachable. Now, that's not easy, given the Bay Street crowd and how they've jacked the prices and people pay it. And, you know, that's the free market. But that's the spirit behind it, at least right now. That's what Keith is telling people as he goes out and sort of, to your point, carnival barks and gets people hyped. Yeah, and when we had him on it at Bimo Field, like he was talking about what they plan on doing

in terms of access, in terms of production in the background. They hired Ryan Leslie. Access to what, though, Hayes, like. Well, tickets for one. I mean, I'm not saying they're going to give you, like, they're not giving away the building, but they're giving away some tickets to fans that don't normally get in the building. And they're just trying to make it, they're just trying to do some different things,

you know, ultimately. Like, one thing about Keith Pelly, I'll tell you this. Like, you know, he's, you know, when he was at the European golf tour, he was an innovator. Like, they did a lot of different stuff that the PGA tour wasn't doing. in terms of giving, you know, giving access. They made their social media channels a priority way before a lot of the North American leagues were doing it.

They were making the players more, you know, accessible to fans. That was a big push from Keith. I know that for a fact. And I think that's kind of what you're seeing here, right? Like you're seeing like, you're seeing the people involved in the team are a little more at ease in the way they're communicating. Now, it's easy to do that when you haven't played a game. They haven't played yet.

You haven't lost big games, but it is what it is, and I think that comes from the top. Well, and yes, and I think that's important. I've noticed it. It's been very early in the process, like you said. Let's see what happens when they lose five in a row and all that kind of stuff gets tested. And again, when Chanahan got here, he did some amazing things, some incredible things with this team, including the alumni, the retirement of the jerseys, ledges row. You know, fighting for an outdoor game. He did a lot of amazing things for this team

and Keith Pelley has been here he's been here I guess a year and a half but you know this is going to take on his image more and it's not just the Leafs it's the Raptors, it's TFC, the Argos they own a lot of teams and a lot of buildings they run a lot of buildings so he's a busy guy but he is an innovative guy that's been

in entertainment and sports and TV and media he's done it all throughout his career I am fascinating now that you guys just mentioned all the things Hayes is what are some of the stuff that we thought was awesome that Shanney did. What if he doesn't like them? Well, like... Kind of like, like, like, like, take down...

Get rid of Legends Row. Yeah. Get rid of Legends Row. Get rid of it. So there's going to be some stuff that maybe he doesn't like and how awkward is it that it's 10 years old and now all of a sudden, what, it's not going to be around or you're getting get rid of stuff?

That'll be weird and fascinating to follow. Yep, for sure. Yeah, and ultimately it comes down to what the team does. Like, that's obviously what fans want, and the large majority of fans in the city and the country don't go to games, you know, or have one game a year or whatever. But, you know, I'm curious what it looks like tonight. Opening night, the ceremony, it's something, again, the haves have always done great.

The Leafs have always fallen behind. Let's see what they have in store. Does it look, feel any different? It may not. And, again, the Js would be on same first pitch and puck drop is coinciding tonight. It's going to be a weird evening. It's a bit unfortunate, yes. But it's the reality.

All right, confirm it tonight coming up. Best bet still to come. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. Looking for a job, but not sure where to start. The Career Foundation is here to help. We support people from all backgrounds with job search, skills training, career counseling, and more. We also connect to you with top employers ready to hire, all at no cost to you.

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And maintaining a healthy weight. For more simple things that can help make a big difference in preventing dementia, Visit small steps, big difference.ca. I'll tell you guys one young superstar to watch and be interested in watching, catching a little bit of that Blackhawks versus Panthers. I don't know what those hawks are going to be up to this year, man. And Badard, it might be another year where he's just like, like, how many years is he going to be wanting to do that?

Well, they got outshot 17 to 3 in the first period. Yeah. and that's tough when you're a young team and the other team's old and they're missing players and they've won cups and they probably look down on you and I think they scored like two goals on like five shots and there's no bark off no kachuk and I don't know it was just watching it

there's some good young players there but it's like it might be just another miserable year for badard and the blackhawks which is unfortunate but it does have an Eichol Buffalo vibe to it that went to the wrong place they didn't have anyone else around you

you know the management just isn't going to be able to figure it out like Chicago went through like they obviously had that incredible run and then everything turned over and they went all in on Bedard and when you do that like when you when you go

all the way down to the woodshed and that's effectively what they did yeah it's very very tough to build back up It's very tough. Like Buffalo has been trying to build back up for 12 years. Think about those Buffalo fans watching Jack Eichol first go to Vegas and win a Stanley Cup and establish himself as just an elite two-way guy that can still score,

and he just re-uped for 13 and a half. I know. Like if you're a fan of the Sabres, you're like, that was our guy. But just what you mentioned, Hayes, there wasn't enough around him in Buffalo either. Well, and even if you go back and you can look at, flashback lineups for the Sabres that are really good. Yeah. And, like, it was Ryan Hart was there, and, you know,

they had actually a couple of pretty good defensemen, and they had, like, Lina Solmark and Net. Yeah, look, I got a lot of Sabres fans in my life. And they go, they do that list. Like, it's Eichl, it's O'Reilly, Ryan, you know, all these guys that have won cups, you know, O'Posos won, Sam Reinhardt, Evan Rodriguez. Like, they, they had a, look, to your point,

you look at their team, at certain points, their roster was stacked with guys who became, important pieces of cup teams. Right. In the iteration they were in Buffalo, they were a nothing team. It didn't work. It just didn't work. And it makes you, like, I think this is one of the great kind of questions for team builders.

It's like, why did they had the pieces? What were they missing? Like, what was the, the culture gets thrown around and is it coaching? Is it as simple as, you know, not enough leadership in the room because they were all too young at the time? And it took them a second team to kind of get their acts together. In some cases, that's probably true. But to your point, O'Dag, like this, I don't think we're going to be looking back at this Blackhawks team and saying it was dotted with guys who became important pieces of cup champions. No, I don't see that happening.

I mean, obviously, I could see Bedard becoming that. Well, year three, you know, he's going to hit. He's going to pop. Yeah. He's going to be a very, very good player. Oh, he made some plays last night where you're like, that's legit superstar stuff. But year three, like you're looking for something a little bit different than just getting caved in. And Felino happened to fight somebody.

Like, how many times do you have to play that game over and over again? It's got to be very difficult. Very difficult. And if it doesn't work in year three, why would it magically work in your four? Four, five. Exactly. If you're a disaster in year three, why in year four or five will it all of a sudden just flip and you're very good?

It doesn't work that way. You have to make incremental steps. You have to kind of, like look at the haves. The habs kind of dropped down and fell out. And then they had Suzuki. They had Caulfield, and they picked first overall. They took Slavkovsky, and they had picked Goolie one draft, and they obviously took Hudson in the second round,

but they had Montenbo's a little bit older. Like you go on and on and on about these different pieces where they realize we've got to slot this in, and we've got to get that guy, and we've got to get this better, and we've got to win a trade. We've got to take advantage of our cap space. Like there were different things that put them in this position where now they've taken steps,

and they're going to keep growing and growing and growing, and I think they'll keep getting better and better. but if you just, I think if you get rid of everything and you put all your eggs into the basket of one 18-year-old and nothing else is there, it's just never going to work. It can't. It can't. It's not basketball.

Yeah, exactly. It just, it can't. And that's effectively what Chicago's done. So it's tough to say you feel bad for Bedard. He still is playing in Chicago. First overall, he's going to get paid. His contract's going to be fascinating. Yeah.

Because he's an RFA after this year. and you presume he stays in Chicago, but if they are horrendous and he puts up a good year, 65 points, 30 goals, what's he going to get more than Eichol, McDavid? They'll probably ask for it. If it's an eight-year deal,

it'll probably say I want 14 or 15 million. And he'll get it. They have to. They'll literally be no choice for the Blackhawks to do that. I guess so. Because that's the ultimate situation where if you're his agent and he says, well, the team's asking me to take a hometown discount,

Now, you say to him immediately, do you trust this manager group to spend the money that's taken away from you on something productive? You might as well have it. Well, and there's no bridge deal. Now, maybe he looks for a bridge, but he hasn't been making the money so far. Right. You know, it's not a scenario again. Like, McDavid's been making money for 10 years. Yeah.

Yeah, but he might do the bridge, Hayes, and say it's same as McDavid, not obviously a different marching orders, but he might say you're getting two more years or three more years to get this right. And if not, you know what's going to happen. That would be my point anymore. That would be my suggestion to him. Just write it out. Yeah, just say, let's sign a three-year-year deal or whatever, four-year that gets you to a UFA status and say, this is it.

Now, you're going to have to pay me a lot for the four years, but you've got to figure this out and we'll determine if it's going to work for me beyond that. That's probably smart advice. You'd be like, I'm prioritizing my freedom here because you guys have shown me no reason to believe that I want to stay here long term. Yeah. Like, where is the feeling? Why would you have faith that they're about to turn it around?

Whenever we talk about the disasters, it is a feather in the cap of the least young players for the last 10 years because from the word go, Hayes, you said it every year, they're getting 100 points and they're getting in, and they did it. They haven't had the playoff success, but they weren't that disaster where everybody was like, what the hell was wrong with these guys? Like, they were automatic 100 points. They made the playoffs every single year.

Austin Matthews has never gone home on April 15th. at any point in his career, not once. And that was lucky in some ways, but also, you know, we talked about Shanahan. Shanahan put a lot of infrastructure in place for them to have that success. Yeah. Had Babcock, had Lou, kept the right veterans, and they got in, and then they established what it was,

and they just kept growing and growing and growing. And that's very fortunate, very rare. Like Matthew's first overall picked, walked right in, playoffs every single year. Pretty incredible. And he's been a big part of that, very responsible for it. He was greatest rookie year. He won rookie of the year. He's won hard trophies. He's done a lot.

He had running mates. Marner and Nylander arrived at the same time. Heimann showed up at the same time. Think about how good those players are. Like those four, because you include Hyman. Hyman's school 50. I totally forgot about Hyman. How many years has he been gone already? Well, it's been four or five

now. Time flies. But yeah, like you think about it, if they didn't kind of make the missteps they made you know like the decadry trade letting hymen walk for nothing or two that really popped to mind I mean winning a few contract negotiations well that would go a long way to happen

because we can and we will was not the thing to say when you're trying to go to hardball negotiations Mr. Dubus but that's water under the bridge water under the bridge a lot of money in many agents pockets but but yeah like it's give give Shanahan credit I'm with you

dog like you have to give like it's easy to run down Chanahan's time here because of all the heartbreak in April for sure and that and that's legitimate like this team is so unique in that it's been such a juggernaut in the regular season and such a disappointment in the playoffs there's almost been nothing like in an NHL history before before them right Hayes would say every training camp he's like I know or they'd struggle early and you'd be like they're still going to get a hundred points and every

time he said that I'd be like are they like are they really and sure enough they did man they got to a hunt hunch plus. It's almost... It's almost insulting to say this. And I've said it many times, so I might as well consistently say it. They're like a regular...

They're a regular season juggernaut. Yes. That's what they are. And they have been for nine years. A regular season juggernaut. Now, why that's insulting is because you have to distinguish regular season from the playoffs.

And it is truly unlike anything we've ever seen. And that's why when you start a new season tonight, you wonder, how is it going to be different this year? And we don't have the answers. Now, one of the core guys is left. They are a massive team. They're literally a really big team.

Like, they've got a lot of size on their team. I believe pound for pound are the largest team in the NHL. I don't know what that's worth. I certainly don't know what it's worth during the regular season. I think it's very valuable come playoff time. But they go into a new season. without Marner, without Joseph Wall, we don't know when he's going to return, a year older, probably a step slower.

Like there are reasons for optimism and there's some reasons for pessimism, maybe unlike other years in the past. Like I'm not sure what the regular season is going to look like compared to last year, the year before, where I was very certain they were going to finish with well over 100 points and be, you know, safely in the playoffs. This year, it may be a wild card year. wouldn't shock me if it's 97-98 points and they just get in but then in the playoffs

they perform better and Stoller stays healthy and these veterans that they brought in and the size they brought in and we'll see what they do at the trade deadline with some caps base to play with actually puts them in a better position and maybe Florida comes back a little bit this year because that's the thing like Florida

if Florida takes a step back and it didn't look like it last night but Barkow's not there Kach will see what happens to him this year They're going to have to grind, man, the Florida Panthers, man. Like, they're going to have to, like they did last night, chip and grind. They're not going to be playing Chicago every night. Like, it's going to be a grind for them, too. That's right.

A lot of the quality teams have been talking about how difficult the Atlantic is, and every night you're going to have your hands full. Like, not a bunch of layups. And we'd say this at the beginning of every year, Hayes, and then 15 games in, you're like, there's your layup in Detroit, there's your layup in Buffalo. But I don't know if it's going to happen this year. It may not.

And we saw that with the American League this year in baseball. where we looked around halfway through the season and said, who's the great team? Is there a great team? There isn't. And there wasn't. Houston wasn't some great team. That had come to an end.

Yeah. Right? And Detroit proved by the end, they weren't a great team. The Yankees and the Js, like there's very good teams, not great teams. And maybe that is the case this year. Florida's been a great team.

Prior to that, Tampa was a great team. Maybe it's just a bunch of very good teams. Yeah. And if you're the Leafs, that might be what you need. Now, it also might be what Ottawa needs for them to look around and say, why not us? Or Montreal, or Carolina, or Washington.

Yeah. Maybe. And I don't think you're going to underestimate how those young, the two teams you mentioned off the top, Ottawa and Montreal, they're a lot hungrier than the Florida Panthers to make a mark on a regular season, right? The Panthers are going to do the bare minimum to get in the playoffs. They've already done that and won a cup, right?

Yeah, but now they've got to try to do it without their captain, which is a difficult shore fest chuck no i agree like that bark if you talk to people around that team i know kitchuk gets a lot of the publicity because he's the most outspoken guy and the most charismatic guy but people talk about how barkov sets the tone on that team and and he it's the maris called it the barcove effect of the way he kind of builds this incredible team chemistry where the guys on the bottom of the roster are exactly as important as the guys on the top of the roster and there's no differentiation you can't tell who's who if you don't know who they are because of the way they treat each other which is not the case

in a lot of pro sports locker rooms. Oh, Doug, you'd know that better than anybody. So, yeah, I agree with you. Like, there's no easy way to put it. Like, Barkoff is massive for that team. I still think they'll figure out a way to get to the playoffs, but you're right. It won't be easy.

Well, starts tonight for the Leafs. The Habs, Boston, and Washington tonight. Tonight could be the last home opener for Alex Ovechkin. I think it probably is going to be. It feels like it. I think there was something in leagues where they were doing something every game, where they were making. some kind of puck or a ticket stubs, ticket stubs.

So when that happens, it's probably going to be his last year. I don't know if he's going to go play in the KHL, but. I think he will. He'll go over to the K and just get propped up for three or four years. Oh, yeah. He'll, you know, he'll, can you imagine his off-season workouts for the KHL? Like, he probably won't put his skates on, and we'll have an agreement. I'm not doing training camp or anything.

Well, that's what Jerry Jagger does. Jerry Jagger's playing at 53 over there. He just puts his gear on and goes and starts skating. He goes the team. Yeah. And do whatever he wants. And that's in like the Czech League. Yeah.

I know. But it's known, Dave, that if he doesn't play, nobody goes. So the guy has to wheel out there at 55 years old. I love it. Imagine still wanting to see that? He loves it, though. He loves the game. I understand that.

But like a ticket seller, you're in Prague. You've probably seen, you know, you guys have been playing for 40 years. Yeah, that's true. I got to go see Yager. He's playing tonight. I mean, he's the legend. You can, you know, every, there's always a new kid that wants to see the kid, but see the legend, right?

Some dad wants to take his kid to see the legend. Is he, okay. Yeah, I guess so. I guess I'm more of a cynic than you. I don't know. But I'd like to see him, like I, I'd still be interested in going to watch and play once a year just to say, hey, still out there. Can you believe it?

Ovi and the K is going to be something to see. Which is bizarre, though, because he could, like after what he did last, year he could string together two or three more solid years couldn't he like come on and maybe he will this is all predictions we don't know he hasn't announced anything but it it just if i'm putting money down i'm putting money on this being it for alex ovechkin he caught gretzky it's one is cop he caught gretzky contracts up yeah what else is that it's probably just i'm 40 now he's 40 got kids you know you just want to see him play in the k i do actually i really want to see him with no shoulder pads on.

I want a prime series on OV gearing up for the KHL season. I will watch that and I will watch that 15 times that'll be the new Seinfeld for me. I'll watch it every single day. It'd be good.

15 years. He could be like hockey's version of a place kickery. Like he just, he just like glides from the bench to the spot on the dot during the power play and just stands there. And like you tee it up for him and he puts it in the net.

He will. And what will be great is someone will take a run at him, and he will cross-check that guy so hard in the face and not get suspended. Because he's in Russian. He's friends with Putin. They'll be like, well, that was a great play by Ovi. Good play by Alex Ovechkin. All right, Best Betts coming up on the Toronto teams, both in action tonight. We'll get to that next. Looking for a job, but not sure where to start, the Career Foundation is here to help. We support people from all backgrounds with job search, skills training, career counseling and more. We also connect you with top employers ready to hire, all at no cost to

you. Whether you're starting out, changing careers, or returning to work, we're with you every step of the way. Connect with us today. Visitcarefoundation.com. That's careerfoundation.com. Changing lives, one job at a time. The National Institute on Aging presents great moments in preventing dementia. Like eating well to help reduce cholesterol. And maintaining a healthy weight. For more simple things that can help make a big difference in preventing dementia, visit small steps, big difference.ca. All right, best bets powered by Fanduel.

Make your picks and assemble the same game parlay in seconds on the Fandrell Sportsbook app. On the Leafs tonight, paying big minus money. I'm not going to touch the total in that game because last year it was a goaltending duel opening night. Remember, Montembow and Stolars were phenomenal. I think the Leifes lost 1-0, I believe. Right. One or two, yeah.

Yeah, 47 shots or something. I think the Leifes at home was not a great preseason. It was not a great preseason, but they are a veteran team. I think they arrived tonight, show up tonight. And I'm going to take the over in the Jay's Yankees game. I learned my lesson yesterday. How could you not? take the old. Yeah. Like yesterday I thought

pitching dual reverts back to standard playoff baseball. No. Crazy amount of runs and both teams just hit for power and that park induces that. Over in the Leafs tonight. Best bets powered by Fandole. The first inning means as much as the ninth when you bet baseball, playoff baseball on the Fandoz Sportsbook gap. Police play responsibly 19 plus physically located in Ontario. So we got hockey tonight, baseball tonight, get football tomorrow. It's going to be a beautiful thing.

Big break down tomorrow. How are you multitasking tonight? Are you just flipping back and forth? Yes, precisely. Couching, and it'll be a performance for the ages. Prime is coming to my house to watch me tonight. They will be videotaping tonight. That's all you do back and forth?

Absolutely, back and forth. All right, boys, good stuff. Thanks to everyone behind the scenes for helping out. We appreciate it. Everyone for tuning in today, TV, radio, podcast, Web, up on YouTube Live. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m.

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