OverDrive - OverDrive - September 23, 2025 - Hour 2 - Mike Johnson

Episode Date: September 23, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Jonas Siegel for Hour 2 on OverDrive! TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joins to discuss the biggest storylines around the Maple Leafs entering the season, Jonas hands out his Maple Leafs' wild cards for the season and Bryan hands out his FanDuel Best Bets.

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Power 2 Overdrive continues. Powered by Fandu, bringing you everything from the opening line of the final score. Brian Hayes, Jonas Siegel, Jamie Noodles, McLennan. We've got a list here. Is that what we have, Jonas? We do. It's a game. Well, is it a game?

Okay. Sort of. You've been working on things. There's a prop. There's props. Okay, we'll get to that in half an hour. We've got Jay's Red Sox tonight. Pretty nice night for a ball game.

Very nice night for a ball game. Roof open or close? Oh, I think it's got to be open. It better be open. Weather, like, the rest of the week is looking a little bit dicey. Yeah, a little bit dicey. It was a monsoon on Sunday night. Monsoon.

I was downtown at Liberty Village. It was outrageous how much rain was coming down. Like puddles. Puddles. Yeah, I slept through a massive one. These are the things that my wife. Hates you for. Well, she just cannot understand that.

Like those, I would say the biggest disconnect. we have is sleeping through big storms. Oh, the best sleep is through a storm. Oh, I was, I didn't, I didn't hear anything. And she was like, you didn't hear a house shaking? Yeah. Pretty disturbed by that. There's like someone paying

on the door. Yeah, there's construction workers walking right through the house. I had no idea what was going on. And I woke up, because she was like, man, what a storm. And I, you know, when you have that foot second, you're like, should I say, yeah, what a storm? Or do I just, like, cop to it? And I immediately was like, what are you talking about?

I didn't hear anything. And like stop in her, like, like mad at you. What? Yeah. How? Kids were up. I'm like,

I don't know. I was out. I didn't hear anything. You probably went to bed at one o'clock in the morning after all. Everything was done. Yeah. And just crawled into the rapper and had the best six hours. That shut down ever.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I didn't, I didn't catch that one. Are you a light sleeper or not? Sounds like not classify myself as a light sleeper. Like, do you hear, like, if the door opens? Well, yes, because I only sleep six hours a night. Like, I don't.

Generally, I do the same thing. Like, I'm up pretty late. Yeah. And then I'm up at, like, seven or something. Yeah. You know, you're supposed to get eight. Yeah. Who determined that, though?

It was time for eight hours. And who was the one that determined that? Because remember there was, remember there was a rumor, which I believe was debunked. Yeah. It was probably my favorite one ever, possibly, that you say Kikuchi used to sleep, like, 16 hours a day I remember this yeah yeah like he'd wake up

13 hours it was something like outrageous basically he'd wake up go to the park warm up pitch go home fall asleep yeah what a life like it was basically like sleep and pitch that was his life that would be I've played with guys who love their sleep

and could sleep anywhere get on the plane the plane sideways flying through the air the guys like blanket over their head sleeping. Like, I've never been like that. I've never, ever, I've always lost sleep. Excuse me.

Yeah, I lost sleep on a plane. I hate you. I can sleep on a plane. I'm so envious of people like that. I like a good sleep on a plane. Chris Johnson, like, we used to travel a lot to Leaf Games, and a lot of times it would be like really stupid early flights. And like, we get on the plane 615, bam, he's out.

Before even the wheels are up. I can't. can't do anything i'm just like sitting there like a zombie yeah that's your problem man and then like that's on you guys we land and he just gets up and like he's yeah i don't think i've ever done like a i've never slept like a full flight unless i'm like you know when i was younger and like basically all night or hungover so it just like i'm out and i wake up and i'm like whoa where the hell am i i did one but as an adult i've never done that i did one last year about six months ago. I flew

out to Vancouver for one night to hang out with my buddy. And it was his birthday party. And I didn't go to bed. I literally had a car picked me up at 5.30 in the morning at his place and take me back to the airport.

Yes. But I've done those. I got on the plane and I slept and the guy beside me was so cool. The minute, what woke me up was us hitting the ground in Toronto. That's a long sleep.

Vancouver. It's a five-hour flight. I didn't have one ounce of sleep, and I had way too many drinks. And I got on the plane, and he was so cool. He, like, once I woke up. Did you fall on him? Like, do you? Nothing.

No, I just was out, and he goes, big fan of overdrive. Oh, my God. Can you imagine, like, what I was burping in. Oh, you would have been a disaster. Like, whatever I was doing, this guy just was patient enough. to be like, hey, let's talk about the Leafs. At the end. Five hours after I hit the ground. Because you know he was weight for you to wake up.

So you can launch into it. What happens with Cowan this year? Exactly. Like literally. Big Stolar should be making $5 million per? Honestly, whatever we were doing, like he was so cool about it. And then I was embarrassed because I'm like, I have no idea what I did to that guy. Like, I might have been sleeping on his shoulder. I know. Who knows? Like, flights are weird like that.

Like, if you fall asleep, like, again, in pause. public. You just don't know what, like, because if you get, like, those are weird when you get to, like, the neck snaps and you're like, what is going on here? Druling and, like, what do you do when someone, like, falls asleep on you? Do you give them a little nudge? Yeah, I think it's totally reasonable to throw a Dale Hunter. Personal space. I always keep my elbows in between. You don't take the armrest control? No. And now, that particular, I'm not being a hero. I was lucky enough to upgrade. Oh, nice. But the guy was very cool. about it because I have no idea

if I did like the lap fall that I fall into his lap that I was usually I took the window and I was like leaning into the way that's the play the lean into the window especially if you can if you have a pillow or something like that I just felt bad like for a lot of people around me because I don't know

if the flight attendant came back and just looked at me as like I'm not even dealing with that lump in the corner. Do you snore? I'd say no. Yeah but I would know my everyone says no because everyone says no. Everyone says no My wife said the other day she felt I had, what's sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea? Well, that's where, you don't breathe, right? Yeah, that one's, those are the ones where you need studies. She said I snore from my throat, not my nose. Yeah. But she's like, I don't hear you breathe. Like, I think that's a corpse beside me. Sleep apnea tests are the most, the weirdest experience.

Is that where you have to wear the mask and everything? Yes, but you're, like I did one years ago at Sunnybrook, but they don't let you sleep. So you've got all these core Like they've got it Like you're supposed to sleep And you're loaded up with stuff You're like how much Apparatus on your head

Yeah And then you finally fall asleep And the woman Turn to your left I just fall asleep Like you know Like she gets over like The surrounds that

Turn to your right And I'm like I don't think I'm asleep yet Is it dark? Yeah It's very unsettling in there Very strange Thing man

Because you show up late And they're like All right You're in your room And like you can't have a book or anything, because they want you to fall asleep. Yeah. And so you're just like, you're in a hospital.

The hospitals are freak you out. It's weird. And then you get up early. You just want to get the hell out of there. Like, what are you wearing, like, to bed? No, I think they let you just sleep. I don't remember, to be honest. I don't remember, but it's really strange.

And you need someone to pick you up, which is the worst. Because again, my wife, this, we weren't even married. This was years ago. But I'm calling off the hook at like 545. I'm like, come get me. I got to get the hell out of here. Yeah. Which I should have just capped home or something.

I could have done that. Well, it is, it's a weird transaction. Yeah, it's strange. But I don't know. And I got a negative. They're like, now you're good. I'm like, well, then what the hell am I doing here? Like, who made this call?

Well, here's a question. How do you get signed up for that? Like, how did you, how did you drop into your lap? Basically, whoever you're sleeping with. Yeah. Like, and again, my wife is like, you got to go, I think, because she's up and she's like, yeah, exactly. And she's, you know, bothered by.

You're like Dale Griffiths from. Yes. Exactly. And then I call, like, they call, like, they call them. They're like, no, you're good. I'm like, well, then what the hell's going on here? What's going on? I did the storm in.

I'm like, thanks. What was that? What a waste of your time? Complete waste of my time. Anyway, Mike Johnson, Johnny's coming up here in a moment. He's downtown, right? He's at the Leaf Game. He's on TSM tonight.

He's been listening for eight minutes. There he is. There is. Wow. Look at him looking like a million bucks. What's up, Johnny? Listen, boys. We're going visual.

I am in the first row right behind the goaltender here. for that leaf we're talking. So I'll let you give the fans appreciation view today. I love it, man. That's awesome. It's good to see it. Jonas was mentioning it earlier that camp,

like the Leafs, it feels a little bit different this year. And we had a difficult time kind of putting our finger on why that might be the case. I don't know if you have a similar feeling. If you do, can you put your finger on why it feels a little bit different this year for the Leafs maybe compared to past seasons?

I mean, he's down there. He would have a sense. I don't know, Hasey. I mean, it feels to me like maybe having Craig Baroube for a second time around, maybe the Mitch Marner, if there was some sort of element of a distraction or on their heads at all, that is gone. But I don't know about this idea that, you know, they're lighter, they're freer, it's easier, it's fine. If they win, it will be all those things.

If they lose, it'll be none of those things. It'll be tight. It'll be grinding. It'll be stressed. It'll be all the stuff maybe that have been associated with the past few years. years but they're good they know they're good the one thing that might be different and i think this could be for a real benefit to the team is if the vibe of the team and we're not even talking necessarily on the ice but just everything dressing room all of it is less the four guys core

four core or whatever everyone talks about they don't want to hear it anymore and now it's more yeah we got some top players and we have some guys who are not as good as those guys but it's more collective, not four guys, and the rest of the guys. It's just the whole team like every other team sort of is in the NHL. Johnny, it's, you know, it seems like it's probably not a high event training camp because, for the most part, you've got a lot of guys slotted. Who do you get your eye on? You know, is it just as simple as the new players and how they are going to try and settle in with a guy like Austin Matthews or maybe Nicholas Waugh? Like, who you circle to kind of take a peek at to see how they settle in?

Yeah, I mean, I think obviously Machelli, he's going to get a run tonight besides Nyes and Matthews. That is the premium position in the lineup. He was brought in to probably play there. We'll see how he does there. And we'll see how whoever lines up with Tavares and Nylander tonight. It's got to be McMahon. But you think about it, this is one of the best teams in the league. They're going to be really good again.

And there is legitimate competition for a spot on each of the first two lines. Like that is probably more than most teams have. And while it might not be sort of high event, as you phrase it noodles, like there are more NHL players than there are spots. So Yarncroke and Kemp and Robertson, all the guys who kind of scored last game in Ottawa, those guys are all battling for something because there's Lottin and there's Lawrence and what's Ethan Cowan going to do.

So to me, there are pretty intense battles, not just maybe for important positions, but just roster spots. Because you have NHL players on NHL contracts who will not be on the NHL team, if everyone's healthy at the end of camp. See, I look at Robertson and Mike, like I'd be curious to know how do you evaluate him in the preseason

because every preseason he scores a million goals. I looked it up the other day. I think he's eight goals and 12 points in his last 14 preseason games. And it's like, if I'm the team, I kind of know that you can do that a bit. But like, what is, what else do I need to see?

Like, what would you need to be seeing from Nick Robertson in the preseason and that would change your mind. Is there anything he can do? I mean, it would be easy to say, well, play better away from the puck, and he really works at that. Like, standing between the benches.

I can tell that he is physically preoccupied with making good decisions. It's amazing to watch him. You can see his mind working, trying to figure out, should I go here, should I not? Should I chip it? Should I stick handle?

Because he wants to do the right thing. So maybe there's that. But I think the best thing that he could do is somehow latch on to other players who will be in the lineup in a consistent spot. So if he plays a couple games with Tavares and Nielander and does great, that's more important than him scoring with Easton Cowan and Cali Yon Croke. Because if he somehow helps someone who's not going anywhere as opposed to just himself, that would help his cause.

But I guess you just said, there's not a whole bunch else he can do in training camp other than try to carry it over if he gets the opportunity. But trying to find a spot that, okay, third line winger, that's him. that's where the other guys will shuffle not him which is an uphill battle in this camp but if he wants to make it that's probably what he's going to have to do with mike johnson or tson hockey analyst leave sense tonight on tsn four um berube was complimentary of eastern cowan and and ben danford like i'm pretty certain danford's going to go back to ossewa like i think he's going to go back to the o hl callan call is a different story you know like he's he's not

going back to the o hl what is what is what is your read on Cowan's chances of actually making the team opening night? I don't think they're great, not because he's not talented, because the same problem I just outlined, right? There's too many players. And he's

the easiest guy, no waivers, all the stuff we know about. And he could go to the American League and start, right? Power play, 23 minutes, first line, all that stuff that you'd like him to grow into more of than a lesser role that you have to play to make this lineup. So,

It's a challenge, meaning, I guess, playing away from the puck. Craig Brubay's big on being responsible and being diligent. But the other part about it is that when I watch him and I hear about how good he was in London and I've seen him play World Junior's, everything else, I need to see, for him, pace. Hase in his game that he can sort of get up and down fast enough because he's not the biggest. And he's probably not the strongest, and he's got tons of bite and grit and all that stuff. But he's got to be fast enough to get there to make plays. Because surviving on being steady eddy,

he will not make the team at all if he's a guy you don't notice at the end of the game, right? David Kamp makes the team that way. Easton Cowan will not. He's got to make plays to make a mark and to do so he's got to be fast enough. And that's the one thing I'll sort of be watching tonight but against another good NHL team.

You know, can he skate well enough to get to the spots to make the plays? Johnny, we're talking about the goaltending situation. The Hilda Beast, do you think there's a real opportunity here just with, you know, the uncertainty with Joseph Wall's situation? It feels that way. I mean, he would be the next man up, I suppose. With so much talk about Stolars and Wall, I don't pay that much attention to the depth chart of the Leif's goal-tending situation.

They have sort of random guys here and there, but, you know, as Matt Murray last year and Hildeby and whatever it is, but, you know, Hildeby played a couple games. He looked good in some, not so good in others. His numbers in the H.L. are not too bad. He's been there for a while. So hopefully, whatever's going on with Joseph Wall is, short term and he'll be back before we know it

and this conversation won't matter but if he's not or if there's an injury you know he'll be wants to play well enough in games like this and then games in the American League that makes it clear he's got to be the first guy up not that he's an option he's the only option and every start for a guy like that in a moment like tonight will matter because he's starting tonight's game I think so Jonathan Taves

making his debut tonight for the Winnipeg Jets yeah what do you expect that at Taves this year not going to lie to you i don't like three season games and they're like playing in them i don't like work at them i think they're they're not worthless i'm going to tune in to like i'm going to go home and i'm going to watch the highlights i'm going to watch that one back a little bit i guess what i'm expecting bare minimum hazy is um you know obviously very solid defensive minded if his body's right because at the end of his career last time we saw him you know he was really slowing down again the sort of speed of the game was was getting to him

so he wasn't as good defensively, despite all the things he does well. If his body's right, I know he's older, but he's also two years without any wear and terror physically, if he can skate. I'm expecting on that team, I don't know, 45, 50, 40 to 50 points, good in the faceoffs, out at the end of the games, killing penalties, leadership, experience of winning in the playoffs, something that the Jets have been having a hard time doing the last few years. I'm really cheering for him because it's been I don't know if you guys have read in the articles

or seen in the interviews it's been a really long circuitous journey to try to get healthy trying a whole bunch of different stuff and if he gets himself right I want him to be able to play something like he used to and so yeah if he can move well enough 40 to 50 points and playing most games and just sort of being an important

complimentary player to the guys above him Mike I have a maybe dumb question to ask you you guys can tell me Okay. As opposed to the usual ones you ask? They're always 10 out of 10. Everyone buckle up. I saw Chris Knoblock say today that he's going to play Dry Settle and McDavid together.

And obviously, I just think about the leaves. So, like, I don't, cool. Is it crazy to just play Nealander with Matthews and Nyes? Like, is that, why is that a non-idea? Non-a-dea, non-starter. Non-starter. There you go. Like, why not just do that?

There you go. because that line would be incredible, obviously. Would it be incredible to enough? And would the least be too easy to load up and play against? And, you know, I don't know where Tavares was, but we know Tavares had a great year, but his five-on-five driving days are probably behind him. And so you're going to have Tavar's playing with who,

McMahon and Domi, McMahon and Macheli. Those are wild unknowns. Wild. What kind of five-on-five production you could get at it? those guys? I just saw like Mike like go back to Boston it's not like they were like overflowing with depth on their second and third lines but like

they did it. Right. I don't, I agree with you. I probably wouldn't do it but why, like is it a crazy idea? Did they do it when they won a cup? No. Yes, sir. I, you know, it's not crazy and you'll probably see stuff like that at

times throughout the year and maybe you know, Tavares will slide up with Matthews and Nielander. Who knows? knows what they'll do, but I just think for 82 games, the burden that would put on that first line would be enormous. Now, they might be able to carry it,

but if I'm playing the Leafs, put yourself in the other team's room, Azy Noodles, like, okay, we circle that first line. If we stop them, we win the game, flat out. Because we don't believe anyone else is really going to score and hurt us. So, I would prefer to

spread it around. That would be more of a last option as opposed to a first one. Well, what's interesting is Knoblox, you know, trying to, his explanation for playing McDavid and Dry Settle was that he'll get more out of the rest of the lineup somehow. That's what he was trying to explain today. And I think his reasoning was they're going to get more minutes or more opportunity because everything runs through Connor and if Dris Settles on another line, everything runs through him.

I think he's trying to convince himself and the world that that's accurate statement. They're buying time until Hyman returns. Yeah. But, listen, it's going to be explosive. Like, if McDavid's playing with Drysidal, like, no one's stopping those two. What's the difference there? Like, do they have... If I guess, that's a good question.

I don't know. Well, you've got R&H on that second line. Right. So that's too bad. Offensively, he's no better than Tavares. Right. So you're right. Probably not.

But it's sort of the same except McDavid and Drysettle are better. Yes. As great as Matthews and Neil Lender, or Prasito and Drexel are better. Sure. Right. And also, they can play if they want. 25, 26. They can play so much together.

And I'm trying to wrap my head around that logic that the other guys might get more. Like, sure, they might get to advance the puck up the ice in their stick occasionally more off as opposed to giving it to one of those other two guys. It doesn't mean they're going to score anymore. There's no way they're going to get more points. But, like, Savoy, Nugent Hopkins, and Ike Howard are not scoring more than Ike Howard and Dryside.

title and whoever. Like, it's not, it's just not going to happen. So, you know, again, break in case of emergency, but it's day four of camp. Is it, I don't know. Hyman's a big injury, but that seems, again, no advice to me. I'm surprised they're doing it because he's moved Nugent Hopkins up with McDavid a lot in the past. I think it's just, for me, this is all lip service. Like, they've got to figure out who's going to play with who.

Obviously, like, is I, Howard going to be a guy who can play in your talk? six? Is Savoy going to be a guy who can play in your top six? Is that Thomas Sack going to be a guy? They know Mangiapani, they believe he can play there. They've got options. But the biggest thing is like, yes, in case of problems, break glass and put those guys out there and do what they do. Well, Ennoot was like you saw in the playoffs last year, they moved those guys around all the time. Every shift was September 23rd or whatever. There isn't a problem. But you know what? I'm not playing right now. Guess what we're doing? We're not talking about McDavid's contract for the 800th time right now. Should we?

Although I could spin it in two. Yeah, but noodles. You know what? I will spin it because if noodles is, if noodles, if noodles, if noodles, you like McDavid, if McDavid is concerned about how good they'll be in the future. Right. And how they will contend for the next decade.

Loading up him and dry cell together is not the answer that he's looking for. He knows already that works and dry settle is going to be there for eight more years. It's what the other guys are and what the other guys can play with dry settle like, what the other guys can play with him like because him and dry settle together is not really a decade long. solution, I think, for what McDavid is looking to have answers. So yes, we're not talking about his contract. But if he sits back with his group

and say, okay, we play the first 20 games. Leon and I are together. We got 45 points each. Like, we are killing it. But we're, you know, 12, 8 and 2 or 12 and 8 because everyone below us doesn't score. Then it becomes about his contract again.

So I don't know if this is necessarily answering the questions that McDavid might have about the depth of this team. Well, I think these guys have to, go ahead, Brian. Like, I was just going to say, like, conversely, if you don't play him with dry saddle, it's like, he's looking around, he's like, who's this, he's who I'm playing with. You know, eventually you have to. The thing is, is eventually you have to.

Yeah, but you've got to buy it. You got to believe it. You do have to. And I think one of those guys will push through. That's Savoy is a really good player. So is this Howard. Now, they're not big, but like, you know, they signed Pod Colson. The first guy did you see you put on his extension today.

You see the first guy on his Instagram was? Drysidal. loves him, loves playing with him. Like, you know, again, he's a straight line player. Sometimes you go, okay, this is a guy that, you know, maybe I've found my hymen. Maybe I've found the guy and goes and gets the puck for me. Yeah. Like that's the thing.

Exactly. Like, that's the crazy thing is talking to people out of Edmonton, it's like dry-siddle loves Pod Colson. Because Pod Colson's a good skater, he's heavy, and he knows exactly what to do. Go and get 29 the puck. So the challenge is find somebody to play with them. Like that's the, who's going to play the right side if they are going to split those two up? Because I think they are going to split them up. It would be asinine to start the season with those two going, okay, here we go.

And then the rest of you guys just kill time until those guys are back out. That was the formula four years ago. Why even bother practicing with them? We know they work. They don't need any extra time together. That's what I'm. Work on the other stuff. That's an unknown.

Don't work on the known commodity, which is those two. who are unstoppable together. But listen, Knoblox is a smart guy. He's got a good handle. And you mentioned some names that Tomashek. I've seen him play internationally. Mon Jampani. He scored, whatever, 35 a couple years ago with Calgary.

So they have names, but names that you'd like to see work with those two big guys and see which ones complement the other ones best until certainly Hyman gets back. Yeah. What's the dress coat on some of the players down there, Johnny? You see anyone walking in like slippers and just, you know, housecoat? Well, he's wearing a house coat, I guarantee you. So here's my So I was just down rummaging around

You guys have been And Dakota Joshua Walked in He was wearing like slacks and a t-shirt Like well like a nice one Not a grubby one But like that's it Totally looked nice

But the better part was I don't know if Dakota Joshua Has ever been in the Leaf's room before Right Because he probably has been at master Or whatever it's called The practice ring So I'm standing outside

Leifree's room talking He walks right past it And he looks down the hallway Down to where the media area is I'm like Rooms right here the big silver doors or the weight rooms back around the corner he's just never been here before i'm like um you know that's the sort of nuances of new guys forget about the uh dress code

who was pants and a t-shirt but just a new guy who's going to be a good player does not know how to get in the dress room and then they walked in the poor security guys like um you play for the leaves you they weren't sure who he was like yes let him in the line up come on yeah get him in the lineup come on and he's on time he's going to be here for a while i don't know this dress code like he's playing tonight Yeah, he's playing it tonight. Be a pro. I don't know.

Johnny's got chest hair throwing at us in through the screen. He's relaxing the dress code down there. Relaxed dress code. I love it, man. You're in by a dress code? Like, it doesn't matter. The day I get a chest hair, the day is tomorrow. It's coming for you.

But it doesn't matter, but it does look. It does look different. It's an adjustment to watch. Like, it's pictures. It makes no difference to what happens before the game. I will bet anything that John Tavaris walks in in a suit. I'm sorry. Yeah?

I hope he does. He does so. I'm telling you. I would say, like, noodles, my first four years in the league, I would have been like Dakota Joshua, pants and a t-shirt, whatever, pants and a shirt. My last eight years in league, I would have worn a suit. Because I would have liked the idea of I'm going to work. Like, it's different than practice. Like, this is a game.

This matter. It's like, okay, we're going to flip the script. It's serious. We're focused. We're taking time to be prepared. And part of that very symbolic preparation for me would have been put. a suit on. Now, maybe don't wear a tie, but whatever, put a suit on. But yeah, I don't

and the first thing, as we know, some guy's got to be wearing, like, track pants and a t-shirt, and you'll have a bad game. Like, see? He wasn't prepared. It'll be ridiculous. That bullet's in the chamber, man. It's ready to go for some of the pop. You know it's coming.

All right, Johnny. Well, enjoy it tonight, buddy. We're looking forward to catching you on TSN, and we'll do it again soon. Thank you for this. All right. There he is. Mike Johnson, joining us here on the Maple Toyota. hotline, get in and go where adventure takes you in a 2025 Tacoma from Maple Toyota

near Canada's Wonderland in the Maple Auto Mall. Visit maple toyta.com. It'll be a fun night downtown. You get the Leafs and the Jay's in action. Like Leafs sends, but still Battle of Ontario. There'll be some Ottawa fans. And Jay Sox, like Red Sox fans travel. There'll be people from Boston up here.

And there are Sox fans that live in Canada that'll be here for this series. Isn't Ray Ferraro a Sox fan? Yes, he is. Ray is a Boston Red Sox fan So I'm sure he'll be tracking In the Battle of Ontario Like we did see a few little dustups

Or some emotion the other day I didn't mind it Do you remember it ever being so extreme Where teams are now just sending Like mostly HL players On the road in the preseason I don't ever remember it being so extreme Not bad for Ottawa tonight

They got they have like cousins playing And Pinto I think might be playing But you're right Like That's like we're not sending any of our best person That squad that Toronto sent up the other day That was right Yeah, it was effectively.

And then Thursday they play, and it'll be the same thing. Yeah. And Saturday they're home. But, you know, that's why I think people are getting mad because these preseason games for management is like, okay, we want our top players to play at home, and that's it. And on the road, okay, yeah, we'll send guys that are going on. Like spring training almost. Yeah.

That's what it is. You play at home, but on the road, like vets aren't going on the road. And how do you evaluate? Well, what are you evaluating with Matthews? No, but I mean, like, so Robertson or Cowan or whoever. valid. Like, how do they fit? Who do they play with? They're playing against H.L. And they're playing in situations they're not going to play in.

Yes, like Robertson is not going to play 18 minutes. Yeah, he's not playing PP1 or anything. Exactly. So, yeah, you're right. But it's their own doing. They could send a real team. They choose not to. Yeah. All right, best bet still to come. Jay's socks tonight. Gossman on the Mount for the Jays. Overdrive continues.

TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, coverage for the Rider Cup on Overdrive. Brought you by Subaru. Again, we were mentioning Brandel Shamboli on the Golf channel just carving up Bryson saying he'd be a captain's nightmare like Bryson's a live guy brandle hates live he always has but um it feels like weird mojo with the americans like they're on home soil which is supposed to put them in a it always does put them in a very advantageous position new york beth page long island it's going to be crazy yeah you've got the number one player

in the world in Schaffler yet it the big story this week or one of the big story this week or one of the stories is I guess the players are getting paid, the American players are getting paid. The European players are not? The type of scratch are they getting paid? A couple hundred grand each. Not bad. But yeah, it's pretty good. But, you know, I was reading a thread today that, like, PJ of America is going to make a fortune.

Right. You know, the Long Island area will make a ton of money. The tickets are huge. So the players are, like, donating a lot of money. I think they're donating half the money to, you know, boys and girls club, or whatever it is, I don't know. Sure. But the European players aren't getting paid.

they're playing. They're like, well, we're playing for free because we, we do anything to be here. We'd pay to be on this team, but the Americans need to be paid. So they're playing that role. Oh, the victim. They're playing the victim. Well, it's not even a victim. I think it's a mentality. Like, are the, do the Americans really care? Are they here for the money, which is not? Moral high ground. Moral high ground. Like it. Yeah. Why not? Which one of those guys on the American teams are really struggling for $100,000? None of them are struggling for money. They all, like, have printed money in their career. And they would still be there even if

they weren't being paid. I don't think it's going to make a difference one way. It's bulletin board material. Precisely. And I wonder if the Europeans, if they get spanked here or they win next time, they're like, all right, you guys took the bullets, now we want to be paid. Yeah. Like you guys go first and we're going to pretend like we'd do anything to be here.

Next time, though, we'll get paid. Yeah. Coverage of the Ryder Cup on overdrive. Brought to you by Subaru. This fall, uncommon becomes standard. Hurry into your local Subaru dealer to get great value that you guessed it comes standard. Right, Jonas. do you have for us here?

So I was thinking about the roster, the Leaf roster, we're going to talk Leafs. And I was thinking there are a bunch of players who I would, I don't know if Wild Card is the right word, that's the word I landed on, where there's a lot of intrigue with their season, where it could go in one direction, it could go another direction.

I kind of don't know what it's going to look like. Okay. And the list ended up being longer than I thought. Okay. So I like it. Now, I will say Wild Card is a tough word with the Jay's doing what they're doing right now. It's a different connotation. I understand, but it's tough term.

This guy was using driver's seat the other day. Now he's worried about wild car. Well, I mean, you want to avoid the wild card is all I'm saying. Like, the J's, you got to win the American League East. But I got you. Okay, I don't want to disturb you. You got a good rhythm here. I put all the names in a hat.

You're going to pick one. Yeah, okay, I love it. You can pick it out. I love it. There's just numbers. Okay, number one. 74. Bobby McMahon.

Okay. Is a wild card because I'm actually thinking about writing something about this. He's like weirdly important. important to them because if you look at the players who are going to score you know the four are going to score right they're going to i don't know how many they'll get they're going to score then it's like you look like who else can i like count on to score he's like the next name right because there anyone else you think is going to score more than him aside from those four guys and you're talking nice matthews neelander tovaras yeah well

McMahon like last year he had a strange season because he didn't score down the stretch no but he you're right he hit 20 and then basically basically put his feet up and was like, I hit 20, and he didn't score in the playoffs, and so... But it's like, if I, like, I was thinking before the year, I was looking like, who's going to score 20? And I counted four, and then I was like, maybe McMahon.

Yeah. Maybe Robertson. Is there like a world where Waugh gets 20 goals? Maybe, but he's more like a 15, 16 kind of guy. Same with Joshua. Same with Joshua. Micheli's not... But they would need career years.

They would. Right? So that's why I look at McMahon, I'm like, they need him to have. Yeah, he would be the fifth option, I guess. And that's, like, important for them because, like, we don't need to mention his name, but, like, they're missing a chunk of offense. Who scored, who can score 25 or 30. Right.

So it is. It's a good scenario. But if it's not him, maybe it's Domi. Maybe it's somebody like that. I don't see him scoring a lot of goals. And that's the problem with Max. You're just talking pure goals or you just. I'm just talking pure goal.

Okay. Yeah, I mean... Because, like, and that's the other thing with McMahon. Like, he's going to play with the owner and Tavares tonight. I don't know that the playmaking element is there really with him. I don't think he has vision. I don't think so. Like, so it's like, if he's not going to score, he doesn't really fit there.

But what he needs to do is play to his strengths. He's got tremendous speed, and he can shoot the puck. So get open and move. Go get that puck and get it to the guys who can get you that puck. Now, John is a shooter, so is Willie, but Willie has good vision. So does John. They'll pass it to him if he's available. But Bobby's not a guy who screams, okay, I've got the vision.

I'm going to slow things down. I'm going to look at it. Like, it's straight line blinders. Blinders. But that'll get you 20 because I always think of that goalie got against the Oilers, where it was just sheer speed where he went around, Bouchard. And, you know, Bouchard was kind of... He's one of the fastest players.

in the league. His top speed is... So you look at that, like, he's going to give himself an opportunity for chances. It's what you do with those chances. So I do, I agree. I think he's around, he's probably their fifth most important offensive person. Which is something.

Wild. Like, he was scratched on opening. Yeah, well, he's fifth in terms of goal scoring. I still think whoever's going to play with Matthews and Nyes is higher on the total goal of importance. So I shouldn't have said offensive. I should have said goal scoring production. Right. But, you know, I mean, that's why he's a wild card.

If that's the nature of this game, you know, am I willing to bet he'll finish fifth in goal scoring? I'm not, no, I don't know if I'd put money on that. Well, if I give you 19 and a half goals from him, you take over. I'd probably go under. Yeah, like, I'd go under. You? Like, over?

A little bit? I'd like to go over. Okay, 22? Yeah, give him. Okay. In that range. All right. If he plays a full season and looks pretty good, like, why not?

Depending on who he's playing with. That's the thing. I don't, I don't see. It's a weird fit with Tavaris and Nielander. Agreed. Okay. What number do we have? 24. That's Scott Lodden. Interesting year for him.

Obviously, he comes over after the trade. I don't think it went great. He was supposed to be the third line center. He ended up finding a fit on their fourth line. That line was actually like sort of effective for them at times. You wonder what it looks like for him now. He's settled. He's obviously from here. If he can give them, I don't know, 15 goals, if he can play higher in the lineup,

if he's going to kill penalties, like he's an interesting. interesting piece. They paid a high price to get him. They need him to be something. And the bottom of their lineup is like more defined than I think it was in the past. And I think he's part of that. Career high of 18 goals. That's five years ago.

And that was when he was playing like 18 minutes a night for Phil. Yeah, I wouldn't be bracing for that. But like what is he? 12 to 15. He's like a gamer, but like what else can he do for that? That's the thing. Like defensively, he's not that strong. Nope. Like he's not super quick.

That's the biggest thing. I like him better on the way. I just saw he's 31. I always thought he was 28. Like I'm like, guys, he's been in the league for a while. Been in the league for a minute. Pretty old. It is.

Like, you know, a lot of the good teams around the league have age. Edmonton last year. Yeah, they're old. Like, they're older teams. They're veteran teams, you call them. Toronto's a veteran team. But it doesn't mean, you know, like a guy like Lotton still has to have a defined, trusting role from Craig Verubi or else somebody else goes there.

Well, he's paired with Lorenz. That's kind of his guy. Him and Lawrence on the fourth line. And who else plays on that line is going to factor into what that line's going to look like. If it's Yarn Croke and he's healthy, okay, there's some speed. Yeah. Right? Different style of player.

Can that have a positive effect on the offensive output? But I think when you're talking about a fourth line center, it's not just about offense. It's about overall play. Can he play tough? Will he fight from time to time, which he did when he got here? Does he get overwhelmed with the idea, okay, I'm a Maple Leaf and I'm in my hometown, which that might have clipped him a little bit last year. He is hard on himself.

He has spoken publicly about that, that he wasn't happy with his own play. I don't know what to expect out of him. Like, I don't know if he can get, I don't know if he'll be much better. Like I know he wants to. That's the question. And I'm pulling for him. Obviously the Leafs are pulling for him. It'd be great.

But there's never a guarantee. just because you reset and you say I'm going to be better. There's no guarantees it's going to happen. Before you brought up that name, I haven't heard it once. Yeah. We started September 2nd. His name has not brought him. One, it's like, what does a good season for him look like?

12 to 15 goals. And as we talked about, what you just said. Yeah, play tough. Hiffie, you know, him and Lorenz are a pain in the ass to play against. Penalty kill. Like, I think he would be used in that role. Yeah, probably off the draw anyway. So, yeah.

Like a trusted chief type of player. Get out there and do a job. Which is really what they're looking for out of Waugh and Joshua too. Like their third and fourth lines pretty similar. You know, I mean, like it's kind of veteran. Veteran guys. We don't know who else going to play with them. You know, like who could it be?

Could it be Domi, Mitchellie, could it be Yarncrow, could it be McMahon, Cowan, Robertson, Robertson, like of those guys who are going to fill in the other spots. but it's going to be Waugh, Joshua, Lawton, Lawrence, I think, and they're going to try to chip away. You know, it's really more of a top six bottom six than it has been. But you know what? Now that you say it is, it's almost like it's not a top six bottom six. It's almost like it's a top four and then everybody else.

And like everybody else could just go basically anywhere. Like Wa will be in their one center. Or top, top, top four, bottom four, the four names I just mentioned, are going to be on the third fourth line. and every other name has potential to move. Yeah, it's interchangeable. Yeah. You can pretty much guarantee.

There's four guys that are going to play in the exact same spot, for the most part, up top. Maybe that third line becomes the fourth line because of the fourth line's playing better. Like, you know, that's something you might entertain. If Lawton has a great start to the season, maybe it takes some of Waugh's responsibility. Who knows? But it isn't, you can probably guarantee those guys are going to be. your centerman, maybe it's one's the third line. Maybe it's more than likely.

Right? More than likely, but maybe Tavares by the end of the year isn't playing up the middle of the ice. You know, is it possible? We keep saying, well, they'll go out and acquire a right winger to play with Matthews. Do they go out and acquire a centerman if that's the best option? That's the guy who's available. Do you move tomorrow's running? I mean, that was a conversation

we had at the end of last year and it just kind of. Right. They did it two years ago when O'Reilly showed up. Yeah. So it has happened. Now, different administration here, different coach, different GM. Who knows? All right, do you have one more, Jonas? Yeah, one more than a little magic hat. This is like Harry Potter here.

Like props, yeah, like the sorting hat. Yeah, exactly. 81? 81? 81 or 18. And that's someone you just mentioned, that's Joshua. That's another guy who, like, you think of, like, what would a Craig Barubei player look like? Probably something like Joshua, like he's going to be physical.

I just wonder, like, he had a really rough year for lots of different reasons last year. What does it look like here? you mentioned the role we kind of know where he's going to fit maybe does he can he score a bit like can he give them some offense can he just be more than someone was just going to be physical every night

you know what I mean yeah and I think you need that over you know three million and yeah because like in Vancouver he was playing higher in the lineup at time two years ago he was he was a huge part of their success right and I think it was it was blueger and who's the other yeah they had connected on a line yeah I don't

was it Garland maybe might have been Garland but it was like he had a real identity and an energy line and he scored and that was the year they won the West, you know, first place in the West and he was a big part of that. If you could lock him in and him have a good season

as your third line left winger, you'd be comfortable with that? Yeah. I would. But there's also a world where like maybe he ends up on a fourth line with Lott or with Lawrence and like maybe I don't know. Like maybe they look at maybe they'll get into the season

they'll look at the bottom two lines and be like, these guys can't score enough, we need to move things around. But you don't envision anything where he goes from third line left wing to a second line left wing if McManus not like... I mean, I wrote about the other day. Like 19 different guys have played with Tavares and Neander. I could see anyone playing with those guys. Yeah.

Yeah. I do think everything's got to be on the table. Yeah. Okay. Good stuff there. The sorting is. I don't mind your list. The starting hat there, right?

What do you think what house do you think you'd be in, Jonas? I don't know. He'd be slither in a hundred percent. What's the good one? Gryffindale? Gryffindor. Is that the good one? Yeah.

That's where Harry and Hermione. Did you? You know that when I read the books, I read the first few books. The books are good. And I had never seen the movie. Oh, wow. I was calling her Hermione in my head. I'd never seen that name before.

What's her name? Hermione. Hermione. I'd never read that name. So I was like Hermione, Hermione, then I saw one of the movies and they're like Hermione. I'm like, who the hell's that? Hermione.

Because what kind of name is that? I don't know. Hermione, I've never heard of that name before. I've seen the movies. You're at Slyther and Jonas, 100%. Is that like the... Can you be a combination? That's where...

What's his name? Tom? The bad guy. Malfoy. Malfoy. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, we don't like those guys. Well, obviously, those two behind the glass have read them and... Oh, yeah.

They're good books. I'm serious. Dugie goes to, like, Harry Potter Cosby nights. He literally, exactly. Like, literally. is dressed up with Harry Potter at some point. 100% trying to wheel Hermione somewhere. He actually looks like Harry Potter a little.

You put a little round glasses on him, that's Harry. Get a little scar on that forehead, doogie. Yeah, you'd be fine. All right, although he didn't hook up with Hermione, right? It was... No, it was Wheezeley. Jenny Weasley, yeah. I know way too much about Harry Potter.

How do we end with Harry Potter? All right, Best Betts coming up. Jay's Sox tonight. We'll get to that next. All right, today's best bets powered by Fandu and make your picks and assemble a same game parlay. on the Fando's Sportsbook app going big game hunting here with the Jay's

tonight. Pay and minus money but coming off and off day, I like them at home. I love them with Gosman on the mound. So Jay's money line tonight, Gosman over five and a half strikeouts, he's been brilliant recently. Vladdy to record a run, George Springer to record a hit.

I think Springer shows up big tonight. He's been leading the charge. He was really good on Sunday. Vladdy was good on Sunday. They punched their ticket. 90 wins. They win. You party. Day off. back home, reset, six games left, all at home, socks, huge series. I'm on the Jays tonight. There's your parley.

Best bets, powered by Fanduel. First inning means as much as the ninth when you bet baseball in the Fandall Sportsbook, yeah, police play responsibly 19 plus, physically located in Ontario. It's a big one tonight. I am. And you're tracking the scoreboard, too, what the Yankees are doing. There's a two-day rule after drinking. I know.

That's the only thing they got to shake off the cobwebs early on. That's the only worry for me. I understand that. And you also got Guardians Tigers starting tonight. Like the Tigers, you talk about an 18-wheeler. That has been a mess. Well, and Cleveland's been so hot. And they're red-hot right on their tails.

Their game behind them. That'll be a good thing. Like if they can find, they might, like if they sweep them and starts tonight in Cleveland, man. That, what a reversal. Now the tigers are fighting for their lives. That is. Period. From where they were?

They were top team in the American League. I know for a long time and now they might be the third wild card which is crazy and then they play Cleveland and if the Jays can win it'll be Boston, New York and the other wild card

winner of that we'll get to Jays like what a playoffs we're about to get it's going to be outstanding all right so we got that tonight Leaves preseason on TSN tonight Leaves Sends as well we look forward to it

all right Jonas good seeing you man thanks Joe Siga from the athletic great stuff everyone behind the scenes thank you for tuning in today TV radio podcast web and of course up on YouTube live on TSN's YouTube channel we're out of here. Enjoy your evenings. Enjoy the games tonight. We're back tomorrow at 4 p.m.

We'll chat then. Seasoned gamer or just video game curious, this weekend gaming is the podcast for you. We break down the latest in the world of video games, from basics to beyond. The hottest gaming news, insight, and industry leaders, and more weekly. Join me, Naomi Kyle, and stay ahead of the game with all the latest updates. Even if you're a total newbie. stream this week in gaming on the free iHeart radio app or wherever you get your podcasts