OverDrive - OverDrive - September 25, 2025 - Hour 1 - Darren Dreger/Chris Johnston

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

Join Bryan Hayes, Jamie McLennan and Frank Corrado for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The discuss the Blue Jays free fall, Yankees catching up to the Jays, Scherzer's struggles in December and Kirk being thrown out at first by an outfielder. We also welcome Darren Dreger and Chris Johnston for a TSN hockey insider roundtable to discuss latest on Easton Cowan, Stolarz' possible extension, why Kaprizov might make more than McDavid and more!

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For the first time ever at Budweiser stage, October 4th and 5th, featuring Renee Rapp, Casey Musgraves, and more. Stream now, online, on your smart speaker, and on the free IHart Radio. app. This hour of overdrive is powered by Fandool. Fanduil, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score.

All right, here we go, overdrive off and running. TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, up on TSN4, Brian Hayes, Frankie Carrado, Jamie Noodles, McLennan. What's up, boys? What's going on? It's a little uneasy. It's a little uneasy. I'm not going to lie.

Well, we have breaking news. Alejandro Kirk has made it to first base. He just got there at 4 o'clock. I'm sorry to end that game. Breaking news. He just got there. Was he on the 401? No, he was. He took a long route.

He was running a slower Santander with the... Yeah, with the home run track. 41 seconds. You know how embarrassing it is to get thrown out by a right fielder at first base? It's absurdly embarrassing. I was not sure you were going to go there right off the bat because I was like, did I just see that?

I was watching it. The game was over. I was back and forth, but I flip back and like game over and like, oh, you got thrown out at first. The same guy that stole a base this year. Yeah, that's right. He stole a base this year. But that is, that is, that encapsulates what's going on for them right now,

in a nutshell, right there. That's the personification of the last seven games. Yes. That right there. They've lost six of seven. They can't hit. They can't produce runs. And they've got guys getting thrown out at first by a right fielder.

Like, what was crazy, about that is watching it. The camera obviously pans to something else. And then went back. Yeah, Dan or Bucker like, ah, there's a single he's there. The rally caps are out. Like, it was crazy to watch it live

and to experience it live. And then he's got the goal to go into the dugout and do the, I'm pissed off slamming my helmet routine. What are you pissed at? Yeah. How about get out of the box a little bit quicker? How about working your 40 speed? There's

Al's brother on his way to first base. The concerning spin is already happening from John Schneider, too. Like, if you hear him talk about it after the game, like, listen, at the end of the day, like it's, we're still, we got the tiebreaker. We're still in first as of now. You know, like, I was just waiting him for him to say, like, if someone told you back in April, would you have signed up for that? That's what it kind of sounds like a little bit.

I would sign up for 90 wins, for sure. Yeah. But the way this is going down is what's concerning. And the Yankees don't, I mean, now that. They don't lose. Yeah. And what do you think they're going to lose to the white socks? Like, they're not losing to them.

And that's the thing. The magic number is four. Right. But it's clearly going to have to include wins from the Blue Jays. Right. Like the Yankees are not losing four straight now. That's not going to happen. What is this all?

Paint me a picture here. Okay. So here's the picture. All right. On the left side, Jays have the socks tonight. And you got Louis Varland opening this evening. Yeah. Right.

So we'll get into what happened last night in the whole. whole scene. We've got the socks tonight and then the Ray's on the weekend. And the rays are a pesky team that have always historically played the Jay's tough. They have yeah. And it's, you know, who knows where the Ray's heads are at? They're coming in, their season's done. U-Hauls, but

hey, let's finish strong. The weather's going to be beautiful in Toronto. The patio season is still alive. There's a chance some of the guys get after it and maybe the Jays get lucky. But the Jays don't want to pitch Gosman on Sunday. Like that's a nuclear option where you got to pitch them, possibly to win the

American League East. You don't want to really do that. On the right side, you've got the Yankees playing the White Sox. That's a win. And Baltimore is just like Tampa, but they're in New York. Right. So Toronto's a great town. New York's a great town. I happen to look at the weather. It looks pretty nice down in New York. But you think it's just like patio central

for the guys? Yeah, I think there's a very good chance that the Orioles are rolling through town. And you guys know baseball. Like last pitch, the 27th out of the 162nd game for a losing team, you don't even shake hands. been in the room with the St. Louis Cardinals, and Tony Laruso walks in and goes, okay, guys, see you later. That was it. There's no exit meeting. And half of them are probably going. No, no exit meetings, no like, hey guys, like come together. We had a good season. No speech,

no nothing. Guys are bolting like their cockroaches. Yeah, right. And the lights came on. That's what LaRose, I was standing, like literally sitting in the dugout, like, or sorry, in the dressing room. In the clubhouse. In the clubhouse. In Mark McGuire, all. Chris Pronger and I were sitting there. And Max, like, I got a flight at 6 o'clock. We've got a rain delay. Like, let's get this going. Let's get going. Call the game or not. Right. It's one of the other. We're out of here. And Larissa goes, it's called, guys. See you later. Well, you look at the odds. And Joe just had them up. To win the ALEs, the Js are still minus 122. Yankees are basically a pickum, plus a hundred.

Go back and find this, a rod, like a week ago, I'm pretty sure that Jays were like minus 350, I was going to say, wasn't it, I swear I thought I saw 500. It might have been minus 500. What do you think happens when you lose six out of your last seven? Well, exactly. Like the Js were, they had a five game lead a week ago, a week ago. And what is, what makes this such a peculiar viewing experience is they're in the playoffs. Right.

They've made it. They have 90 wins. Right. They're making the playoffs. But it's a psychological roller coaster because there isn't a Blue J fan alive. I don't care what you're trying to be cool. today or pretending as if you were, you know, oh, no, you're Zen and you see everything. There isn't a Blue Jay fan alive a week ago that didn't think they were winning the American

League East. Not one on earth. Buddy, I could have told you that in August. I understand that. But August is still 30 or 40 games. Right. Like 10 games is different. When you have a five game lead with like 12 games to go, that's totally different than August 20th,

where you're not wrong. They were still in the same position. but it is such a difference between putting your feet up, ALDS, games one and two at the dome, you guys go do your thing with the wild card. See what happened. Now, wild card action where I don't think this is possible, but I said it a week ago that this may not have been possible. If the socks went out and the Jay's loose, you might have to go to Fenway for the wild card.

Like that's how crazy it's getting here Why I asked to put it up What's the scenario they've got out of their last four They don't have to win all four No well they do They have to win all four if the Yankees went all four Because they're they're tied in the win column But the Js have the tie break

Right So the magic number is four Any combination of Jays wins Yankees losses So do the math But if they go play the clip for Each team goes two and two the Jays are in The Jays are in the math

That's four You got two Jays wins, two Yankees losses. If the Yankees win out, guess what the Jays have to do? If the Yankees go 3 and 1 and the Jays go 2 and 2, the Yankees are in. The Yankees are into the ALDS. Do the math, and Jays are in the wild card. Thank you, Dino from Hamilton. You could do the math, and it can check out, and in theory, everything can look fine.

But the fact of the matter is, like, the guy that you thought was maybe going to be your night one starter in Scherzer, because you thought he had something going. He couldn't even get out of the first. He barely got out of the first inning last night. It's like weak contact being made on balls. Like it's totally different than we were doing shows in the summer and it was like, it was like a well-oiled machine. Everyone was contributing, guys that like couldn't even play in the lineup anymore,

like Joey Lough Perfito. You couldn't stomach the fact that that guy wasn't on the roster anymore because everyone was contributing. You're right. And now you can't find it. You can't find it and you don't have the pitching. It's like the worst possible. time for the worst possible combination for this team you're right

burser looks old i don't know why you know what i mean he is i know but my age he hasn't looked he hasn't looked old or anything like all year and now he looks you see you know it's you know it's telling is you see him like i guess vladdie senior's been in town yeah and he's in there and like shorts and a t-shirt i'm like that's an old guy that's an old guy at the gym that's me i look like i got baggy sandler stuff yeah and i you know you look you're just kind of down there and then Trey your Savage is there and you're like, that's a young guy. Yeah, exactly. And that's the reality.

He's not a young guy. And you're right, Frankie. Like, when Joey Leoporffito had to be sent down, people were crying in the streets. How could we do it? He's contributing. But there's no room. Everyone's doing great. And you know what's crazy now is the conversation around

a guy like Scher went from man, it's just about health. Because you know when he's going to be rock solid when he's in there just about keeping them in there. And now what? Like, it's not about healthy. Well, it's actually about performance. And it's not just him. He's healthy, but he's out there. He's healthy. And he said that after the game. He's like, that's what's so frustrating. I feel great, which means it's purely stuff. He's just getting hit. Yeah, he's like, I got to pitch better. But you're right. That's on the table. Because again, you're going to the wild card.

Right. And the way it sets up, if you're going to be in the wild card, he lines up as your first starter. Now, I don't think that's going to end up happening. I don't believe he will do that, but it is a legitimate conversation should Scher ever pitch for this team again. Like, it's a legitimate conversation because it's he's going to. Spoiler, he's going to. I think you're probably right. Two weeks ago, three

weeks ago, that wasn't an assonine. Listen, crazy to think. Let me break this down for you. This is like a Shakespeare play. Shurzer rocked. Rios a gas can out of the bullpen. Terrible. Which is crazy. Which looks so foreign to him. Well, he's, you see him on the

bench? He's doing the man spread, too. He's like, no one's allowed to sit on the bench. Like, he's out there. He looks, it's in his own head. You can tell he's yes. He doesn't know what he's doing. He comes in, he gets mashed. Vladi tossed after going 0 for 3. Yeah. And then Kirk gets thrown out by a right fielder down the game. What is the most out? Out of all of that, what's the most outrageous? The 100% Kirk. Probably. Probably Alejandro Kirk. Although it's not at all surprising. I guess if you go back in, if you go back in time, it's Burrios in the bullpen.

Right. Right. Because I didn't see this one. coming. Probably Barrios in a bullpen coming in, getting lit up. But, like, to add insult the injury, the 27th out is Alejandro Kirk, just musying down the line. There's got to be an alternate angle of him. Like, he didn't, because you're right. You watched it live. I flipped over and watched the replay, but they didn't have. It's an auto cam to someone else because action is happening on the basis. The director goes, go over here because that's a base hit. Yes. And then all of a sudden, you're right. He's out. Oh, he's out. And they got to pan back, and he's just trying it. It was crazy. But there's got to be, with all the camera angles, a camera, an iso cam of him and his effort to get there.

Maybe they didn't even want to. Like whoever's in the truck, probably doesn't want to embarrass him or whatever. They don't want to throw him under the bus. The Vladdy thing, like him getting tossed last night is obviously frustration. But sometimes, like, you know the way it is, those moments, you know, guys can sense someone's a little upset, a little frustrated. he's taking it out on someone. They can spark something. It's obviously not happening, didn't happen last night.

It's barely a protest. It's a weird, like I get you. It's weird though because he's showing him up. You can't argue balls and strikes. I guess what I'm getting to is like maybe that gives a little spark. You're trying to get galvanized. Yeah, everyone gets galvanized. Like, you know, a little bit of reinvigoration from the dugout.

They probably need that. They need that spark. It's not pretty, man. When you start losing games, I don't care what sport you're playing. and you start losing games the way they're losing, that kind of permeates the same way winning was permeating them earlier. You're right, Frankie, but the thing is,

also conversely you look at it and say, are these guys unraveling? Like, there's a difference between showing emotion and understanding. Like, I always like, I think Schneider's great, comes out, stands up for his team. I think he said what he had to say post game. I think that was the right tone.

Right, like you just, but he knows what his team needs or he's got that gut feel. I don't want it to feel force. Like, you know, to me, a guy like Springer, Springer shows that emotion. Vlad, you know, arguing maybe he's trying to spark the troops, but there's a difference between, okay, now the team is unraveling and you've got to be careful there because you've got to get back on the rails. You've got to play.

Well, and that's the thing. There's also a balancing act. You've got to pick one lane. Do you spark the flame and say, let's be fired up and go out there and act like crazed dogs? That's not really a baseball mentality. Right. That's a football mentality.

That's more of a hockey mentality. That's not a baseball mentality. Like Schneider's saying, be cool, calm, collected. 90 wins. We're still in the driver's seat. We've got the lead in American League East. We're going to the playoffs. So he's saying be cool, calm, and collected.

So which one is it? Because if it's the latter, then you have to completely compose yourself and come in here and you have to settle down. And I like that he addressed the umpires after the game. Why don't we play this clip? Because, again, this is the thing that people are freaking out. The umps are against the Js.

Yankees are on a pedestal, you know, this is, everyone wants the Yankees to win the ALDS or go. That's such garbage. Of course it is. Here's what Snyder said post game. First and foremost, we're not losing because of umpires, right? That's just like, let's let's get that out there. We're losing because we're not scored enough runs. So it's a borderline pitch.

I think Vlad is frustrated. I think a lot of guys are frustrated. But again, man, it's not about a call here or a call there. It's about stringing together good at bats and, training together productive innings. He didn't say anything. I think the hand gestures were enough. You know, that's what Gabe told me, which, again,

I don't want to feed into the narrative that the umpires are screwing us because they're not. We're not scoring enough runs. Yeah, absolutely. Like the last week, the last seven games, this is the most abysmal offense you can supply. Yeah. And you can produce.

Like, they cannot produce runs. Their OPS as a team over the last seven games is like under 500. Yeah, not good enough. So exactly a month ago, the Jays were minus $3.50 to win the ALEs. August 25th, you were probably in here with me. On September 15th, they were minus 1250. That means the Yankees were paying big plus money. That's, you know, that's, what is that, eight days ago?

Eight days ago, they were huge favorites. And again, that's startling, man. That's really crazy stuff. Have the tie break. I love what John Schneider said there because, listen, And far be it from us to tell fans how to be fans. Everyone's entitled to their opinion. But it feels like when the Js are a good team.

And this happens sometimes I think when like Canada's playing soccer, we all turn into like the rules experts. And it's like they're out to get us because we're like the little brother of, you know, whoever. Yeah. It's not the case, man. Like that's a, that's a strike against Blattie. And then the inning next, I can't remember who was pitching,

got a like a very favorable call for a strike three call. Yeah, it goes around coming around. We were talking about. why we always talk about the bounces. It goes both ways. Exactly. We were talking about it yesterday. They had Leslie Nielsen behind the plate the night before, the night before.

And those were terrible calls. Terrible. Now the one over third base, like that's, that's, we're talking an inch or two. But that, that strike to get Springer out, like he should have had a melt down there. I guess the big question now, you're asking yourself, if you're the Jays, if you're in that clubhouse, how do you just flip it the way it got flipped on you and find the mojo? that you had for, I don't know, two-thirds of the season, essentially. Like, you had it where it was in cruise control, and everyone was playing great,

and everyone was mashing, and Vladie was doing his thing. It's not that easy. Anytime you're in a slump, it's like two steps forward, one step back, or one step forward, two steps back. It doesn't flip that easily going the other way. And there's certain things, I always say this, and the only reference I have is, you know, the sport I played in the position I played, you can't try harder in certain things.

You can't bat harder. You swing. Exactly. Like for his goalie, I couldn't stop the puck harder. As much as I wanted to stop the puck. Sometimes it was counterproductive because I'd be rigid and working hard and chasing and opening holes. Like, to Schneider's point, relax and play,

that you know how to play. That's how you get out of a slump. These guys might be in their own heads. Like, you can run harder in the field. Kirk can run harder. faster to first base, but you can't, you know, bat harder. You've got to relax and do what you've been doing all season long. And it's also the feeling now, though, like,

you're going to give up a hit, then you're going to give up a run, and the last thing you want to have happen is the dugout goal, man, I've seen this. There we go. Here we go again. And when that happens, you're so screwed. That's why Scherzer's a problem right now because he can't get out of the first inning. With a bagel on the board. Is that three games in a run now?

Yes, he gives up multiple runs in the first. inning every outing. So it's like he's coming off the mound. It's 3-0, and the bats are asleep. Yeah. And it's interesting that the Js are favored tonight, again, considering the way they're playing, and Louis Varlane's on a mount. Like, Varlane can pitch, but he's an

opener. He's going to give him like an inning or two tops, and they're minus 138 on Fandole tonight. Sox Pan plus 118. I will say this. Garrett Crochet is a B. I was just going to say that guy is an animal. That guy throws nasty. 97. Every pitch. He was at 99.

with ease, and you're right, and his off-speed stuff, like his, it was, he is a beast, and that's the thing. If you play them in the wild card, that guy's waiting for you. What's your answer to that? Exactly. At this point, you don't have it. You probably don't. And listen, Bichette's out, that's significant.

I don't know if he's coming back, but it shouldn't lead to this, because this is a complete nutter meltdown. It's such a shame haze, because the body of work for the Blue Jays this year has been unbelievable. It's been outstanding. Outside of like, you know, some Hoffman stuff and some weird bullpen stuff, but like everyone, to a man, has been excellent this year.

And now at the worst possible time, you can't find any solution. And you're going to, you know, potentially not finish first in the ALE East and drop yourself to a wildcard spot that's significantly unfavorable towards you. Yeah. That's tough, man. They had a long run, like a long run where they were the best offense in baseball. Yes. Like it wasn't a week.

It wasn't a handful of games. Like a long run where, now, was that probably biting off more than the, they could really chew? Probably. Like, was it reasonable to expect that they'd be the best all year? No. But it was coinciding with their rotation that was pitching great, and Bieber was coming on. It was just positive after the positive. You know what, though, we talked about it. Everything Jay's was coming up. Jay's. Oh, yeah. You see it score seven runs? Yeah. Jays will score eight. And it was these comebacks and, you know, down three in the ninth. No problem. Let's, you know, let's do walk off in the 10th. You see in Keegan's suite there?

Burrios to the IL? Oh, you're kidding me. Right elbow inflammation? Well, they went out to the mountain to see him last night, too. That's right. But I thought that was like a pep talk kind of. Yeah, no, I know. I did not see that, but that is concerning.

Well, let's hope we didn't get catfished here. Arod sent it. No, JP, he got in our ears, too. Oh, yeah. Okay, good, good. So that means Bassett is on the IL, and now Burrios is on the IL. Can we get Minowah back? Let's go back and pretend that that didn't, you know, they didn't just designate for a Simon

Manoa. So, okay, Barrios is on the I-L, and right elbow inflammation, scary, man, because that guy has never heard. Right. But that's the kind of thing you worry. Like, I don't want to. Is that a bullpen thing? Is that a byproduct of him coming out of the pen?

I don't know. It might be. I mean, it might be, yes, days are all mixed up. It might have a middle finger attached to it as well. Like, you know, these. Could be? Yeah, you're right. Because he's like, are you guys going to do this to me?

Hey, Pete Walker, come take a. look at my arm. If you've been such a creature of habit and routine and you've always been a starter and all of a sudden now you're doing something different and it's like, yeah, body's not exactly used to that. That's also pretty quick. Like that's, that's not hey, he's going to show up today, C.O. that's, you're

on the I. Like he was pitching 20 hours ago when he's on the IL. Like usually it's like, well, he's going to take a day off and we'll see. That's not good. That means they've seen something because it says he's in route to get an MRI. Yeah. Like that is right. Which means

he hasn't even had the MRI and they're placing on the IL. Now again, they have four games left. So you do have to consider that. Like it resets for the playoffs, I believe, and if they get to the DS, if they win the ALE East, it'll be a very different story, and they need arms. They got an opener tonight. They don't have any more

days off. So if Brio's is not available to them, they've got to put them on to bring someone up. Yeah. And I guess Paxton Schultz is coming up. But this is, I don't know, this doesn't feel like hyperbole to say, but this is the worst possible scenario you could ask for right now. It's flipping away. Can't score runs. You've got an opener tonight.

Barrios on the aisle. Like, I can't think of one more thing that could possibly go wrong for you. And Bichette on the IL. Boreos IEL and unless Scherzor can't pitch. Like for me, if you have to, like if something happened to Gosman or Scherzer has the ass grab or, you know, the back pole or something like that, that's where you start to, you know, be very, very consistent. Even if Scher does have the, the ass grabber of the back pull. Right now you're going, Cosman, Beaver, and you're

struggling anyways. You need to. Yeah, exactly. Like, it's kind of wild that they're going to be looking at a kid who got drafted last year and made his debut like not even two weeks ago. And they're going to hand him the ball tomorrow and be like, we need you. Or Saturday.

This is not just like a, hey, get your feet wet start. It's like, we actually need something here in a big way. Now, maybe they win tonight tomorrow and the Yankees lose tonight tomorrow. And then the weekends a party. Yeah. but is that likely? It doesn't seem like it. I don't know.

So you got an opener tonight, Beaver tomorrow, you Savage on Saturday, and you might be looking at your Savage saying, dude, we need like six out of you tonight. We need a big win. Yes, and we need innings. Because we can't score runs right now, so we're going to need to win this thing one or two runs. All right.

Well, Jay's sucks tonight. Burrios on the IL, Basset on the IL, Scherzer's not looking good, Bichette still hurt. You sound like Frank Costanza right now. Yeah. George. Yeah, what the hell's wrong with you?

You know, like, it's fine. Steinbreder called George is dead. Call me back. What do you need? What do you need is somebody to step up on? Maybe. Maybe Vladdy just goes, I'm having it. I was waiting for that last night.

Like, his first at bat was just a horrendous, horrendous at bad. Yeah. Dribbler up the middle, weak swing. His second one, Gonzalez made a brilliant play. single up the middle, the C&I single that found a way through. And he strikes out and gets tossed. Like, he brought nothing to the table last night. And he could be the guy.

Like, he could be the guy that moves it. The guy who changes is it. He has to be. At some point over four games, he has to. Well, you're hoping. I'm not saying he's got to do it four straight games. He doesn't have to have 15 hits in the next four games. Do it one game.

But you got to give us one. I think it's okay over the course of a season to say, like, Vladie has been a great ball player and he's provided a lot. when you pay a guy that much money, you're looking for the moment. Like that's what comes with these guys, right? Chips are down, dug out needs a little bit of a spark. You got to supply it. You had your moment last night where you got pissed off at the umpire, you got tossed. That should be out of your system now. Like, it's got to be focused and whatever determination you can possibly have to do something. Because I think

that, like that goes a long way. Listen, he leading the guys. He's probably going to have, let's say, 20 at bats left the regular this season. You know, he's through the math. He's got to give you six or seven hits for sure, and he's got to give you two or three of those at least minimum

where they're extra base hits or home runs. Do the math. How about get the 25 gangers? Try to get the 25 dingers. Sure. Give me 25. But give me, give me production because you've got like 20 at bats left and then we'll reset.

Yeah. All right. Darren coming out. Chris Johnston will join us. We've got Luke on the clock today, Owen Wilson on the clock with the Battle of the NFC West. We've got Cardinal Seahawks tonight. This should be a really good game. And Elisa in Montreal playing the halves on TSN tonight. You guys are doing panel work tonight.

So we'll look ahead to that as well. So we've got the insiders coming up. We got Brad Faxon on the show. Faxe will join us to tee up the Ryder Cup. Cannot wait for that. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. All right, overdrive continues.

Powered by Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Brian Hayes, Frankie Corrado, Jamie Nudles McClennon, there's Darren and there's Chris Johnston. What the hell is this? What are we all doing here? Why are we? This is the greatest thing ever. This is DJ. It looks like a million bucks. What's better than one insider? Two insiders.

Especially one on the road sitting in his vehicle pulled over, yeah. Going for a massage. Oh, man. That first week, I didn't get to where I was supposed to be doing this from, so I'm stuck in the car on the side of the road. You have those sensors on with the rain? You have those, remember those things

were going off like crazy in your car that one time? No, the car is off. There'll be no noises. Oh, my God. Okay, yeah, that was good, man. That was driving us crazy. That was a great hit, too. That was like right around trade deadline. Didn't I have something goofy like that, too? That was my smoke detect. Yes, you did.

Yeah, you had the smoke. That was all around the same week, and Brian Hayes was, he was not having a good day out. I'm like, there is massive news coming out, and I'm like, give me your take on this. Nah. Okay, moving on. We'll try to adjust. That was a kitchen fire, too. It wasn't anything else.

It was no good. 100%. Well, it's good to see you guys. Thank you for doing this. And we're getting close. And let's begin with the lease here. I guess we'll start with you, C.J. In terms of Easton Cowan and the fact that he's playing again tonight,

like what is your indication of what Burube is telling us here, what tree living's telling us here? This is all three games. Easton Cowan's playing. He's playing with Lotton and Lorenz tonight. Are they, in your opinion, giving him the floor to make this team? Absolutely. I mean, I think it's clear they're at least giving him the chance to have the kind of imprint that he would need to have to stick around to start the season. And, you know, reading between the lines a little bit, some of the things Craig Brubay said.

Even today when, you know, he was asked about it by the reporters, didn't really want to give much of an answer. That kind of tells me that this guy's in the coach's good books right now. I think that, you know, that they're encouraged by what they've seen from them through camp, but, you know, you're still 10 days a little bit more away from the start of the season. So it's got to, you know, be a day-by-day process in terms of what they see. But, you know, right now I do think that he's, you know, made a pretty good initial impression here, and they're going to keep giving him that opportunity to go out and win a job and start the season with the Leafs. Yeah, and I think there's a template here, and that would make sense for Easton County.

there's nothing wrong with putting them on that line with Lawrence and with Scott Lotton and you know teaching him the grinding side of the National Hockey League a little bit more but he also complements those two guys right I mean Scott Lotton has to find a way to produce more offensively and you could get some of that out of Lawrence as well but it's not like Greg Barubei is saying all right well you're you're going to be stapled into the bottom six with those guys until further notice no he's going to throw him a bone as he did the other night. He's going to give him a power play opportunity, and maybe

we see more of that inside the regular season. But I think when Barube acknowledges that look, I'm not giving anything up in terms of this guy being a lock to make the Toronto Maple Leafs, I think that's managing us to a degree as well. He

knows that Easton Cowan is a hot commodity in the media circle. He knows that, right? So why not just say, hey, I don't want this guy's head growing any more than it needs to? He just needs to drill down, keep the confusion out, and make the team first and foremost. Well, with Cowan in the mix, and he certainly is in the mix, and it looks like, you know, Chief wants to give him a good long look here in the preseason.

Who is, you know, who's on thin ice? That's my, you know, David Camp. It feels like Robertson and Cowan. Like, can they both be on the same team? Like 12 forwards, opening night, can you have a scenario where Robertson and Cowan are both playing? But you got Robertson on 1.8 and change, right? Right. Because the Cowan gives you the same as Nicky Robertson or more than it's Easton Cowan's job.

Sorry. Short answer is no. I don't think you can. And especially the way Baroube and Tree Living want to build this team, like they obviously made a point to get Dakota Joshua, big, Nicholas Waugh, bigger guy. Like, they're going bigger, so why are you going to double down on the same kind of stature of guys? Listen, I'll give Nick Robertson credit because he's obviously working very hard. heart. You can see the effort, but when you're not built that

way, it's hard to do over the course of the season. So he's fighting an uphill battle. And the same goes for Easton Cowan, but Easton Cowan has a higher ceiling at this point. Right. Yeah, well, in terms of the other guys on the outside looking in, David Camp, Callie Yarn Croke, C.J.,

you know, and Dregs, you can chime in as well. Like, I would assume if they wanted to move off those guys, the market would have presented itself by now. They would have done it. So what, what happens if you've got a scenario where Camp isn't going to play or Yarn Crow possibly isn't going to play, what are the Leafs going to do with these guys?

Well, it's going to be waivers. I mean, I think that there's, the reality is some kind of players going on waivers for the Leafs unless they have a whack of injuries and that sort of shuffles the deck in terms of the numbers. But you know, I think Camp is the one, the obvious one to highlight as being

on the bubble. I mean, lost his job towards the end of last season after the trade deadline and the additions they made there. and he's still got, you know, another year beyond this season on his contract, which is, I think, part of the challenge in trying to move a player like that. And let's face it, most teams are on the league, you know, no one's lost a game yet. Everyone's got too many, you know, numbers in camp. And so it's just not really a time I think where most teams are looking to make an addition.

And so, you know, I think if worse comes to worse and there's, there's no other way to reduce, you know, this forward group by one, then you just put someone on waivers and you set them to the Marley's. they don't get claimed by another team. Yeah, I agree. And look, I mean, Trilliving has made it clear he wants to add. You know, his coach would like to add, bring in a top six. Well, how do you do that? Well, first of all, you do have to figure out what your numbers look like down.

They've got an abundance of forwards. And the players that we've talked about, we know that they've been shopped around for months, for months. Like, dating back to last trade deadline, and the market hasn't been there. And that includes Nick Robertson, David Camp, and Callie Yarncroke. So, you know, the organization is ultimately going to have to bite down hard, either find a trade fit that isn't great, but it moves out a body. How you do that, I don't know, because, you know, Toronto can't sweeten the pot too much anymore. You know, they're trade capitalists.

They've given up a lot of assets. You've got to be careful in that regard. And also then, if you're adding, who's available? You know, there are some players that could be signed. Tricy stuff, but they could be signed. They could be pieces. and the trade front right now, same teams are lucky at the same players. Like Brian Rust, I mean, go down on the list.

It's hard, Raquel. Yeah. Let me ask you guys this. You saw Barkoff went down with injury today at practice in Florida. Like Vasilevsky's not with Tampa right now. Don't you think the path for the Leaps to win the Atlantic just opened up way more than it was going into the season? Like, I think there was, no, think about it. There was doubt around like them.

They didn't win it last year. Yeah. The Leafs did. The Leafs. Yeah, no, I know that. Did they not win the Atlantic last? Yeah, they won the Atlantic. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

That's what I'm saying. I'm saying, I'm saying with Marner gone and the team looking different, it's like everyone just kind of said, well, the Leafs can't do it again. Like, Florida just won a Stanley Cup. Don't count out Tampa. The Ottawa Senators are a good team that's up and coming. Like, everyone's going to have to deal with their own stuff. But, like, are we dismissing the Leafs too early? I think that's a good point.

The Atlantic Division. Like, we'll find out Barkov, and you guys can speak to it if you know, have any. info on him. But like, Kachuk's not back until December. That might turn into January. Like, if you miss him for half the season, he's just as important to them as Marner is to the leaves. And Kachuk's not playing. So, yeah, I'm with you on that. I'm just saying it feels premature to say like, yeah, there's no way they can win the division two years in a row without Marner. I don't disagree. I think you can, they have to be in that group to be favored. Right. Because Florida doesn't care. They don't care. They don't care about a division. They don't

care. Tampa, I think, is a different story. Yeah, Vasilevsky is missing a couple days, but, like, I, you know, who knows what that means? Like, I don't know. But the end of the day, all these teams are pretty good. It's how they start and the health of their group. You know, that's the biggest thing.

And at some point, someone's got to care, because you still have to get to 100 points. Exactly. Like, you have to care enough. Agreed, and CJ, you jump in here as well, but when's the last time? Let's just make a terrible, dark assumption that Barkov is going to be out an extended

period of time long term. It looked like that way. We just saw the video. I mean, it's ugly, right? And we're not going to guess and be the radio doctors, but it doesn't look good for that right leg, whatever the capacity is. When's the last time Bill Zito sat back and said, hmm, yeah, I've got cap space now with a guy

on long-term injury. I'm just going to see how it all plays out. No, he's like a guy like... That just doesn't happen with him. He's waiting for a stock to crash in the stock market so he can buy it and then it's going to go up like 500 percent is what he does yeah Seth Jones Seth Jones 2.0

they've got they've also got Anton Lundell just sitting there right I mean he doesn't get as much love because of some of the other players there but I think if they need someone to step into a top six role for a period of time in the regular season you know they're comfortable doing that I mean I'm with you guys

though I don't think the Panthers you know a bunch of their guys are coming off three straight cup finals like the irony of Barcove getting injured today that was the first day a lot of the veterans have actually skated with the Panthers. They actually gave their guys an extra week to work themselves back because

they played so much hockey. You know, for them, it's going to be a matter of just qualifying for the playoffs. So Frankie's original point, I don't think any of us should discount the possibility the Leafs are in the mix for the top of this division, but there's just so many unknowns right now. Even the Joseph Wall situation,

just, you know, how long is he going to be out? You know, as much as Anthony Stoller has had a great season last year, Obviously, he's never been a straight number one guy, so, you know, does it get to the point the Leafs have to bring in someone else, or is it Hildeby? I mean, there's a lot of questions, I think, with every team in the division, and including the one that plays there in Toronto. Yeah, look, I know we're going to talk about this is part of our intermission coverage

in the regional game between the Leafs and the Abbs, but, you know, as he should be, Trilling is kicking tires on what goalie-depth looks like around the National Hockey League. And, you know, they have a lot of faith in Dennis Hildeby, and how he might further develop in that role if he's part of the tandem with Joseph Wohl on the sidelines, but they have no timeline for Joe Woll. They don't.

So that would encourage the general manager to make calls. Noodles might know what he'd be looking at in terms of who might be quote unquote on a scrap heap somewhere, but they may have to bring in that level of depth. So you look at guys, and you know, the only reason

I would bring these names to the forefront, CJ, you can probably weigh in as well, is everyone in Evanston's talking about maybe the oilers going to grab somebody off waivers too. And it's Dawes, it's DiPietro in Boston. It's, uh, it might be Connor Ingram, who was waived

by Utah. But are they significant upgrades or are they just NHL players? That's basically what you're looking at. And if you believe, now the Hilda Beast is playing again tonight. Yeah. So, you know, they're trying to give him as much time to play and settle in if they do envision that Joe

Walt's going to have an extended leave of absence. Right. And what's the latest with Stolars in his contract? Yeah, like, we're getting close to go time on the start of the year. I don't think he's indicated that there's a drop dead date. I don't believe he's indicated that.

And Chris jump in, but I mean, they talk every other day, and that's Elaine Waugh and Brad Trilliving, right? So there's no animosity here. You've just got a goaltender who doesn't have the same level of games

played as some of the comps that are being thrown out there, like Lankinen or Melka is another one. So you're dealing with, okay, is it a three-year term, a four-year term, or a five-year term? Well, Leifes would much prefer a three-year term.

They might have to settle on a four-year term at four-and-a-half, maybe slightly above, four-and-a-a-a-v. I expect something is going to get done, but I don't know that it'll get done before the start of the year. Chris? Right, well, and the one thing I'll say is, you know, I would caution I say it's a drop-dead date because, look, it's a fake sort of deadline or a soft deadline. But, you know, he's been given a chance to talk about Anthony Stollars, and he said he wants to focus on this. season when it gets going so you know it's if if they may be off for him but what he exactly what he wants on october 15th i imagine he still looks will accept it yeah but you know i think the time to really grind on these negotiations which what seems to be happening now you know effectively has

to be done by you know october six seventh date somewhere in there so caprisov going into his final year ikel going into his final year uh Kyle connor going into his final year are all of these guys connected to connor mac david are they waiting for mac david to kind of set the bar not that they're going to reach it but if Caprice have turned down 16 million maybe he will maybe he can like CJ how does McDavid in that contract

negotiation if it's going to happen or if it's not going to happen affect the other guys I just named you know it's funny it depends you ask on this one and I've kind of kicked around on this idea with a lot of the people that represent the players you just mentioned and you know some basically say

look my guy knows Connor McDavid's in a class of his own even as great as my The player is, it doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with ours. Ours is just about, you know, X, Y, or Z. But then, you know, I do think that there is an element of, you know, the bar is being reset here. You know, if Capriso gets more than $16 million, it's possible he's actually going to be paid higher than Connor McDavid on his next contract.

I mean, I'm obviously getting a way ahead of myself. But, you know, I think if McDavid ends up staying in Edmonton, it's going to be hard for him to, you know, really reset the bar because, you know, part of what's held that up, of course is his thoughts about what the team will need to do to stay competitive and part of that will be needing money and flexibility to sign other players and to make trades and to keep improving the team around him to a degree that I don't know that he could go way above that mark so we are at this interesting moment in time you know I don't expect Ico for example to leave Vegas you know as much as that as much as that hasn't produced a deal just yet I think that's one

of those ones where both sides are pretty comfortable you know Dregs is reported about you know Kyle Connor and the Jets, you know, being, you know, pretty well down the road, at least in having conversations and having a lot of things in common, even though they haven't got all the details lined up. But Caprizov is a bit of an X factor, and, you know, I don't know how that's going to shake out there. I don't know if he really wants to leave Minnesota. I mean, there's a lot of misinformation flying around about him, but he could end up getting paid more than Connor McDavid. I think that's, you know, not because he's a better player, but maybe just the circumstance is bouncing his favor that way. Yeah, and some believe that, look,

ultimately the deal that Caprizov turned down eight years at, what, $128 million, is the deal that he likely will end up accepting. You know, we'll see how it plays out. Individually, each one of these negotiations is tricky business. As C.J. mentioned, the feeling is that Eichol would like to stay in Vegas. Kelly McCrimman is excellent at this kind of stuff and moving the chairs and making sure that the pieces are...

But he's not going to make that level of money. Kyle Connor is an interesting one. I'm sure there's a mutual appetite for him. to stay, but I think that he's pushing hard on what the structure of that contract looks like. It'll be a minor type of deal that miners signed with Vegas in terms of the

AAV. Winnipeg does not, they can't afford to give out the big signing bonus money. And so what if the player goes, nah, you know what? I'm okay with the AAAV, but I'm digging in. I want that front load of money, and maybe that's part of the reason why it's taken this off. And what if Caprisov gets it,

Panarin gets it, Eichel gets it. Like if you're in that category, you're like, well, Why am I forfeiting? Well, there's guys way further down the list. Like in Toronto, they're handing fourth-liners get bonus money. Right. This is the thing, no. You said can't afford or there's a difference for won't.

Yeah, exactly. That's a very wealthy organization. That ownership is. The guy who owns it's the richest guy in the country. I believe I could be wrong on that. They have a different philosophy. There's a difference between can't and won't because I think that they... Language is important.

Well, I think they can't afford it. But there's a difference between won't and... That would be my add to that, but maybe I'm wrong. Okay. There it is. The Insiders Roundtable, Chris Johnson, Darren Dregger. Great seeing you guys. Thanks for doing this.

You bet. We'll catch Dreg's on the panel tonight. Great seeing you, CJ. All right, Luke coming up in studio. Brad Faxon coming up ahead of the Rider Cup as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on the TSN app. All right, Luke's coming up in about 10 minutes in studio.

Brad Faxon will join us. Faxon down at Beth Page. Foresums tomorrow morning. Poor balls in the afternoon. Did I say something? I don't know if you guys talked about it. The Ryder Cup. Let's throw some dress shoes on.

Let's throw a tie on. See the Europeans look good. Like, prim, proper, made a big deal out of it. The Americans, they got the white sneakers on. They got no ties on. Rider Cup. Yeah, you're right. That's one of those, like the prestigious thing.

It is. Style things in the moment that you can tell is going to look awful in the future. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like, you know how, like, anyone, you look. look back on pictures from the 80s, 90s, whatever, you're like, man, how was that in style that looks terrible? Yeah.

But in the moment, maybe you thought this a good idea or whatever. Every once in a while, something will happen. Like, you'll look at something in the moment. You'll say, that is going to, you're, in 20 years, they're going to look back and say, what the hell are we thinking? 100%. We're wearing white sneakers. Yeah.

Like, no tie fine. You can make that kind of look classy, but throw on some dress shoes, man. Dress shoes are making a comeback. Yes. Dress shoes are making a strong comeback. Yeah. Because built for comfort was a COVID thing. It also looks comfortable, right?

Like, it looks a little too comfortable. It's too comfortable, man. It's too casual. Yes, it says no... Fire up a dress shoe. You wear a suit, wear a dress shoe. I guess my point is, if you're not going to get all, like, fancied up for the Rider Cup, what possibly do you get fancied up for?

Like, what is higher that, like, you're saving it for at that point? Well, and exactly. Like, I guess that was the team uniform. They all agree, because if one guy's wearing them, it sticks out. Everybody's going to be on the same page for that. Yes. That's the difference. Like, I don't, I just, you're, you're in for it all.

That's really, okay, everybody's doing this. Not everybody's probably be comfortable with it. They're probably, yeah, there's no way Russell Hanley wears. I was just going to say one or two of them probably had to go buy sneakers. Like, hey, I have to go. Like, Harry English was definitely willing to wear the tie and the, yes, the dress shoes. He had no choice. He does not have Air Force ones.

But, like, he has dockers and. like an old codger that walks in with like getchers, you know, like just that's the top part. Possibly. But yes, you're right, Harris English and Russell Henley. Those guys are wearing $400 hush puppies. They're not wearing running shoes. But, yeah, anyway, I'm excited for it tomorrow. And we got

a pretty good ballgame tonight. A couple of two and one teams, Seahawks, Arizona, Owen Wilson on the clock. So we'll catch up with Luke in the next hour. Facts coming up. Best bets on Jay's Sox tonight. Jose Barrios on the IL with elbow inflammation. So he's on the IL. Bassett's on the IL. Scherzer's in a tough place. The bad place.

Bobish, that's still on the IL. Yeah, the Jay's dark place. They're in the driver's seat, though. They're still on the driver's seat. Yeah, if someone told you in April, you could sign up for this, you would sign. You would. You would happily sign up for this. It's thin right now. It is. Like, they're in the driver's seat,

but they're parked and the doors open. Yeah, they're in CJ's spot. Yeah. Exactly. And there's a chance they're moving into the backseat very, very soon. Like the Yankees Uber is coming around the corner at this one. The Uber black. Yeah. And it's possibly picking up the Jays.

All right. Luke coming up. Facts coming up. Our best bets as well. Overdrive continues. TSN 1050 and on TSN4. You've been listening to Overdrive, powered by Fandool. Fandul, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score.

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