OverDrive - Strudwick on McDavid's contract negotiations, the possible direction and Noodles' back tattoo

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

Got Yer Back Podcast Host Jason Strudwick joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around Connor McDavid's contract negotiations, the possible outcomes of a deal in Edmonton, the comparison to Wayne Gretzky's departure if he leaves, the Oilers' season expectations, Mitch Marner's beginning with Vegas, Noodles' back tattoo and more.

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We also connect you with top employers ready to hire, all at no cost to you. Whether you're starting out, changing careers, or returning to work, we're with you every step of the way. Connect with us today. Visit CareerFoundation.com. That's CareerFoundation.com. Changing lives, one job at a time. All right. Roll play coming up in about 15. Struddy, what are you chasing Connor McDavid out there trying to get an answer from him? What's going on here, Struddy? Trying to get scoops for you guys. Sorry. I thought I saw him at Max, the 7-Eleven and he wasn't there. There's somebody else. We were asking Struddy, so the guys asked me, do you think McDavid, if he is at the 7-Eleven or if somebody sees him somewhere, the grocery store, like, are people asking him daily? Like, what the hell is he doing? Do you think? Um, I don't know. I don't know. I think it'd be pretty bold. Maybe, maybe a closer friend. But I mean, if you just see someone in that, if you see Conn McDavid or Austin Matthews, are you asking about that or he asking for a selfie? Because he's not going to tell you what the contract anyway. So I'd probably ask for a selfie, wouldn't you? An autograph?

Yeah, I think so. Well, an autograph and then maybe a, hey, can you sign here, initial here, and then send that to the Oilers. Docky sign? Yeah, exactly. Docu signed. when is he going to cut off strutty when is he going to cut off the asking of the question about the contract like he's got to get to a point where he's like i'm not answering this anymore because he's done it two or three times thus far yeah i love the way he's handled it so far i think he's front-loading it i think he's trying to get all the questions out and give all the different you know sides and angles and people have a chance to get their questions in then after that i think you know i'd say after the first day of training camp he's going to say okay you know unless there's something new report i'm not talking about it the problem with that is when you go to toronto or you go to New York or Montreal, like there'll be questions asked, right? The local reporters there will want to get in, get in, you know, their shots and try to get some scoops.

But I honestly think that's what he's doing. And he's trying to be honest. Like there's, you know, in the one interview had he talked about trying to find the right deal for himself, his family and the team. I mean, there's going to be a deal. But it's not simple. It's not as easy. You know, people say he deserves the max 20%.

Yeah, he does. But, you know, that kind of handicaps what a team or this caseholders can do. but why should he have to take a home down discount, right? I don't see the other guy taking home down discounts, whether McKinnon or, you know, even when Tavares came to Toronto. He didn't take a discount, so why should this guy take a discount? So it's really complicated. And, you know, trying to predict what the holders are going to be like

or any team in three to five years, that's a pretty hard thing to do. So I feel for him, I did think after Leon signed that he would have signed the exact same contract, maybe seven years or eight years, whatever. But, you know, who knows? But I do think ultimately it gets done. and then you move forward with what you got all right answer this hypothetical because we've been big on hypotheticals today i asked i posed a question of noodles now noodles is an expat edmontonian right yeah but when gretsky got traded you know darlene mcclennon and the whole crew were crying in

the kitchen and everyone was freaking out in edmonton if he's leaving where does this rank well where will this rank in edmonton on the gretsky scale of shock disappointment tears in the kitchen and how close is it to Gretzky? I was cleaning on my mom's Aero Star band, and that's what I was doing. I heard it on the radio, and I couldn't believe it. I was crying.

I was 13 years old. I was just shocked and sad. But I think this is all for not. I mean, you're just, I think he's signing. I'll be floored if you didn't. But if I had to rank, I'd say Grisky'd still be number one, you know, then probably, you know, Strabbe-cleaving,

the other is when no one Wadamore is probably number two. Right. Or maybe people are happy. They were, there was a celebration. Yeah, those are tears of joy.

You were misconstrued. We got a chance. We got a chance now. We're alive. No, but I don't, in all honesty, I just, I can't,

I don't see this theme in this issue. I think the deal gets done, and I think that, um, I just think it's really complicated. It's not as easy as, you know, just signing the contract.

I think he's trying to figure out a lot of things. And, And, you know, again, your GM trying to explain, can you imagine sitting down with your best player, let's say it's Austin Matthews saying, you know, what are you going to do in four years? Well, we're going to try to get this guy. Well, no, you can't say that. Or we're going to try to draft this guy.

No, we can't say that. Like, what do you think, so it's more like a theory of what we're going to look to build and what we want. But I can't give you specific names. It's not like buying stocks on the TSX, like you guys wheel and deal daily. Strad noodles seems to like what's come in, the different changes that have been made in Edmonton, Mike, what are your thoughts on it? Like, if that's something that McDavid would be viewing, obviously, to see what the, you know,

the new look oilers would look like. Well, I was down there the first day he spoke, and he talked about some young players and, you know, saying it's hard to come in and become an impact player first year, and it is. You know, let's look at a recent guy, Connor Bedard. You know, and now he did have injuries first year, but a really highly touted guy. Now, on a much weaker team, for sure, and the LLIs are on him, so a little bit different, but it's not easy to come in and become that guy.

And this is a guy that was really highly touted. So, Ike Howard not as touted, obviously, but still, you know, a good young prospect. Same with Matt Savoy. But daughters need these guys. Like, if you're Conn McDavid, you're, you need these two guys to come in. My concern is that they're maybe a little bit smaller. You know, you look at some of the changes, you know, Van der Kaine, although they didn't have them all year last year. You know, he's a smaller guy, but he still got Pod Colvin, who I expect would have a better finish this year.

I'd like to think you get 50 to 20 goals. Um, you know, Perry out. I mean, he did everything for the orders and who, who's replacing that? You get Trent Frederick now in a way better contract, um, or sorry, not a better, uh, sorry, a longer contract, but he's healthy. So is he going to be a different player? I suspect he will be than what the orders fans saw this year. Um, you know, so I think the D-Men are better now than they were this time last year. And then, you know, Newliff can speak to it better, but I honestly think a goalie coach, it's a worthwhile try to change things up. You know, this guy, I don't think, change your technique as much as your approach, the way you think. And Dustin Schwartz had him for a long time and gone to a certain point.

I wonder if this guy can't come in and maybe change things up and just a different approach. Because I think it's different than a skating coach. You know, skating coaches teach you how to skate and become quicker. I think noodles, you can correct me. I think there's an approach guided way of that this guy bringing in for a goalie coach to work with a young guy. There is, but I had several goalie coaches, and you still called me, I said that I had a lazy glove, so I mean, at some point... Coach can only do so much.

Exactly. At some point, you're like, all right, like, I do believe there's lots of things that a goalie coach can do, but ultimately the player has to play better and turn the corner. You know, I think that's the thing. And I look at that tandem. I almost feel like Pickard might be the guy that, that, you know, is a casualty out of all this, and he did nothing wrong at a million dollars

and had 22 wins and won seven games in the playoffs, but they've drafted and developed Skinner. They might bring in somebody either off waivers or 20 games in to challenge him. You look at this group as at a whole. Like, Dave, I look more at Edmonton, the health of RNH, Hyman. Like, they didn't have great seasons last year.

That's where I look at some of their players, like McDavid was up. and down, injury, all of that type of stuff. Like, Drysettle was their best player. That's the one thing that we always kind of look past is dry saddle was arguably up for the heart. I mean, he was a runner-up, right? Yeah, it was him in Alibuck.

But it could have been dry-settled every day of the week as well. So I think there's a lot that factors into all of this. They're a good team. Yes, they've got some new blood. But I also think they might be like a couple other teams kind of waiting in the wings to see if there's some other players kicking around 20 games into the season to get a little bit better, a little bit older, a little bit stronger type of thing. Yeah, I think that all makes sense for sure.

You've seen them do that upgrade every year, right? But I like the point, you know, the challenge is they don't have that much to trade away. You know, you're trying to, if you look at their coffers as far as young players, and, you know, there's not a ton. You know, the young D man, Blackie, you looks like he might be a right-shot D, but, you know, Again, it's hard because you're trying to win now and try to add players. But also, let's say Conor signs for five more years. We have these guys for six more years.

You need players that can play with them because Ekholm's not a spring chicken. Kulaq's not a young guy. He needs new contract. You look up front, you mentioned noose and these types of guys. They're getting older. So you have to replace them. Otherwise, you have two superstars with aging guys around them and no one to replace them with. Well, you've also got a division that.

But, you know, you've got a powerhouse in Vegas, and your boy, Mitch Marner's rolling into town, and you're going to be playing the other ones four or five times a year. And he was doing his media today. He looks, it's such a stark contrast from like the classic original six Maple Leaf uniform to the Vegas Golden Knights. Yellow jersey, white gloves, gray helmets. Yeah, it's like he's in a different league. It's like he's at the Spengler Cup. Yeah.

Like, that's what it looks like. But how do you think he'll transition, Strud? and how scary do you think Vegas is this year? Yeah, no, I mean, it's obviously hard when a hometown player leaves, right, choose to leave their town. I think I can see why there be, you know, a lot of, I mean, it's hard. It is really hard to see that. But I'm on record.

I'll double down. I'll take Petra Angel over Marner any day. You know, I know Petra Ames is getting older, so we have Martin for a long time, but I think an elite Dman is really very important. So, you know, Vegas has seen younger DEM that moved up, but they also got Nick Hay. moved out. And he, you know, I get it. He's been limited, but man, he's a big guy with Stanley cut pedigree and moves people around. So I think those two guys will be missed. You know,

they scored a ton of goals last year, right? And then getting to the playoffs against the Oilers, and they literally got run over. So is Mitch Martin the answer to change that? Yeah, maybe they need more offense. But I'd be concerned without Petrangelo and Hague and what that looks like back there this year. Yeah, no, that's a very valid point. that, you know, the shiny new toy is going to get a lot of love, and he's a very good player. But Petrangelo, you know, Hague, like he mentioned, even Nicholas Waugh, who left, and it's not, you know,

he's not a superstar player, but he's got size and he was on the cup winning team. Always solid for them. Yes, always solid. So there's a lot of depth and size that have left for Marner, you know, who's not a big guy, and if it gets rough and tumble and heavy, man, he ain't the guy you're looking for. That's not the guy that's going to cut it. The West is a little bit more physical, but, you know, I think Marner is going to be fine.

I think he's going to be a great player there. It's just an adjustment, though. Keep in mind, a different system, different city, different leaders on the team, all of that. It might take him a few games to settle into his new environment. But, you know, Stradi, before we let you go, I think you owe me an apology because you started a rumor this year that I had a tattoo on my back. I don't know oh you weren't on the show it was haze and frankie they were doubling down and strutty was like noodles has the worst tattoo on his back and then he covered it with something worse and I yeah I was like I don't have a tattoo on my back at all so strutty's just making things up

to create content so I don't know what's oh do you want to react to that the this but I don't think it is I saw with strutty on this strud what was the original thought thought of what tattoo was back there? So I think there was a tattoo that it looked like a sun, but looked like someone did it in the dark with their opposite hand. Like it was really bad at gun. Then I think he put like a

tombstone over or something because he went to a wrestling thing. So he said, noodles send me like a nude picture showing his back. So what happened? There's way too much cheek. I could have put my wife's purse in there.

But what I'm saying, I think, guys, it's clear what's happened here. I'm not lying, and he's not lying. He doesn't have one anymore. He got it removed, the tattoo removed. He went and got it done. And if someone's listening to did it, just texting the show and tell us where you got it done because that's painful. And I don't know if doesn't like pain, but I think he might have done it.

I'm telling you, I promise on everything. I've got 13 tattoos. I do not have one on my back at all. And, yes, I did send you a picture. It wasn't naked, just a crack in my back, and you said that was my ass. It's not Tinder. My phone number is not Tinder. I love it.

Yeah, the tattoo removal, man. That's a big industry right now. You make some good money, you invest in that thing right now. 13 mistakes. A lot of regret. You wrote back. Well, how many guys had, like, full sleeves that they just wake up when I'm doing, I've done it in the last five years where it's just like, no, it's all gone. Yeah.

See, I, you know what, I only have one that I really regret, but it's, it's not, nobody sees it and it's not a big deal. Like, it's just, it's sad, it's a sad tattoo. It's embarrassing, right? Yes, it's a, it's so embarrassing. I got it at the sky. When Nashir had the Tasmanian devil holding a hockey stick, and it looked like someone did it on crayons. Like, it was the worst tattoo, and right on his beltline, And he had to get, it was so small.

I was like, what is that? Yeah. That's the worst tattoo. I will say. Such a hockey guy tattoo. I was just going to say, Hayes, you could speak to it. Oh, you've got a million of them. But, like, we all, there was young junior hockey players all went and got tattoos.

And I, the buddies that I went with, one got the noid, which was like a, I think a pizza delivery guy. The other guy got the Tasmanian devil. And I got a pink panther leaning on a stick. It was, and the pink panther now is like this sad drawn out like panther. Awful. The stick is like broken. This wants to be put out of its misery. It's just awful.

But I did it years. I was 16. Like, you know, 54 now. Like, it's just terrible. I had buddies, everyone's done it. Same thing. Canadian flags with something in there. It's like, why do you need that?

No. Yeah. It's awful. But I think noodles had, did you have a barbed wire around? Did you buy that? Why would I have a bar? I've got the tiniest, skinny, gross arms. Like, why would I draw any attention to my arms at all?

No, I've never had a barbed wire. Yeah, let's have been someone else. Yeah, Simtai. Exactly. Anyway, Strud, great catching out with you, buddy. Go find McDavid. Let us know what's going on out there. Yeah, I will.

I think I just saw him at 7-Eleven. I'll go to the next one. Okay, I'll find some hop. Love it. Okay, guys. Thanks, Struddy. Have a good to hear you guys back on. Great to catch up with you, buddy.

There is. Jason Strudwick. 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.

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