Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Clinch Playoffs, Bolts Burning Out

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

The Leafs have clinched a ticket to the postseason! Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee are back together, and they open with Auston Matthews' energized form and what held him back earlier in the season, what role Mitch Marner had in the turnaround, where Ryan O'Reilly will slot in when he returns and Michael Bunting being benched by Sheldon Keefe. They are joined by NHL on Sportsnet's Garry Galley (22:18), who breaks down what the Leafs can expect from the Panthers tomorrow night, Toronto's goalie conundrum and if Auston Matthews' play can become too predictable. Afterward, Mike Futa joins the show (43:45) and discusses how the Leafs matchup against Tampa Bay, creating stability with the defensive pairings and starting goalie, and the Western Conference playoff race. Finally, Lightninginsider.com's Erik Erlendsson answers what's wrong with the Tampa Bay Lightning, how they turn it around and Nikita Kucherov's quiet outstanding season (1:07:26).The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

This is Real Kipper and Bourne on Sportsnet 590 The Van. Is your mic on, pal? Now it is. Welcome back! Real Kipper and Bourne, take two. Hey everybody, we're back. caprios justin boy it's not working there we go oh there it is remy mckee coming out of uh las vegas nevada who me yeah i didn't go to las vegas where'd you go arizona i was new mexico my wheels were already spinning to get out of here before i even uttered hey sammy where are

you going how was arizona sammy really good really good really good really good i'm still i'm still feeling it yeah but i'm doing better today than i was yesterday i don't remember really what one thing was sad yesterday. I was in a brain fog. But I'm back today. I'm all good. You're mid-30s now. It starts to have a little longer lasting effect.

It's a couple days now to get better. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And nowhere in the equation was an Arizona Coyotes game. I ended up in Miami, passed on the Leafs and Panthers game Thursday night. That's right. They were literally there when you were there. And you were like, nope.

No, no, no, no. I'll take my spot by the pool. You got plenty of chance to see the Leafs play in Toronto. A few. A few. The Coyotes did play while I was there, but I didn't even think of it. Hilarious. We're glad everybody's back, ready for the run here.

Is it the official run yet, or are we still? God, I hope so. We've got single digits left for many teams. Yeah, I mean, it's the run for sure. We've pretty much sorted out who's going to be in playoffs and who isn't, and Leafs are set with home ice, all that good stuff. All right, we're glad everybody's with us for the next couple hours. Many waiting on our YouTube channel.

Thanks, as always, for joining us. We're waiting for Sportsnet 590, The Fan, just wrapping up a Blue Jay game, if I'm not mistaken. Hey, Sammy? That's correct. I think the Blue Jays will probably be pretty close to done here. We'll get back on The Fan. All right.

YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, there's nowhere you can't reach us on the Real Kipper and Bourne Show. In about 45 minutes, Mike Futa, former NHL executive, Sportsnet analyst. He'll be joining us in the second hour. Eric Erlinson. Erlinson. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, I was going to spit it out, Sammy.

I just wanted to make sure. You lost faith early in the show here i did but i like he's eager yeah you can tell he's he's away our engagement's high today and i can tell because there's no spelling uh mistakes yet uh on his uh on his program here yesterday was a lilligran spelled wrong so So we will talk Tampa Bay Lightning because there's something going on here. This is a little deeper than just a regular, hey, we don't really care right now attitude for Tampa Bay. Yeah, I am curious to see what Eric has to say about them because, you know, they've had a tough schedule. They've known where they are in the standings, all that.

But boy, it's a you need a lot of excuses to justify how they've played lately okay the leafs back on the ice at their practice facility the ford performance center they get ready for a struggling florida panthers team who lost the other night to ottawa which brings us Gary Galley in about 15 minutes. And he'll help us tee up what he saw last night out of the Panthers and the Senators. We'll talk Austin Matthews.

We'll talk Michael Bunting in the next little while. Plenty to get into with Kippers Clippers, Sheldon Keefe. But in the meantime, a good week here guys for the leafs to kind of slow down catch a deep breath some good hockey they didn't get the results that they wanted uh in carolina but overall i don't know you got to be pretty happy to see where they're heading towards uh three four weeks from now yeah i think you know about a week ago

we were talking about how oh since the deadline their underlying now yeah i think you know about a week ago we were talking about how oh since the deadline their underlying numbers aren't good you know we were concerned not just about the success they were having or lack thereof but how it looked in a process standpoint i think at the very least you come off a tough four-game road trip and you say the process was really good you can see it coming together. The decor is taking shape. All that's very encouraging. Any leakage anywhere for you, Sammy, right now for the Leafs? I wouldn't say that I love them after they came back

and played the way they did against Carolina and then them losing that game kind of stunk. But I think what we've been talking about here is that the most positive things for the Leafs is having Austin Matthews back looking like Austin Matthews here. Like, you know, you can talk about the way the bottom six is meshing together. You can talk about the way the decor looks and all that kind of stuff. But by far the most important thing for them

is to have Matthews back to looking what he looks like, to pair him with an out-of-this-world Marner. Tavares is starting to get back on his horse. We can talk a little bit about Willie Nylander not getting back on his horse but to me the most important thing is getting Matthews looking like he was last year and that's kind of starting to happen here I thought there was a typo when I I heard 15 shots on goal yeah the fourth highest total ever in a game. Yeah, and the game before, Carolina gave up 16 total shots. Yeah, yes. So Matthew's got 15 on his own. It's pretty impressive.

All right, let's go to our first Kippers Clipper with Sheldon Keefe on his star centerman. Yeah, I'd say just the pace that he's playing with both ways, the way his feet are moving, and then just his strength in the battles and his willingness to engage physically. He's not running around finishing checks or anything like that, but he's engaging on every puck and either winning the puck or disrupting the play enough so that the next play becomes one that's winnable for us and again that's just another area

that shows up that shows up on video and shows up in the game and the energy and the momentum swings maybe not so much on the score sheet and that's what we need from players like that all of our players but even more so guys like austin that we lean on so much yeah just more of the same you know just a getting the puck back you remember he's so good last year talking about takeaways and stuff something marner's done so well this year he looked back to hounding the puck and being physical should leave fans just sit there and just go okay thank you he's back feel better now or will there be any of them out there that would say where you been for like 60 games by the way like is that even in the equation here do we

we don't need to focus on that we don't need to worry about that do we just say hey he was he had a bad hand injury i'm not sure how that affects pace but yeah just move on apparently is it is it worth the conversation to go like okay where's your head been or yeah gunner and i had that yesterday that is a big topic is you know and i and i said i just can't believe i feel very confident saying that this regular season was not as much of a priority as it was the year before to him. He didn't seem, you can't tell me it's just a wrist that changes the way he's looked the last two weeks compared to the rest of the season. So, yeah, worthwhile. We had the conversation, how many, how long ago was that now that we talked about,

that I brought it up, that maybe there's a chance that he just kind of flips a switch here, heading towards the playoffs. And in the next couple of weeks after we talked about that, it really does feel like, you know, your wrist bone isn't connected to your leg bones here. Like you can still fly around. I know it's a tough one if you don't want to engage physically or whatever, and you're kind of going to, if you really was, wrist was bugging him, then that's okay.

And I guess I get it, but it doesn't mean he has to look as quiet as he did for long stretches like i don't really know where the conversation goes but it does you know not i wouldn't say piss me off but just you know i think about it where he's been for a lot of the year and now he's back so you just kind of let it go i think you just have to just hope that he's back and you let it go yeah is. Is the switch less him and more, I don't know, number 16? Because the switch also, the switch went when Marner went back with him. You know that, right?

You do know that. It's all Mitch. It's all Mitch to me. That's all I see. I mean, yes, he is better. No, no, no. It has nothing to do with 16. It certainly has something to do with it. Yeah.

Playing with the team's best player helps him. And now Willie is kind of lost. Can you not have everybody just play really well at the same time? Is that too hard to ask? That would be awesome. I thought, you know, there's a stretch in Carolina from like halfway through the first till the third period

where it felt like everyone on the team played well. It was an unbelievable, I don't know what the shots were over that stretch, but it's as good as this team has looked over that run of time. He, I mean, he was a part of it. Him and Marner are unbelievable. Yarncroft's been a great fit for them.

You know, he's someone who's just in the right places. They can count on him. He works hard. I mean, to the point where he's someone who's just in the right places. They can count on him. He works hard. I mean, to the point where he's probably the guy in playoffs, Kipper. Well, listen, it's certainly heading there for sure. And you know how I feel about Yarncroft that much like Bunting, like I feel with Michael Bunting, are they legit number one guys? No.

But put them with Austin and put them with marner and they they their skill level and their hockey iq is good enough where they can contribute and not look out of place and that's what's happened yeah with with yarn crock yeah number here's another thing oh and austin likes them a big thing that's a big one too is i think it's more like can you please just stop with the kerfoot thing like i don't think you'll see kerfoot with matthews again unless things go off the rails i don't know so but i think this the matthews just to go back to the matthews marner relationship in terms of them playing together and what they do for each other i think one of the big things with him playing, it was with Willie and Bunting that he was playing with for a while,

and Willie, he had to do most of the defensive heavy lifting on his line for a long time for a forward. And then you put him back with Mitch, who is also borderline elite defensively as well, then it really changes the look for both of them. I think they help each other as much offensively as they do defensively as well, then it really changes the look for both of them. Like I think they help as much each other as much offensively as they do defensively. Like it's a really important factor with those two guys playing together,

which just bring you back to the same conversation. Like that team has looked their best when Marner powers align and Matthews powers align like in the regular season, but there's, they're just so good. I don't think you can ever take them apart. The way they're connecting the ozone. You know how I feel about center winger.

The winger's supposed to be the shooter and the center's supposed to be the playmaker, but it's the other way around. It's Marner who's the playmaker. It's the guy that's going to set up. And now Matthews pretty much is back to where he was as a 60 goal thread out there. But when you're shooting 15 pucks at the net every night, you are going to have great numbers again eventually. Yeah. The only thing I ask you is, does that make Austin a little bit more predictable for tampa bay or maybe even boston

in the second round if the leafs get passed to say here's a shooter we know what he's going to do we could we could strategize to shut this down better knowing that he's not dishing he's he's shooting the puck every chance he gets is this something that you think he wasn't doing earlier like something that's changed this season you think he was passing more earlier in the season? Yeah. Yeah. I see. Again,

I didn't get a great sample size this weekend, but going into it, certainly more in one-on-one confrontations, more individual battles, more wraparounds, more taking it to the net. Right. For me,

it's all, it all happens with his feet like i don't see him in situations where it's like pass or shoot and he's choosing shoot i think when he wasn't getting the same looks he wasn't putting himself in those spots he's not skating he's in traffic like the change for me was that he created soft spots with his feet and that's what changes his skating for me so you know certainly you, certainly, you know, with anyone, you'd like to be unpredictable. But I think like Alex Ovechkin has proved over his career, if you do one thing and do it really well, your team can find ways to utilize that superpower.

It's up to the Leafs to utilize that superpower. And part of that is putting him with Marner, who can find looks like no one in the league, really. See, when Austin's at his greatest, there are comparables to Connor in terms of dominance. Yeah. And that's, it's been missing this year though.

That has, you're right. And now he's, he's got it back. The only difference between Connor and Austin, when they're both at the top of their game is that Connor can better disguise a pass or a shot than when Austin Matthews is at the best of his game. Yeah. And if Austin is able to bring a little bit more of that unpredictability of shooting or passing, to me, he goes to another level.

You want to see Mitch get more pucks? They had one. When did they score on the opposite play? Was that against Carolina? It was one of the games of the weekend where Matthew set up Marner and hit a one-timer goal. Was that against Nashville? Yeah, off Marner's back foot, too.

He hit that hard. I feel like Matthews is a bit more of a willing passer than you're giving him credit for, Kipper. Like, I feel like he will defer a little bit more even than I would like to. Yeah. Like, I... It's hard, though, when you got 15 shots on goal.

You realize that, right? And it's hard to... I mean, it's hard to pass up shooting the puck at the net when you can shoot the puck like Austin Matthews can. Probably feels pretty sick to rip it. I guess when the team says, go ahead and pull that trigger. When the puck up shooting the puck at the net when you can shoot the puck like Auston Matthews can. It probably feels pretty sick to rip it. Yes, and the team says, go ahead and pull that trigger. When the puck lands in a stick near the slot. I'm just wondering, though, does it make them an easier target to shut down

when there's less predictability? Well, that, I mean, the way that a lot of these... Or more predictability, I mean, of shooting the puck. A lot of the way these series have borne out at the end there, you would say that that's part of it, right? Like, they haven't got to the middle of the way these series have borne out at the end there, you would say that that's part of it, right? Like they haven't got to the middle of the ice in a lot of these big games that they've lost over the past couple years against Montreal, against Tampa.

He's in Ovechkin mode right now where you just know it's coming. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, when he's playing like this, I think they'll take this version of his hockey game. Absolutely. So if it's Austin and Mitch, game one, where's the concern now to find that second line, which brings in a conversation of Ryan O'Reilly,

and is Ryan ultimately there to avoid the pitfall of robbing Peter to pay Paul here on your second line. Does he come in now and help solidify a second line, or does he come in and shore up a third line? Let's go to Sheldon. Keep first and foremost on an injury update on Ryan O'Reilly. Yeah, just to continue to ramp him up and make sure that things respond positively,

both as he's shooting more, handling pucks more and also just making sure that he's safe in terms of minimizing risk for re-injury. So that's really it. Today obviously he didn't practice. He did everything but practice and he had a lot of work individually himself before we even got out there and then the hope is that he'll continue to progress towards practice here. I would call it unlikely to play this week, you know, but that hasn't been ruled out necessarily.

But I think the plan is more to kind of ramp him up through this week and look more towards next. So O'Reilly is going to be back with plenty of runway, which is encouraging. I am curious to know where they start him out initially. I did want to share one thing about Tavares, which I think is related to O'Reilly. Kevin Papetti had a tweet the other day. He said Tavares ranks third in primary points per minute

behind Dreisaitl and McDavid this season. He's also third in shots per minute behind Pasternak and Robertson. Been a pretty effective guy for them this season, but struggled a little bit until this past weekend. I wonder five on five though. Yeah. Five on five.

He struggled. Yeah. He hasn't been as, and he's one of the most, he was one of the better producers on the power play. Yeah. In the league. For sure.

His, his, uh, power play points are, I think a career high for him or he's closing in on a career. I got 35. Yeah. A lot, a lot, a lot of for him or he's closing in on a career high. He's got 35. Yeah, a lot.

A lot. A lot of his points. Which is a good thing, right? You need the power play going. The only question is, how many of those opportunities do you get? Right? Two, three? Are there some nights when you get five power plays

in the playoffs? No, probably not. But if it goes anything like it did last year, you'll have eight. Yeah, last year would be nice. Right? But yeah. So do you think they'll give O'Reilly tavarez bump him to the wing or they they have to have a very

strong second line yeah so they probably will i gotta think if if they want to ease him in in these last few games you could see him in a third line scenario. But I think when push comes to shove that Ryan O'Reilly's in your top six. Yeah. I think that the bottom half has proved itself to be effective enough now with, I know, Achari's missing tomorrow night. He's day-to-day, so they're going to go to 11-7. But if you take Kerfoot off that second line, potentially, put him you know in the place of simmons on the fourth

line so you have aston reese camp and uh kerfoot or whatever like i think there's enough interchangeable bodies in the bottom six there where i would like to you know the way it's looked to me that i know they haven't been great analytically, and I know that people have been taking a beat in for them, but I just feel like those guys are kind of playoff players in the bottom half, and that it would be good to have O'Reilly playing alongside Nylander and Tavares. I agree. I agree.

Stop league spares. Just to see less Kerfoot would be good. Although Kerfoot, since you've been gone, has become the league's most electrifying scorer. Shot one clean in the net the other night. Really excited. It's a good sign. It is, actually.

Like, you know, if he could just get feeling good about his game, a little offensive confidence. When he's gone, he's gone, right? Yeah. Where are we with the Michael Bunting scenario on the weekend between him and Keefe. Did you clip that? I have him talking about it.

I don't have Bunting talking about it, but I have Keefe talking about it. Let's go to Sheldon on Michael Bunting. I don't know. Obviously, Bunting, I do have a relationship that goes far beyond here. That's not anything i focus on or think

about uh it's a non-issue for me i give players a lot of leeway and and pass essentially especially for those that come right off the ice you know it's you uh for me to expect the player coming right from the heat of a battle to sit on the bench and then be a true gentleman when I want to go talk to him, I'm putting myself at risk in going into that situation. So, yeah, not an issue for me. I think he got the message. He said, no, I understand, and I know that he hears me.

But I don't overthink those kind of things, especially on the bench in the heat of the moment. You better lock it up. You lock it up. Lock it up. Lock it up. Lock it up. Bunting wouldn't be the first guy to just look straight ahead when a coach is, you know, saying his piece.

You might say something looking forward. You might go, yeah, whatever. Yeah, I got you. Yeah. But I will say it is noteworthy that that interaction was with six minutes and change left in a 2-1 hockey game, and Bunting didn't see the ice again for the rest of the night. So this is what Bunting said about it.

I'll leave that between Kiefer and I, but what I will say is we have a good relationship. We've known each other for a long time. There's not much to really see here. He's one of the reasons I signed here, and I'll leave it at that. So he didn't want to look back at him because he told him he's done for the night i signed here and i'll leave it at that so he didn't want to look back at him because he told him he's done for the night that's probably what happened they sound like an old married couple doesn't it make it worse when you say something

like i'll leave it at that or whatever like he said a nice thing we have a long history he's part of the reason i came here i'll leave it at that you know what i'll leave it at that because it's so like dramatic and mysterious um one thing that is interesting though is like what this guy was going to get paid is probably not what he's going to get paid now you know like going into this year 65 points 25 goals last year this year's got 40 some points he's on the third line his time time on ice is down to 14 minutes a night from 17 don't think i don't think bunting and his camp would feel the same way you do. I mean, whether it's for the Leafs or not, he's not earned himself any money this year.

He's not done himself favors. He's playing, again, 14-23 and behind in every metric, you know, compared to last season. You think part of the strategy was to back him off a little bit? No, I don't think it's a contract thing. I just don't think he's playing as well so you think that he won't deserve a bigger raise based on the last 15 games or of slowing down yeah so i think yeah we're going to pick up this conversation so we're going to go to gary galley first uh gals how are you pal i'm doing great how are you guys

me and justin are going to get into it on bunting. We do not agree. No, we'll let you pass on that one. But thanks for joining us. Certainly, we caught your call on the weekend. And just your thoughts on the Panthers tomorrow night. You got a good look at them and what the Leafs can expect? You know, the game last night, obviously, for Florida, the two points, you know, for them,

as being as close as they are to the cusp, certainly were points they had to have. But, you know, if they didn't get them and they went on a seven-game heater right now, then it wouldn't matter. For the Ottawa Senators, in the slim hope have but you know if they didn't get them and they went on a seven game heater right now then it wouldn't matter for the Ottawa Senators in the slim hope that they've got to run the table or go eight and one to have any chance that's a must win right so you know as you get to these games I don't think people realize you know there are two teams that aren't in the playoffs but

these are teams that you know are playing extremely important games towards the end of March and maybe into April. And they're learning a lot about their team. And the Panthers made a lot of changes in the offseason. I think those changes really slowed their organization down. And I still think they're not quite through it yet as they're trying to make their way to the playoffs. I thought they had a really sluggish start to the game last night. They didn't look themselves as they looked in games past that I had seen.

The Senators looked a little fresher, a little more on top of their game. And I think the Panthers just kind of hung around at the start. But in the second period, you know, Ottawa took some penalties. Some of the Panthers' good players had some puck touches on the power play. They started to get some feeling good about themselves. And then Forsling had that seeing- eye puck that kind of went through traffic and all of a sudden uh it was the Senators that were on their heels and and it was Florida that was kind of skiing downhill and and I think this whole game was really in the balance until unfortunately Lundell took that unill-advised penalty where he gloved the puck back and it's

amazing and and we we all know this because we're guys who played the game, it's amazing how one thing at one time can turn it on a dime. And that penalty ended up being the undoing of what would have been a really tight finish towards the end, and the game kind of got blown out. But, you know, Bobrovsky, you know, didn't look terrible, didn't look great. And I think that's the reason why teams like Florida and teams like Calgary and teams, you know, that are off the bubble that you thought might be there is usually because their goaltending has been kind of up and down

throughout the year. And it's hard to just get it back to being as good as we think he could be for the Florida. And that's what they need for him in order to really get on a real heater here. Yeah. They're definitely going to need to get red hot. You know,

the Leafs are in kind of a unique situation where they don't really need that. You know, you want to go into the playoffs playing well, but they know where they're sitting with nine games to go. What are your thoughts on, on where they're at generally? And,

you know, sort of the just playing out the string here, how, how they need to go about that finishing these nine games the million dollar question and i don't believe there's an answer because until you go through it you don't know and then you look back on it is can a team be as like tampa bored out of their minds finishing off this friggin thing they know they're going to finish where they are to all those they're going to finish where they are. Trollen knows they're going to finish where they are. The coaching staffs are trying to do their damnedest

to keep the intensity level up, keep that pace of game up, keep the players a bit on edge because soon these playoffs are going to start. When the playoffs start, as we all know, they start at zero. Everyone starts on the same line again. And if you try to go from a team that's going through the motions to a team that has to pick it up against a team who's been picking it up for quite a while, that's when you get stung.

And so you've got to really be careful. But for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they know they're going to be opponents, I think both teams realize they don't care whether they start at home or on the road. And that was proved out last year. And people talk about, you know, the home team. Seriously, nowadays, you think if we don't win game one,

we're really in a must-win situation already in a series. So teams don't care whether they start at home or on the road. Getting game seven at home is important. But for the Maple Leafs, like, yeah, I mean, they're trying to play good hockey going into the playoffs. So they're ready to rock and roll because they're going to be playing a team that I think is going to try to flip a switch. And, and I'm really curious to see if, if they can do it.

I think they have done it in the past a little bit, but I don't think John Cooper's been buying it. I think there's some real concern there, but I think the players are like, Hey, let's just get through this. We've done this, been there. We bought the like, hey, let's just get through this. We've done this, been there. We bought the T-shirt. Let's just get this going. Talking to Gary Gally, former NHL-er,

analyst for Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada. Listening to you last night on the Stutzel goal that took the Panthers out, and I think you uttered the words, he's got to have that, or something of that nature. It's almost the fear of the Leaf fan right now is that they're in the first round or they they find a way to get to Boston maybe if if they advance and it's Samsonov or Matt Murray and they got to have that safe just where this this whole thing is gone with the goaltending.

And, you know, for me, I'm watching again Bobrovsky last night, and I'm even wondering, how did he last this long that he's still in this position, and we're still having comments like he should have that, or that's when he'd like back. Years after, we've known for quite a while that, you know, maybe he should be gone by now. Maybe they should have tried something else.

Definitely. Bobrovsky has never, you know, I don't think played up to the billing card since he's been in Florida. He's had moments of greatness there. And he's had moments where it looks like it's coming back, but I don't think he's ever really got to where everyone thought he was going to be or where he was at points prior to that. And I think at the end of the day, it continues to be a bit of a thorn

for Florida as they go through the Bobrowski contract and deciding to keep him and move forward with him. I think Matt Murray's an interesting story where he's a two two-time stanley cup champion came in for a flurry uh in in junctures of both cups and and was able to do it but uh you know since since then it's been a bit of a roller coaster for him and i don't think he's made anybody feel any less queasy um getting on the getting on the space mountain here with him, that he's going to be able to pull it off. I think everybody's got a huge question mark there, or can he stay healthy through the playoffs? I mean, that's the other thing. If he was to be the guy, could he

literally stay healthy? And I think Ilya Samsonov is the guy. I think he's put up the better numbers. I think he's had the better run, especially he had that great run at home. I think he's, you know, he's put up the better numbers. I think he's, he's had the better run, especially he had that great run at home. I think he's given you a little more, a little more substance for you to say, if we're going to start, let's start with the, with this guy. You know, he's, I think he's earned it. So, but it's still going to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride, but it's going to be like that for a lot of teams. There's a lot of teams that don't have the goaltending that they want to have, you know, very few teams, you know, have that stud in the net and Calgary thought they had one and look what happened there. And Tampa Bay has got what everyone thinks is the best goalie in the world. And he's had moments of where he's got a bit of a bit of rust lookalike and maybe

getting a bit tired. That team's played a lot of hockey in the last three, four years. And so a lot to be told still. I think a lot of teams are going in with uncertainty in their net. You know, guys who haven't been there, like look at Darcy Kemper. I mean, it's like, you know, you think, okay, Colorado's a great team, but, you know, in the net, do they have what it takes? And then until you do it, you don't know. And so I think there's a lot of teams like that. Toronto is right in line with a lot of them.

I get that the Boston Bruin goaltender could be up for the Hart Trophy, certainly going to win the Vezina, but he hasn't been through the grueling part of the playoffs yet, has he? And that's going to be a question that has to be answered still for a team that is going to win the President's Trophy running away. So, yeah, I mean, someone told me a couple days ago i've heard the line before and i always chuckle when i hear it that they shouldn't name the game goaltending not hockey and i said that last night of the broadcast because really does a lot of it come down to uh you know your goaltending do they

do they let in that goal that you're talking about nick that one that he beats him you guys should have had that that's one he's got to have and and he you know he can't afford to let that in at that time and you know you know do you have that goaltender that is going to allow some goals but the timing of the saves is what matters you make the right saves at the right time to get your team wins in the playoffs and uh that's going to be something we're all going to find out one of the questions they're also grappling with is you know everyone has told the Leafs about defense. They're saying, hey, you got to have eight guys. You got to have nine guys.

Kip and I have talked about it, and I think it's kind of consensus. You go deep, you need a lot of good D-men. Problem for them now is they have a lot of good D-men who are asked to watch hockey games. Where do you stand on the importance of getting those guys involved? Does Connor Timmons need a game or two? Do you need Gustafsson in for seven to nine games? Or can they just say, hey, we think these are going to be our six guys in playoffs,

so that's who we're going to run with. I'm a believer when you hit that playoff and you've got those nine guys, there's going to be a depth chart, and the depth chart's going to be what it is. And it's up to the player when his number gets called to step in and not just have in the back of his mind, well, I haven't played in a month. He has in the back of his mind, I'm going to be nails today. And I'm not going to be the reason why we don't have a chance to win. And I don't want to be the reason why.

So, you know, I'm going to come in and I'm going to plug a hole and I'm going to plug it as hard as I can and do the best that I can. And everyone around him is going to understand that he hasn't played a lot. Everyone around him is going to understand he hasn't had many reps. But at the end of the day, it speaks volumes for the player, for the guy who steps in and just plays. And just plays. And even if he goes through a game, and, you know,

sometimes coaches will say this, and I always, like, I think that's such a smart thing. Just because you go through a game and you don't really do anything, you don't get anything, but you don't give anything, and you just break even, maybe that's such a smart thing just because you go through a game and you don't really do anything you don't get anything but you don't give anything and you just break even maybe that's just great for you you know you don't give anything to the guy across from you you didn't get anything but you didn't give anything and every shift you go off and that happens in the Stanley Cup playoffs and you don't hurt your team is a good shift and games are going to be tighter are going to be close and I agree you guys. You need good 8-9 defensemen because, man, the injury bug can bite you in one game, in a series.

I mean, you could lose some key pieces. And if you don't have quality people to bring in, you know, and you look over in the back in years gone and years ago when they brought guys in into the lineup that had significant, you know, differences for a team and helped them go on and win Stanley Cups. I mean, it happens and you just have to want to be that guy and not worry about what didn't happen,

worry about what's going to happen. Hey Gary, lots of talk around here about Austin Matthews playing the best hockey we've seen all season and his turnaround and that incredible performance where he got 15 shots on goal against the Canes. As someone that's played, what, close to 100 playoff games,

and you now start prepping to play against pure shooters like that in Ovechkin, when you know that that many shots on goal could be coming, does that make it easier or harder to defend guys like Austin Matthews? Well, definitely you assess a shooter by the distance he can score from. If you know a guy coming down is going to shoot from a certain distance but he doesn't score a lot from there, then you're not as worried. Because you have kind of a playbook in your head on most guys, and you even know how they tape their stick. If you're

in a corner battling with somebody, and you look down, you don't even have to look up. I can tell you by the way he tapes the stick, that's Austin Matthews I'm in the corner with, or it's, or it's, you know, bunting, or, you know, you get to know the players. You have this logbook in your head, and you assess situations as it happened. You know when Adam Oates is coming in with Cam Neely, you know, chances are he's going to, 95% of the time, he's trying to pass it to Cam or he's trying to pass it to Brett Hull. Is he a passer? Is he a shooter?

When you have a guy like Austin Matthews, there is a plethora of things he can do. He has this incredible toolkit available to him where he can score in tight, he can score from far out. He's got great vision, he's a solid tight. He can score from far out. You know, he's got great vision. He's a solid passer. He's a big body. Although he doesn't go out running people,

he is hard to knock off the puck. And when he gets a bit of edge on him and he plays with a bit of edge, he's even harder to play against. So he offers a whole bunch of things that, for a defenseman, that you can't give him too much space, but you can't, you know, you don't want to give them too much space,

but you can't not give them enough space because if you try to take it away and he beats you, he makes you look bad, you know. I would say that he's one of those guys you've got to have this circle perimeter that you draw around him and say, okay, if I can give him that much space but no more than that, I'll have an ability to take it away a little quicker than I want to, but not give him as much as I want to give him, and hopefully push him to areas of the ice where he's not going to be as dangerous. But he's dangerous all the time.

As soon as he crosses your blue line, he's dangerous. So he's a guy that you're going to – he is going to get some points. He's going to get some goals, but you've got to make his life miserable. And that's one thing that Austin has gotten used to is that he got to play against Cher a few times and he got to know what that felt like to have a guy who was beating on you every shift and a guy that just sole purpose was, I'm just going to beat on you and beat on you and beat on you until you don't want to play anymore.

And I think it's a good thing that he went through those things because that made him stronger and a little more metal in him when he gets into a series now. He knows that that the stuff he he he's gonna have to fight through uh last one for me gary um just thoughts on the boston bruins who can clinch the president's trophy tonight with tons of games left uh their season and basically do you see any flaws though the winner of toronto tampa's likely going to get the bruins do you see a way through for either team i i i'm so impressed with the boston bruins um you know i told you guys this maybe three or four times ago when i was on that you know the start of the season i thought you know if anyone's gonna have a down you know go down a bit i thought it was gonna be boston they

had a lot of injuries they were dealing with a lot of key players were out i thought you know goaltending i wasn't sure if they got off to lot of key players were out. I thought, you know, goaltending, I wasn't sure. If they get off to a slow start, they got a brand-new coach. You know, I thought, man, this could be a team that, you know, falls out of the playoffs. That shows you how smart I am. I mean, they just took off, and a lot of teams in the East took off. Everyone in the East just kind of hit the ground running,

and the West was in quicksand. And all of a sudden, now the West is just taking off, and the East just kind of hit the ground running, and the West was in quicksand. And all of a sudden now the West is just taking off, and the East has kind of settled back a little bit. So I think it's not as big a gap between East and West, but the Boston Bruins are certainly the bell of the ball, so to speak. I think that they're going to be an extremely hard out. As I said earlier, if Olmark and Swayman play the way they played all year, I think they're going to be a very difficult team to beat.

But, you know, you can draw a team like they could draw the Islanders in the first round, and the way their goaltending has been, which has been nailed, he could be up for the Vezina, and a team that is a hardened team that's been in the playoffs and is not scared of anybody, that could be a real interesting matchup. Right off the hop for Boston, they get the Islanders, and the Islanders have been to the dance, and they've been deep into the playoffs.

They've got a lot of veteran players. They don't care. They're just going to come out and play their game, and so that would be a fun series to watch. But I don't think any of the wild cards to me present any danger to the teams they're going to be playing. I just don't see it at this point. One last thought, because I know we got a few Ottawa Senator fans out there.

Gary, I'm watching them last night, and I'm like, there might not be too many teams in the East that would like to face Ottawa in a first round. They play hard. They love their coach. The coach treats them right and makes them work hard. He keeps them accountable. They've got a nice group of guys that care about each other, and you know that because you've won a cup, Nick.

You know when your guys care about one another, it makes you even stronger. Compression is huge. They've got great compression there. They haven't had the use of Josh Norris, which I think is going to be insane when they get him into their lineup on a regular basis and he can stay healthy. I think it's going to be really a step up for them there.

Can they get to Brinkhat signed and keep him? Because I think he's fitting really nicely. You know, Claude Giroux's had this renaissance year. He's been so, so good for them. And Brady Kachuk is the leader. I mean, they've got to get their goaltending up on task because, you know, I know they've had injuries and stuff all year long.

And Matt Solgaard might be the goalie of the future, but, you know, is he ready to step in from Game 1 next year and take them into the playoffs and have a run at it? I don't know, but they are going to be a hard team to play against. It's the way DJ has them wired.

And, you know, it's a shame they had that 4-9-1 November. I think they really never got back out of that. And that goes to show you that, you know, you can't win the Stanley Cup or get into the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first few months, but you certainly can fall out of it. And I think since the new year, since January, they'll probably have the second or third best record maybe in the National national hockey league. Uh, they had it going there pretty good for a while, but they'd only really caught up to maybe three points. And that shows you how hard it is to catch up when there's nights where three points are going out here, three points are going out there. So, uh, one month really did them in, but that's, that's a learning lesson that you can't just say, oh, we had a bad month. You can't have bad months.

You have to figure out a way to keep your bad months at 500, you know, 6-6, you know, 5-5 and whatever, 4-whatever, but you've got to keep those there and then have your good months, and that will get you into the playoffs. A 4-9 in one month really does some significant damage. They've got eight games to go. They've got to run the table, but it doesn't look promising. But what looks promising is this shiny new toy for the new owners next September.

Yeah, I know you guys, but I mean, I'm hearing like, you know, over 900,000, 900 million. Are you out of it officially? 60 million, what's that? Are you out of it officially? Well, yeah, just yesterday I decided to drop out. I was right in there. I'm too crazy, me too. My first year I made under $100,000 a year playing in 84.

I mean, are you kidding me? I didn't build up no piggy bank for that. Oh, boy. But, man, I mean, I'm just like taken back and now hearing that, you know, yeah, LaBreton Flats is a place that would be a great place to put an arena downtown. But there are some parts of these ownership teams that it's LaBreton Flats isn't the layup. They are looking at other places, other locations and things.

So yeah, I guess it's exciting for Senator fans and to know that they're, you know, going to have this kind of ownership and someone're going to have this kind of ownership and someone's going to invest this kind of money into this. But it's going to be fun to watch, and it's going to be a good team moving forward, too. And I think the ownership groups that are looking at this, they know that. A bargain compared to the Washington Commanders. That's for sure. Six billion.

Hey, Gary, great stuff, man. Thanks for doing this. Always a pleasure, guys. Take care and enjoy the battles to the playoffs here in the next few weeks. Yeah. Thanks, Gary. Appreciate it. We're looking forward to having you on throughout the playoffs.

Gary Gally. Hey, I found his answer really good on preparing to play against a guy like Austin Matthews because I played against Gary Gally and Cerebo, right? Smart, intelligent, played the percentages, got to know your tendencies. You get to know a player, right? You got the book on him. But come game one and game two, man,

you start really locking in on guys. That's when it gets fun to watch. For sure. Should be good. All right. Sammy, did we blow by the third base stop sign? Yeah, a few don't mind, boys. It's all good.

We got Mike Feud after the break. We're going to take a quick break to listen to these words and come right back. Real Kipper and Bourne. Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, Raptors, and the NFL. The J.D. Bunkins Podcast. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Van. We are in single-digit territory for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nine games to go. Lots of prep work still going on, including ours on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. Sammy? Sammy? We got our boy Mike Feuda. Now, Feuds, Mike Feuda's joining us.

I'm just on the phone with Gary Galley. He just called me. He wanted to run over some notes. You're the headliner, buddy. I knew when I saw what was going on before me that I had at least 10 minutes extra time in the schedule before he got touched. So, listen,

during the break, you know, Justin looks at me and goes, man, you're going like, what is it with you and with Austin? And I'm like, well, what do you mean? There's nothing going on. He says, it's an interesting weekend. He's playing awesome and you're questioning 15 shots on goal. And I'm like, no, I'm not questioning it. I've just never seen it before.

And you've been around the game a long time like 15 shots on goal in one single game for anybody's off the charts is it not yeah it's really especially when you start to think about some of these games that you're looking in the third period you're seeing a shot 17 15 like overall and you think that this kid put up 15 on his own which is uh you know I mean know Kipper, you've blown a lot of horns for, for, but it kind of coincides a little bit too, with get a little bit more ice time with number 16. Well, don't say that because everybody thinks I'm just like, you know,

sucking up to Mitch Marner. Well, I'll tell you right now. And I, I've never questioned anything about his, his play bit in junior and stuff. And I, you know, in the playoffs some of those chippingeted in the crowd and stuff, but his head above with MVP of this team this year, it's not even close, and

he's done it through a bunch of injuries, so it's almost like if you want to get somebody going, knock on Matthews, just throw 16 with him, and they can hit a large bucket of balls with him feeding him the puck, but it was good to watch. It was good to watch. I mean, it's good. They're going to need all of them going, so, you know, and now you're slowly getting O o'reilly back in the mix you start to get closer that

series that you guys have been talking about for eight months yeah you know it is funny like since i don't know november or december we've had some sense it's going to be tampa bay but what we have perceived tampa bay as has changed over the course of the season. Like it was like, you know, for a long time it was, it doesn't matter what they do. They're still Tampa Bay. They still have Vasilevsky. But there's no doubt that the people who have said that are now kind of going, but maybe, but maybe they're a little softer than before.

Well, I'll tell you what, on Saturday, it was like Saturday afternoon. It's unfortunate. It's like someone giving you a lobster and primer at about 1 o'clock and then the rest of the day you get cheese and crackers because that game itself was like kind of the bar being set for what those teams are able to do come playoff time when they turn it up a notch. And it still was some pretty key pieces missing.

I mean, you throw Foligno into that mix, he's going to be back, and if Taylor Hall is healthy with the Bruins, and obviously I think you've got to look at Toronto and say, can they match up and play that style? I don't think that's their best interest to do that, but they have become a lot grittier on the back end. And again, I think that if Tampa Bay throws that style of game at them,

I think their power play is just got to take them out of the, out of it. And I mean, obviously the one thing we've talked about a lot with Tampa Bay throws that style of game at them. I think their power play has just got to take them out of it. And, I mean, obviously the one thing we've talked about a lot with Tampa Bay is the one thing the Leafs 100%, you know, I still think they lose the goaltending battle. The forwards are kind of a bit of a wash. And Tampa has the elite, but I like the depth on Toronto's – on the Toronto's out on the back end. But if you look at that whole, that whole style of play,

they've played so much more hockey than the Leafs that if they can, you know, I don't expect the first game to be five, nothing, but if they can sow some seeds of doubt early in that series and take a, you know, get up early, I don't know whether Tampa Bay should have it in the tank to come back on a team with Toronto that should be fresh and should not in any way, like if it's an organization, they've got to outlast Tampa Bay, I would think.

They should be much fresher and much deeper to be able to take them out in a series. We're talking to Mike Feud, a former NHL executive, now working on Sportsnet as an analyst. You just mentioned right off the top that uh you need all of them going so who isn't and and what's what's sheldon keith's mandate here in the next nine games get your d pairings down where there's a comfort level i mean uh i i kind of see what up front when he's got to do a little bit of that because obviously ryan o'reilly's going to be such

a big picture of what he whatever he's got in mind for he's going to do a little bit of that, because obviously Ryan O'Reilly is going to be such a big picture of what he, whatever he's got in mind for where he's going to slot in, that you're going to have to juggle some stuff around with the forwards because there's such a key piece that's not available to him. But I really think there's got to become some stability with what you want in the pairings on the back end and realize who is actually going to be that seven guy. I mean,

I think you can get yourself into a bit of trouble if you start playing a little bit too many mind games with you know this is the group this is the pairings we're going to go on the road this is the ones we're going to be at home it looks like they're going to have home ice advantage which is obviously going to be critical but get your pairings down um get i i think if you want to rest a couple forwards do whatever i think they've got home ice but you've just got to get especially especially the back end, there's got to be some more consistency to the pairings and some more comfort level with who's going to be

against who and figure out who your goalie is. It's amazing that at this time of year, there's so many teams and I was looking at today, I've got to go on Hockey Central tonight and we were talking about how many teams started this season with this picture of what their goaltending was going to be like.

And now you see the Edmonton Oilers kicking out Skinner and you've got the Los Angeles Kings on a roll with Corpus Hallow and Phoenix Copley. I mean, and Jonathan Quick's the starter in Vegas. It's just that now here we are, nine games left, and there's still discussion as who's coming out of the game to start for the Leafs. And I don't personally don't think it should be a question, left and there's still discussion as who's coming out of the game to start for the leafs and i i don't personally don't think it should be a question but the fact that it is is quite interesting you know the the one other line of thing that stands out to me is like if matthews and marner

are going to play together that means tavarez and neilander are going to be together and they haven't they've had runs of play that have been uninspiring do you think they get ryan o'reilly or would you rather see o'reilly play down the lineup i'd like to see o'reilly in the three spot and they haven't, they've had runs of play that have been uninspiring. Do you think they get Ryan O'Reilly, or would you rather see O'Reilly play down the lineup? I'd like to see O'Reilly in the three spot in the playoffs, and if it gets down to a crunch. I mean, the one thing that we know, Sheldon, he's done a little bit more of this, but when it gets playoff time, that bench gets shortened in a hurry.

And that'll be a big, for me, will be a big thing to watch, whether I personally think sometimes it happens a little early because he's got such high end, high end power. I think that especially now with the depth and you don't want to take anything from Ryan O'Reilly, but I think him in the three hole just matches up so wonderfully for them. And then he can slide up and play with them when he has to shorten the bench. And again, it's going to come down to discipline,

but I just like the three down the middle look. I mean, they might have something completely different on their mind. I know they were really tampering or tinkering with stuff early. I just think it matches up well with Tampa's depth down the middle. And then you're going to have to count on some wingers to start hammering and some goals and guys like Bunting, you know, getting consistently back to their game where I think he's somebody who can really, if he does it properly

and hopefully he's learned by now, can really get under some of the depth guys on Tampa Bay if he stays disciplined and draws penalties instead of taking penalties. So it'll be interesting but I like the three down the middle, Barney. If you go three down the middle Feuds, is there a chance that

you lose David Kampf a little bit? You know what? Some of these guys, I mean, if you told me that Yarncroft was going to be, you know, somebody that was going to be sliding in the first group, I would be thinking you're nuts too. So there's certain, I think you've got to give up the look of the, you've got to give a look of how the painting looks on the wall. And some guys have actually developed some chemistry and it might not look

as, as power top at the, at the top, but there is a chemistry that started to evolve and, and start to go with there. It's almost like you're going in twos, right? You're you've got two guys that are really playing with chemistry amongst each other and slotting the third in along with it. And at this time of year, I mean, he Land Landers, he's had a great season, right? And he's obviously the last, looked a little bit more lethargic late.

And we just hope that he's getting ready to crank it up for the playoffs because he was actually pretty good in the playoffs last year. But there's no time for any of these top guys to be slumping. I mean, everybody knows what's at stake. Everybody knows that this is a team that should, they really truly should find a way to beat Tampa this time around. I mean, I think they're the better team.

I think they're now the deeper team. And I think they've got enough gunpower that Vasilevsky, unless he just completely stands on his head, shouldn't, barring any critical injuries, shouldn't be able to take him out. And it'll be fun to watch. But, I mean, you've got to think this team's got it they've got way more depth than tampa does now yeah feuts um you know keeping it in canada but looking out west

i'm sure one of the games you guys are going to be talking about tonight edmonton has vegas tonight they um you know they're five points behind vegas they got vegas tonight and they got the kings two of the next three after that vegas and the kings are the teams ahead of them do you think it's important that they catch one of those teams do you think it's even possible that they do tonight it'd be easier after tonight to see I mean Jonathan Quick's already he's always played them really well this uh going back to last year in the playoffs but I mean they played last night I've been trying to figure out a little bit with I thought there's a bit of a strange rotation going on with like like Quickie got put in really late with I think

Thompson got hurt against Calgary and he went and closed it out and I kind of thought we'd see him the next night and they kind of I think they went in with Brassat at the following game so I mean I'm sure Quickie will get this call tonight. And, I mean, obviously that offense is capable of lighting anybody up. But I think that's one of those divisions, very similar to the Carolina division, that that first getting that top seed is so important. I don't like the Edmonton-Los Angeles matchup. But that being said, I mean, it's kind of Vegas' ball to play with,

so to speak. I mean, they've been playing very well as a team. They probably, as far as defensive cores, you know, you look at them and probably Carolina and the Rangers and the Bruins and say those are probably the deepest set of defensemen if you're going to have a goaltender that's, you know, having a little bit of a subpar year, although Quigley's been awesome since he got there.

But this will be a big test against the Oilers, but I think it's critical that that top seed in that division is going to be such a different ride. Anyway, it's not going to be easy, but it's such a different look than the first round matchup you're going to get if you don't get it. Speaking of LA, I thought they would

have folded by now when you left them. Yeah, me too. That's not the case. Are you surprised that they've put themselves, you know, from September, October to today into a position where we can honestly look at this team and say, yeah, they can contend now? Well, they're very deep. And I will give my friend Mark, I mean, obviously,

there's still some players I'm very proud that I was responsible for drafting there that have come around, like Tempe and a lot of the D-Corp. But Mark Canetti and his staff have provided a lot of bullets for Blakey over this rebuild to Neuer. And you've got to give him credit. I mean, it's not so much, I mean, obviously, it took a lot of Nats to make the quick trade, right? And it's filled holes.

Corpo Salo and Gavrikov have done it and did a wonderful job. But, I mean, you've got to tip your cap for the Fiala fit. He's added a couple of other players along the way that have allowed him to filter that youth in. Now, Beifeld, who's kind of like forever, it's like how you pass on Stutzler for Beifeld. You might still be able to make, but you're starting to see what Beifeld's starting to evolve into

with his size as he grows into his body. And they're a hard team to play against. And you've got to give Todd McClellan, because there's a buy-in, and what you're starting to see now is for a couple years there, you know, Drew Gowdy was off because he just hates to lose, and now you're starting to see the fire burn again there. Kopitar's always had it. So it's almost like there's a couple teams now that you look at, Kipper,

that really you see Boston evolve around that core and take another shot with that core, right? Like with the Marchand group since their cup time. And then you see some of these, you know, Chicago was able to build around that core and come back and still be competitive. Now there's obviously a fallout, but that was our kind of our core when we won. Obviously some great leaders, but they've been able to draft well and and now come back well that core still has not passed their prime and take another shot at it and the west is wide open i mean i'm still in awe that you would start a season with jonathan quick and cal peterson and somehow find a way to come out with phoenix copley and corpus sallow and be up

for the division championship but you just got to tip your cap because they play very well around those guys. And again, it's not like you're looking at them saying, you know, like Phoenix Copley, these guys are starting, these teams are in critical positions. Like Edmonton, in a season you have to win, and you got a guy making his first start in the playoffs, right? I believe anyways, it's Skinner's first start. And there's so many guys hinging unproven goaltenders

that really, really need success. And it's been a strange year goaltending-wise, but tip your hat to the guys there in LA because there's a strong group that he's done a lot of that stuff without getting rid of some of the bullets that are still very valuable in the organization below that if they want to add some talent down the road, they're very deep.

Well, and tonight, Feuts, they play the former head coach of the los angeles kings and the calgary flames look at this flame situation i just they won't go away like it's not because they've been winning a ton or anything but there are four points out of a playoff spot they get eight games left but they're gonna play the winnipeg jets the team they're chasing you know do you give them any chance here to to still find a way to squeak in well in spite of themselves yes yeah i mean it's it's like i said i mean i picked these guys i apply out an anthony stewart like pick and taking them to almost win the pacific it's one of those one you kind of want to run away from yeah but i looked at those trades and thought brad did a magical job keeping them

viable and some guys you know i don't think i think garyl's you know kind of struggled getting this group on board um with his style of play some of those players will never be able to play that style of play and it's it's shown on markstrom but that being said like i mean here we now we're talking about it's almost a microcosm of their season right now you've got this shiny and I don't know him the way I know Nyes but you've got this guy that you've been recruiting your own top pick that's coming out of the states and there's not a chance he's going to be in the lineup until you know I just don't think Daryl's going to change that lineup until they're officially in or they're officially out as far as giving the kid Coronado a chance to play. And it's just been a very strange season.

I like their chances a lot better if Tanev gets back in there. He seems to be the thermometer as far as their level of warriorhood, if that's even a term. But it's still there for the taking. I mean, it's basically now – I don't think Nashville, I think, now without their injuries, I don't think they're I think now without their injuries, I don't think they're a real threat unless Saros goes nuts. But it's basically now who's going to come back into form quicker, Hellenbach or

Martstrom. And the guys around it have to, you know, there's a couple guys in Winnipeg that are, you know, when they look at the finish line, they know they're not going to be like Winnipeg Jets much longer. So how much do they want to dig in? And Calgary's got to capitalize on that because there's there's been a lot invested in a group that's kind of very been very underwhelming for the entire season so hopefully they can catch lightning in a bottle and and play hard here down the stretch but they can't lose the teams that are below them and the dark sweet stakes and they got to find a way to steal a

couple games teams that i mean if you can't get up for la tonight they got to find a way to steal a couple of games teams that, I mean, if you can't get up for LA tonight, they got absolutely washed last week. And I think it was in LA. I mean, I stayed up to 10 30 at night and it was six one by 10 45. You should be, you should be, if you got any pride, you should be ready for this game tonight because they humiliated you last week. You should certainly be ready to bring your A game. Is it just too easy to say, well, Jonathan Huber is just not a Daryl Sutter guy? I don't think so, Kipper.

I mean, but he isn't. I mean, that's fair enough. But can they still find a way to make it work? Can there still be some magic down the stretch here? Between the two of them? Yes. Magic? No. No shot. You know Daryl better than

the rest of us. You tell us. Daryl's going to do whatever he can to get the best out of Jonathan Huberto over the best of the last two weeks. He needs something out of him for this team to win, and Daryl's notably been a guy that pushes the right buttons down the stretch to get the most out of everybody. You're just not seeing that with this group, and whether that's something that has to be addressed at the end of the year.

I mean, if I'm Jonathan Huberto it's one thing to say no you know I didn't like Daryl you know we're calling him out early in the season and you know he went from the best passer in the history of the franchise you know he's going to take a crap in the middle of the game or something and it's kind of gone up and off and derails and stuff like that but Jonathan Huberto has got to be a lot better regardless of who the coach is I mean and more accountable and stuff like that. But Jonathan Huberto has got to be a lot better, regardless of who the coach is, I mean, and more accountable. And he's obviously a very well-liked teammate, but down the stretch, even if he wants to be moved, he'd be doing his best services by finishing strong

and showing the other teams out there or showing his own teammates that he's worth the 10-5 or whatever schmil that he's getting starting next year. Like, you've got to – the criticism sometimes have been a little too harsh and he doesn't handle it the way, say, a Justin Williams or a Mike Richards could handle it, but the bottom line is you've got to bring a game that shows that you're worthy of your money and that's been a problem as well, not just the coach.

Well, they're certainly on the clock, man. Hey, Fuchs, great stuff as always. Thanks, Kipper. Appreciate it. Thanks, Forney. I dropped your book off with my parents there, buddy. They're excited. Aw, thanks, pal. Appreciate the support. Okay, thanks very much, guys. Mike Futa.

Stanley Cup champion with the L.A. Kings. Western analyst for Sportsnet. A West race is exciting. It's a bit of a rock fight. It's a bit of a pillow fight. It's so true. How's your own sound boy in L.A.? Uh, Derzy?zy yep he's good they're good yeah they're good like you know yesterday two people came on and volunteered

la as a dark horse cop fave not safe derzy he's he'll always be my son that got away and then they he came all the way to toronto and he got booed because he got slashed in the head by pierre angvall and really boo and really booed him turned it down you mentioned um quinton byfield and i'll just taking them over stutzel yeah how much forgot that happened how much uh upside still there for byfield i think three goals maybe four this season yeah it's tough right like i understand that they want the big presence if you can get that big guy who's also very good and effective i understand why people want that but stutzla is just electric he's one of the one of the most exciting players to watch in the league. Imagine that team there added him to it.

I know. It's, yeah. Byfield, yeah, he's got 21 points in 44 games this year with three goals and 18 assists. Yeah, it's the risk of, you know, what's he, 20, 21 years old? He's a big body. He's 20 years old.

20 years. Like, he may come into it. Will he just be a solid 6-9 player? Can he? Well, Stutzel scores 40 for the next 10 years. They're supposed to be, in top five, you're supposed to get face of a franchise piece, top five. Yeah.

And I don't know if there's going to be a day where we look at by field and say there's a point-of-game guy or there's the guy that's going to slide in there one we look at uh by field and say there's a point of game guy or there's there's the guy that's going to slide in there one day for kopitar yeah well and i imagine that's what you hope right like you you think of all the skill guys who put up points and you say that's fine we didn't want that we wanted the playoff style guy who's going to be there and i believe he does he play center i know he's wing this year with them but like you know they get a you know like you mentioned a kopitar type replacement they'd feel pretty good about it it's tough to see it happening at this point but six five two twenty you know like if he can score 70 points at that size is that as effective as stutzla getting 100 i don't know yeah um

it'd be nice if the two teams battling for the final playoff spot work both from canada yeah i was right you can't leapfrog seattle love to see la la scare you for edmonton in the first round that's big time yeah big time yeah and i i like edmonton i've been i feel like i have been the most vocal Oilers supporter possible this year, but definitely some fear. Oilers aren't quite handling business the way I'd like to see them of late either. They're a pretty flawed squad. Yeah.

And D is still a little sus, and the goaltender is a little sus too. All right. We're not done by a long shot. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to have Eric Erlandson, who works for uh tampa bay uh lightninginsider.com we're gonna get his thoughts on what the heck is going on there this is this is much more than just a regular hey they're saving it for the playoffs something's going on in tampa bay and we're gonna get his thoughts on it after the break including some thought some thought when we come back on golf.

Brooks. Oh, yeah. Brooks. Did you see Brooks Koepka in the stands? Living in person. At Blad. Wearing a jumpsuit

with no shirt underneath. Okay. Holding the velour. We're going to dig into that uh also matthew i guess that's what i'm saying brooksie matthew nyes we're gonna turn this uh back into toronto a little bit matthew nyes they're in the final four minnesota's still in it as leaf fans await but not off to a great start statistically anyway statistically but maybe physically as well. Right.

We'll give you an update on that after the break. You are watching and listening to Real Kipper and Born after these words. We're back. Smart takes on the biggest stories in sports. The Fan Drive Time with Ben Ennis. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is Real Kipper and Born on Sportsnet 590 The Fan. Toronto Maple Leafs gearing up for the Florida Panthers tomorrow night. In the meantime, we watch around the league, continue to wonder what's going on with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Answers coming, I believe. All right, we're going to welcome in Eric Erlandson in a few minutes, but Futes talked about the goalie situation in toronto we know what the goalie situation is did you ask off the air who's their backup in tampa bay did you really ask that what no oh i

think you were joking what are you talking about when what tampa bay yes so who who it is oh yeah yeah yeah no i legitimately was like i think it's's Brian Elliott. Yes, exactly. Is it Curtis McElhinney still? Who's been around forever. I see. Yes. And you're like, because we know. Yes. That sink or swim, no matter how bad Vasilevsky is, you know who's going to be game one.

That's it. And here's Feutz with the Leafs with nine games to go. And he's still questioning who the starter is going to be for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Concerning. Okay. As promised, Eric will join us now. Eric, how are you, pal? I'm good, gentlemen.

How are you today? Hey, no time for, like, warmness here on the real Kipper and Borden show. What is going on with Tampa Bay? What are they trying to pull over us? They want us to really believe that the Leafs are going to sweep them in the first round. We've seen this act before, Eric.

Wait, wait, wait. Are you trying to start the playoff banter now? Is that what we're trying to do here? No. We're trying to figure out what's wrong with them and what are we missing here? You know what I honestly think it is? I think it's mental fatigue.

You know, you think about the level you have to be at on a consistent basis and the amount of hockey that this team has played in the last three years. You know, they just finished a stretch of 19 games in 33 days. That is a ton of hockey at this time of the year when your body's already kind of worn down and beat up and you add into the number of games they played. Because if you look at the way some of these results have gone, the mistakes are just mental mistakes. They had a game where Mikhail Sergeyev had no idea.

The guy was three steps behind him for a breakaway. He had no idea when the puck was lobbed over his head. You don't see that. We've seen pucks go through Andre Vazileski. Pucks don't go through Andre Vazileski. And it's kind of epidemic throughout the entire team. So their engagement level hasn't been where it's needed to be. Their compete level hasn't been where it's needed to be. And that's what's been missing over this last stretch. Now, having said all that, you're right. This is a playoff tested team. They know the level they have to be at

it's just now a question with eight games remaining can they pull themselves back up to be ready for that level once you get to the first game yeah and that's one of the the question marks i think when when toronto fans look at tampa they go okay well maybe their depth is a little different or not quite as good but boy looks to me like brandon haggles had a very nice season there uh nick paul's been a contributor colton's pretty good like they still have a lot of really nice depth pieces don't they they do and uh you know we haven't seen production yet from tanners you know or mike as of yet but those are two guys they brought in to kind of help add to that depth a little bit uh i mean you don't have yanni gourd barclay goodrow and uh blake coleman i mean that was

a fantastic line in those two cup years, which they won. So they've taken a hit that wise. You know, Corey Perry's, you know, taken another year slower. Pat Maroon is another year slower. Pierre-Edouard Belmar is another year slower. So they've been kind of bogged down a little bit on the bottom lines. But, you know, they've still got top-end talent, you know, bringing points, knocking on the door of a 50-goal season top end talent you know brain points knocking on the

door of a 50 goal season and you know nikita kucherov is having a great season it's kind of getting overlooked a little bit steven samkos is having a good season you mentioned hagel he's been better than expected this year playing with those top guys it's just a question of can you get nick paul to be the guy who scored two goals in game seven against toronto last year can he be that guy on a more consistent basis can ross Colton step up and add some offense here once you get to the postseason as well? They're still a deep team, but they're not as deep as they were, and I think other teams have caught up to them with their depth.

We're talking to Eric Erlandson from TampaBayLightningInsider.com. Eric, all the depth that we speak of is always mentioning with forwards we don't really mention depth on the blue line here how much do they miss ryan mcdonough oh massive massive hole keeper massive hole you can't lose a guy who played the type of minutes that ryan mcdonough did and the quality of his play during those minutes and not feel the loss and believe it or not, they miss Jan Ruda because Jan Ruda knew how to play alongside Victor Hedman. It's not easy to play alongside a guy like Victor because of the way he plays

and how much ice he can cover and the way he sees and feels the game. Jan Ruda was a perfect partner for Victor Hedman. We're eight games into the season, and they still have the final guy who's going to be consistently next to Victor Hedman. So, yeah, the depth on the back end has taken a big blow. You miss the leadership. You miss the quality of minutes from Ryan McDonough. There's no way you can replace those.

As good as Ian Cole has been for a good portion of this year, he's not Ryan McDonough. Nobody really is Ryan McDonough. And that's the one area I thought maybe Julian Breezeball would address when we got to the trade deadline was maybe add to the defensive depth, but they went for the two forwards instead. You mentioned that they had played 19 games in 33 days. I read that they hadn't had more than one day off in a row

going back to sort of mid-February. Now things slow down a little bit for them. They'll have some gaps in their schedule. I know they have, I think it's Carolina tonight, but they're going to have some schedule gaps. Do you think with a little bit of chance they'll have some gaps in their schedule i know they have uh i think it's carolina tonight but they're gonna have some schedule gaps do you think with a little bit of chance to recharge and refresh that this is a situation of they still have the guys who've made them great that they will be able to be that closer to that team than the one who's lost four in a row here yeah i think so you know they had you know actually came home in the middle of a

four-game trip but they came home after the Boston game. It was an afternoon game on Saturday, so they came home, got to spend a day, you know, with their families on Sunday, practiced yesterday, and flew out. They got two home games coming up this weekend, and they got three days, three days off, like, between games. It's going to feel like a mini vacation compared to what they've kind of gone through here the past month. So I think it does give that opportunity to understand what they've gone

through, how difficult a stretch that was, but to get the rest, not just physically, but to just get away from the game for a couple days. You're going to have a charity event next week that's usually a good time, you know, for the players to be involved into. So, yeah, I think that they can. You know, it's just a question of, you know, matched up against Toronto again, the first line, get their first round. Can you get to that level that you need to, to, you know,

look at another long playoff run? I mean, they three straight strips of the Stanley cup final it's it's unheard of in today's game. You know, they were able to do it, but that is a lot of high intense hockey that kind of takes a mental fatigue out of you. So that's the thing to look for here in the last eight games, is if they can find some of that consistency. They were very engaged in that game Saturday against the Bruins. They faced six power plays in the opening 14 minutes of the game

to push through and didn't get the result they wanted. But it's a building block for them. They've got to have, you know, kind of take another step forward here tonight against Carolina. Hey, Eric, where's the John Cooper factor in all of this? Because one of the better coaches, right? I mean, over the last 10 years,

record speaks for itself, but is there a lot of sympathy coming from him on 19 out of 33 nights? Or does he look at his bench and go, I want more accountability. I'm benching more guys here. Is he at his best or worst right now, if I ask the players? Well, boy, the players will give you a much different perspective, right?

I don't think he's at a point where he's going to sit down, guys, bench him for some play. Obviously, that kind of caught the team's attention back at the beginning of March at the start of the stretch. But I think he does understand what 19 and 33 means, right? And they got plenty of opportunities. You know, there wasn't much practice in the past month. There just wasn't because there wasn't time.

You know, they would use their morning skates as their practice time. And, you know, they were just trying to give the guys as much rest, trying to balance that with trying to correct errors. I think the one thing, if you're John Cooper and the coaching staff you're looking at, is they've given up seven goals three times since the All-Star break. That's the area that probably has them the most concerned

that they want to kind of tie in and get things reined in in that capacity. So I think he's more with them and understanding what they've gone through than trying to crack the whip a little bit here. But he's, in his 10 years, I think that's the one thing that, you know, you really figure out about John Cooper.

He knows how to manage his players, right? Like he has that rapport with them that he can be stern without being forceful, right? They get the message across, but in a way that's not, you know, tearing guys down. He's very good at that. So I think he's more with them in this aspect than he is trying to put them down.

You know, I'm trying to get a sense for the depth that Tampa has and some of the names I'm not as familiar with. Nicholas Purbix is a rookie. I believe he's had a good season by all accounts. He's paired up with Hedman right now. Tell us a little bit about him and how he is compared to, well, I'm not going to compare him to McDonough, but names we wouldn't know as well in Toronto. You know what?

He's probably, the way he's played this year, think Anton Strauman. That's kind of the style of game that Perbix will play because he's very poised. It's hard to teach poise with the puck and understanding. He's got a really good head for the game. He's been up and down the lineup like everybody else. He's played with Mikhail Sergeyev. He's played with Victor Head, but, you know, they've been trying to find these right combinations for the deep pairing.

Another one of these late-round picks that the Lightning seemed to find, he spent four years at St. Cloud State, you know, really brought his game offensively. Wasn't really known as that when he was drafted, you know, his draft year. But kind of found his game there. Was part of Team USA at the Olympics last year in China. So, you know, he's kind of steadily built his game up. And, you know, he's really been a find in terms of what he's been able to do for this team this year.

In that they didn't know what the right side was going to look like besides, you know, besides Zach Rogozian and Eric Chernak. You know, they brought in Philip Myers. You know, he didn't pan out, and he spent most of the year down in Syracuse. We'll see where he fits in, you know, once the regular season ends. But Purbix has just been a steady, steady presence and a surprise to kind of help, you know, give some depth that blue line. They weren't sure that they had.

You think you know, especially players coming out of college, but until you put them in that pro environment, how they're going to adapt. He's been really, really good on that aspect and earned himself a quick contract extension. You mentioned goals that we've watched going on Vasilevsky, goals that you're

just not used to seeing through him. Eight games left, including tonight against Carolina. What is the sense on Vasilevsky's scheduling from here on in to get himself ready for game one? Is it to play as many games as he can to play himself out of this? Is it to practice? Is it to give him a couple of days off?

How does he prep himself? He is a guy that they have to rein in and and he's learned to understand that because he wants to work all the time and it's uh it's difficult it can be difficult to kind of you know wear yourself down at this level uh so he's more of a guy he wants he if you asked him to play every game he would do it but i i think there's a balance there um you want him to kind of get his game in line for sure because he is the most important piece on this roster, but you don't want to go too far with it. Right. I think with eight games left, I'd say he probably gets five of those. Certainly he'll get the, you know, the, the,

the, the finale against Detroit, the home finale. Most certainly they get the three days off next week. There's a back to back in New York next week as well. But I would imagine Vazzy gets three of the, or five of the final eight starts just to kind of get him back on track a little bit and maybe get into some more chemistry with his defense because there's been a lot of breakdowns here in the last three, four weeks or so in terms of their defensive structure. So I think you want to get all that in line as you look ahead to the middle of April.

You know, we're looking at the guys who make Tampa Bay go. I see Stamkos is only at 30 goals this season, but Kucherov, my goodness, these numbers, 102 points, his penalty differential too, I think he's drawn like 30 more than he's taken. You mentioned a quiet sort of unbelievable season. Like this guy's going to get hard trophy votes this year. Yeah, he's been it's it's gone

unnoticed in a lot of ways really um you know especially the year connor's had in edmonton he's been so great uh all year long uh you know that i think kucherov's assists in particular kind of get overlooked a little bit uh but he's just kind of quietly gone about his business and you know he'll have an off night but then you turn up and you look and he's got a couple of assists on the board and that's just kind of what his game is he's not um you know i've used this comparison and in terms of trying to compare players in the game conor mcdavid will wow us when you watch him at live speed nikita khrushchev wows you when you watch it on replay because of the subtle little things that he can do in his game that make you go, how did he do that?

And you have to go back and look at it. Did he really do that? Because you've got to see it in slow-mo sometimes to figure it out. You know, I think back to an assist he had in the bubble playoffs against the Islanders where at center ice he just kind of subtly turns over a stick just enough to ramp a puck, puts it right on the stick of Braden Point, ends up being a goal. It's those type of little things in his game that make you go,

wow, did I just see what I had to see? You know, did my mind play tricks on me? And that's what he's done. So he's just got that quiet confidence and greatness to his game that, you know, probably gets overlooked a little while, but, you know, you look up at the end of the season. Like this is his third 100-point campaign, right? And I don't think, you know, he's probably not getting enough credit for the type of season

offensively that he's had. One more for me before we let you go, Eric. And that is that when, when, when Tampa Bay traded for Hagel, he's not a guy that we knew a lot of, but there was tremendous upside when they gave up a couple of first

rounders and we're seeing it right now, playing with Point and Kucherov. And then there's this Tanner Janot who they gave up a ton of. But I don't think we'll ever expect to see Tanner Janot on a top line, maybe flirting with 30 goals. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's lending towards there. Where has that worked out for them so far? And, you know, if you're Leaf fans, do I need to worry about this guy coming in and

scaring the crap out of my team? He can be an intimidating figure. There's no doubt about it. I had that fight with Riley Stillman in Buffalo a couple weeks ago where he just gave him a tremendous right hook and dropped Stillman right away. I think that caught a lot of people's attention.

Yeah, and then like a couple of games later, there was an incident against the Flyers where Hagel delivered a hit. It was a clean hit, but we know sometimes guys like to answer for those hits. And a couple of guys skated in Hagel's direction. Tanner, you know, took two strides and everybody dispersed. So you have that type of mentality with him in your lineup. He's probably not the 24-goal guy he was last year, but I don't think he's the five-goal guy either.

He's still trying to find his way here and understand exactly what his role is and where he fits in. He's been kind of up and down the third and fourth lines here a little bit. So, no, you're not going to get the type of return that you're seeing already from Brandon Hagel. But he is a guy that can put the puck in the net. He is a guy that can intimidate. He is physical. He can be very physical. And the one thing that struck put the puck in the net. He is a guy that can intimidate. He's physical.

He can be very physical. And the one thing that struck me the first time we had a chance to talk to him, especially him being on the Western Conference, his upper body, he is really, really built in his upper body, and you can understand where that physical style of play comes from because he's a strong, strong man. And they're hoping, especially if things shake out, if you put a line together that has Nick Paul,'re hoping if, especially if things shake out, if you put a

line together that has Nick Paul, Ross Colton, and, and, you know, on it, that's two guys that have scored 20 goals in this league. Nick Paul's on the verge of hitting the 20 goal mark this year. You know, that can check as well. So that they're trying to gain that identity, identity in the third line that they've been missing since Gore, Goodrell and Coleman. And if those, those three can combine to do it, then that could be a difference maker in a series if they can kind of chip in some offense. Last question for me, Eric.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are first in the NHL in penalty minutes. How much do you anticipate them making that a part of the style of game they play against the Leafs in the first round? They better not. That power play will burn them. I mean, you can't put that power play on the ice too often because their penalty kill has been good at times this year and their penalty kill has been bad at times this year.

And if you're going to keep tempting fate and put that Leafs power play, for sure they'll try and intimidate a little bit because I talk to Brian Engblom all the time. He talks about that. Intimidation is still a part of this game, but you can't, you can't cross a line, right? You can go right up to the line, but the minute you start putting that least power play on, on, on the ice, you're going to put yourself in a world of danger because there's only so much

you can do to hold them off the board. They're so good with the way they work to pop. And you know, that release that Matthews has and M monitor is such a magician with the pocket and the things that he can do. They'll, they'll want to test those waters a little bit, but you gotta be really, really careful because you don't want to lose this series because you took

too many penalties. He is Eric Erlandson from the lightning insider.com. Hey, Eric, really appreciate your insight into the Tampa Bay Lightning and what they're going through right now as they get ready real soon to start game one.

Yeah, I'm sure we'll hear a lot of each other here in the next couple of weeks, boys. For sure, Eric. Thanks for joining us. Take care. Thanks so much. Talk soon. Tanner Janot, I think, is a restrictive free free agent you wouldn't give up all those draft picks

for a guy that's going to walk out the door but he needs a new contract like you know we were talking about michael bunting earlier uh not having the season that he had before number wise the drop off won't be as significant i think as tanners from nashville season a year ago right but this guy's gonna cash in like you just don't give up those type of picks for a guy that's not gonna cash leverage when you trade five picks for a guy yeah i'd say you're on the hook to get him re-signed for sure three points in 15 games at the lightning uh 22 pims dash six you know you hasn't been great that's not necessarily what you're hoping for when you trade a draft class for one man yeah including in california as well if he is a legit 15 or 20 goal score is that not five schmill a year yeah well particularly

leads the nhl in fights right so he brings an element like he's a rarities in tom wilson's class as a guy who contribute offensively and and fight i don't know what his offense was like in junior like i don't know if he's expected to be a guy who contributes a ton offensively his last season in junior which would have been his over age year he was 40 goals 40 assists 80 points and 83 pims okay i understand over each year but boy for the moose jaw warriors so yeah i i think you're probably looking at a nice contract yeah but i think it's probably more in the line of what we were talking about with old buncey boy earlier in the season compared to like maybe he's what

five times five i don't know is he is that too high is that i think that's the number that would be around 50 points a year. Yeah. That it would be around 5-5. But you're not counting on Janot to be a 50-point guy. He does have a 40-point season, though. So tough. Yeah, playing for Nashville, no less.

Again, you could substitute 10 points and say he's a 30-point guy. Right, punch your nose off. Yeah, scare everybody. Right. Yeah. He probably ends up being one of those like oh he's 4.75 over five or something like that but then so that's a good conversation to go back to the one we started having about bunting and what you think he would be worth because i think that was

almost the exact number and range we were talking about except he's 28 yes which would mean that if he was to go and knock on doors to 31 other teams, like what would be... It's true, he's UFA, not RFA. Yeah, UFA. So he can knock on doors. So I think the only way it gets done for the Leafs to get a better number than what would other teams look at is if you are offering six, seven, or eight years to Bunting to bring the AAV down.

Yeah, I think you're right. I'm shaking your head like you can't do that. But yes, I agree. Right? Yeah. So if the number for market, and I don't think anyone would ever entertain to give Michael Bunting seven years, six or seven. The Nick Paul contract, he can have 3. Bunting seven years. I give the Nick Paul contract.

He can have 3.1 for seven years. That's where it would go. Yeah. For me, if, if the Leafs were to knock on the door with seven times 4.3, 4.4, it could get done or someone else could offer him 4.75.

For five years. Yeah you're following me i guess i gotta tell you i'm getting the car warmed up boys you want you want nothing to do with michael bunting at that no i don't at what well you're you're mentioning there it just seems astronomical what where where like when you said 4.75 like that's you got two you got your two here's my franchise cornerstones do new contracts this year like what are you offering him sammy a drive to the airport here's my bunting stuff kipper so you don't want him at all back listen you wouldn't take him for three and a half or four i i probably guess maybe depends on the term like it's just I think he's been awesome

when he's played with great players and he's found a way to play really well for stretches of time with great players but I don't like him down the lineup as much and he hasn't had the ability to stick on top lines consistently how many times over the past two years have we talked about

him getting sent down to the lower lines and you know like i don't think and he finds himself always back yeah because he has to work his way back to me you can find somebody like this is where kyle dubas in the and their pro scouts and where you're paying all these guys all this money and you're going to be paying guys all this money even more than the offseason if the two guys sign on the dotted line you where you have to go out and find cheaper talent yeah like i i like bunting and i like what he brings but boy four seven five i'm like two minds of this one is that if the leafs have a very strong case to not pay him that much but bunting is a very strong case to say someone's going to give me the number you mentioned, $24 million for five years or something.

Go back and watch Mason Marchment. More in the Tanner Janot class than Michael Bunting because this guy's bigger, he's stronger, more physical, can scare people. He's got more of that element. But goes down to Floridaida puts up some decent numbers cashes in with dallas 4.5 million if i'm not mistaken sounds right better numbers yeah bunting has better numbers than him yeah so there's a case like you could see a team saying four or five yeah right there four or five yeah four or five for whatever you want to bid me okay but if you're the toronto

maple leafs and you're looking at it this guy's gonna hit his 28th birthday without having played 200 nhl games he's got one really good year under his belt you know he doesn't defend close to 45 50 points those are two pretty good years they are for sure there but like he doesn't you know he doesn't defend they don't use him in any sort of defensive role he's not physical but he is a agitator so he has a different element i like him and i i want the least to keep him i think if they could get him for four times five i think i like that preferably times four whatever a number would be four times four would be more appealing i also can tell you as i continue to watch the left side yeah with yarn croak and

kerfoot and i don't know who else um you're gonna need michael bunting to be really good i haven't i don't feel like you liked him this much all year the uh i like him i like him a lot more when i see my alternatives on the left side. Yeah. What's Kerfoot going to get? He's a UFA. Do you think they'll keep Kerfoot? I'll get a big enough Uber for both of them.

Guys, this is a real conversation about a guy who scored 50 points last year, kills penalties, plays 17 minutes a night. They use him up and down the lineup. He's a UFA. I'm saying those are the realities. You think you're just going to find replacement guys? I think he can get his three million somewhere else.

Absolutely. I mean, I think he's at least a three million dollar player. I think he's probably... You can't tell me he's that much less valuable than Michael Bunting. In fact, I'm not sure that he is less valuable than Michael Bunting. In fact, I'm not sure that he is less valuable than Michael Bunting.

Bye, Felicia. They have some big, like, they got a lot of UFAs. Like, this lineup's going to look a lot different next year. It could look real different. You know what? It could look really different. And all the money is going to go to Matthews ands and nylander to get them resigned yep and as it should yeah i mean they they got an extra mill to play with and other than that it's going to be making some tough decisions including

kerfoot uh camp achari bunting simmons zach aston reese all ufas yeah that's where you want your ufas okay speaking of the left side for the toronto maple leafs give us uh what's going on with matthew nyes quickly before we move on from bunting if the leafs and i saw i think it was mario cart in the chat put this up there and it's a great point that if they let hyman walk for 5-5 and give bunting 4.75, I'll never forgive them. I know. The Hyman thing, really not sitting well.

Because I, especially because I bang the goddamn table. I'd be like, maybe you could just pay him. If you overspend on the seven or eight years on term, you can bring Bunting down to 4-3, 4-4, I think. No chance. I mean, I said yes. I am not talking to your suggestion as it being untrue. You're just shaking.

I am the GM hearing that and saying I don't want to give seven years. What's 35-year-old bunting look like? I don't know. JB, totally fair. Totally a legitimate point. I'm not saying no to that, but certainly makes you think those are the type of options that the Leafs have to be considering. It's impossible for Kyle Dubas to hear a case about Bunting or any GM

and not think he's worth, you know, north of $4 million at any year, any sort of term, given the numbers he's put up. Okay, Sammy, give us a Matthew Nye's update. What is going on? Barney, you said that you saw it before the the show about him that he hasn't had any points yet so far in the in the tournament yeah he's only played a couple games he's on the number one line in the country how do you have no points he scored 13 goals in two games and he didn't have any points sounds like they were uh checked quite fiercely okay so that's not awesome but it's you know you know how it is

sometimes it doesn't go in for you but uh the other fact is here's a quote from the head coach bob moscow he says uh he's gonna really heal up now he's talking about the break he's gonna really heal up now he's been battling some stuff it's not going away real easy for him talking about him playing through injury in the frozen four or in the tourney so not great bob hopefully hopefully he heals up um but it will help that in the first round they won't see a real physical team like tampa bay you're gonna play bottom of the order here's maroon perry belmar colton juneau i gotta tell you it's going to be tough for him to get the lineup. Oh, thanks, Tibbs.

No, just like some people got him on the top line. Oh, no, no. Yourself included. They got him winning the consmite. You're the one who was putting him on the top line all year. No, I was not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We just knew that there might be an opportunity in those last few games

to get him in. We know he's signing a contract. They're going to burn the year. He's going to get his game in. Yeah, I don't see him playing much. And I don't ever see him. I never saw the Leafs dropping him in there with Matthews or Tavares and saying, hey, yeah, go show us your stuff now.

They would ease him in like they would any other kid when you don't know i only reason i wasn't as sure as you about that is seeing how nick robertson was chucked to the wolves with you know against columbus and even this year i think he started in the top six at times this guy uh like carries a little bit more weight than than nick literal weight which is nice he's a larger animal so all right well hopefully he is uninjured by the time he's got no points in the biggest game of the year he'll fit right in oh geez man who's team you on all right what's with brooks kepka i want to get to this is it, are they buds and he's just messing with them? I have no idea what the backstory is.

I would hope that somebody's going to ask Ekblad about it. Okay. Or ask Koepka about it. But Koepka's now on live tour, so he just doesn't care about golf. Or people. Or he's just rich. Just rich beyond his wildest dreams. For those that don't know, he was at the Panthers game.

He was in a box. And he was filmed. Yeah, with him and his boys. They're all wearing matching track suits. He's shirtless. And he's holding a pylon. And holding up five for Ekblad. Five.

This is you. And then you get the audio. And he goes, you suck, Ekblad. Like, you know, quite the behavior for a professional athlete. You know what my guess is? Maybe they're both like medalist members and they play together all the time. That's kind of what I think too. Is that what they, maybe they're boys or something.

Like they play golf together or something. Medalist is like one of the super exclusive clubs down there. Like when they're at the same course and they play together. Otherwise he's just a, if he, if they're not boys, then he's just a jerk. Here's my first question. Where do you get a pylon from? You know, it looked, like, soft. Like, did he have, like, a telescopic one?

Like, one that he brought in? Park underground and take it with you because you're going to chirp. Maybe the VVVVVVVIP parking has some cones for where he was parked, and he just brought it in. If you're buds with him, is that what you want, is to go and scream at the top of your lungs, you suck so everybody can hear it and not know that? I can tell you my buddies have come to my junior games and done it.

It definitely seems like more of a good buddy move than the opposite isn't though like this is why i kind of wish florida was not florida and they had like a lot of media so someone could follow up on this yeah i don't even know who would i ask maybe joe well maybe jovo plays golf with both of them let's get to the bottom of that i'll try to figure that out but it's just i don't know capka just seems like he's kind of too much inside stuff if they're buds we should have known about it by now you're right they're they're i think brooks is a little lost brooks is struggling i gotta watch that uh full swing have you watched it with him i haven't watched that one yet it's pretty it's borderline sad so the other what episode's that third maybe third i'm watching that tonight oh it's excellent, he's like ready to cry in that.

You watched it, Kip? Yeah. Oh, my God. We don't want to spoil it too much for Borny, but like he. Yeah. Scotty Scheffler. He's a mess. It's so far inside his head.

He just sucked at golf. That's why he took the money. He's like, yeah, I suck at golf now. I've got to take money. I'll never be good again. I'll be honest. I had a moment where he won four majors over two years, and I was like, is he going to get up to Tiger's numbers?

He could win at will. He was unbeatable. He was the guy that you look to in majors that was just the toughest guy. Chipping in in big situations. Zero confidence. Well, now he doesn't get to play. He went to live tour. He'll play the Masters.

Yeah, but you know what else? He's got zeros. He's got a lot of zeros. He's got a lot of zeros. It's all about the cash um so another little fun fact uh luke shen is a quote i moved into my new place to discover thomas caberlet is my neighbor he was my first defense partner with the leafs when i was a rookie in 2008 he randomly moved into a neighborhood and his first defense partner is his neighbor good i mean that's probably what

happens when you give him some advice he can work with neighborhoods i imagine oh the rich guy moved to the rich guy neighborhood ever made money like yeah i mean is does he have a big contract let's look that up i'm sure he's made enough to move into a nice house for a lot of years well i know but he's never i don't think he's ever had a huge contract. His career earnings are $25 million. Is that good? He signed a contract extension with the Leafs in 20... How big? It was a five-year, $18 million contract.

Yeah. You know. That's not bad. He's been a work leader, yeah. And then he signed a two-year with the coyotes but 1.25 for two years and then he's been on one-year bangers all right so there you go one more here uh last night we got a uh tiger williams celebration in the shootout is tiger okay like was there i've heard people say like, I hope Tiger saw that Elliot tweeted and like

a tribute to Tiger. Nothing happened to Tiger, right? Tiger is on our morning show tomorrow. So he's doing fine. Okay. Yeah. I don't know why Zeta went down his stick. Yeah.

Wrote his stick down after a shootout goal against Buffalo. And people are saying that Tiger would be, does Tiger have a copyright on that or anything are people worried that he would have been offended by it no I think I think people are like it's a good thing it felt to me like a tiger was sick and they were like oh yeah like a tribute because something's wrong with Tiger apparently it's not I don't know I didn't get that okay nothing is wrong with Tiger Williams nothing is wrong him. He's on our morning show tomorrow at 830. Yes, he's fine. That's four set by night of the fan.

So when Pizzetta was doing Pizzetta things last year, I went on the television and I said that he was my favorite player in the league. Yeah. So what did you think of it? I like it. I still think you're eligible to get punched in the face for it, but he's a tough guy who wants to fight. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. I wouldn't do it because I would rather be ineligible to be punched in the face. Oh my God. a tough guy who wants to fight so yeah okay i wouldn't do it because i would rather be ineligible to be punched in the face oh my god it's the best thing ever you loved it oh my god how could you not the guy is just well if you're stuffy you do it's just another form of entertainment right because sammy was entertained by it if you're on the other side you're like okay but not at my behalf you know not at my cost yeah i don't know i think we're so beyond that now with your michigans and your cellies that it's all just part of the i'm what's everyone bad flips we're

in the window of where we just express ourselves. That was an incredible. So how many goals has Michael Posetta scored in his life? Buddy, he's a player. Don't you give me that one. Michael Posetta has scored. He's got some goals this year. He's got 11 career tucks.

It's not never. He gets his chance in the shootout. Probably not many chances in the shootout this career yeah he's thinking it could also be his last one ever there has to be an element of that of course that building's half three quarters full of halves fans he shoots one under the bar and he just rides his stick and does the two biggest points i've ever seen it was an incredible you've had one of the worst. Instead of getting the contract, boys. You've had one of the worst seasons in Montreal Canadian history. And you're riding your stick. Right?

You're riding your stick. Lighten up. Go back to Florida. Have some more margarita. Lighten up. Boom, boom, Jeffrey on his. This could be the highlight of their season. Until they get Conor Bedard.

Then they can all collectively ride their sticks. But that's next season. That's true. This is this season. They haven't had a lot to cheer about. No. That could be it. I remember what it's like when your team is bad and you follow the team

because I was just reading an article on how Pazetta has actually really been a great player for them this year. And maybe next year he'll be. You get excited about really far down the line of things. There's nothing to not like about the kid. I told you, I'm a big Pizzetti fan. He plays hard. He's willing to drop his mitts.

He loves his teammates. Right in your face. And if they are building this culture and they want to protect one another and he's the first guy to jump in a pile for you i'm okay ride your stick if it makes you feel good ride it into summer in april doing the bull dance working it love it all right just like that take a little break and it's like uh we never went away back at her no we went away. You could tell. Gary Gally, Mike Buda, and Eric Erbenson. Erlinson.

Erlinson. Had it all day, too. Gosh darn. We're back tomorrow, though. You can count on that, Real Kipper and Bourne.