Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: A Winning Weekend

Episode Date: November 13, 2023

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with a look back on the pair of pivotal wins for the Leafs over the weekend. They delve into Giordano's fight against Dakota Joshua, the Leafs finally responding to questionable play, whether Gio is the right person to do it and how it changed the energy. Then, more on the games, the new-look 4th line with McMann in for Reaves and the third line getting back on track with Domi at centre. Later, with Nikita Zadorov requesting a trade following the game on Friday, they discuss who the Leafs should target via trade and what it might cost. Finally, a chat on the Leafs' trip to Stockholm and how the extended time off will impact them (38:32).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.

come on in the real kipper and born show on this monday hall of fame weekend concludes tonight inductions yes we're coming off a fairly big weekend nick kiprios justin born sammy mckee derrick brandeo and jen rololnick with you for the next two hours. And we'll dive into the Leafs, absolutely. Certainly when you look at, first of all, when we left on Friday, we were looking at two very important games for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Oh, boy. And judging by what transpired over the weekend with the Edmonton Oilers where they made a major decision moving on from Jay Woodcroft Chris Knobloch now the head coach and we'll get into that in our national hour

in greater detail. Crazy man. But does it does it go back to Friday and maybe how important the two wins were to Sheldon Keefe? Oh, really? Just to kind of calm the waters down? Like if they go 0-2 Friday, Saturday, and all of a sudden they're 6-7-1. Oh, I'm telling you.

0-2, two losses against Calgary and Vancouver would have had the temperature so high on Sheldon Keefe. You're right about that. They just lost 6-3 to Ottawa on the Wednesday. If they had come out and really played like they did against Ottawa, it could have been a big story. 1-4. You know, Sammy and his lineup has the Maple Leafs

having a perfect weekend against the Flames and Canucks coming away with four points. And you're not wrong, but perfect to me is regulation wins. Because somewhere down the road, knowing the way the league is going right now, it may come down to a regulation win on a few different matters, making the playoffs,

getting a home ice advantage. Like regulation wins, they're still hard to a home ice advantage. Like regulation wins. They're still hard to come by for the Toronto Maple Leafs, if I'm not mistaken. That was just their fourth so far this season against Vancouver Saturday night. But hey, the good news is probably their most complete game of the year. Yeah. Yeah, no, you're right.

I mean, didn't get the regulation win, but boy, getting that win was huge. There was a point there in the shootout where it felt like they were only going to leave with one point, but then, you know, we ended up getting Max Domi to shoot one of the top corner, which was really nice. And yeah, Kip, to your point, like this weekend did feel like something of a correction to our previous conversations last week when we were like, it might be like bad,

like, you know, like playoffs may be bad. I think getting to see them like that in two games made it feel more like, okay, it's still in there for them to look like, you know, a hundred point team when they play the way they can play. Your thoughts on the weekend in general, because a shootout loss would have really,

to my earlier point, put a lot of pressure on a Saturday night win for Vancouver. But did the Calgary game still have you feeling like, okay, they had a comfortable lead. They blew it. They almost lost it in the shootout. Yeah, some bad bounces. I thought they played pretty well.

Sorry, Sam. No, the Leafs had a lot better weekend than my articles did. Let's just say that. Oh, yeah. You went to that, huh? Yeah. Oh, did you go? Oh, yeah.

I went. 27,000 people or something? Yeah. Felt bad for them. Buddy, like, come on. You got to show up. Were they 14-2 or something? 16-2.

There's 10-point favorites in the game. And, boy, I've never seen it. Quick Argos talk, never seen a singular athlete cost his team a game like my boy Chad Kelly did. They had nine turnovers. Nine? Yeah. Seven interceptions? No.

How many? Four picks, a fumble, two pick sixes, and three turnovers on downs. Oh. Yeah, it was unbelievable. Nightmare fuel. Unbelievable. Anyways, yeah, I think. At least made you feel better then.

They did. I really needed Saturday night after freezing my you-know-what's-off in the crowd at BMO to go home and watch that Leafs game on Saturday night, which I loved. My favorite game of the season. I thought it was an excellent hockey game. But yeah, that Friday night game, you're up 4-1 on a team that you don't think is very good.

And you're thinking to yourself, hey, maybe this will be the game where they don't let in four goals on home ice maybe this will be the one and they find a way to let in four it's tough bounce yeah i know that's one game if you dial it back to the stats like high danger chances were 25 12 for the leafs like they they were better for sure but there's four goals still went in the net which is not aesthetically pleasing thought joe w turned it around in overtime. It was great. Yeah, he finished off real strong. It was good in the shootout. But yeah, for a lot of Leaf fans' mental well-being about this team, this was a very important weekend.

Just to get a couple wins in the bank, look at the standings and not see you outside the playoff picture before you have a week off. It was a really sort of exhale weekend, I think, for a lot of Leaf fans. And probably their best look, I think, in a complete 60 minutes against Vancouver. And I think the analytics would suggest that Vancouver probably had ample opportunity to get pucks to the net.

They spent quality time in the Leafs' zone, but didn't appear like they had the juice to win this thing. Yeah, I mean, the numbers from SportLogic, yeah, the Leafs were this much better than the Canucks, you know, in most game states. So they did deserve to get the win, but it was a close game, but still, everything to go, I don't remember coming in here

to do a show with you after a game where it all went right. Like the fourth line was so much better. The third line was great. They answered. They stood up for themselves. The goaltending was good. Like I don't even know what to do. Why do we complain about it?

I know. Coming in today like do we have any content? Let's start there. Mark Giordano at age 40 years and 39 days, is the oldest player in Maple Leaf history with a fighting major. Since Tim Horton. 19 days older than the Donut King. To me, that is such a badass stat.

That is very cool. Also terrifying to know that someone my age could fight someone like Dakota Joshua. The most shot blocks in NHL history and the oldest guy in Leafs history with a fight, that's pretty good stats. With the Norris trophies we can play. I have two still

feelings on watching Mark Giordano do it. The first one is like, thank you. Yeah. Right? The first one is like thank you yeah right yeah the second one is come on guys you can't have a 40 year old guy leading this charge no i'm telling you no it's bad it's bad it's bad this is like a why why mark giordano at 40 years he's the first one there he's on the ice he's on the team he's not you know you know why he's the first one there

because he's looking at 19 other guys that weren't willing to do it in the last month sure yeah i i agree with that yeah yeah that they haven't done it he almost like guilted everybody and i'm just telling you i've been in this position before if i'm on that bench and i i i need a guy twice as old as me to go out there and do that because I'm not willing to do it first, not good. Not good. Yeah. It's just one of those things.

Listen, if you want to start somewhere, that's okay. Yeah. You can only control the game, the moment. Like for Giordano there, there's an opportunity to stand up for a teammate. There will be nothing left of him once again at the end of the year. Do you understand that? It's the same conversation I had you before. What is your point though?

Should he not have done it? No, he shouldn't have done it. Somebody else should have done it. The game before? Listen, I thought Kevin Bieksa did a great job on Hockey Night in Canada breaking down that you don't, listen, you don't, it's such a strategic thing. And it's not actually about the fighting.

It's about the look. It's about the ability to just get in someone's face. Mark could have done the exact same thing, but he didn't need to do that. But he could have set it up for someone else to do that or eventually be in a position. Or he set it up for someone else to do it. Just a, like, Conor Bedard got hammered on the weekend.

Yeah, he ate the dash. Did you watch? Foligno? Yes. Didn't have to go in there. He ain't young either, by the way. Right? I know, but he didn't have to go in there and get into a major.

It was just the look of it. Yeah, but Flacco was 10 times tougher than that. It was Kulikov. Kulikov's not going to go. He didn't have to go and get a two-minute instigator penalty. No, sure. You could just be... Listen, I know I'm nitpicking here on a team that's...

Well, you're nitpicking and being hypocritical because all season long you're begging for them to stand up for one another. Just not my 40-year-old guy. That's all. Okay. Right? And worse. So who in that vicinity did you want it to be?

The guy that really should be leading that charge is in the stands. He's going to be in the American League. Like he's, it's not great. Right. Like it's not set up great. Right? No. It's not falling the, it's not great. Right. Like it's not set up. Great. Right. No, it's not falling the way it should have fallen.

Right. And we're so desperate. You're so desperate for this look that you just kind of bypass the fact that he's 40 years old and we're going to beat him up and there'll be nothing left of him by the end of the year. And he'll be hanging on to playing 12 minutes a night and looking slow as molasses. But that's what it's all, but he should probably just my whole point but yeah but listen he was probably going to be there anyway without this fight the regardless of this fight oh let me tell you

something fighting could for sure take a lot of ryan or not you know a guy from the 90s not fighting every night it's the moment called for it and he went out there and he did it who else is supposed to go is it going to be mcmahon coming up and doing it maybe yeah is it supposed to be maybe you want gregor to do it maybe yeah i do i do yeah i think 25 27 year olds yes i do want that that's all i just think it's a i think it's a great message to your team yeah it's he's a leader he's one of the leaders on the team camp no he's not he's your sixth or seventh defenseman on a on a team that's supposed to be challenging for the stanley cup i can't believe how bogged down we are right now in like such a it was incredible i just i it it's not

it's not set up well enough to move forward the team the yeah i just it's just it's disappointing that for me yeah that it's not set up the way it should be set up with you know this was they missed opportunities earlier in the season and they still got to fix it yeah fix it you can't have mark giordano jumping in like that and and be that that guy that leads the charge remember he did it last year too it's a philly game he came flying in for matthews i just like we can play the clip like for uh from keith i think it's clip number three but like this is exactly the conversation we had last week he didn't think about who it is no one thought about who it is there was no thinking it was gloves off going like that's the whole point it's spets us it's spets us but what's different is zadorov runs over bertuzzi on friday night and david camp goes over there and sees it happen goes oh that's zadorov it's also a four

four game in the third period yeah and it was a clean hit yes sure yeah he wants nothing to do with zadorov though right like he's a giant man. Somebody can say something to him. Somebody can go and, you know. Well, he can't give him a little shot, whatever. Yes. But he definitely saw the size of the guy. And I would imagine Jordano went in there and noticed that this was a large individual, too, and still said, this is what we need here. This is what we haven't done this season. Show the guys the way here.

Listen, beggars can't be choosers. For sure. At least somebody's in there. I get it. Yeah. But it just needs to be a little bit more strategic moving forward to kevin bx's point including not taking a two-minute instigator i'm not saying those are good plays you're not saying those are good plays but i think

if you're looking for this least team to solve its problems one of them has been a lack of standing up for one another they made an effort for it Even if it's not done perfectly, I think you'll take the imperfect version. Okay, let's go to Sheldon Keefe. We'll go to Mark Giordano on his fight Saturday night. Let's start there. Yeah, I get fired up out there sometimes. But, yeah, you don't just want to be a guy who barks all the time. Tonight was just one of those situations, though.

I think you see your teammate down on the ice, big hit. And that Joshua, I mean, he's a big boy. So I went over there, and I was like, oh, boy, here we go. So it was good to get into one. I haven't been into one in a while. So it got me going, too. Sometimes you need something like that to get yourself going. A couple shifts where you don't feel energy, got me going too sometimes you need something like that to get yourself going a couple you know

a couple shifts where you don't feel energy and then i got it right into the game after that even though i sat for about an hour after that uh i felt like i had energy all night after that all right i kipper i couldn't have loved that moment more i'm telling you like you're starving i know but you raining on my parade hurts my feelings i loved it you're starving it's jason spezza it's not the same as spezza why because spezza it's different with spezza because he's never done anything like that in his life geo has always been a fierce competitor he's always been a guy that like has jumped in and like we've seen him do it with the leafs you've seen him doing it in years past other teams like he's a gritty competitor. Guy loves, just cares.

Spezza was like a soft guy that never looked at anybody. We might need that three, four or five more times than this year. No, I think everyone can follow his lead now and say that, okay, whoever it is you're referring to prior to this. Okay. So I hope, I hope Gio guilted them into saying, you know what? I really shouldn't be doing this at age 40. Right.

And I think that's the case if you're someone like Bobby McMahon. Can I add, though, that he didn't just do it. He beat the crap out of a guy that was way bigger than him. Like, he landed more punches. I was like, does Joshua not fight? He scores the, I would say he got the decision. Hey, maybe do it a few more times then. I don't think he has to.

I don't think he has to. He had to there. How many times have we watched the Leafs where you said, you have to now, and they never did. And he did it. And I'm happy that he did. Maybe ask him a few more times then, Sammy. You okay with that?

Sure. If it looks anything like that, I'll love it. I loved it. Well, here's the thing. I love fights and I love response and that's what makes hockey hockey. Guy did something borderline.

Gio didn't care. Jumps in. We saw it later with Domi who jumps in. I saw somebody during our Leafs talk show on Saturday night. Somebody said that

he's got the heart of a lion and the arms of a T-Rex, but it's going pretty good. You've got to get a kill for the guys there, too. Finally, it's sticking up for a while. All right, let's get Sheldon Keefe on the thought of what it meant to the rest of his lineup. Clip one there, Derek.

It's interesting. You get a couple instigators, and they score on them. Obviously, those are moments you like to see the guys pull together and get a kill for them. But a game works in funny ways. You know, to me, we built up some good karma through that, guys sticking together, stepping up, big moments, get the crowd involved. So despite the fact that the puck went in the net there for us, on those, it seemed like it just kind of pulled our team together

to just go out and play. And it was great responses throughout the game and then a good job of managing the game from there. Yeah, I thought they were a different team after the fights. I thought they played harder than they'd played in a long time. Yeah. Well, listen, like I said, Vancouver coming in, one of the top teams, like Vancouver got their attention big time

on Saturday night. A couple huge hits. Like we, Vancouver had the ability last, or Saturday night, to come in and pour gasoline on a small fire here. For sure. And I think there is a lot of tension between the Canucks and Toronto in general. Like, the fan bases, the east-west thing. Like, there's some real...

Great observation. That didn't take long, did it? The most shocking thing about moving to Toronto for me, having grown up on the West Coast, was that people, how much people really dislike Vancouver. I would step in here and I would say that I hate Toronto way more than we feel about them. I think people, they think about Toronto

a lot more than Toronto thinks about them. Everyone I talk to here is talking about these sushi-eating hippies on the West Coast. Vancouver Apes get a tough rap sometimes here in Toronto. There is some tension between the teams. So, yes, they had the opportunity to really. I've been to a number of Leaf games as a traveling fan all across.

I've been to a bunch in the States. But the worst vitriol I've ever faced by far is going to a vancouver canucks game as a leaf fan they they hate the leafs so for them their team coming across the country finally playing in the eastern times on big chance saturday night sure they didn't love that no sure they had some regression in real time quinn hughes rips one off the elbow and they go back the other way and score and it's either way and it's the um you mentioned it off the top the the balance scoring that's the first time where it looked like Sheldon really maximized his roster from top to bottom and of course the secondary scoring uh Robertson coming in with, again, Max Domi

and being instrumental here. This is the first look that you had that didn't, like, revolve around Austin, Mitch, Tavares, or Nylander. Yeah. You know, I don't... I can't claim to have watched Bobby McMahon a thousand times, but every time I watch him, he's very fast.

He's a big guy and he's very fast, right? He drives the puck wide into the zone. I've seen him shoot the puck in the net in the American League. He has a good shot. All of a sudden, with a good skater in McMahon, a good skater in Gregor, and Kampf in the middle, that line really is a fast four-checking line. And they had the puck and they played in the right end of the rink. Like, it changed their depth immediately by adding him yeah bobby mcmahon is just the most average guy

it's like in terms of hockey players yes like five years from now when people talk about former they'll be like he was here yeah but like that just shows you how little they were getting in other ways well this does not bode well for Ryan Reeves. And to my earlier point, then, if you're getting emotion out of other people that you were supposed to do that, and now we've had our most complete game, which included two fights that you didn't dress in,

what do we need you for? That's tough. I mean, it's been a very short start to the season here. It's 12 games or something, but it's really hard to see how the utility of Ryan Reeves outside of, you know, hey, we're playing a tough team and we don't want them running our guys. Let's put in our enforcer.

But it's tough to see them wanting him back in over a Bobby McMahon or someone else at this point. I mean, he was on the ice for two more against on Friday night, fellas. Two more against, and then McMahon had two assists from the fourth line. He's got three set on for goal four. Fourteen goals, fourteen games played,

zero, zero, zero, minus eleven. I don't... He was dashed two in four minutes and change. Do you envision him seeing any action in sweden i mean it does not work and like i understand that maybe keef will want to say to tree living you paid this guy we're going to give him give it a chance to work out like give it an opportunity instead of burying him after 12 games or 13 games, whatever he's played. But I think it seems inevitable that he's not going to play a ton unless they're really hurt. All right, let's go to Sheldon Keefe.

Derek, we'll go to clip seven on Bobby McMahon. Obviously the biggest challenge is adjusting to the time change. But we've got ample time. I think they've done a good job. Sorry, wrong clip there, Derek. My bad. Maybe I mislabeled it. Oh. Alright. Well, do you have anything on Bobby McMahon?

Let's try six and eight. I feel like I'm a Baskin and Robbins now. Do you have anything like, you know, like a vanilla? If I'm going to praise myself after screwing up something on television. It's the first one all year. It's not bad.

Yeah, we're in November here, fellas. First one all year. It's pretty good. No, that's a pizza up the middle that may have cost us the hockey game. Okay. One's too many, Sam. So now all the clips, to me, I'm terrified that they're all wrong.

Okay, Derek, we're going to play guess a clip. So you pick one, and we'll work around it. So clip eight is the one on Bobby McMahon. It says flying to Sweden, but it's on Bobby McMahon. Yes, it's correct.

All right, here we go. He skated well. He skated well and transported the puck. Fourth line, obviously, scored some important goals for us tonight. Glowing review. Glowing. Skated well. Transported the puck.

That's a long way to go for that horrible clip i gotta be honest with you that was just the reason i put it in there is because i thought it was funny because everybody's like praising bobby big man and then they get asked the coach is like guy played well carried the puck yeah anyways i guess the comedy was lost i'm kipper mid okay Okay, so if I say clip six on Robertson, do we actually get Robertson? Yes, 100% guarantee. Let's go there. Fitting in well with Max. Puck's been getting to good spots for that line,

and whether it's Robertson scoring or Yarncroft, it's been on the end of plays. All three guys are working well together. Certainly Robbie, to me, looks like he's in the right place. He's not focused on the goal. He's focused on playing well, having clean shifts. And he's a good enough and talented enough player that when the puck gets to good spots

and the game is well taken care of, all of a sudden these opportunities start to come and then you can use your skill from there i think that's such an important thing for any young player trying to adjust to the league once you manage excuse me learn to manage the game and and manage your shift um things just start to happen have you ever heard a coach coach more in a clip than that yeah that's pretty good he's he's telling everything robertson hey i hope you hear this on kipper and born and read it somewhere take care of business and you'll get chances so i think we were critical of keith and where we praise keith too but i think the we had to give a lot of credit to whoever came up with this idea to do the third line with him and Domi down the middle and Jarnkrok

because it's immediately worked. Like they were struggling bad in their bottom six, and they changed it, and it worked immediately. Here's my turn to be a hater on a thing that's working. You don't like it. I do like it, and it's been great. They've been very good. Robertson looks like dangerous, right?

He has just a nose for the net, and he can shoot it and and all that i just don't think this is a line that'll be intact on april 17th flexi you know like you want domi as a center in the playoffs in his own i still don't believe for one second that uh that nick robertson's a br Tree-living type of guy. Like he's probably not here in playoffs. I told you on Friday, I believe that the first thought was to bring him up and start having people believe

that this guy could be a scorer or a player in the National Hockey League. Your primary I think, was to make sure that people understand that this is a tradable asset. Yeah, 100%.

And I think they're accomplishing that. Domi is, he's a unique setup guy. You got to pump this asset up. I may have to trade him for a defenseman. But like, you don't think it's that they actually, because I'm with you in terms of, they actually have to win games. Your third line, that line is not heavy enough to try to win a Stanley Cup. I completely agree.

It's not heavy enough. I don't think it's exclusively showcase. They needed to get a couple goals to win a couple games. They were fighting. Absolutely. Flailing. I'm not suggesting otherwise, but let's be honest here. There was a bit of a storm for Zdorov.

Oh, yeah. Okay. Everybody's screaming that the Leafs need Zdorov. I think Jeff Merrick or somebody mentioned somebody in 32 thoughts that, Oh yeah. What is it? Can you read it? I don't have it right in front of me,

but one of the guys in the Leafs basically said like, you'd fit in really good here kind of thing. Oh really? Yeah. So I said that to him on the ice apparently, which I don't necessarily love. So apparently Leafs now are doing recruiting on the ice, right?

Like, I don't know what's going on in the boardroom. That sounds like something I would have thought. I'm going to tamper right here. There's no mics here. Yeah, Elliot said the word going around on Sunday night is that a Maple Leafs player said to Zdorov on the ice, you're exactly what we need. I hate that.

Yeah, to me. I actually hate that that's reported. Come on. I mean, I would 100% be reporting that if I heard that. Yeah. I actually hate that. Come on. You know, I mean, if I would a hundred percent be reporting that if I heard that, I don't know. It can you verify anything that's said on the ice?

The first reply to this text didn't know Dan Milstein was a player for the Leafs. So with everything that you saw at a Friday night, I mean, would you, you want Zdorov here? That's the guy? That's the answer for the Leafs? I want someone. I want a big person that plays the fence on the Leafs.

He's large and he runs into people, which is nice. And the Leafs are one of the worst teams in the NHL in terms of getting offense from their back end. I mean, scores on Friday at 14 last year, as we said, if you had a little bit of that horse, is that a 14 as a legitimate top four guy, or is he a four, five or six? I know you've had him as a,

as a third pair guy. I don't get the sense that he could get Calgary a second rounder right now. Well, if they would take a second rounder from the Leafs, I think they would do it. We don't get the sense that he could get Calgary a second rounder right now. Well, if they would take a second rounder from the Leafs, I think they would do it. The Leafs don't have one. Hopefully they want a third then. They're short on second rounders, and that's where maybe a Nick Robertson would come in.

So the question is, but how good is he? Robertson or Zdoff zadoroff first i mean it is a tough question i think he is a pretty capable defender he plays second um penalty kill unit for calgary and has through his career so he can kill some penalties he runs into some people which is nice i do think that bigger bodies like him can take a little time to get better you know i think he's a good player and something that they could definitely use. There's no doubt if you add him, the decor is better than it is right now. Yeah.

You know, there's no doubt about that. Oh, go ahead. I was just going to say, though, like, again, part of this, I think, strategy is if you can get Nick Robertson back a little bit, like outside of Cowan, the first rounder this year. Yeah, who is absolutely on fire. Killed the attack this weekend. And Fraser Minton, he's it for any type of movable asset. But you know what you'd rather see though, Kip, is Nick Robertson then.

Let's say he does get back to being of something of value. Is there some other way to go about it for Hannafin? Because Hannafin is more of a second power play unit, second penalty kill unit, good second pair guy. You know, you second pair guy. You know, you could extend him. Now you're into Minton territory and a first rounder maybe. I don't know about that. He's expiring.

Well, no, no. If he's expiring, then it's a first rounder. That's it for Hannafin. If he is resigned, then it's more than a first rounder for Hannafin. Yeah, that could be the case. So if you're the Leafs, you've done the rental thing with first rounders every year

until the guy left and left the cupboard spare the only way you bring hannifin here is if you get him on a long-term deal so what do you want to see them do well they need they need that type of top four guy i don't know if it's hannifin per se i think listen at the end of the day nothing's happening 12 games in there are no trades the end of november so i bet you if they had lost twice this weekend there would be things can change for sure things can still change i look at a team like uh nashville yeah and i'm like uh what are you guys doing with Ryan McDonough? Now, McDonough is not what McDonough used to be in Tampa Bay, but hey, for one year.

Is he expiring? I don't know what he has left. Where is he on the depth chart for you? That's just a defenseman that I think that may not be available now, but may be available later. Nashville is starting to look like the carcass you may pick over they're gonna be sellers yeah so you know i don't know if that means yosi is the captain probably not but sorrows not having a great start he still has a ton of

value you know if they decide that they want to be out on this year. Soros. Soros. I've got to have two more years after this. Thanks, Brando. And it would be inexpensive. 6.75. And you want to bring Hannafin in. You've got to move money out. There's no...

Well, then you're attaching... There's no first and Minton. But see, now it's first, Minton, Klingberg. Well, you'd have to eat Klingberg's contract. But then again, if I'm taking Klingberg off of your hands to help you fit this in, then you've got to drive the price up. And this is where the Leafs are in a bit of a pickle here. The other interesting one from Calgary is Tanev.

That's the one to me that's the best fit. Yeah. He's right shot guy, more of a stay-at-home guy, the exact type of guy that Morgan Riley's always had success with. He's played well with, like, I mean, Quinn Hughes until this year had his best years playing with him. That's the best fit. He's expiring.

And he's at four, isn't he? Four or five. Yeah, four or five, which means you have to take Klingberg back. Yeah. It's a tough ask. That's a really tough ask better on saturday but if calgary's mailing it in like to me minton is a real chip like he is he made the nhl at 19 he's a two-way big body improving rapidly like you know if i'm calgary and you say all all right, your season's over anyway, we'll swap money on Klingberg and Tannev. You know, like you can start to put the bases of a deal together if you did a bigger play like that.

I don't disagree that that is a legitimate one that can get you some immediate help. Hey, now that we're talking Nashville, maybe they can get Ryan O'Reilly and Luke Shen. What do you guys think? Ryan doesn't like it here. Oh, right. He doesn't want to be recognized that came up uh anywhere else you want to go we derailed on the well well listen at the end of the day it's it's just starting all this talk

about where where the where the help's going to come in and they're one of, what, half a dozen teams that are in cap hell but need help on the blue line. Don't think Vancouver and Edmonton, they're in a dogfight here with the Leafs for D. All these assets, yeah. The Leafs, I mean, are they in cap hell or are they just close to the cap? They don't have bad contracts, really, on their books. Yeah, it's just that it has to be money out.

This year they're tapped out, but there's other teams that are in cap hell. I don't think the Leafs are necessarily there. They're in cap hell. No. Not Minnesota. Every good team is. To win now, to add to your roster now.

You've got to send something out. You've got to send something out, Sam. Yeah, I know. And judging next year, if you still want to think you're going to get a crack at Nylander, whatever the cap goes up is minimal still next year, and you may have to add $4 million to Nylander's salary next year. The things that help, though, if you're looking to add D,

Brody's $ five million is expiring this year right so he's off the books clingberg's gone so now you're up to nine million nine point one or whatever those two yeah bertuzzi domi yeah they're all expiring but you gotta fill them back up you do for sure okay and what are you gonna do trade all that money and bring in more 750 thousand dollar players like ryan reeves well no you can spend that money a million what's he got a million hannifin and pay him seven million dollars or you can bring it you know if you add an asset that's a quality player you can keep it but yeah as always you're looking for fringe guys but kip the entire league's looking for fringe guys i just i this is what

sucks so bad about the league like every good team all you talk about is like them maybe adding some crappy player at the bottom of the lineup to fill it out because they can't pay their good guys too much it's just that's got to go up like these

everybody's choking there's no there's no room for anything no it's it's it's an issue and it's it's why we won issue and it's uh it's why we won't see any trades anytime soon still because this this stuff needs to get sorted out uh there's teams on the cusp of nashville is an excellent example where like you you can't have a you can't sell now in nashville people will disappear on you for 70 games. Oh, you think that's part of it is just staying relevant for the market?

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Did you want to talk about the goalies before we hit the break? All right. Yeah, another decent bounce back for Samsonov, correct? Yeah. You good with it? Yeah, like where are you at after the weekend on their goaltending?

The same as it was before the weekend. Let's listen to Keefe on it. Okay, we'll go to Keefe and we'll come out of it. Clip two. Clip two. Clip two. We're not sure. Yeah, I thought he was solid, you know.

Gives up a couple there in the first period, and then that can, you know, that can get in your head, but he didn't allow it to. And I also thought the guys took really good care of him. You know, once again, we, at 5-on-5, we gave up very little tonight. So we've been talking about trending in a good direction. It seems like most every game we're setting a new standard for, you know, for our play defensively.

So I'm really happy with where we've been there. I think, you know, I think that's about four games now at 5-on-5. Like, we're right up there with the top teams in the league defensively so i'm really happy with where we've been there i think you know i think that's about four games now at five on five like we're right up there with the top teams in the league defensively in terms of what we've given up this is the key theme half half full or half empty the glass there yeah i'm very half full very helpful and the theme with it is taking care of each other right we protect them we take care of people we protect you know there's a theme that that they needed to address right away and part of that saturday night look was the fact that i think tree living you know ripped them open a new one yeah i think so yeah just a you talk about just for not standing up yes big issue yeah i had heard amongst Leaf management.

Which is crazy to then take Reeves out the next night, the guy who you're paying to be that protector. With no signs of it and minus what? 10? 11. 11. So that was just can't have you on the ice shoveling pucks out of our own net.

No. Got to put an end to it now. You know, and Keith made some comments with Reeves, like he can't find anything he's directly responsible for. But I think of the one where Nyes flips it up his wing for him to skate onto, and he's just not fast enough to even impact the defenseman who goes to pick it up, and it goes back the other way.

So he's not to blame with turnovers. He's just not able to make plays, which you kind of got to do in the NHL. Yeah. Okay, let's take a quick break. Yeah. And then when we come back, plenty more to dive into,

including the trip to Sweden. That and more when Real Kipper and Bourne continues after these words. Big opinions and in-depth conversations covering the Leafs, Jays, and the nfl the jd bunkin podcast subscribe and download the show on apple spotify or wherever you get your podcasts the leafs taking their four points on the weekend and heading to Stockholm, Sweden,

where they will play the Detroit Red Wings on Friday and then Minnesota on Sunday. And that will be, correct me if I'm wrong, a game you're doing with David Amber? I believe. Unfortunately, my friend, you and I are doing that game yes with david amber don't get up on sundays that early pal i'm knocking on your door hop in i'll have a bagel ready for you and a coffee and off we go uh 7 30 7 30 well yeah we're on so we'll be

there for the run through in the sixes i I'm sure. So you have your most complete game Saturday night where you get your secondary scoring going. You don't have to rely on the big boys. And this is a good thing that they're playing just three games in the next 12 days. No, it's awful. It's awful. They're starting to find it.

The bottom six are rolling. Everything's good for a day. And now we got to sit on it and let them pat themselves on the back and stop playing. Sucks. The plan is for the Leafs to leave in about five hours from now. Oh, is that right? It's a 10 o'clock flight.

Oh, so they would have partied on Saturday. Ottawa left yesterday, last night. So this is where your sleep doctors come in. So they leave at 10, then they arrive in the morning, and then you go practice. Yeah, that would be it. And stay up as long as you can. Well, I imagine they're timing this flight to sleep through the night tonight and just pretend it's another normal night. Yes.

Good luck with that. Does that work? Not for me. You? I personally think jet lag is a complete mindset. I rarely get jet lagged. Okay. That's my favorite.

Put a camera on that practice that they land and then tell me it's not real. Sure. They may be a little tired. They're on a plane for eight hours. They might be tired. I guarantee the worst practice of the year. yeah but some people like oh it takes me weeks i'm like what are you talking about like just go to sleep it's fine like it's just to me people overblow jet lag so much it's one of the most overblown things oh no it's okay well that's it

messes up your no it doesn't internal clock radio sam talks about sports for a living he doesn't have to be a finely tuned machine like you know like these guys will have to be if you're off by up your no it doesn't internal clock radio sam talks about sports for a living he doesn't have to be a finely tuned machine like you know like these guys will have to be if you're off by 10 which i would imagine you think you'd be off by 10 the other team is playing in sweden too that's the best point of all is that you're playing the same people unfortunately when you get back the other 27 teams have not been doing it but they don't play again for a week well they come home on sunday oh they play on sunday week. Well, they come home on Sunday. Oh, they play on Sunday, and I guess they'll come home after that game Sunday.

And then they play the following Friday. And then they go for a 2 p.m. game in Chicago. Black Friday. What is happening? Like, on, like, again. Weirdest schedule of all time. That is. And in November.

That's a strange one. Yeah, Black Friday. You're supposed to be, like, in the clip of the season here. This is the normal time. It's not preseason, early in the year. It's not Christmas. It's a strange one. Yeah, Black Friday. You're supposed to be like in the clip of the season here. This is the normal time. It's not preseason, early in the year. It's not Christmas. It's not deadline. So, like, you know.

I hate it. I hate it. Okay, before I even ask. You don't like that they have to go? No, I think it's garbage. I'd be very upset as a player. Like, why do we have to do this? It's a disadvantage competitively that I have to, like, reset my clock.

And I hate it this is this is the league uh trying to grow the game is that what this is oh they don't hockey's not popular in sweden they haven't heard of it over there well to me i actually think if you're gonna send a team to sweden you know correct me if i'm wrong but the least have had a pretty strong tradition of swedish players Sweden, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Leafs have had a pretty strong tradition of Swedish players on them, you know, like... The team that just traded Sandin and Engvall? Well, I mean, I don't know if you ever heard of this guy.

He's Matt Sandin. He wore 13. Pretty popular guy. He plays here more, son. You know, you know, Boria Solming just passed. One of the most famous Swedish guys ever. Played for the Leafs. Nylander, one of the best players in the league right now,

plays for the Leafs. John Klingberg, one of the best players in the league right now, plays for the Leafs. John Klingberg, one of the... Let's go to... Is this really a clip eight or is it clip nine? No, okay. Clip seven will be the correct one.

Obviously the biggest challenge is adjusting to the time change. But we've got ample time. I think they've done a good job of getting us there and giving us the time to adjust, so we should be all right. I'm sure the first couple of days will be tough. I don't have any experience in doing such a thing and going overseas to prepare a team.

We've got lots of people in the organization, players and staff, who do, and we're relying on that. That's why it's set up the way that we are. We think it's important. We're going to basically go pretty much from the plane to practice tomorrow just to kind of keep busy. I think we'll have a quick stop at the hotel for lunch but then head right on to practice just to help try to keep everybody awake

and try to get on Stockholm time stockholm time and uh take it from there kipper have you been have you been moonlighting as a leaf sleep doctor you knew the plan yeah it's common now a lot of these guys that's what they try yeah um let's go to one more on disrupting this is the point that you made earlier jb so let's go on disrupting a good stretch from Sheldon. Yeah, I mean, it is. That's part of it, right? Sometimes a disruption comes at a good time, and you can work at some things and breathe a little bit and get back to it.

Sometimes you want to just keep going. It's not often you get a break like this in the NHL, so we're going to try to make the best of it. You know, whether it's a good or a bad thing, I don't know. I just know that it's our reality. So we've got to manage it as best we can, both on our arrival and for the games themselves, and then our return back here as we adjust back

to get back into the regular rhythm of the NHL. I wonder what kind of rubber chicken circuit they're going to have Willie Nylander on this week. Yeah. He wasn't, not coming on the radio, so. No, we know that. He's got time. Maybe he will there. I was saying, do you think he's going to play well over there?

Or do you think he's going to be out partying with old friends? No, he is going to. Oh, I think there's a chance for both. He's going to light it up. Like, there's a lot of time here. You know, they've got to be a little nervous. About the length of the leash? Of what, of him just partying? No, not him, just everybody.

It's like, this is like a school trip for these guys. Yeah, pretty cool. I mean, you should appreciate the experiences you have in life, and that's a unique one. I know. So they'll appreciate the heck out of it, I imagine. I get that. Yeah.

Do they have anything that's beautiful in Sweden? I don't know, famously beautiful? You're referring to the mountainside? Oh, yes, right, right, right, right. Just the scenery is apparently. Lovely lakes there. You know who's going to, like, really be feeling it right now is our good friend Timothy Lilligren, who... Feeling who feeling it they're gonna have him in tow and he

doesn't have to play right was he gonna go you think oh yeah they'll take him they wouldn't leave him i don't know he's hobbling definitely he's hobbling but he's playing or not though kip he's i know i hope he can go back home but he's got it's just disappointing for him yes that he he knew about this for a very long time and was looking forward to it and just can't play. I mean, that's the reality of every game. There's a chance he can get hurt. There's a lot of Leaf fan fiction out there that the Leafs are going to sign William Nylander a contract in Sweden.

Oh, that's an interesting theory. I've seen that a lot, yeah. That's cute. Pretty cute. That is cute. I don't see it. Signs in its center ice right before a puck drop. Like every day that goes by, he has less incentive to sign.

Every day. He gets closer and closer to what are the options out there. Do you still believe that there's somewhat of a discount in him everybody i talk to says no shot no shot you've been on the discount for five six years yeah maybe not that long three years you just may have to sign him to the number that he pretty much his boy david pasternak signed for 11.25 or whatever it was you 11.25 1125 and for willie would that upset you oh for times eight years wouldn't upset me on my turns up now that would thrill me wouldn't say i'd love it what's that wouldn't say i'd love it no i'm just saying but

pasta is a different player he's won a rocker shard trophy he hits people if you're going to willie you say you produce like him i know but it doesn't he does other things it doesn't work that way you're worth 10 and a quarter it just doesn't work that way what works is okay i'm a team that needs scoring what's the fastest quickest way to get it and what am i willing to pay that's the market is what you're willing to pay i understand that and it doesn't have anything to do with pasternak did this pasternak's not available it is an insane thing to say the comparables don't are relevant they are relevant to a certain degree, but I can only pay, and this is why the constant around UFA is you do overpay.

And who's available and how quickly can I get a great score? And what's it worth to me? Scoring is such at a premium now. Like we watch the Leafs, and there's some nights that Gregor couldn't hit the side of a barn. Okay? And there's Willie, who's looking like all world class. Mm-hmm.

Like, if your team now, like, and I've thrown this out before, but Chicago. Yeah. Chicago's got this kid Bedard, who by the way, last time I checked, might have been on a 57 goal. Yeah, 9 goals in 13 games for the kid. 9 in 13. That stick lift

shelf the other night. All of a sudden it's looking good again, but he does look like a man on an island here. What's it worth to Chicago to have Willie Nylander in that uniform come September?'s it worth to chicago to have willie kneelander in that uniform come september is it worth 11 11 and a half to them yeah and i think it might be i wonder if lewis gross has legitimately had to have the price of a brick is going up call with tree living because i'm sure

at the start of the year they're like 10 10 and a half and then willie's off to this tear and it's like hold on austin matthews and william kneer, the first pair of Leafs teammates with 10-plus goals each through the first 15 games since Wendell and Dave Anderjock in 93-94. All right. Yesterday's price is not today's price. That was a conference final back then, wasn't it? Oh, yeah. There you go.

Might have been a high stick or something. Did that come up? Yeah. That was Kerry Frazier. I think so i think so right yeah i don't know yeah la for sure 93 94 okay that takes care of our leaf edition when we come back in the national hour hottest story out there the edmonton oilers firing jay woodcroft what's next for them plus more on the swedish trip by the toronto maple leafs and three other clubs we're back after these words