Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Laughton's Flyers Reunion

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start by forecasting potential first-round matchups for the Toronto Maple Leafs and which team between the Senators, Lightning and Panthers they'd measure up best against. Then, they set the stage for the Leafs' game tonight against the Flyers and get into the discourse around Scott Laughton in his first game vs. his former squad, how the team rebounds off a bad loss to the Predators, whether Morgan Rielly's role needs to be reduced, and much more. Later, PHLY Sports Flyers analyst Charlie O'Connor (34:50) discusses the Philly side of tonight's game in Toronto, Laughton's adjustment, rumours about Rick Tocchet's return, and the next steps in their rebuild.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.

Game day for the Real Kipper and Bourne show. We're live on Sports Step 590. The fans Sports Step 360 Sports Step Plus it's the Leaf Hour edition of our program. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, and Jake the Snake Schultz. Can we get these games over with? Which games? What's left in the season? Really? I'm... Ready for playoffs? Or vacation, one of the two. I will say, first off, it throws me off having the Blair Barker turnover

because I spent a few minutes talking to those guys about baseball and then we got nine seconds before we come on air. So I feel a little flustered. We got the baseball guys back. Which is awesome. We got home opener Thursday, 3 p.m. on this very network

everybody's excited but I don't like the rush coming in here kicking the baseball guys out so we can get in and then the other thing is these games that you're referring to yeah our playoff game that you want to fast-forward through we're the best part of the year we We're here. Are we? Oh buddy, tonight is so important. I'm so unexcited about tonight. What? Here's my thing on the leaves right now. The leaves are good.

No, but here's the thing about the leaves being good. They're not good enough that I'm confident they can beat Florida or Tampa in the first round handily. So they're bad enough that they have to win so they don't have to play them. Which is fine. So they... Philly's bad. Are they bad now? They just lost to Nashville! What are we looking at? 6-2 tonight? For who? I believe... You even have to ask. They just lost 5-2 to Nashville. They suck. I believe the

Flyers just lost 7-4 to the Blackhawks at some point. Yes, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah. Come on, you're at home. This one should be a feel-good 60-minute, kind of like Calgary. I expect a game like Calgary last week. So let me ask you this. Nashville needs five points to catch Philly.

Let me ask you this. Yeah. Because I saw today, forget where I saw it, it was the the percentages of the first round matchup Love this. What do you got? It was 38 on Ottawa 38.8 percent Ottawa 38.8 percent Tampa Bay and 17 percent Florida and that adds up to about a hundred that right? No, I don't whatever just close enough

Are you sure like, you know? Everyone say oh, yeah, Ottawa Ottawa. You're wishing for Ottawa Ottawa has won five straight hockey games against the Toronto May Police and has Owned them for quite some time here That's even when the sense you can say all the things you want about fearing Ottawa you want Ottawa you do I'm past Like I'm past all of that. Whoever it is. I don't know if it matters anymore.

Well, is your loose all of them? No, because they're going to be in all of them because it might matter. You just you got to play well at the right time. Yes. And Tampa Bay. Ottawa like when's the last time they beat Ottawa? I don't know. It's been five games, so five games ago. I guess I'm the only guy who watches hockey. So you guys aren't familiar with the hockey works?

They've never beaten Ottawa in a year plus and you won Ottawa really badly for the Leafs. Is it? Am I the only one who's watched this? Florida won the Cup last year. Do you guys catch that? They're beating up on the blue line. They're hanging on. Oh my God. Do you guys catch that? They're beating up on the blue line. They're hanging on. Are they getting? What? No. Are they getting?

Tampa Bay is a plus 55 goal differential. Are they getting Matt Kachuk back? I don't know that. Yeah, that's a big deal. Yeah. The Voice of God, aka Jake Schultz said December 7th, 2023 was the last time. That doesn't make you nervous at all for the Leafs to play Ottawa? Well, let's, yeah, nervous, of course. Okay.

We're choosing an opponent. Who do you think they should, they have the best chance to beat? Okay. In my, go ahead. Theirselves is the answer. Dad, thanks, dad. One more. Sure, Kevin. You give it to me. Who, you give it to me.

Who do you want them to play? Now don't tell me why they're gonna lose to all three. If they're playing well, if they finally get their lines going. They'll beat any of them. No, they can, they can. If they get the goal-tenning that we've seen at the highest point,

I think they can beat anybody in that division. I think they can too. But that's a big if. Those are a lot of ifs. Okay. Pessimistically fansami, which has come out a lot over the past four years in this show. So also not the question you were asked, but okay. But you're asking me which who I'd rather face? Yes. Technically Ottawa. Technically. Okay. That's all we wanted. I also do feel that they're in really tough to beat any of those three teams and If they're going to lose in the first round I would much rather just be the Tampa or Florida because I can accept that I have never heard a bigger loser

Loser II thing to say then Buddy then I I don't even want to play the softer opponent because it'll hurt more. So just give me the tough guys everyone thinks is tough. I'd rather know the bully, right? Oh my God. Totally. I want to get beat up by the same bully. I don't need a new bully.

Yeah, great. Just add it to another notch to leave fans taking a beating spell. Not blowing a three one lead to the crappy Habs wasn't bad enough. Losing to Columbus. Thank God you don't get to play. Emotional damage.

But no, but like there is part of that where I think the Leeds would probably beat Ottawa. I think there's a chance they would beat Ottawa for sure. But I also think the risk of playing against them and losing is way worse than just getting done with Florida or Tampa in the first half. See he's already played the series. And now he's just worried about Twitter Florida or tap in the first he's already he's already played the series You're just worried about they've lost all of them Which one hurts the most worried about social media and all the Ottawa fans just take it away in a series, okay? Try to focus on tonight start with that start with Bowl good game by Scott Lawton against his former team. Is there anything better than what he needs now

is to face his former team? Is that a good thing or is it, does it pour gasoline on the fire? I think it's the best thing to get it over with and get it out of the way and rip the bandaid off so we can move on. Yeah, he liked Philly. He was a great guy.

He took the trainers out and the equipment staff out, and everyone loves him. Great. Let's play Philly. Everyone have their hugs and tears. And then can we get playing good for Toronto? All right, let's have the man of the hour tonight lead off our first kippers, clipper of the show. Scott Lawton. Yeah, I think I talked about it last yesterday after practice, but

yeah, it's going to be different looking at the pre-scout and I'm in some of the clips. So definitely definitely a little weird but yeah, we'll take it as it goes and and get a good sleep in this afternoon and get back on track here. Okay, he's in the pre-scout. I want to be clear that I love Scott Lawton and I want him to have success here.

He seems like an awesome guy. Good sense of humor. Good sense of humor. He's everyone likes this guy myself included. Okay, we're talking about it way too much way too much like the clip the thing didn't even ask who's, didn't even ask Ruben who's starting tonight. They didn't ask if Benoit's going or who's playing.

Like it was five questions about Scott Lawton. And it's just. I was reading about his cats today at one point. I, this is why people don't wanna play here. This is exactly it. Because you come here and you're a shiny new toy Underneath all the core guys and it's a what it's a two-week Cyclone of people talking about how much you suck

It is do you think Say like we're a third line winger. You think if he scored. If whatever. If he's plus four now in the eight games that he's played and he's got like three or four points and Carlo struggled, we'd be having this conversation if they were playing the Boston Bruins with Carlo. Yeah.

Do you really believe that? Yes, yes, yes. Well, why would Lawton be any different? I don't know, because it's just a different vibe for a different player. Yeah, and I Don't believe that we'd ever be focusing on Carlo as much as we are Well, I'm carlo was more expensive. It would be a bigger deal. She was stinky. Yeah, but he's been Exactly as advertised. Yes

Not flashy just like a solid right shot big guy D-Man. Like nothing crazy, just exactly what you signed up for. And I'm not sure anybody really truly knew what you were signing up for with Scott Lawton. I, to this day, like he, he, he, how many goals does he have this year? 11. Okay, four of them in one game.

So he's probably closer to a five to eight goal score this year than he is a 15. I forgot he had four in one game. How did that happen? Think about that for a second without that game. He's got seven goals. Wow. Yeah, but that happened. Where is the true expectation? So he's played the last little while and the Leafs have not been very good. They've spent a lot of time in their own zone and all of a sudden he's now a part of that, but everybody thinks this guy has just been no good

since the trade and it's like, well, what were you truly expecting? Yeah, but Kip, you can't, it's not like this is good for Scott Lawton. It's not like've you said to Scott Lawton. How have you played as a leaf? You'd be like this is what I am you big not good. I get the not good What I get what I don't get is to Sammy's point is like what why like seven questions to the guy Why where's where's where can we not? Where else can you go on a question? Why five to this guy?

Why do you think he is so featured? It could be a Toronto thing. It could be bringing a guy home here. I don't know. Because that's the way the media works around here, man. They're just attracted to negativity. Wow. Wow. Alright, I'm just saying we're a part of the... What? They're just attracted to negativity. Well. Well. All right. I'm just saying we're part of the... What?

What? Noise. I ain't gonna throw stones from my glass house here, Kipper. We're part of the deal here. We gotta be self-aware. We're part of the deal. I'm with you guys. Okay, good, good, good.

I'm with you. Now, let's end the two clips of Oatscotch Lobby from Craigslist. I can admit I can be negative sometimes Yeah, or I'm attracted to Rubberneck in on the Don Valley Parkway tough not to look tough not to look. Yeah, it's my turn to look. I'm gonna look I've already waited And depending on much blood there is How long the stair is oh but I it is it's just it's one of those stories that

Unfortunately is growing legs every game. He doesn't score. Yeah, he needs one to go in and to find a role to find a role for this game to pass and then for us to just like Not it not be like the number one conversation that it's been soon as we can get as soon as he can get rid of that feeling like get that spotlight off of me and unfortunately he goes into tonight's game with his former team and it's shining bright on him right now so you're right the moment he feels like can I just be one of 20 guys on this team so I tried to cook up a third line that would be useful to the Leafs,

could hang with Paul and York Strand, could hang with Luster Rynan and Lundell. And so I took the best wing pieces away from the core four. What about a Knies, McMahon, Lawton line? So Lawton in the middle, Knies and McMahon as the wings. That feels like a line that could for check, hit, score a bit. Domi, Matthews.

Yep, Marner. Marner. And then you could. Tavares, Nylander, and then what, Holmberg? And then Patcheretti, Yarncroc. Holmberg. Holmberg, you know, something like that. I know that's not ideal, but it's not ideal.

You don't have enough guys for it to be ideal unless patches comes back. He's been there and been fine Just you were talking about being one of the guys and just kind of being part of that actually We don't really need to listen to brew based clips and a lot we can if you want but towards held court for think nine minutes this morning and but Torts held court for, I think, nine minutes this morning. And he had a really great clip on Lawton, so. Nine minutes in Toronto. Yeah, that's short. Wow.

Well, yeah. Doesn't you know the guys like Maurice and Cooper come here and give a half hour? On the biggest media stage on the planet. He loves it. Just nine minutes. All these guys love it. I love the guy.

They love coming here and just getting dead wax poetic to the listeners All right, let's have a listen the clips good. Well Scotty was one of those I mean the way I Can explain him? He's just full of Just the glue of a locker room I think that's really important especially where we're at as an organization and trying to build to have that foundation guy to understand just the small things before you even get on the ice to help kind of transport that over to our younger guys. I thought it was very important that way. So it's hard for him. I know it's been a little bit of an adjustment for him here. You with one organization for your whole career drafted and all that and going through all the crap we've gone through there to come here. I know in talking to him, he's just trying to keep his head down and trying to

fit in where when he'd walk into the locker room in Philly, he'd take it over. And so yeah, there's an adjustment period for him. I hope people are patient with him because it's a huge adjustment for him. But you're going to find out what he's about eventually here. You know, it's tough to avoid the fact that everyone who's ever crossed this book, this guy's path says that sort of things about that's what I mean. Yeah, that's one of the big reasons I want to play it like everyone just has nothing but fantastic things to say. Can he get to that point where he walks into a Toronto Maple Leaf dressing room and takes it over like Torz just said he did in Philly? I can't see it.

Not this year. Next year, you know, he's back, maybe signs another contract or something like he can get there. I think Jake McCabe went through that experience where you can't come in and be that guy. There's a culture in the room already. Yeah, but I don't think it's possible not only for Scott or anyone to do that and play 11 minutes a game. Yeah. To take over a locker room. Yeah. Correct. Yeah, it is Really hard. Let's say when Andrew Ferrence is the captain of the Oilers and it's like he was a great guy People loved him. But eventually he gets hard Was he eventually eventually? Yeah, but he went through stretches with either Boston or Edmonton

I think he played 18 minutes for sure minutes Yep, but he he hasn't really I think they've given him one game with over 15 minutes if I'm correct. But yeah, if they can still find a way to make this work in terms of that third line center where he was pegged and where they had the need pegged all season long, where they had the need pegged all season long, then there's a chance that he can walk in that room

and feeling a lot more like the old days in Philly for him. And that's why I'm trying to build the third line where Domi Robertson is a tough pair to get, right? That is not a defense first line. Where do you play them? Offense, you're gonna put the top two lines on the ice. Like you just it kind of feels like you're lost there. And he's playing wing tonight with Domi in the middle and Robertson. I don't get what he's going to do with that line.

I hope he has a great night and things go well, but it still feels like not where he's going to play in playoffs. As I see it. Yeah. All right. So we don't wanna do the Borubi on that lot. We've had enough lot. I mean, 16 minutes a lot in here.

That's a lot. Was Borubi on still the effects of Saturday night and coming in with some purpose tonight? Cause after the game on Saturday, Tavares said that they were, you know, they should be pissed off or whatever. Then they asked him about that today and his answer was actually,

he got into an exchange with Mark Masters because Mark Masters said, Tavares said that you guys were PO'd after the game. He's like, what, what does that mean? And then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, and then, I believe it was, I believe it was, I believe it was Terry Kosher said pissed off

So it's a pretty good exchange but then this is it I'm allowed to say that it's yes, sir Anyways, this is the answer what he got asked about them being pissed off after Saturday One Equip number one. Equip number one. Yeah, I agree with that. I think they are upset about it for sure. You know, coming out of the first, talking about the game coming out of the first period, we're up to nothing.

We're in good shape, almost make it three nothing. But you know, it's a learning lesson in my opinion that you can't, you know, get impatient in your game and, you know, get away from your game. And that's what we did in the second period. And next thing you know, we're down three, two. So nobody's happy about it. So last time they were pissed off was before the Calgary game where you compared tonight to that like maybe they'll come out with the same sort of intensity or urgency, but

Just feel like they just won three in a row prior to the national one. I kind of felt like that's too bad. I don't know I don't know Five what they've five or six in a row coming off the break and then losing and then winning and then losing. So the majority of stuff that he's talking about is just self-inflicted, right? Which probably is the worst thing is that you can go, okay, why is McKay pinching here? Why is Morgan skating?

His mental mistakes. Why is he not in a position to skate backwards to defend? That to me is the, that might be the biggest concern right now is why when we should be tightening it up as we go for a division title here, are we allowing ourselves to have these mental breakdowns? It's funny, right? Because, you know, for a long time, I'm trying to think of the numbers

but a long time they were the I think they're the last team to blow a lead, were they not? Like the lead going into the third period, they held on to the sharks. It was Yeah, that's right. They blew it to the sharks. And And then they, they've blown a few leads along that stretch of losses. So, yeah, you kind of want to return to your roots a little bit there that, you know, get some great goal tending that could go a long way. You know, the other problem is,

and I know it's a broken record here, but like, this, the teams that come in here and have that window and Tortorella started it off with his nine minute press conference today. and every player knows that they can make a statement here in Toronto. It's well watched, it's well listened, it's well talked about. Like that's, it's just an ongoing thing that Leaf teams have to deal with but there's a very good chance you'll get whatever is a better version of the Philadelphia Flyers tonight than you've seen probably in the last two, three weeks. You know, if you want to spin this positively, it could be a good thing for

a team to get the best of everyone all year long. You would think they wouldn't be surprised come playoffs when you're getting teams playing hard and working at it. I mean, sure, be prepared for that. That's fine. All right, let's get Craig Ruby's thoughts on the flyers Well, like I said there the ref or dinner competitiveness and their pressure I mean they come it's like they're coming with five guys all over the ice and you got a you got a fight for your ice against them and You know, they're gonna give everything they got All John tortorello's teams play hard and they compete hard

And they're coming, you know with pressure This is not a very good hockey team, but he like you look at the line No, don't even look at him like try to think of like four guys on their team front You know funny you said that cuz I was going through it and I was like Oli Lixdell, Rodrigo Abols, Igor Zamola, Emile Andre. Right? Sean Couturier we know. Yeah I mean Mischkov. We know as a rookie, a potential rookie of the year but outside of that it's like.

Sandheim, Canadian hero for the Canadians at the Four Nations Face Off. Wow you gave me one defenseman. Yeah. Right. Four Nations face-off. Wow, you gave me one defenseman. Yeah, right. We know Jamie Drysdale because he Made a big trade there with one of their young players. So I think the guy that's in the the crosshairs most of Lee fans and It's it's Morgan Riley and I wanted to ask you guys a question about It's something we talked about on least talk a little bit. But

first question Do you believe? That like there is a switch that's gonna get flipped once the playoffs start. That's the first question. I am not a flip switching guy Okay, I think that he can find it down the stretch You know he had that run of play prior to the four nations where it was like, all right That's what it looks like. I think he can find it in time for playoffs. I actually think that

Carlo gives him the best chance at finding it. There's another way of saying that I really hope he does. Yeah It's really Not not much different. Yeah, that's all you that's all you can do is that you're, there's no other choice. You're married to the guy. He's still going to get his 20 minutes, no matter sometimes how bad they look. And you can just hope that you're going to get that version. But to be clear, in playoffs, this hope thing is real. Like you know, Florida's hoping to get back to Chuckin

What's his name the D man there with the drugs? Get him back there, you know Dallas wants to get second back and they want to get help And it's not putting up points right like everyone is hoping it comes together at the right time So do even the best teams hope is part of the plan. Okay. Second part of that question. In your world where the switch doesn't get flipped. Yeah. You mentioned he's a 20 minute a night guy. Does he have to be? Like can you once the playoffs start and you're not thinking about contracts, you're not thinking about roles, you're thinking about trying to win hockey games. Yeah.

Like, is it possible that he's in the 14-15 range instead of the 23-24? Not on this team. But you've seen when they've gone up with Tanev and McCabe against other teams, they've played 23, they've played 24. They're the guys who play the most minutes. I don't know. I just... You can't let it kill you in the playoffs. I do believe that what you're saying isn't necessarily wrong, but it's a process I would have liked to seen started in October

and built towards. In March and April, OK, I just I can't see you now March and April. Okay, I just I can't see you now Starting to give him some hard lessons on earned ice time It's not a lesson. So what is it? It's just about what's learning winning and losing But there's so many dynamics that come with benching a guy Well Sam's not calling a benching so much using him less using him less, but I Benching so much using him less using him less, but I When you go from 22 minutes to 15, it's a bench. Okay. Okay. There's no other way Any player will ever take that the less you use me?

I'm benched but you look in the in his last five in his last five games three of the five He's under 20 minutes, right? He played 24 2828 against Nashville. You're chasing the game at the end of that one. Against Ottawa, he plays 22-42. But in the other ones, 19-39, 18-15, 19-20. Feels like they're kinda, I don't know, you never would've seen those numbers in years past with them.

It's just food for thought. The other thing is, is that if you do give him less minutes, if he's less impactful, what's left to look like him to your opponents? Like who's threatening to come up on a play? Jake McCabe's tried it a couple times. He's gotten burned. Like at the end of the day, hey Jake,

you are a defender, okay? And you do it very well. You think he's got room to be this offensive guy for you? I think he can have a flair to him. And now we gotta find it in 10 games? No, he's shown, he had eight goals last year. His first playoff year, he was very good offensively, but you remember what happened?

He crushed a couple of guys, got distracted, and then. Yeah, a bit squirrely'm yeah, but squirrely. Yeah I'd rather have really good steady Jake Yeah, I'd rather ask to be that guy that kind of gets caught between should I go or should I stay? I think that's been a bit of an issue the last little while with him sometimes he's Bad pinches. I think more than anything with this conversation, I don't know that one is right and one is wrong,

but I think you need to give him clarity. Am I a D who can go? Do I have a green light or do you want me to hang back? He needs clarity. What we do know is it ain't Carlo, it ain't Tann of. Which is why, right? It ain't Benoit. I think at times, Ekman Larson tries.

Yeah, he can go. But there was a time where we thought Ekman Larsen was this offensive machine when he signed in Arizona for his eight million bucks. And this guy's a top five, top six defenseman. He's in for Norrises and he can score 15, 20 goals. And it's like. He was unbelievable early in his career.

He was really good off the bat. He was heading towards there, Sammy. Yeah, yeah. And he ended up not being that guy. You know what's funny though is he has ended up being a much more solid defensive presence than I think people anticipated him being. And tougher.

Yeah. Like he just. We didn't talk about toughness with him being. And tougher. Yeah. He just. We didn't talk about toughness with him in Phoenix, Arizona. Even if it's not toughness, at least he's grease. Like he's just not afraid to give a guy a little. But I don't want him taking chances either. No, yeah, you gotta let some guys go. You can't tie him all to the goal post.

You let Morgan go. Just Morgan. But then that's why you. That's why you gotta go to him for 20 minutes Okay But also if you don't use him 20 minutes and you say, you know We want you just to be this like 15 minute night guy you become essentially like Domi as a forward where I'm not sure What the use case is? Okay. What zone am I putting them out? What game state?

That's fair. Yeah, but it's just If he looks like this in the first round and he's playing 21 minutes a night. He's gonna kill you So that's 21 and not yeah, like it's just it's no power playtime either No, right. Let me get you. It's the 25 seconds of the But that to me is the biggest concern where if the flip doesn't switch and they keep treating them like he's 2021 2022 Riley and it just doesn't go great. So anyway, it's the one I mean it no It's a good conversation. It is one the people are having I was gonna ask you about that. They were they'd alter at

Practice this morning. Just play the clip and we'll talk about it after. Clip five. How much do you start getting into kind of playoff mode? Like the guys are not on the ice again for an optional, like is it just about conserving energy when you can get it between now and the post season? A lot of travel, you know, and hockey obviously, but a lot of travel with us in the last month,'d say a lot of travel and we're heading out again tomorrow

We had a good practice yesterday, you know 30 minutes or more and you know Pretty good pace out there. So I don't think there's any need for anybody to go on the ice this morning Yeah, if they want to go touch it up, goalies like to get some shots, whatever, but we're gonna need the energy tonight in the game. Does it mean anything? I think there's a real concerted effort down the stretch to be on the ice as little as possible,

just knowing the abuse that starts. Okay. That builds up over the year and starts. Yeah. I was just wondering, because I thought it was a interesting line of questioning And I had never thought of it, but I don't know like did you like I mean I don't know what you guys skate in the morning, but seems like it'd be great to skate in the morning before you play

Yeah, again you you want to preserve your big boys the 20-minute guys Matthews Marner like Nice is in that he's in that now. He's playing 19 20 minutes a night He had some quotes recently though that were pretty impressive to me where he talked about You know having come a long way from when he first came in the league and having learned from Tavares And he said recently he said I feel refreshed I feel better than I have in past years at this time of year, which I think is a bright spot It's everything from here on in is between the ears

Mm-hmm, right you can convince yourself that so true. Yeah going on the ice or not going on the ice Small margin but how I prepare how I'm in that moment once puck drops at 7 p.m Is all that matters and then to Niza's point through Tavares hey it's why you train it's what we spent six eight weeks for in July and August yeah and then to go through the bumps and bruises just to be ready this time of year to get yourself ready and prepared to say this is when it really counts here cool all right and last thing quickly before I go leaf signed Luke Haymes to a two year deal. Haymes.

Haymes. Big Haymes fan. 12 May police signed Luke Haymes to a two year contract. 21 year old, most recently played for Dartmouth College in the NCAA, posted 12 goals and six assists through 22 games in a shortened season by injury. An Ottawa native played 83 games with Dartmouth throughout his NCAA career, racking up 41 goals and 29 assists in that span.

Just about a goal every other game. The center was named to the 2023-24 NCAA All-IV league first team and the NCAA ECAC first team all-star team. There you go. Smart guy, Dartmouth. Just an easy way to stock, right? Stockpile assets. It's one of the ways you can use your wealth and your resources. Really, really easy and a must when you spend as much as the leaves have the last five years. What was he? Six, was it six something or other? Six, two and 200 plus pounds and he's a center man? Okay! And a very confident guy, right?

Didn't he have that quote? That's, I don't know, a really, really confident quote. I can't recall it. He is the guy, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember hearing this quote that he said on the, yeah, I'm gonna find it. Oh, I don't know, I'm destined or I'm, Destined?

Something. Oh my God. No, no, no, no, no, don't quote me on that. Kipper, real Kipper, reporting. It was in the ballpark of I am very confident that I'm gonna be a good NHL player. I'm gonna be a very good NHL player. Anyways, you lose some, you lose Minton in the trade too,

to Boston, trying to get more center depth in the organization can't hurt. And a lot of those prospects nerds that I follow on Twitter seem to think that he was a pretty big prize out of the college market. For all the Christian hand for all the Christian Hansen's out there. There's a few Tyler Bozak. So yeah, we'll see All right, just wanted to mention that we should go. We'll take a quick break when we return Charlie O'Connell from Philly Sports

Connor Connor. Yeah, that's what I said. Yeah It's a Friday yet, it's Tuesday The real kid. He's been long week. Get smarter. When you listen to hockey talk, the hockey PDO cast with Demetri Filipovic subscribe and download the show on apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the program as we get ready for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers to battle Scotiabank Arena. Goaltending okay for you, splitting back and forth between Woll and Solars. Yeah, I don't see any reason to do anything But that right your wall wasn't so good against Nashville. You have to keep them in

We who they got coming up here San Jose on in a couple days So I'm sure we'll see wall in that one and then back to back over the weekend in LA in in still plenty of time for one of them to go through a stretch where they get to anoint themselves the starter. What's really tough is after that, Kip, there's like a pretty long period of time where there's just a game against Florida, a game against Columbus. After that, there's a back-to-back, then another back-to-back.

So they're both gonna play. The season ends at Buffalo verse Detroit over a four game span Hmm, maybe you give you probably split those two. So I don't know that we're ever gonna see one guy take the bulk of the load here Right, so if if it kind of ends today, yeah You flip a coin it you're like's real close to coin flip territory. But the good thing is boys, it doesn't. Yeah, it doesn't. You're right. Well done.

All right, let's welcome in Charlie O'Connor, Philadelphia sports writer. Thanks for joining us, Charlie, how are you? Doing well, how you doing guys? We're good, we're good. So what version are Leaf fans gonna see out of the Philadelphia Flyers tonight? I know it's been a tough grind the last little while here, but there's always a sense here in Toronto that there's two or three guys that like to come home or

Feed off of the energy of the one of the biggest markets in the world You know, it's a really good question because obviously the flyers have been struggling from a from a win loss standpoint for quite a while now. The playoffs are basically an impossibility at this point, and they've certainly had to adjust to that. But I've been on this road trip with the team and really aside from Sunday's game against the Blackhawks, where they definitely slipped up defensively. They played a pretty poor game. They've been playing quite well on this road trip. They played really well

in the first three games. They just, they have trouble scoring and that's just the reality of where they're at as a team. They obviously traded away a bunch of guys. They don't have the scoring depth they had before. A couple key like Owen tippet are struggling offensively But in terms of their overall play, they're they're playing a tight defensive game. They're checking hard. They're skating hard They're playing with a lot of energy So look if you get the the Flyers team from Sunday The Leafs will blow that team out if you get the Flyers team from the previous three games of this road trip It could be a real tough game

They had some difficult opponents man, Dallas Washington Tampa Bay. That's a that's a tough stretch for for any team So yeah, and they didn't win any games, but that doesn't mean that they didn't play well in those games, you know Yeah, no, absolutely. It's uh, yeah, it's good that they're playing up to their opponents.. So inevitably we're going to get to the Scott Lawton conversation. So we might as well just get to that right away. Least fans trying to figure out what it is they have got here in Lawton. He's been here for eight games and hasn't really had a ton of an opportunity and hasn't really shown a ton that he would deserve more. But least fans want to know, what had you been seeing

out of Scott Lawton before he came to Toronto? I mean, I've covered Scott Lawton for God over a decade now, I guess. And I think in Lawton, I mean, you're getting truly one of the good guys in the game. And I do think over time, is going to to manifest itself in Results, you know both on the team side on and on the individual side. We obviously spoke with with Lawton today I published a feature story on him this afternoon But he more or less admitted and John sort of echoed this that it's just been an adjustment period for him because he was Kind of the guy in the

flyers room. He was the guy that everybody looked to and in every key situation, not even in terms of all nights, but just in terms of when things would go wrong, everybody would return to Lawton in the room in between periods after games, you know, before practice. And he would be the guy who would kind of guide the team. And I think with the Leafs, obviously they have an existing leadership core. They have guys who have been through a wringer for years and years and longs the kind of guy who I don't think wants to step on anybody's toes. But even if he doesn't get it going in the regular season, I really think he's going

to have an impact in the playoffs because his game fits that style. And I just think that, you know, he's the kind of guy where everybody's gonna forget that he didn't score a point in his first eight games you know if he scores a big overtime goal in the first or second round because in the end I feel like that's what matters more to Leafs fans more so than winning a game in late March. So if the numbers you know the stats really aren't that surprising to you for Scott Lawton in eight games. Would the fact be that he's averaged 12 minutes, 12 and a half minutes, would that surprise you eight games ago?

I mean, he's gone through stretches in Philly where he's not gotten a ton of minutes. And I think one of the strengths of Lawton in particular is that he has experience still finding ways to produce even when he's not getting a ton of minutes. There were stretches where he was using a fourth line role for weeks, for months in Philadelphia and he still found ways to chip in on the score sheet. Now, that said, he also still had a major role on the penalty kill and he would get a lot of minutes there. He was part of a great shorthanded threat duo

with Travis Connectney for the past couple years. So that definitely allowed him to stay in the game. But again, I think he's the kind of guy where a lot of times you can trade for a guy at the deadline who maybe on a bad team was getting second line minutes, and then you use them on your fourth line, and he has no idea how to adjust.

I think Lawton is the kind of guy where, you know, he knows how to find a way to have an impact, even if he's only getting 10, 11 minutes a night. And I think that will eventually, when he starts to settle in, that will be a benefit for the Leafs come playoff time. Now, Craig Bruby would have coached him before in Philly. Was there anything remarkable about their dynamic

in the past or they always seemed like they got along fine? Yeah, I mean Lawton has such a different tie than he was when Craig Ruby was around, you know One thing and I think from my perspective, you know I kind of you know covered him for so long and I've watched him change when when he got drafted He was viewed as more of like a score type. He was a first round pick. He scored in the OHL, fair amount. And he tried to be that guy in the NHL and the Flyers eventually came to the decision that that was just not who he was gonna be at the NHL level. And they actually sent him down to the minors

for a full season, basically to recalibrate and to kind of change his mentality into more of a bottom sixer. And to his credit, he did it. He recalibrated, he swallowed his pride and turned himself into a heck of a role player. So I think, yeah, Barube liked him back then, but it really wasn't even the same guy

because that was still the kid who thought he could be a top six forward point per game guy. And this version of Scott Lawton is just so different, so much more mature and so much more confident in his ability to be important, even if he's not scoring every night, that it's hard to even make the comparison. You're listening to Charlie O'Connor from Philly Sports,

talking Philadelphia Flyers. So we go national in a few minutes here and we have a Vancouver audience but you don't have to worry about that now so you can let us know whether or not you are responsible for the Rick Tocket back to Philadelphia rumors I am definitely not responsible for those but but look as as you guys have I'm sure you know you know, you hear them. Now the flyers obviously have John's her to relish their head coach. He's under contract for another year. That said, John's her to Rella is, you know, in the back half of the sixties,

there's long wind talk that at some point he may go up to the, uh, the front office and brick talk. It's former flyer. He's a legendary former flyer. He's in the flyers hall of fame. He's best buds with Keith Jones. He's the president of the hockey operation. So if Rick Tockett were to become available, would the Flyers have a conversation about it? I'm sure they would. That said, I really haven't heard much to tell me that they're, they're, they're itching to push Tortorella out at the moment. Now, maybe that changes at the end of the year, but look, Tockett's intriguing to them. That said, Greg Ruby was intriguing to them last season and they didn't make a jump for

that. Obviously now, now the Leafs happens their head coach, but he was another guy who Keith Jones is very close with another former flyer with a lot of ties to the, you know, to the Philadelphia front office, Philadelphia organization. So just because pocket has all those connections doesn't mean that it's a certainty by any means. If he's available though, if he parts ways with Vancouver, I'm sure the Flyers will have

that discussion. So the Flyers feel like one of the few teams where they have a plan and everything seems to be going according to plan. They have seven picks in the first two rounds of this upcoming draft, which I don't even know to say about that. That's rather absurd. I think you would agree. So what then is the next step for them?

How do they get from where they're at? Like they need Mischkoff to become a superstar. Is he on track? Where are they in this overall arc to the next Stanley Cup contending team? Well I think they would tell you and I've certainly written about this enough over the last few years they need more high-end players. Now Mishkov I do believe is going to be one of them. I think he's obviously not there yet but he's having a really promising rookie year and it's not even like he's been getting a ton of you know cushy usage the way that some of the

other rookies get because John Tortorello is his head coach and he's pushing him hard and he's you know benching him for periods and scratching him for games. He's getting the full Tortorello treatment. But I think in the long term, uh, Michalov is going to be a high end player. That said, you can't win with just one high end player. You need multiple guys and they're going to need to go out. They're going to need to probably draft a couple, you know, they're probably going to have a top 10 if not top five pick in this year's draft. They probably need to nail that pick. They're going to need to, to pull a, pull a Tampa where you get a couple guys in non-prime draft position that turn

into stars and they're going to need to make some, some true traits. They've talked about free agency as an option, but it's tough to find stars in free agency and they don't really have the cap space yet to do it. So Danny Brear is going to need to work some magic on the trade market. They're going to need to draft well, but I do think Nishkov is a really good start. It's just, that's not the end. They need more. Charlie, just one more quick one for me. And we had Daniel Breyer on earlier in the year and he was like, no bones about it. Like we're not ready. We're trading at the deadline.

We're not, we're not trading for, we trading at the deadline. We're not trading for. We're trading. He said that when they were in a playoff spot. Like yeah, and I think we were kind of like, wow, that's really refreshing. You don't really get that. And I'm just wondering for that Philly market that we've known them since the Bobby Clark days,

did it work? Is it okay? Would it have been better if he disguised it more around? Let's try to make a playoff spot. Let's try to win as many games as we can or is Philly fans, Flyer fans in a good place right now? Well, I mean, this year's been tough because last year they were competing in the playoff picture until game 82. This year they've taken a step back. So that's been hard on the fans.

But I think the one thing that Breyer has going for him is just how kicked off fans were before Breyer took over. Fans were ready to tear the whole thing down. That was when you had former GM Chuck Fletcher getting booed at a town hall meeting, when Rangers fans invaded the Wells Fargo Center and took it over and were, you know, basically making it seem like it was a Rangers home game after the Rangers won it over time.

Fans were livid and Breyer came in and said, I'm going to rebuild. We're going to start over. We're going to do it the patient way. And I think because things were so bad, fans were more willing to accept that than they would have been otherwise. Now, how much longer do they have before fans start getting impatient? Well, they're impatient fans. Now there are fans that want to see the flyers go out and free agency and make a big trade immediately for a guy who's 30 years old, but a high end player. I do think most of the fans are still on board.

How long that holds? I guess we'll see. I do think most of the fans are still on board. How long that holds? I guess we'll see. I think at the very least they're going to give him the end of this season and this off season. Now, if they don't do anything interesting this off season, next year might get a, might get tough for him. But for now, I think the fans are still on board with the long-term plan and the idea of sticking to this rebuild this patient approach Charlie great stuff man. Enjoy the game tonight. Thanks for joining us Alright, thanks guys. Thanks Charlie Charlie O'Connor You know, I've always been of the belief

That like you take they had seven picks in the first two rounds this year trade if they traded all seven of those and Brought back three really good players. Mm-hmm. Like is that are you not ahead? You know the draft in seven guys and going like this You don't even have to trade all of them trade four of them, right and you have three good players on your team Yeah, curious to see how aggressive they get about turning this thing around. Oh, yeah. Go ahead I was just gonna say how I'm curious to see how good this Mishkoff gets Yeah, I think it's the best thing for him to have as a coach. He's not a dynamic skater He's not a guy. He can work great in short areas

He's got a flair for the net. I get all of that but Superstar I'm not sure yet boy 50 points and 70 games as a rookies. Yeah, pretty good. No it is Healthy scratches. Yeah, yeah getting benched. I see your point, you know You can't you can't get over the Lindroth comparisons The start like these five ten one Pissed you off with no it didn't piss me off. It's just you mentioned it like three times I just thought it was ridiculous That's all that's all. I'm not mad and

Could I mean? Those numbers get better for Mischkoff when he gets more help is he like Connor Bidart a little bit right now going looking around the room going I could use a Ufa right now. Yeah, I'm sure there's certainly a part of that. I think Connor Bedard scored his 20th goal. He's having a great year.

20 Snipes, baby. I think that's exactly how many Michka has, if I'm not mistaken. He has 20 goals. You know, you do forget that Connor Bedard was born in the year of 2005. He's just a baby. It's a young man. He's a young man.

He's a young man. He should be playing in a U-something league at that age. He scored his 25th. They need great players around them. They do. The Philly thing is interesting in terms of patience, how long, because they don't haven't really been a cup contending

threat for a while. So to only now feel like they're like... Since the trading Drew to the Panthers, that was like the tail end of the last time they were like good. And also they have three long contracts on the book. Couturier, Tippett, Konekni. Couturier and Tippett as guys you want till 2030. I like Tippett a lot too.

I do too. He scores 20 to 30 goals a year. He scores 20. Fast. All right. One of the fastest. Our thanks to Charlie O'Connor Discord is 20. Fast. All right. One of the fastest. Our thanks to Charlie O'Connor, Billy Sports. Very good. We're going to take a quick break. You got anything to say, Sammy? No, no. We got anything coming up tomorrow? Oh, we got Valacat coming up at five. No, tomorrow though. You want to plug a leaf line?

No. You got calls in too early for that? It's Tuesday again, buddy. Friday's four away. All I know is I'm going to get you to change that jersey. Yes. Steve Aulicat when we return. The Real Kipper and Born.