Real Kyper & Bourne - Leafs Hour: Wrapping the Regular Season

Episode Date: April 18, 2024

Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne and Sam McKee start with the Leafs' final game in the regular season, a 6-4 loss to the Lightning in Tampa. They get into Matthews gruellingly missing the 70-goal mark, powerplay struggles and Nylander's lacklustre effort. Then, a look at roster combinations before Game 1, if Matthews and Marner will be reunited, the odd men out on defence and who sneaks in due to injuries. Finally, a big-picture look at the Leafs' first-round matchup against the Bruins and what's at stake for Toronto from a front office, fan, coach and player point of view.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. 

All right, let's get her going on the Real Kipper and Bourne show. Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, Sammy McKee, Derek Brandeo, Frank the Tank. Braska is in. Must be a special. Frank the Tank! Frank the Tank! Frank the Tank! Frank the Tank! We know it's playoff time when we're bringing in Frank the Tank. Seriously, bringing in the heavy guns here.

Literally. Wherever you're watching, wherever you're listening on Sportsnet 590, Sportsnet 360, and Sportsnet Plus, we're glad you're aboard. And when you can't catch us live, please download us wherever you get your pod. In Texas at 590, 5 90 sammy will read them out and if we got a jam-packed show for you i can't wait to see what we're going to talk about oh my goodness as the toronto maple leafs and their 82 game regular season losing 6-4 to the tampa bay lightning to finish the 2023-24 regular season and

so much we can get into as we gear towards saturday night's puck drop game one toronto maple leafs and the boston brooms but before that we we got to put a bow on this whole Austin Matthews, 70 goals, and how disappointed Sammy is today or Leaf Nation. I haven't got a clue how we're going to put a bow on this, but we're going to attempt it. Well, I guess it's time. So he didn't hit the number. His parents were there. His poor mom was, you know.

Swearing. Swearing. A couple of S-bombs in there, I felt for them. time so he didn't hit the number his parents were there his poor mom was you know swearing swearing a couple ass bombs in there i felt for them matthews had seven shots in the first period a feat which he's only accomplished three times in his whole career so he was pushing for it it didn't happen um i guess does it change how you feel about the decision to play the games down the stretch well i am i i think i kind of made it clear to you guys about a month ago that i you don't want it to end up being a distraction like a major major yeah kind of everybody it it played out the way i thought it was the to play out. I hoped it wouldn't have. And I had, I really had some strong optimistic thoughts that he could reach 70 without it looking like

it did the last couple of games. And it didn't happen. No. Yeah, it became a sideshow, Kip. There's no doubt it became a sideshow kip there's no doubt it became some it became the theme to the point where it was like who cares about what the right play is we're looking for austin at a time when you know the team is trying to dial in the last decimal points of perfection to try to get ready for playoffs it was not what we wanted to see. I know Sammy had a tough time with last night.

Yeah. I want to be clear. Because I know we're coming into playoff season. We're coming into passion season here. We're coming into the time of year where you really get worked up about stuff. So I really don't want to waste. To use a coach here. I don't want to waste one of my bullets on a meaningless

game 82. I don't want to have these thoughts held against me heading into the playoffs. But God did I hate that game last night. I hated everything about that game last night. I thought the third period, good thing they were close to Disneyland because that was Mickey Mouse boys.

That was horrific. Hated it. Hated it. Hated it. Are we just talking alone about trying to get this guy 70 goals? Is that all you speak of right now? Yeah, partly. But, you know, I think the Lightning were acutely aware of what was going on with their superstar. And I thought they played really well for half the game.

They clearly went to absolute sleep in the second half of the game like everybody did the leafs ended up scoring four but they played hard they got their superstar his his thing leafs didn't happen clearly matthews had a ton of chances i'm not putting that on them i just i thought the way the whole thing felt to me it didn't feel like hockey okay they went into this game there was one point of a hockey game and it was getting this guy 70 goals their power play stunk for three weeks because they just kept feeding him the puck everyone was passing it to him people are getting mad at john tavaris because he shot the puck at the net in a hockey game like what are we doing here what are we doing like you know oh he drove he drove the net did you someone told me that you guys did leaf

talk last yes and did did you call tavaris selfish no that was bunk i was jd yeah that was jd but he said but he was very similar that he said that we can't these thoughts cannot be held against us going forward it was just coming out i just find it so ironic that someone would call John Tavares selfish. For scoring a goal? For not passing to a guy who is kind of looking selfish. I thought the whole thing was horrible. I honestly couldn't hate it more. That's not a knock on Matthews trying to get his 70th.

I'm just saying that it's selfish to think that a guy that's being paid 11 million dollars cannot do what he's supposed to do and that's shoot it in the net right the actually the funny version of this and another comment that bunk made which i really liked last night is about how tj brody hadn't scored he had the longest goal 111 games yeah of any nhler who'd played that long 111 games scores a goal and he has to go give a press conference like he had been caught in a scandal to be like i shouldn't have shot that one in the net i wish it was an assist i've been around the game a long time even after tavaris scored the goal to watch everybody's reaction and how well

brody's goal killed the power play and everyone was like. A second later, like Tavares felt awful. No one acknowledged him. He just put his head down and went to the bench. Matthews didn't pat him on the. Nor should they have acknowledged him. Matthews didn't, you know, pat him on the shin pads. It's like, it was the worst looking goal celebration I've ever seen in the history of the game. Yeah.

There was nothing. It was, everybody felt bad. Yeah. It was so goofy. I know. People were like, how could he drive the net on a power play? Yeah. Oh, God forbid.

It is very funny, though, that the whole team was like, we're going to feed Matthews. And Tavares was like, I'm going to stuff this. Yeah. Like, I know it's not. It's a hockey game. Well, it wasn't. That's the point that you're making.

It wasn't a hockey game. It was a sideshow to get this guy the thing. They didn't get him. The one guy wasn't even a part of the thing to get the guy the thing. And the whole thing. And then, if you zoom out from it all, no one cared. No one cared about that game. So who cares anyway, right?

The Tampa Dress 17 in their third string. Leafs dressed a guy they haven't played in two months. And the whole thing was just a farce. And that's why I'm not using one of my bullets. You used one. It's already gone. So five or 10 years from now, from 20 years from now, when we talk about Austin Matthews scoring 69,

are we going to remember like the last couple of games here? I hope not. Is the first thing that we're going to remember is how bizarre it was to try to get to 70? I think it stays for a very long time. Ah, you want it to stay. No, no, I don't want it to stay.

But when i see that 69 yeah i'm gonna think about like how bizarre it was to try to get him 70 well i think a lot of people disagree with you there a lot of hockey fans loved this season the chase you know hitting 69 so i hope i i hope it's not spectacular season and i've made this case to 100 people not everyone who will listen but like if a team scores 320 goals and you have 69 or 70 you still contributed this much of the pie you know maybe it's this much this much this much you know i think it's i think it's it's still out there and it's to be concluded because you cannot just cut off a line here going into the Boston series. There is what kind of effect did the last few games have going into Boston?

If the Leafs were to lose in five games and Austin scores one in five, do you think people will be dragging in the last week and a half? Well, it's not good. Is that a possibility? Very much so. Of course it is. That was always what was at stake with the decision to play these final few games. And I wrote about this where I said, I think he should not play. Because even if he, you know, I just think the perception of what his priorities are, what the team's priorities are, would be better.

And you could feel good going into the playoffs that you made the team thing a priority. I was vastly overruled by every single person I talked to. Everyone wanted him to pursue 70, even longtime hockey guys. So I get it. I get why they did it for him. But now, yes, now that's what's on stake. Another thing for this core of pursuing a self thing

instead of prioritizing a team thing. They get through Boston, and no one's going to remember the last two games. And there's a very good chance he's excellent. And even if they lose to Boston and he has, whatever, five goals in seven games, an awesome series, I think he's not going to catch heat. But how he plays is going to matter. If he has a quiet game seven, he's going to catch some heat.

Yeah, yeah, of course. All that is context for sure. Hold on. Didn't you guys do a panel and you predicted, somebody one of you guys predicted that he was going to score 69 on the dot? Yeah, that was me. That was you, Kipper? Yeah, that was me.

I actually think I said 68. Oh. Yeah, I had him at 69. Listen, 70 is hard. There's a reason no one does it and when he pulled that one back into the middle from his knees and he has a clean look on a guy who hasn't played in yeah i don't know how long and he almost splits the puck in two in the bar that to me will go down as like i will remember that more than i'll remember a lot of the games but god it's just from the hash marks on a third string goalie in his sweet spot best shooter in the league crossbar okay let's go to our first kippers clipper of the day on sheldon keith and and and the words that he might have uttered to Austin knowing that he fell one short of 70. I was just acknowledging how

I was 34 seconds left in the game which was pretty fitting for the type of season that he's had for a regular season to come to an end like that. He's just played he's played so tremendously well I know obviously there's been a lot of focus on the pursuit of 70 goals. But in that, you kind of lose sight of just how well he's played, you know. He's playing well, feeling well. And it's been fun to watch. The way he's played these last two games, I mean, give him those types of chances and those types of shots and he might have got 75 um but uh you know

not meant to be and that's uh that's okay 69 is an unbelievable season and uh yeah 34 seconds on the clock tells me there's more sorry things to come for Austin and our team. Okay, that's when the play stopped and he pulled him off the ice. 34 seconds left in the game. Maybe that's a sign. Yeah. You think so? Yeah, great.

And for the record, too, like, yes, Tampa Bay had a milestone with 100 assists for Kucherov, and Austin's going for 70. It's a hell of a lot easier to look like a team when you're trying to get someone an assist. Yeah, he's trying to pass the puck. You get to pass it. Once he passes the puck, it gives your team a ton of options moving forward.

Those options weren't there. It was get the puck to Austin, and then Austin has to shoot it. Yeah. It sets up for a much more selfish-looking night. For sure. Sure. And it's a hard scenario. I just wanted to note that.

Plenty of teams, you know, when you have a great offensive weapon in any sport, and it's the only weapon your team has, you know the one thing they're trying to do, it gets awfully hard to make it happen. So, you know, I'm not too fixated on him falling a goal short of 70. I am fixated on the way the team looked, the priorities they showed, the last four games, all of which they lost, the amount of goals that are going in.

22 in the last four. 22 in the last four. Special team stuff. I'm very much in favor of just throw it out the window, but it's a lot of hockey games to throw out the window at the end of the year. Too many. Yeah, listen, I'm not thrilled about the last four games and the sideshow that went along

with it uh but i do believe that there's enough uh experience now through that lineup led by austin and mitch to to come in and reset. Yeah. And that's, I'll go back to what I've always said pretty much the whole season. They're never as good as they look sometimes, but they're never as bad. No. And they have a way of coming back off of tough games and resetting.

So that's my hope as a guy that follows the Leafs on a daily basis, that we're still going to get set up here for a hell of a series. Buddy, it's going to be close. Let's listen to Keith, clip three, on the details lacking. I couldn't tell you the score of any of those games, including the one we just finished. What about some of the details that you've been talking about?

They weren't there all the time. Yeah, they're not there all the time. They're not going to be. I mean, it's human nature. Okay, so I love him trying to, you know, like, bring playoffs positivity. Luke, just right in there yeah what about the

details you talked about buddy that was great the one who cares the one detail is i think uh a few individual efforts and i think willie neilander's play stood out last night as a guy that i don't know is just looking ahead already i think Sheldon made a comment post-game on Willie Nylander. Let's have a listen. Well, I think his numbers have been down the last little bit, but his game hadn't been. I mean, just last week, to me, he was dominating play. You know, and just Buck wasn't going in for him,

sort of like he was with Austin, you know, here the last couple days. You know, I think in the last week, you know, Willie's sort of shown that he's done with regular season hockey and he's ready to move along, but I'm not concerned about Willie. I think that's a funny comment that Willie's shown he's done with regular season hockey. I didn't like it at all. You didn't like the comment or the play?

The comment. What don't like it at all. You didn't like the comment or the play? The comment. Why don't you like it with the comment? It's taking him off the hook a little bit. That I don't like. Yeah. That, and our good pal here, Sammy McKee, went out of his way last night to isolate it on his ex. Sammy went hyper viral.

Yeah, I think a million people looked at that tweet now so oopsie and yeah it's a bad look i'm sorry any way you're talking about elander not touching the puck yeah not only touching the puck but but but but essentially quitting on the fact that he wasn't going to touch the puck but quitting on a line change as well you're not going to touch it you're going to let them play get off the rink so someone else can play. Yes, and I don't know who came on. Maybe Mitch Marner came on. It could have been McDavid.

And he sewered his teammate for a minus. Yeah. And I don't care if it's game one or game 82. Like if you're playing the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and they have guys in their lineup that are acting like pros and playing hard how do you not do the same i mean this is this is willie right and i'm not taking him off the hook and saying he gets different rules you're like you can hold them accountable all you want but like this is or years and years and years into a career of this is

he does this he has games and moments and it's accepted accepted by who like well i i see i done with the regular season when you get to this point on the calendar it's not the time to blast your guys it's the time to build guys up and get guys feeling good and we're going into playoffs and me i'm sure he you know behind scenes going hey willie like can you get me better on that but what was that doesn't serve him well to come out and kill the guy i don't know i i don't know if you kill the guy just don't play him you know if you don't feel like playing game 82 last yeah well if you're done with regular season hockey, I'm done watching you play regular season hockey.

You think a benching would shut him down for the playoffs? No. But this is the whole theme of last night is that I don't care and they didn't care and it doesn't seem to matter. Yeah, but it mattered to others, though. It mattered to Florida. It looked like it mattered to Florida. It looked like it mattered to Florida. It looked like it mattered to Tampa. That's all.

For the first half of the game. And then it really went into no-hitter. Yeah, Tampa had 17 skaters, nothing extra in goalie. I mean, they got the guys points. Okay. Where do you want to go from here? Well, I think worthwhile to discuss what is going to come of this. Do you want to hear Matthews on Fallen Short of 70 or removed on?

No. Yeah. Okay. Let's, let's put the bow on Matthews here. Him on Fallen Short. I wanted it for sure, but you know,

it, uh, it just wasn't meant to be. And, you know, for myself as you know, we look forward, um,

you know, you turn the page and the most important thing is, is the team and the team success and making sure that, um, I'm pulling my weight and, and doing what I can as a leader on this team and individually to help the team win, especially as we go into the postseason. That's where my focus is at, and I think that's kind of where my mindset's been at all year as far as getting prepared for the spring here.

It would have been nice, but it wasn't meant to be, and I'm looking forward to the, you know, getting started here on Saturday. I wanted it for sure. We do that. But the rest of it, he could have had a team of speech writers.

Couldn't have written a better statement about how the priority is the team focus is getting ready for being good in spring. Like that's what else do you want to hear from him? You know, he's pro. It's all good. It's all good good it's all good for him okay good job boys i feel a little better all right i needed that what we need to talk about is the goaltending i think because you know not great i would have started joseph wool last night who uh you know went to florida had a bit of a tough night you know numbers not terrible but gave up four i thought

they had the opportunity to say he hasn't played much he's not going to start he can do back to back he's 25 years old goalies don't blow up if they play back to back what did you think of jones going last night uh if you're not if you're believing in the back to back and the analytics and maybe there's some issues still with his lingering ankle that you might be concerned for. I didn't have a problem with Jones starting. I thought that Sheldon knows his team quite well and I would much rather see Martin Jones behind that effort

than Joseph Wall, who's a guy that might actually face into your playoff plans. That's fair. I don't think you would do planning to see that effort. I'd like a 30-for- 30 on those games that Martin Jones played in the least one. Why? Because he was really good for like two weeks. Yeah, he was.

And how did that happen? Those typical guys are two, three weeks great. Yeah. Right? Martin Jones, James Reimers. Like there's a select few out there that can be. Get you through a patch. That can get you through a patch, and good on them for doing that.

But they'll never be true number one starters. No. So I think Jones is... He did everything that was asked of him this year. Yeah, absolutely. For sure he did. I would like to see Wolgo, as I said. The Samsonov thing, he's going to be a week between starts,

which, you know, I think they like that for him. They like him to have some time with all. Just seems when he gets a reset and gives him a chance to get refocused here, I think he's so key here. How quick do you think they would go to wool, depending on poor performance? Has he got any sort of leash? Yeah, well, I don't think it would.

Again, what are we talking about? A guy getting pulled in game one? Are we talking about four on 20 shots? That's exactly what I'm asking. Five-two loss? I think that would be discussed i'd probably think that they'd give him one more try and and hope he can regroup it just seems like they kind of gotta they they really stacked all their their chips on samsonov right now coming in sure do so i don't i'm not even sure a blowout in game one on samsonov would be enough to to pull them i think it's reasonable to say

hey you'll get another crack at this we've made you the guy we're not just gonna turn around make it that tight he hasn't played against the bruins much we played in seven games in his career against the bruins and this year would he have played in two or one of the games? He's got an 8-9-9 save percentage and a 2-7-7 goals against in seven games. So it's like that's not a ton to go off of. But the thing I think of when I guess is Bruins versus Samsonov is that Marchand penalty shot where he like twist his ankle with that backhand move.

But yeah, you don't have a ton to go to go off with samson versus the bruins yeah so given the last little bit do you feel any different about leaf's lineup going in have you changed your mind on lilligran brody or you know stacking up all your four core four on two or three lines where do you sit in the lineup after watching these past few games uh i i want austin to feel good and i don't know where he is off of these last two starts so i if it's me i'm starting marner and matthews together in game one and then umavares with Willie again. Tavares with Willie. Yeah. Yeah. On the other side of that, I still like the three spread out.

I have to say, watching Marner and Matthews, and I know these games that they played in, like they're meaningless and we all know what the plan was trying to get matthews at 70 passed into him all the time it just didn't feel great and invoke great feelings watching those two to play together as a fan i just think there's a lot of there's a lot of scars with leaf fans watching those two guys play together and in a lot of big games it goes down when they're playing together and they don't get it done in the big spots. I really do think that those guys being separate could be the best for both of them in a playoff series, just in,

just in terms of how it feels and how it looks and having them on separate lines. If, if Sheldon is true to his words a couple of days ago, we'll probably see then Domi Matthews and Bertuzzi to start. And, and then you have... We know how quick he'll revert.

You have Marner with Tavares. Yeah. I am, you know, like if Yarncroft's ready to go game one, what has he played? One game in the past? You got to get him in. You got to get him going. But as much as I like him to play with, say, Mitch and Tavares,

I don't know if... Can you start Yarncroft in the fourth line and kind of third line third line yeah and so like mcmahon maybe not quite ready either you think mcmahon will play have you got any updates for us i don't i don't um i'd be surprised if he's if he's ready saturday so i thought the fourth line looked really good last night uh reeves camp and Dewar took it to Braden Pointline at times. Reeves scores a goal. We do have to just acknowledge

the very, very high comedy of Ryan Reeves and TJ Brody both scoring in a hockey game that Austin Matthews needed one to get 70 and didn't get. That is very funny. Opened up at the top for a one t blows it through yeah no but their line was really good i really like the uh the energy

the four checking and all that and i i get nick robertson nick robertson will start based on the injuries especially if if mcmahon's out i think so you could get in yeah what are the options so right now with 15 forwards. We don't know if Yarncroft. We're not sure on Yarncroft. Yeah. So they have 15 forwards. You need three out.

Yeah. Gregor's out. Gregor's out. Yeah. You know, if you got injury to McMahon, there's one. And then you just need one more. And so that could be is Domi back? Is Yarncroft back?

And if not, I think Reeves is in. I think Robertson might come out there. Listen, I give Robertson a ton of credit here. He's also giving you everything he has. The butt is, he's light. The butt is light. The butt is, if he's not getting... Not a Jagger butt.

Jagger butt. If he's not shooting it in the net, he can get bounced around a little bit here. And I think Reeves, especially the way he's played the last little while, can give you, can make people look over their shoulders and get rid of pucks a lot faster. I feel like the one guy that's gone kind of undiscussed

in all these conversations is like, Matthew Nyes is just kind of lost, right? Like, is he, he's not on that fourth line with doer and camp and reeves so i guess he's a third line guy um but you know they don't use him in offensive spots they don't use him in defensive spots he's just kind of do your job if you get an opportunity put it in um but i don't think it's out of the question that he could come out at some point uh i don't see it i don't see it and i don't want it i just think he's a part of the conversation he's a big body yeah but throwing his weight around the whole year he can he and he can finish anything he lead he leads the team in hits if i'm not mistaken leads forwards and hits yes that's a big deal yeah that's a big deal you just cannot he is a type of guy that can contribute if he's not scoring

just based on, again, being a heavy body, leaning on guys, and it's just a better look for the Leafs when he's in there. So that to me is not an option. Holmberg, again, these are the type of guys that are going to have to come up large. I know it was a meaningless goal last night but it's a good goal well and you know what else he had an opportunity earlier in the game where i think he tried to pass it off the pads from dead in the slot and i was like oh no but he tucked one at the end of the game maybe get get feeling good about things so uh yeah he's a no-brainer he's

going to be in the lineup do you want to get into facing boston at all well i mean i read your article today in the toronto star i thought it was fascinating so i thought maybe a bigger picture conversation okay we maybe we can hit a break and come back and talk about that all right all right do you want to tease your well yes i just wrote in the article today that uh for me anyways uh it does feel like there's the stakes have gotten a lot higher for the organization. Brendan Chanahan's in for 10 seasons now. This is his 10th season. And with Keith Pelley now watching, what does that mean moving forward?

What would a short stint in the playoffs mean to the Leafs and the domino effect that can follow? That's basically the gist of my article today in the Toronto Star. We'll pick up on that when we return after these words. Real Kipper and Bourne after these words. Unrivaled insight, analysis

and opinions on all things Blue Jays. Blair and Barker. Be sure to subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to the Real Kip and Born Show. It's Nick Kiprios, Justin Bourne, and Sammy. The Sammy.

Sammy's much better off than I thought he was. Are you disc jockeying tonight? I know. Are you mixing records? What is going on with the headset? I forgot my nice headphones at home. And I realized it right as I sat down. I looked around.

I'm like, well, going with the big Dumbo headphones. And I'm wearing glasses. I look like a real dork today. You look great. That's all right but um just before the break we're just talking about uh big picture stuff here and and what how you guys feel about this playoff round in particular and and for me i just feel like there's so much more at stake here moving forward yeah and just where are we with the patience of leaf nation and the expectations of of what going into this first round how for you

like what are your initial thoughts on the pressure on these guys and the pressure on brendan shanahan or or sheldon keith or where brad tree living fits into this because he's this is his first crack you know i think when the leafs lost to columbus and montreal many people were all right trade a piece of the core you need to trade you're loaded up front you need some defensemen make a trade break up the core and then many playoffs have happened since and more people have migrated to that camp and it's never happened this past year was all or nothing right not this season the one before was all or nothing and it ended up being not all and they still didn't trade anyone i feel like this is it i know i sound like well it didn't happen last time okay well it's going

to eventually i feel like if they don't get out of the first round, you're going to lose pieces. You're going to lose maybe a coach. Shanahan may be on the block. You'll lose a piece of the core. You can't just be like, but next year. You can't do it anymore. Today I wrote that Keith Pelley is the type of guy

that isn't scared to make bold decisions here. You know, Sammy, would you expect big changes if they don't get out of the first round i think so i i i've been surprised before here boys i thought they should have been everyone should have been gone after montreal and that was like you said whatever three years ago four years ago now so i've always kind of been in that camp i you know i'd be really surprised if they went out in the first round if there wasn't some pretty major changes but i do think i think the big worry for you know mlse and everybody involved with the leafs would be coming back next year and i already felt like there's a bit of an apathy towards the leafs in the regular season and a lot of people looking forward towards the the playoffs and even

into the playoffs like i'm not sensing a ton of positivity about this matchup amongst a lot of my buddies. I just, I think you run the risk. If you run this back again and just keep running it back and having the same results of people checking out. On the regular season. On the regular season and just having your regular season. Listen, I felt it on this show with you two.

You know, there's times you're like, yeah, they're going to make playoffs. Let's just get there regular season. Listen, I felt it on this show with you two. You know, there's times you're like, yeah, they're going to make playoffs. Let's just get there. You know? Yeah. One of the things that I wrote today was that despite how you feel about rolling anything back, the one thing that may be the most major contributor to changes, if in fact it's a short stint for the Leafs, is Mitch Marner's situation where he's eligible to sign a new contract as early as July 1st.

And he's unrestricted at the end of next year. His contract alone may dictate that he won't be around much longer if you've proven that the core four in your forwards doesn't work and somebody's got to go, well, it's not going to be Austin. It's not going to be the guy that you just signed to 92 million. It's going to be Mitch Marner. What is their ability to even trade him, though?

It's a no move, which to me is irrelevant in this because his focus is to get a new contract. He will sign a max contract, whether it's seven years as an unrestricted free agent or eight with the Leafs to keep them or to trade him. Yeah. Right. A sign and trade.

Yeah. He's going to want more than he's making now at 10.9 i cannot see him being paid less than willie nylander which would put him in the vicinity of 12 times eight he would be looking for a hundred million dollar contract so he's got a no move he can can certainly exercise it right to UFA, but that serves him no purpose. He would, if the Leafs, if he's getting indication from the Leafs

that they don't have any plans on signing him for eight years, then he's going to want to dictate where he goes. And you start the process a year out yeah listen i i think at that point in the scenario you're outlining it probably would be mutual you know where fans would say we just we have to move someone you know and and to your point who you like they would love for it to be tavara's no disrespect to the guy but they would prefer it to be Tavares than Mitch. But you can't. Yes.

You can't. So, you know, maybe they have that conversation first, you know, see if that would be. But, yeah, I definitely think you would get to a point where you'd say, we just need to do this differently. Yeah, just move on. And also, there are things that would affect that. Like, let's say Mitch is awesome in a loss.

You know, that might change things too. No, let's say mitch is awesome in a loss you know that might change things too no let's go one step further let's say they get to a conference final or a stanley cup final and mitch is great yes which is so easy to see and i know these fans are like them winning is hard you go and do something no i'm with you if they're going to have success and i think he's at the age and the ability where it's going to happen for him i do and so at that point yeah and now you're you you got to figure out ways to to fit him in for sure and i think i think it would be easier to justify to the fan base say look this is what it looks like what the vision looks like he's a huge part of this you know can you pay him

whatever the number may be and one of the lasting remarks that i had in my call into it today um was that all of this including brendan including sheldon like all of this could be moot right it with success yeah right how much is success i i have got it i have got it at a conference final. Okay. Like that's a month of playoff hockey. The city's excited. You're thinking Stanley Cup.

Game seven, second round. You can't go into. You know what, Sammy? It's an excellent question. Thank you. And I do believe there's merit into what it looks like or how close you are, the fight and the dog, all of it.

Which is why everyone acts like last year they failed. Right. Because they got to that second round and they just rolled over. It's a different vibe if there's a fight in round two. You know, you lose in the second round again, there's the option of Brendan and Bradtree Living saying, okay, we feel like we're closer, but we'll make a coaching change or we'll make a trade

or we'll just do something to kind of shake it up a little bit and make people believe that we're close here. Yeah. That's what a game seven second round loss could do, but it just cannot look like it did last year against the Florida Panthers. It's just, you can't just, can't have your season fall off a cliff

like it did last year in the second round. One thing I think is tough to see happening is all of the things. It's tough to see it being like Shanahan goes and Keefe goes and they trademark or like someone will give if a new guy were to come in and be the president i think you probably take some time with some of the other decisions whether it be keith or whether it be with your core players probably that one probably try to you know no no a short round and keith's done

no keith's done sure yeah sure i ife's done. Sure. Yeah. Sure. I can see that too if it's round one, short series type of thing. Yeah, but I think, you know, you talk about a new president, that's a huge conversation or whatever, but like it feels so everyone comes in here and gets intoxicated about what the idea of what this could be with these four guys. That's what I mean. That's if one guy comes in, I don't think they come in. Like Treleving came in.

Coach and trade core. When Treleving came came in like you've said it multiple times that if dubas is still here maybe one of them is actually gone i think right and it's like true livings it was like wow look at all these holy crap the first thing a new guy has to do is is prove the old way sucked yeah you're right yeah you're right yeah so there's not a snowball's chance that a new guy comes in and says, let's give it another try. That's not why you made changes. That's what Trilliving did.

Trilliving literally did. He said, let's add a couple different types of guys, but let's keep the core of the team exactly the same. But the salary cap handcuffed him. Plus, Brendan wasn't ready to give up on his core guys either and it now now maybe you hire a guy with the understanding that we need you to make changes that's the only reason why the board or keith pelly would make massive changes although i bet shanahan would say if they asked if it's changes you're looking for i'll make them just keep me around of course you know

of course and that's the decision that uh you know keith pelly would make yeah wow so high stakes for the you know this era of the toronto maple leafs as you know them i will say though it does suck as a fan where it seems like every single year has just been so got to win this or everything's done. We're all screwed. Yeah. And they're young. They're all young guys. Like Willie's young in retrospect, in like the grand scheme of things.

Matthew's young. Marner's young. Obviously, Tavares is old. They're not young anymore. They're young-ish. No, they're right in the peak of the wheelhouse here. They're not young anymore. They are right at the peak. Well, no, they've entered right now into the primey here. They're not young anymore. They are right at the peak.

Well, no, they've entered right now into the primey prime. Okay. 27 to 30 is like probably when you would expect the winning, real winning window to start. I mean, statistically, it's much younger, but yes. I understand what you mean about, you know, man strength. Primey prime, having the experience, like right here, these next three years to me. I just wish they had had like four round wins before this as opposed to one

but it just i just hate going in every year to the playoffs where there's just this enormous pressure from every other fan base we're just like yeah well if you don't win your whole front office is gone and you guys suck and you lose in the first round every year like it's just it's a huge stakes man it's a toronto thing of course this is this is where toronto has a million sammies out there going this is the best or blow it up there is no in between in this city there isn't no you're right there's not but i mean i wouldn't have it any other way i mean that's we get to cover the new york yankees of hockey baby like i i want it it to be high stakes, but I am a fan after all. And I guess it's just existential dread. That's how it comes down to it.

It's also very hard to see a world where you trade Mitch Marner and your team is better. Yes. It's a very tough scenario. Completely agree. No, no, I disagree. What? You're talking about an $11 million window opening up

where you can get a $6 million defenseman and you can get a $5 million forward. Like, there's some good talent out there for that type of money. I guess it depends. We do not agree. What you do with that money, you know? If you go get, you know, whatever, pick a bad defenseman that's worth $6 million, they're out there.

You need to be smart with that money. And so we haven't really seen Tree Living make any huge decisions yet. As far as this window, Sammy, it's like the cap's going to go up. It's just not going to go up significantly next season either. So, you know, you've got to figure out what you want to do with Max Domi. You've got to figure out what you're going to do with Bertuzzi.

Like, those are big-ticket items now. I know what I would do with those two. I would sign one and say, thank you for the memories, Tyler. I'd offer them both four million times three years and see who wants to stay. Do you want to hear what Sheldon has to say about facing Boston?

Do you want to get into the Bruins in a little bit? You know, tomorrow we're going to get... Tomorrow we're doing the big Boston. We'll go deep into this series tomorrow. We're 47 minutes into an hour of us talking about the Leafs and we haven't really mentioned the historic rival they're playing in the first round. We got tomorrow. We got tomorrow

to get into. You know, if I can for a second go back to last night and just say that, you know, in my days of playing in the league in that window I had and then broadcasting for 25

years, Kucherov may be the best half-wall guy in the history of the game. Just the deception from the half-wall is otherworldly. Otherworldly. That was a perfect way to get his 100th assist because it's the one I think of most with him. It's his signature move.

It is. It's like the tools that he has. Like he is Pat Canish that's just bigger, stronger, and just the threat that he has on that half wall and the deception to shoot the puck, pass the puck, no look the puck. Like it's incredible. It's incredible, but also

anywhere along the wall, the play he makes to point on the one that point kind of half-shoots, like a change-up, it's a backhand off the wall from below the goal line. He had an assist against Leafs early in the year against Lubushkin, kind of made a play from behind the net. He makes these little movements

that people bite on a little bit, just enough to get a puck through. He's just an unbelievable passer. 100 assists. Freaking nature. So, Bunkus asked me on the show last night who I hate more as a Leaf fan, Kucherov or Marchand, and I was like, well, that's a great question.

But it's definitely Kuch because of just... He's scary. He's way better offensively. And he's got, like, did you see him? I don't know what part of the game it was. I think maybe midway through the second period. It had been a complete no-hitter. And he just skates in on old Geo

and buries him from behind straight into the boards. Did you see him walk in in an untucked two-button done-up shirt? He's greasy. He's good. He's a winner. Everything. Perfect, perfect foil for Leaf fans.

Yeah. Perfect. He's a, everything. Yeah. Perfect, perfect foil for Leaf fans. Yeah. Perfect. It's a good one. Tampa Bay and Florida are going to kick the crap out of you guys. Oh, my God. This is why you can kind of see a way through for the Leafs. It's going to be a war. Not serious.

Listen. Florida gets injured. Boston's going to take a... If Boston's going down here, they're going to take a piece off of the Leafs, too. I mean, and the Leafs are going gonna have to give it right back to them the best part is that this leafs team has more depth than they previously have so you hope you can survive that you may need them all here comes connor timmons can he stop wearing rollerblades on the rink what was happening last night i don't know god he goes down untouched so often i mean he's been like

okay for some parts of the series series uh of the season but last night was oh my god i mean he looked surprised to be in a hockey game at times i don't know is he just does he feel the pressure to go create offense to go show he really wants to show what he can do because he doesn't get in all the time and it just results in blown wheels. I think Leaf fans are disappointed that they would have had

a better chance to buy playoff tickets in Florida than they would in Boston, eh? I don't think you want to go to a Boston Bruins playoff game as a Leaf fan. There's a...

They don't get that benefit, eh? Of filling half the building up in boston no they suck up all the tickets don't they the prune fans to me that was the biggest like on the list of huge reasons that i would want the least to play the florida panthers the arena situation is near the top of the list maybe number one it's just so much better this is great great for eyeballs how fun is this going to be oh it's better for neutral fans but you know watching games in that building but this is just pain talking i can text from all kinds of great yeah oh what are they saying

the same thing as you just like to enjoy this torture. You'll beat the Bruins. I'll never enjoy it again. It hurts every time. I'm going to watch. Barney. God, guys. Move on from her. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

We got a couple minutes. You want to throw in a Marchand clip? Yeah, sure. You have it here. Yeah, let's play it. Let's play it. How much of a list is it just the history you guys have had against these guys this regular season? Are you throwing out the window, or do you take that as a positive history you guys have had?

No, it means nothing. Like I said, they've changed since the deadline. They're playing really well. Off time, everything changes. It's a clean slate for every team. It doesn't matter where you finish. How you did in the regular season, it's over and done with. It all begins again. It's about

starting from ground zero again. They're a different team. Okay. I get into a little bit of what you talked about the other day, that they didn't push hard in the last couple of games. I just hate the thought

of teams losing on purpose i'll never believe that i'll never believe that no i'm with you if there's a coach that that maybe doesn't take advantage of certain situations i can buy that sammy but to say that the boston bruins lost on purpose the last couple of games to play the Toronto Maple Leafs. I just I cannot go there. Play the right way. After the first period on Tuesday night, they had three hockey shots.

And then they're like, oh, this is too obvious. It's time to try again. They still lost. Yeah, they still lost. And they were peppering that tender at the end. At the end of the game, they were. At the start. Are you with me? No, I'm with you. It's insane to think that these guysering that tender at the end at the end of the game they were at the start are you with me or like no i'm with you it's insane to think that like these guys tried to score at the end but not at the beginning they wanted to play the perception i mean okay who did they want to play in the first round the toronto maple leafs or the tampa bay lightning both of

you answer me that question are a huge prize i do for them for That's... Not enough to throw hockey games there, John T. Porter. Answer the question. Who would they rather play? Tampa or Toronto? Probably incrementally the Leafs, but that doesn't mean you throw games. What are you even talking about?

It's actually taking away credibility from the show. The implication that the Bruins threw games. You didn't say it. I didn't say they threw them. I said they played their stars a little less and didn't have as much intensity. It didn't have as much intensity and they're not

upset with the results. No, they're not. Definitely not. Alright, as you can see. Oh my god, that's an hour? As you can see, we're just warming up to the Stanley Cup playoffs, which will kick off Saturday.

So tomorrow on the Leaf Edition, we'll get right into the nuts and bolts of this series. Let's do it. Can't wait. Yep. All right. Our thanks to nobody who joined us. Kusami had a lot to get off his chest.

To the rest of the league don't go away still got another hour as we go national we'll welcome in David Amber Rogers Monday night hockey hockey night in Canada and a friend of the show

David Amber to cover the rest of the league when we return to Real Kipper and Bourne don't go away