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Dreger on Matthews' future with the Maple Leafs, Carle's next steps and Cassidy's future
21 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What insights does Darren Dreger share about Auston Matthews' future with the Maple Leafs?
Brian Hayes, Jonas Siegel, Jamie Noodles, McLennan, Darren Dreger, our TSN Hockey Insider in studio. What's happening, Dreggs?
I'm doing okay. Casual Thursday today. Don't have the TSN uniform on yet. Got in here early, 8 p.m. start. You know, of course, we've got to do 6 p.m. pregame. Yeah, on SportsCenter. Right, for game one tonight. Yeah, I felt like it would be okay. And I did catch a look at your sweater, Hayes, and I thought, yeah, I can get away with it.
This is literally a tailored sweater.
Somebody made that for you?
From the cloakroom in Montreal. Yeah, it's the greatest place in the country.
Wow.
Like, I know where you guys get your clothes, so don't even start. Hey, cloakroom.
Unbelievable. That's where you get mine.
You get yours? Yeah. All right.
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Chapter 2: How can the Maple Leafs improve their roster according to Dreger?
And that's where, like... You look at what they put in place, like, with an inexperienced GM, no president. Like, it's just, like, I don't know if they're going to be able to do it. Yeah. And that's what I don't know. And I'm sure, like, Matthew's thinking the same thing. Like, are they going to be able to actually do all this stuff?
Yeah, just to interject, Jonas. Obviously, Chayka is having conversations with fellow general managers. You have to, right? I mean, everybody's presenting their shopping lists. They're not disclosing what they're willing to part with. But, you know, you test the market. Here's what we're looking for.
Okay, well... And he's open to the idea of having conversations about a lot of players not named Austin Matthews, to be frank. As he should be, right? You know, I had a couple of teams say to me that... Chayka's view on whether or not Matthew Nyes is legitimately a piece that they would part with seems to change from one day to the next, but that's fine. He's entitled to that.
I mean, if I were John, I would say, okay, well, unless somebody drops an offer on my table that makes me actually consider moving Matthew Nyes, then no, I'm not going to trade him. I'm not going to devalue the asset. But he continues to drink from the fire hose. You know, organizationally, I mean, are we sure he's met everybody under the umbrella of hockey operations?
I don't know that he has because of the entirety of the workload. So there's a lot that needs to get done. But even though when CJ authored the piece from The Athletic, just questioning whether or not, you know, Matthews would be entirely committed if these ads were,
weren't made in a timely fashion, mid-July or whatever, there does seem to be now a growing sense that he's more than willing, of course, to get there in training camp. It's just his hope, and maybe expectation is a better word, that the team is better.
David Carl, where does he come into all this? The head coach, University of Denver. Everyone's a super fan. I don't think anyone's ever seen him actually coach. I don't know how many people in Toronto are watching University of Denver hockey games, but he is a popular name right now.
But not the first time his name has been out there. Far from it, in fact. You can attach him to Chicago, and if you're willing to pull the curtain back, there have probably been a good number of NHL clubs who have made gestures towards David Carl. By all accounts, he is a good, forward-thinking, aggressive, young, and dynamic coach. I mean, he's part of an incredibly successful program.
it's not a difficult task to recruit to Denver. It isn't. But that's because of how successful the program is. I think I've shared this with you guys, and I don't think his position has changed on this. I had an exchange with him several weeks ago, and it wasn't Toronto-specific, to be fair. It was just kind of gauging his interest in making the jump to the NHL.
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