OverDrive
Johnson on Matthews' future with the Maple Leafs, McKenna playing a factor and Crosby playing with Canada
12 May 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
All right, here's Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, answering his FaceTime call on the Maple Toyota hotline. How are we doing, Johnny? Okay. I am enjoying this because I remember the days when Hayes would snap at anyone's technical issues. Someone misses a mute button and Hazy B would be steaming Willie Beaming. The second it happened, he would just go on tilt.
And I'd like to add one of my favorite things I've seen today is the declaration that O was quitting Twitter. And I read about it because he reposted it.
Johnny, I had... I had to announce it. Like, Overdrive announced it, that I'll no longer be participating, so I retweeted it.
That's like Jim Nance retiring from the Masters in 2035. In 2035, I'm done at the Masters.
That was the greatest announcement from Jimmy Nance. He just looked in the camera and he's like, you know, and I thought he was going to say, the next Masters is my last. He goes... After that 2036 Masters, I'm out.
I was like, you've got to be kidding me, Jimmy. Isn't that great? What if people at CBS are thinking, I don't know, Jim, but he's now declared that.
You know there's a guy behind the scenes that said, you're going to be gone a long time before that, Jimbo.
For sure. How about the guy who's in the second chair going, I'm up next? Right. He's like, yeah. Ten more years? What are we doing here? What are we talking about? No kidding. We'll see. That's like Macklin celebrating wearing the captain.
Johnny, hang on a sec. Go ahead. Hang on a sec, Johnny. Lay it out there. My philosophy is Sidney Crosby's joining Team Canada. He is going to get there, and he's going to sit down with the coaches first and say, you gave the kid the C. You're not going to take it away from him now just because I showed up.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Mike Johnson provide about Sidney Crosby's role with Team Canada?
So, Johnny, just following that up quickly, with the cap going up, and it's a good chunk going up, do we have to reset maybe our standards on what a $5 million player is to maybe be 6 1ā2 type of thing? And do we all have to do that across the board when we judge something? Always, and I know we hate talking about percentage of the cap.
We hate it because we don't want to do any math, and I get it. But whatever, if you were a 10% player three years ago, you're still a 10% player. Just 10% now is $10.4 million instead of $8 million. You have to adjust with the growth. And the value as you allocate it around your team is going to be approximately the same as the teams that were successful doing it years ago.
So everyone's got to get, I mean, it's going up 5% this year, went up 4% last year, it's going to go up 5% the year following. So in the last three years, you're going to have to go up 15% or so. A $5 million player, exact same player as 575 or 6. That's how it's going to be.
When we fall out of our chair seeing Alex Tuck getting $10.89 million on the open market or Charlie Coyle getting six years as a 34-year-old who I don't think has ever had 60 points in his career. At $6 million, we're like, yeah, that's a function of the growing salary cap, and it's great news for the players.
I think he's had 20 goals, yeah, 20 goals like twice in his career. He's been around a long time, man, and he's just signed six years. That's crazy.
Good for him. Yeah, good for him, exactly. Well, you mentioned Tuck, who I can't imagine he hits the market, but he's gone this far. Maybe he does. Maybe he leaves Buffalo. You know, everyone's trying to get a read on the mind of Austin Matthews right now and how he might be swayed to want to be a part of the program long term.
Do you think the drafting of Gavin McKenna would have more of an impact on his future or the signing of Alex Tuck in terms of if you're playing the role of Austin Matthews? Is there a third option? Is there not much impact at all? Trade for McDavid? What else are you going to get? No, but I don't know if either one, Hayes, really moves the needle in its own stand-alone.
Gavin McKenna won't be as good as Alex Tuck next year. Gavin McKenna will be much better than Alex Tuck in three years. So I don't know how that factors into Austin Matthews' calibration about what he wants to do. But I'm guessing Austin's view on the Leafs is, in its entirety...
What the team feels like, not just one player or the player that's going to play with me in lieu of what Mitch used to do, but also what are we going to do on defense? What's our coach going to be? What system are we going to play? I think it's like the entire package is what he'll be evaluating, not just, hey, we got you a good winger. You know, are we good to go?
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Chapter 3: What is the future outlook for Evgeni Malkin with the Penguins?
They are so set going into the future, beyond this year. They're just unbelievable. Great prop system, too. I mean, and Hage, and Jerks. whatever the guy's name is, and Reinbacher and Edstrom. All those guys. They got a ton of guys coming. And Jacob Fowler is not even playing. But you watch that Lane Hudson. The play he made for Cole Caulfield's goal.
You're like, I don't know how many defensemen make that plays. Him and Quinn Hughes and Kel McCarr. That might be it. He's that good. He's that special.
Johnny, what do you make of what's going on out in Edmonton, not firing Knobloch and playing a dirty trick behind his back? I think it's classless, man.
Well, I mean, haven't they essentially fired him? If that report is true, and you are asking to talk to Bruce Cassidy... Yeah, but just make it official and fire the guy. Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, what's Knobloch doing at home? Like, I'm not really the coach anymore.
They've effectively, not just trying to replace me, but they're being denied, and what, are you going to come back and say, hey, you know what? We always wanted you anyways. Like that is, you can't let that get out. You cannot let that get out. That is a terrible leak.
And I don't know whether it's coming from Vegas' side or Cassidy's side or Edmonton, but it puts Knobloch in an untenable situation. He's basically fired. So, oh, I'm with you. Do the humane thing. And it's like, OK, we're going to replace you because now that it's out, if he tries to come back and coach, that's that's that's an impossibility.
And now Bruce Cassidy is a very good coach, very good coach, and he's very good with details. And I'm sure they look at their team saying, what did we really suffer with this year? Details. Details and play away from the puck. And who's the best guy out there to correct that? I'm not saying it's not Bruce Cassidy. I'm not saying don't go hire him. Go hire him. It's fine.
But you can't let it get out and then not hire him. And how about Vegas maybe not letting him? I kind of like that on Vegas' side. I kind of like it. It's costing them $5 million, right? Because they've got to pay him anyways. We know you're so good. We'd rather pay you $5 million to do nothing than risk letting you coach a divisional opponent.
That's like a tip of the cap to Cassidy because otherwise they didn't think he was good. They're like, yeah, go ahead. We're not worried. But they would be worried what Edmonton would look like with him as the coach. And all of this, lost in all of this, is Knobloch signed a three-year extension that kicks in this year. So they're going to have to chew on that money in Edmonton. Yeah.
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of salary cap changes on player valuations in the NHL?
Easy. Yeah, easy money. This or data? All right. Thank you, Johnny. See you later in the week. We'll talk to you from Zurich later in the week. Yes. Say hi to Sid and the captain. There he is, Mike Johnson, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Unmistakably Canadian. It's the music that raised you. The artists raising the bar. Hi, this is Brian Adams. Hey, my name's Brett Emmons.
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