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Johnson on the Maple Leafs' coaching sweepstakes, McKenna's future in Toronto and the Canadiens' quest
29 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What insights does Mike Johnson provide on Freddie Anderson's career?
Here's Mike Johnson, our TSN hockey analyst, joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Freddie Anderson, if he wins a Stanley Cup, what does that say about him, his career, his stint in Toronto, Carolina, etc.? Go ahead, Johnny. I think it will do a good job in making people reflect on a guy who's had a very, very good career. It's not been perfect.
It's not been a best in the league kind of guy. Although I think he did win a Jennings noodle, so I'm not mistaken. Back in Anaheim, he might have won one. But he's been really good. He's got 300 plus wins. He's got like the seventh highest save percentage of all time. He's got great counting stats.
There's all kinds of reasons, injuries, durability, that kind of stuff that has hurt him playing in Toronto, some of those playoff moments. But he's had a borderline great career. It's not Hall of Fame worthy, but his numbers are right up there. He's been good for a long time.
And I think if he were to win a Stanley Cup, it would force people to at least acknowledge, yeah, he's not a top five goalie, but he's had a really, really solid career. And winning a Cup is a nice little cherry on top of it.
MJ, your smoothie was wrong, man. You made the coach's smoothie last week, and you said it's going to spit out a coach that's not going to be talked to. You know what I'm talking about. So do you need to mix up the ingredients with Jay Woodcroft apparently not being interviewed? Let's get back to the counter and the cashier and get some different ingredients and spit out a different name.
I am surprised about that. They must have... somebody in mind, wouldn't they? Like, if you're just sort of canvassing the field, I think Jay Woodcroft would be a guy who wouldn't warrant an interview. Doesn't mean you have to hire the guy, but you can learn what does he see? Why does it fit? Why does it not fit? Why do you be reinforcing going a different direction?
But to just flat out say, no, no, we don't need to talk to that guy, I think that's surprising to me, given the nature of where the Leafs seem to be and how they seem to want to play, or maybe at least how I think they want to play. So if I'm running the smoothie bar, I'm running the same way. Like I told you what I think the Leafs should do.
I told you that's the kind of coach that I think they should go get. That would do well for them. Now maybe I have to franchise the Leafs smoothie bar and cook the one they want. And I guess if they were trying to get better now, like in the next two years to be sort of competitive for the playoffs or do something in the playoffs, they probably would want...
maybe more of a taskmaster, maybe a bit more sort of detailed defensive side of the puck kind of guy. They'd want Bruce Cassidy. If you want to be good, let's be honest. If you want to be the single greatest bump from a coach, probably for next year, would be Bruce Cassidy. He is a very good coach.
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Chapter 2: What are the Maple Leafs' coaching options and strategies?
Yeah, we'll see. I guess it's up to him. And he might have so many options, though. If he's going to go pro, he might not want Toronto. He might want to go somewhere else because he'll have other options available to him.
Johnny, you just said the words, everybody's got a price. And I think in pro sports that's true. Do you think that, like, you just look at Vegas and the way Kelly McCrimmon is operated... Like, he's one of the top two or three executives, and he may be number one. It's non-negotiable. You look at him and Breezebois down in Tampa.
Do you think his name, like you want to talk about if you want to be good and you want to do this, do you think the execs at MLSC even talked about the idea of let's throw the, you know, Throw the bank at this guy and give him a blank check and let's see if he wants to come to Toronto? Do you think that idea was even discussed? And is it stupid not to be discussed?
I doubt it was discussed, O, because I think what Vegas just showed with Bruce Cassidy is they would not let Kelly McCrimmon go to become the GM of Toronto. They would not let him go to be a lateral move. He'd have to become the president, I guess, which you could do. You could get it up. If you're getting a promotion on the organizational chart, most teams or sometimes contracts mandate that.
Chapter 3: How does Evan Bouchard's injury impact the IIHF World Championship?
But I think part of the reason why he's so good, O, Vegas is a currently good team and They've won recently. They have the intangibles of the climate and the no state tax, and they have a pretty good core of players around them. So they could think about it, but I don't know if he'd want to leave Vegas because a lot of those advantages he has in Vegas right now would not exist in Toronto.
And even though he's a Canadian guy and from Brandon and all the rest, like he's got a good setup. So I'm not sure he'd be rushing to leave it.
So, Johnny, we can get back to the Leafs in a bit. I just wanted to follow up on this Evan Bouchard hit. I mean, you were there. What do you make of it, the fallout out of it? I was complaining yesterday. I know it may be on deaf ears, but... Why is he there in the first place? When you've been to the Cup Final and the Cup two years in a row, you've had long seasons, all of that.
Now, how long is he going to be out? All of that type of stuff. Just weigh in on Evan Bouchard and what you saw and what you make of it all.
Well, I just posted this noodles. Like what's he there for? What's Sidney Crosby here for? Like sometimes guys like playing some guys want guys want to win something. I know there's probably an element of Evan Bouchard saying I have to play for Canada. I want to show them I can be really good at internationally because I want to play in the world cup and I want to play in the Olympics.
And, and I heard your segment and I agree with you. Like you shouldn't have to prove anything by playing in the world championships to earn an invite. If you're one of the best players to the World Cup or Olympics, get the invite. You don't need to pay your dues in this tournament. The hit to me, guys, if that was in the NHL, I'm not sure that's a penalty.
Like, unless you think it's interference, because it was maybe, you know, you'd have to time it out to see how it was close to being late. But it wasn't that late. He was feet were on the ice. He may have hit him in the head, but he hit him right through the body. I think he might have been unconscious and then hit his head on the ice and made it worse. Saw him today. He's up walking around.
Feels pretty good. He's not going to play, but he doesn't look like he's not in the room of darkness. So that's a good sign. But I guess this is part of the risk you run when you have this tournament. Guys might get hurt. Guys who make a lot of money can get insurance, or if you need a new contract, you can get insurance, which costs some money, but you can protect yourself.
It's the nature of the beast that you can say, well, don't come to this one. Same thing could have happened in the first exhibition game. It's just the reality of the sport. And it was against the Americans. It wasn't against some crazy Hungarian player that doesn't know what he's doing, running around hitting guys high. It was against Ryan Lindgren, a guy he plays against all the time.
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Chapter 4: What is Gavin McKenna's potential future with the Maple Leafs?
How do you think that might help him kind of get a jump start on his career, the fact that he's not going to a team that intentionally blew it up and tanked? It was an unintentional, awful season, and they won the lottery. If you're McKenna, how beneficial could that be to you or to him early in his career? I think for him, personally, it would be enormous.
An enormous advantage to come to Toronto. Because they have a little bit of infrastructure around them. If Gavin McKenna stepped into Toronto, the market like Toronto... on a team that usually finishes last, like Vancouver or Chicago, like they've been with no support around him, it would be tough sledding for years because he's not quite ready physically. To control an NHL team.
He might get the most points, but he's not going to be able to help lead them to victories, make his line mates better, play against every situation, go up against Alexander Barkov and survive. He's not. He's not going to be there for a few years. So he's going to go to a spot where he doesn't have to be.
So he's going to get the advantage of good veteran players around him, the advantage of producing offensively because he's playing with good players. Like say what you want about the Leafs, they score goals. They did last year too. And so he'll pick up points, which will help people in not scrutinize his play that much.
He's not going to have to be the face of the franchise for as long as Austin Matthews is here. So we can do all that. And then when you watch this documentary, I'm sure you're going to go home and do so. He's also pretty equipped as a young man to step in Toronto and the spotlight that there is there. And he's been through some stuff. He's been a spotlight player.
He's been in the public eye for five years, even though he's only 18 years old. So however prepared you can be to be a Toronto Maple Leaf first overall pick, he's kind of gone through that gauntlet to prepare himself. So you put all that and he'll have a good rookie year. He'll score points. He probably won't get too much heat if they don't go well because it'll be shying on other people.
Lots to like about him landing here and allowing himself to grow, mature physically and in his game to eventually get to the point where he is on par with those guys. He is a leader. But it might not happen for three years. But in Toronto, three years might be afforded to him. Absolutely. So I was on Jay last night and I made the...
the claim that the Habs are now the pace car of the seven Canadian teams moving forward, that that is what has been established this year, that I think they've taken that torch from Edmonton. Edmonton held it for a long time, and other teams were kicking tires on it, the Leafs, Winnipeg, maybe Ottawa up and coming. Would you agree with that assessment?
Let's assume they're going to lose to Carolina and we get into the offseason next year. Do you think if we're doing a power ranking on Canadian teams, would you have the Habs at number one? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I mean, Edmonton you've got to give because it's Connor and Leon. But it's not going to be Calgary, Vancouver.
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Chapter 5: How do the Canadiens compare to other Canadian teams in the playoffs?
That because you took two more steps than last year, next year means you're going to get to the final and win it? No, not at all. They're going to be another team that has a chance, but oh, as you mentioned, whether it's injuries, opponents, poor play, whatever, you know, winning's hard in the NHL. Ask Colorado. They're a great team year after year. That's Dallas. They don't win the Stanley Cup.
They get knocked out early. It happens. Edmonton barely made the playoff. So, yes, that is a cautionary tale for anyone who says, don't worry that they don't win this year. They're going to be better next year and go further next year. They'll have a chance to. But the odds are probably greater that they... fall short of this year's achievements next year, then exceed them, if that makes sense.
It's more likely they get to the second round, not the third or the fourth. So that's the reality in the NHL for every team.
Maybe Keith Pele was right, Johnny. You've got to be intertwined horizontally, vertically, and everything has to be matched up.
I don't think we're looking for intertwined. I think we're looking for integration. Close, but I think it's integration. Vertical integration we're looking for right now. Lots of integrating. Lots of integrating. All right, Johnny, have a great weekend, and enjoy the semis and the final and the whole nine. We'll do it again soon. All right, fellas, have a good weekend.
We'll see you back in North America next week. Love it. There's Mike Johnson.
Hello, Canada. This is Brian Adams Radio. Hosted by Brian Adams himself.
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