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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Alright, here we go, Overdrive, off and running, TSN 1050 on the TSN app, your home smart speaker, up on TSN 5, up on YouTube Live, later tonight streaming on Crave, Brian Hazio, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles, McLennan.
What's going on today?
Well, a lot, evidently.
Yes.
A lot going on today.
There is a lot. Why don't you make the announcement hazy and then start off with your early thoughts?
Yes.
Well, Jim Hiller, come on down. You're the new head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wow. Did not see this one coming. It doesn't mean anything ultimately. It's not worth anything in terms of wins and losses. But this is back-to-back days. Things have happened. Pretty significant things have happened. And nobody saw it coming. No one saw Joseph Wall going to Philly.
And no one ever mentioned the name Jim Hiller. Not one time in two months. Not one time did his name ever come up. So did that help him in the process?
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Chapter 2: What was the reaction to Jim Hiller being hired as head coach?
when Todd McClellan got pushed out, and then a couple years there after he got pushed out. So I'm very curious to see what it looks like as a head coach, Seems like a really likable guy. Again, not worth anything for wins and losses. Doesn't mean anything for wins and losses. Seems like a very likable guy.
But a couple things that stood out to me and allow you guys to take the floor before I get to all of these. But what appears to be pretty consistent is the viewpoint from up top with the Leafs, go with the unconventional move. Like, whatever you think the Leafs in the past would have done, do the opposite. Opposite George. That's Chyka being hired, and I would argue that's Jim Hiller being hired.
And I will say the same thing about John Chyka being hired. And people, like, it was an underwhelming hire.
john chica okay no one else from everyone i've talked to would even remotely have come close to hiring john chica not a hot take fact because it doesn't take much to ask around and find out about that like i said earlier months ago there's no sense of freaking out about it we don't know the guy and we'll see the body of work that he puts together and the same goes for this coach jim hiller
It's an underwhelming hire. People aren't like, oh, my God, they got the. And when you say that, you know, I think John Chayka came out and said this is the best hire for where we're at right now. It really doesn't make sense because it's almost like when you're dating somebody and you got this checklist where it's like, oh, yeah, he wears good jeans.
He's got a nice car, but you don't really like love the guy. This guy, he might have analytics, defensive zone, whatever, but he's never won. Isn't that the most important thing? He might check this box and that one and that one, but there's no winning involved here. So I don't know how you could say he's the best guy for the job. Seems like a great guy.
Every interaction I've ever had with him, very nice. But to say that he's the best guy for the job right now, And Craig Button said it all the time about your coach. Whatever position you're in, elite coaching is important regardless of what phase your team is in. I just don't know how you can say... that this is the best guy.
And it's either they're outside the box or they're not blowing money or a combination of both. Well, that's possible, too.
There is definitely the possibility. Jim Hiller would not have been leaning into them the way Bruce Katzen would.
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Chapter 3: How does Jim Hiller's coaching background influence the Maple Leafs?
This is the other thing, guys.
I think that is what really might be the answer to this question. Like, where are they in this? They are in a two-year window with Austin Matthews, And it sounds like Matthews is a big fan of Jim Hiller. And Hiller was on Babcock's staff. And he ran the power play and he ran the forwards. Who's that? That's the big guy. That's Austin Matthews. That's his wheelhouse.
That's fair.
That's what he's all about. And I'm not suggesting that Matthews is the reason Hiller's here necessarily in terms of him putting his hand up and saying, I love that guy. Go hire him. I certainly don't think it hurts. You know, I think, listen, Austin Matthews is a powerful guy. He's a power broker. I think it's very clear ownership down to Pelley. They want this guy around.
They believe in the value of Matthews on the ice, off the ice, and they want to get him popping again. Look at last year. Yes, the wins and losses jump off the page. They were terrible. They were one of the worst teams in the league. But what also jumped off the page was Matthews just never got going. He never had pop.
He never obviously scored anywhere close to the level that he has scored in his prime. And I think that that could be a part of this, is that Jim Hiller, I'm not saying he's the Austin Matthews whisperer or William Nylander whisperer, but he's got a connection with those guys.
Yeah, but if you want to do a hazy bee pie chart on Austin Matthews popping again, 95% of it is Austin Matthews. And you can divvy up the systems, the coach, everything else is 5%. There is no question about it. He's got to be healthy and ready to play. Maybe 90% and 5% is get him a linemate to play with.
Yeah, I was going to go a bit lower on that O because you're right. You can't have Max Domi or Rick Michele passing him the puck. You've got to make some moves here this summer to add to it. No, it might be Gavin McKenna. It might be Matthew Nise moves through the offside. It might be William Nylander and Gavin McKenna.
It might be William Nylander, Austin Matthews, and Matthew Nise, and then they work out a second line, like that type of stuff. That's up to Jim Hiller now. But I think if you're familiar with the guy, which obviously they are, you're right. He was here before. He's familiar with the city. Nothing's going to overwhelm him. He knows the organization already.
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Chapter 4: What concerns are raised about Hiller's hiring and its impact on the team?
By the way, since when?
It's a buzzword. Since when is he heavily invested in analytics?
Oh, the guy's been an assistant coach. How would you know anyway? When the guy was an assistant coach, the Leafs had a policy where those guys were not allowed to publicly have ā Anything, opinions, a presence. How the hell would we know about what this guy's all about?
I know, but I think to say that this guy's heavily involved in analytics.
That's his reputation.
As soon as John Chayka hired him, he probably, it's his reputation. I've never heard of a guy being connected to analytics.
When have you heard any assistant coach connected to anything? You know what I'm saying? Who knows about any assistant coaches in the NHL?
The one thing the LA Kings have is a guy named Rob Volman. He's their director of analytics. He's a friend of mine. I've known him for years. And if you look at it, he's a guy that has his kind of thumbprint on all the LA Kings doings behind the scenes. I would imagine that Jim Hiller has worked with Rob Vollman for years now because Hiller was there and Vollman's there.
He has an analytics knowledge, 100%. Yeah, and guess what?
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Chapter 5: How does the Maple Leafs' roster outlook change with Hiller as head coach?
Unless they want to be playoff team next year, then there is a bar set, Noodles.
Exactly, and I get that, Brian. But I'm more saying he's going to take some swings. Yesterday it took a swing. We don't know how this is going to work out. We could be at, in January, Joseph Wohl could win Player of the Month, you know, for the Philadelphia Flyers and be the number one goaltender for the Flyers.
Or Emil Andre has settled in and been a real part of a revamped defense core that you go, hey, I like this player. Lots of different things can unfold. This is the... I think this is, what, his second move of probably, let's call it 20?
This is the biggest one by far, though, so far.
Okay, fair enough.
I mean, hiring the coach. The trade yesterday, that's a real hockey trade for sure. But this one is the big one. This one, I think, says more about... Where this is going to go. The money thing, I think, is a legitimate question. They're not going to answer it. They're not going to give you any details.
They're not blowing the doors off of these personnel right now. It's just plain and simple. I think Kyle was probably making a lot of money. Sheldon Keefe was making a lot of money. Craig Berube made a lot of money.
Shanahan made a lot of money.
Shanahan made a lot of money. Masai Ujiri was making $8. A ton of money.
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Chapter 6: What does John Chayka's vision for the team entail?
Part of their philosophy has got to be ā We tried all the highfalutin people, and we paid this guy, and we paid that guy, and you know what? It got us not much. So I don't know if that affects what direction they're going in. I still think there has to be an emphasis on getting the best people involved, but this is the route they took, and we're going to see how it plays out.
You can sit and chew on it and argue why this guy or why that guy. Until you get to December or American Thanksgiving, if their goal and objective is to be like a playoff team next year and they're junk, then we can chew on it and say, what the hell was this all about anyway?
Yeah, it's going to take some time. And you know what? People pointed out that he's an analytic-driven guy. He has his own analytics company. I remember that. Oh, there you go. CEO of Hiller Inc. No, but I think the one thing that you have to focus on
If John Chayka, and we would all do it ourselves, if we took over anything, you surround yourself with people that are either like-minded or that are so opposite of you that challenge you outside the box. Because I think if everybody is all the same in one boardroom, they're all yes-men. You're basically going to have one voice. Jim Hiller fits the mold of what they're looking for.
Somebody who's data-driven. We've heard that word a million times from Keith Pelley into, you know, John Trika didn't say it as much, but we know. So that is the narrative. And yesterday's move, we'll see. I didn't dive into the numbers last night. I watched the Marlies play, which was kind of cool. Another win for the Marlies. There you go.
They're going to win the Calder Cup.
Yeah, so at the end of the day, we'll see what this direction. But I come back to the word that you brought up, O, is he's the right coach for our team right now. That's the million-dollar question. What do you view this group right now if you had a truth pill?
and say, what do you believe that's going to ā if we're sitting here right now, a year from now, what happened with your team this past year?
That would be ā Well, listen, he's not a young guy, right? Like, he's not an old guy. He's 57 years old. You know, limited head coaching experience. Now, obviously hasn't won anything, you know. So it's based on his resume. It's kind of middling in terms of its... You might be able to sell it as, hey, if we're blowing it up, or sell it as, hey, he's an experienced guy that knows the market.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of Hiller's hiring on Auston Matthews and William Nylander?
It's already year one of messy. Yeah, it's already year one of messy. This year is messy.
Okay, so let's see how they dig out or what direction they take. Again, if it's underwhelming, I look back to it. Not everything has to be the sexy pick. It's the pick that they believe is the best fit for their vision right now. You know, Dan Muse. People didn't know who Dan Muse was. I guarantee you, Overdrive Pittsburgh was like, who's this guy?
Yep, you're absolutely right.
And it worked out. Pittsburgh was very happy with him. He's a terrific coach that might have won Coach of the Year this year. 100% noodles.
And I think what's, again, I keep coming back to it, John Chayka. He's pretty bold. I don't think he cares about what anyone thinks. And I think that's important because it's easy for everyone to say, wait a minute. I'm genuinely curious what it means for the first overall pick. I think if he believes someone not named McKenna is the best player, that's who they will take.
I think Chayka has the courage to do that. Because I think the easy play here would have been try to get Cassidy, you know, maybe Woodcroft. That's the guy who played with McDavid, offensive guy. You know, people know him up here. That would have been the easy play. This was not. This was not the easy play. You know, Matthew Nyes, his name's out there.
That one, a lot of Leaf fans are anxious about that. He's a fan favorite. People really like him for obvious reasons. He might flip him. He might flip him. He may take Stenberg or Chase Reed with the first pick. I think he got a brace for impact with Chayka. I don't think he cares. and I don't think that's a bad quality.
That I have a ton of respect for. I don't think that's a bad quality. No, I have a ton of respect for that. If it's just like I get paid to do this job, and I really don't care about the media, I don't care about what those three bozos on this show say, I'm doing it, and I got a ton of respect for that. So do I. Whether it works out, that's another thing, and that's where we come into play.
Listen, we're going to talk about everything that's in front of us. That's all we talk about. Today is a new coach, and we'll see how it unfolds.
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