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OverDrive - June 25, 2026 - Hour 1 - Jim Hiller

25 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 24.846 Bryan Hayes

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, streaming later this evening up on Crave. Brian Hazio, Doug Jeff O'Neill, Jamie Noodles McLennan.

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25.768 - 26.629 Steve Greenblatt

What's going on today?

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27.503 - 29.626 Bryan Hayes

What's going on? Lots going on.

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30.226 - 64.071 Jamie McLennan

I need one thing answered, Hazy, before we get into the program. Watched a bit of The Travelers, and I can't. I've had enough. There's guys like Harry Higgs that gets close. It says dude wipes on them. Harry Higgs, our guy. Why is Tommy Fleetwood buying clothes from pro shops? I can't, for the life of me. This guy, he's wearing a Shinnecock. Yeah, he does it every single place he goes to.

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64.191 - 66.516 Jamie McLennan

Is that his endorsement? No.

66.656 - 69.863 Bryan Hayes

He was a Nike guy forever. His deal came up.

69.843 - 75.511 Jamie McLennan

Wouldn't somebody jump on? He's got a hat that says Blackstone, and I don't even know what that is.

75.531 - 77.013 Bryan Hayes

I don't know what that company is. I have no idea.

77.033 - 88.008 Jamie McLennan

I don't either. And then he's buying stuff in a pro shop. We've got to broker a deal with Donnie and get him in some Peter Millar and say you're done. Yeah, I agree with you.

Chapter 2: What insights did John Chayka share about Morgan Rielly's future?

480.85 - 506.048 Jamie McLennan

So there's William Nylander, and who else is going to be making plays? Like scoring goals, making winger-type plays, finishing hits, getting pucks, taking it to the... You know what I mean? You take Matthew Nyes out of the equation, and we all know what William Nylander can do on a daily basis when he decides he wants to do it. So who after him is... So it's like this idea of Nyes leaving.

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506.148 - 508.832 Jamie McLennan

I want to know who's making plays and doing things after that.

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509.167 - 529.605 Steve Greenblatt

Yeah, no, it's a fair point. And like I say, I think the nice thing is you can take all the calls you want, but then you'd be looking to replace a 23-year-old, big, strong, fast guy who can get 30 goals. I just wanted one last thing on Morgan Riley here. If his name – and this is what you were talking about, Brian –

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529.585 - 554.445 Steve Greenblatt

If his name was Rick Smith and he made $7 million on the open market and let's call him a 40-point guy, isn't that what teams are kind of looking for? We'll probably see a free agent here in the offseason or a team acquire it. If the Leafs move off of Morgan Riley, they still have to replace Morgan Riley. They don't have it in-house. So if you are looking at it,

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554.425 - 565.867 Steve Greenblatt

it better be at least a lateral move or an upgrade in that position. And that's where I think John Czajka is saying, we're not in a rush to move Morgan Riley unless we believe we can upgrade wherever he's going to be slotted.

566.047 - 592.69 Bryan Hayes

Right. If they can get the dominoes to fall the way they want to, then they will... be happy to move off Morgan Riley. And the reality is you get 32 players in a game. Every team's trying to improve. Every team has assets that they can move. So John Chayka, I'm sure, has an ideal makeup of his offseason. He thinks this guy's available, he's going to get him, he's going to try to sign that guy.

593.512 - 595.114 Bryan Hayes

I'm sure he's got...

Chapter 3: How does Jim Hiller view his new role as head coach of the Maple Leafs?

595.094 - 615.412 Bryan Hayes

plan A that he's smart enough to know is not going to happen. Like, plan A never happens completely. No one has a perfect offseason the way they want it. You know, it never happens that way. So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot... Again, it's being reported. It's very well sourced about the Leafs. They're active.

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615.432 - 631.783 Bryan Hayes

A lot of teams are active about whether or not these players have value, don't have value, how many teams might be kicking tires. It's all smokescreen right now. And I guess that's what I'm pointing at. The press conference today, John's up there obviously announcing Hiller and Hiller coming in and

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631.763 - 653.105 Bryan Hayes

Obviously, he's going to be asked about all the other stuff that's out there, but you have to take everything spoken publicly with a grain of salt right now from every GM in the league. No one is going to be that open and honest. Maybe in the end, Nise is here, Riley's here, and Stolarz is starting opening night. Obviously, that is possible, but I'll believe that when I see it.

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653.145 - 658.53 Bryan Hayes

That's not a parlay I would put money on, that those three things happen in October.

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658.814 - 680.757 Steve Greenblatt

and there's a chance that all could change tomorrow. Yes. There's going to be wheeling and dealing at the draft, and a player gets thrown in because you want to trade up or trade down, or the trades all happen. Does wheeling and dealing, Jamie, still happen at the draft? Yeah. I talk to people all the time that are saying, like, you see those – I mean, we would be in the buildings.

Chapter 4: What challenges does Jim Hiller anticipate for the upcoming season?

680.817 - 685.424 Steve Greenblatt

You'd see – and we'd be, like, going, oh, look at Berkey walk over and talk.

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685.444 - 702.629 Jamie McLennan

I know, but the famous one was dubious with Kyle when he had the double phones cooking. But when's the last time, like – I honestly think – I think Wendell might have got traded at my draft in Hartford in 94. Yeah, 94.

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702.649 - 704.854 Bryan Hayes

It was 94 after they went on the two runs.

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705.274 - 720.003 Jamie McLennan

Yeah, it was 94 in Hartford that Wendell Clark got traded to Quebec. I think that happened. That's right. When's the last time we saw TV cameras bebopping around saying, oh, that guy's talking to that guy? Bobby Mack was legend.

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720.164 - 721.205 Bryan Hayes

That was Bobby Mack.

721.506 - 728.358 Jamie McLennan

Yeah, Bobby Mack and Dregs would be like, oh, so-and-so is calling so-and-so, and there's a delay here, and everyone would be like, oh, boy.

728.458 - 732.425 Bryan Hayes

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was McKenzie that broke that Wendell deal on TSN.

732.966 - 737.514 Steve Greenblatt

What was the, you're going to want to hear this? What was that trick?

737.534 - 739.056 Jamie McLennan

That was Jerry in New Jersey.

Chapter 5: How does Jim Hiller plan to establish team spirit and culture?

754.238 - 771.929 Bryan Hayes

But I'd ask you guys, like, you bring up a very good point. Like, if Nize is out of the – if he's out – Again, they're bringing something back in return. Now, whether it helps them immediately is a legitimate question. We had that chat earlier in the week. Do you do it if you want McKenna and Reid and you think that's a grand slam?

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772.23 - 791.239 Bryan Hayes

Those are your two top players in the draft and you feel like you can walk away with both of them? Do you do that considering you're three or four years away from really having them pop? How does that jive with everything else you're doing right now and you're trying to appease people, including ownership, to try to be competitive again next year? All of those are legitimate questions.

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791.62 - 814.252 Bryan Hayes

But without knowing what's coming back, Nye's coming out. Where does McKenna come into play on carrying the load? Like, how much can they expect out of him? And I know a lot of people, like, generally speaking and historically speaking, you'd say, be careful. He's a young guy. It took them about 15 games in Long Island to realize this kid, Schaefer, has got to play a ton. Yeah.

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814.272 - 822.601 Bryan Hayes

It took about seven games in San Jose for them to say, well, there's our number one center, Celebrini. Just play him. I don't care that he's 18. He's our best player.

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Chapter 6: What strategies will Jim Hiller implement for player development?

823.081 - 823.341 Jamie McLennan

I know.

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823.361 - 827.405 Bryan Hayes

But in both situations... What if McKenna shows up and he's a stud right off the bat? I know.

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827.425 - 849.454 Jamie McLennan

That... That is totally possible the way these guys are coming in the league. But I spoke about this last season when talking about Celebrini the year before or Schaefer in Long Island. Like if Schaefer had at Christmastime two goals and eight assists and was a plus two, everyone would be saying, yeah, you know what? He's settling in. He's kind of on the right track to being a great player.

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849.873 - 868.626 Jamie McLennan

It would be great if the kids stepped in and did that, like a superstar. Like, Schaefer was a superstar immediately. Yeah. He was one of the best. Legit top 10 D in the league last year. And I'm telling you right now, Hayes, if you don't have him in your top 10 in the top 50 list in the fall. You've got a problem.

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Chapter 7: How does Jim Hiller assess the importance of communication with management?

868.646 - 871.612 Jamie McLennan

Why am I the guy under attack? Because I know you're not.

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871.732 - 872.975 Bryan Hayes

I'm the one that's under attack.

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Chapter 8: What expectations does Jim Hiller have for the first overall pick?

872.995 - 876.442 Bryan Hayes

What are you, Harold Ballard? Get your finger out of my face, Harold Ballard.

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876.582 - 888.427 Jamie McLennan

You always come up with a stupid excuse. You're like, he's not ready for the top ten spot. Who are you going to bump out? He's a top 10 guy in the NHL right now, Matthew Schaefer. He might be.

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888.447 - 891.815 Steve Greenblatt

Where was the argument for top 10? What is it, top 50?

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891.995 - 895.403 Bryan Hayes

Top 50, Dougie Hamilton, yeah. Dougie crept into the top 50.

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895.423 - 899.151 Jamie McLennan

Hayes is the one who put top 50 Dougie in and took out Ovi.

899.131 - 902.856 Bryan Hayes

That's true, and I made a great call. Ovi stonked that year.

903.276 - 904.157 Jamie McLennan

No, he didn't, dude.

904.197 - 911.587 Bryan Hayes

That's the year he scored the record-breaking goal. Ovi's been floating around looking for goals for years. Put me on the record on that.

912.508 - 913.529 Steve Greenblatt

You cannot say that.

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