Chapter 1: What does the Maple Leafs winning the NHL Draft Lottery mean for the team?
This hour of Overdrive is powered by FanDuel. FanDuel, bringing you everything from the opening line to the final score. Not sure if one of my co-hosts requested this song, but hey, everyone, welcome to Overdrive. Mark Rowe in for Brian Hayes, joined alongside two of the finest gentlemen ever to come out of the province of Alberta. That's right, Jamie McLennan and Jason Strudwick.
How are we, guys? I'm good. What's going on today? I found myself in this studio. I guess Brian had better things to do today, but... Usually when he's not in, something big happens. I don't know if the market can take something big happening over the next few hours or not.
Strutty, what do you make? You think something else can happen in Toronto in the next couple days or what?
I don't know. I can't stop watching. I feel like I'm living in Toronto right now. The press conference and then the news dropping about the first Super Bowl, what was that, Tuesday night? Even my friends who are here who are Leafs fans, they're creeping out from underneath their hiding places, and they're getting a little bit cocky almost now with the big first pick.
As someone who lives in the city of draft lottery champions, how do you feel about Toronto taking a few steps on your turf?
You know what? I remember the night that Noodles and Hayes, and I can't remember who else was there, maybe O-Dog, the night that the Oilers won the golden ticket for McDavid. And I came on the show, and Hayes said, how are you feeling about the Oilers getting it? What's the community feeling? I said, I'm not as happy the Oilers getting it as I am the Leafs not getting it.
And my Twitter exploded. I got absolutely destroyed. And it was probably the best night of my life, how mad Leafs fans are at me. So, you know what? Now you made up for it. Is it Gavin McKenna? Are we getting that statue built or no?
I mean, listen, McKenna seems like the consensus won. But what I like this for the Leafs, Strutty, is it gives them options now. Because, you know, they had a tough couple days. Like, let's just lay out the timeline. And, Roe, you could probably concur with this. You know, the rumblings is John Chayka and Matt Sundin.
And you're like, okay, is, you know, people are like, okay, what's that going to look like? What's that going to sound like? Is that the best they can do? You had a lot of people weighing in on that. So, Monday comes the press conference. And... Chris Johnston was down there. We had him on the show and we said, what was it like?
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Chapter 2: Who are the top players leaving Canada in the NHL?
They've got some stout defenders, and I think they maybe went too overboard with that because a lot of those guys can play, but you need people that can move the puck. You need complementary players. So, listen, I'm not suggesting you take a D-man like Dax or Rudolph or someone that's one ā But can you find a way to manufacture some of those D-men for your back line?
I wish you guys were in studio because about 15 to 20 minutes before showtime, we had Doogie, JP, and Joe from The Bridge all in here workshopping about 12 different scenarios that all led to the Leafs winning a cup in the next four years. You know what it is?
All it entails is like, okay, in two years, McDavid's coming. Matthews is going to be here. Nate McKinnon's going to leave Colorado. They're all going to sign for a million dollars. And you're going to trade for their rights. Troy Stetcher's going to get it done going the other way.
That's the type of asinine stuff I have to listen to on a daily basis when Joe from the Bridge and his cronies come in there and they start making things up. So at the end of the day, What you do have is Canadian teams that there's work to be done. Outside, I mean, Montreal lost last night, and I thought they were kind of feeling their way through it a little bit. Buffalo deserves credit.
But there's a lot of teams either licking their wounds or have to get right back to the table and get back on the horse, including the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers and the Ottawa Senators, the Winnipeg Jets, the Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks. There's lots of teams that have work ahead of them, Strud.
Oh, there's tons of work to be done and all over. And everyone's got their own issues, right? Like the Flames are trying to add as much talent as they can, young talent. The Conks are maybe a little bit further down that road, but they're probably obviously disappointed about not having that first overall pick.
The Oders are trying to get back on top, so they've got to solve some things, including a net. And, Mark, the net binding for the Oders is a pretty significant topic. for anyone who's even watched an older game this year. So that's a big deal. But they all have their own. Every team has their own. Ottawa needs a ā well, you know better news.
Probably I think they need a goal scorer, a guy that can plot 30 every night.
Top six. And, you know, you've got Nick Jensen coming off the books, so probably another right-shot defenseman that can play in your either 4-5 role in that situation because the Jordan Spence, I think, showed that he can push up.
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Chapter 3: What options do the Maple Leafs have after winning the draft lottery?
Ask Nate McKinnon, who had McCarr at the Olympics. And I think that was still one of the biggest mistakes that Team Canada make. McDavid should have had Bouchard, and I think McCarr could have been there for McKinnon. And they would have been able to exit the zone a little bit quicker because those guys would pass. And I know I'm getting long-winded, but just think of this.
Had that have been Evan Bouchard in overtime that did what Cale McCarr did, you'd never live it down. Because Cale McCarr pinched on that play and caught a rut and missed it. For sure.
And he should have never been on Team Canada.
Well, people will be like, you look at this. So the point being, there is a stigma around the guy. He's not going to win, but I think he's a lot better than people think defensively. And I also think that he's elite offensively, which is tough to do. You tell me a 95-point defenseman that they wouldn't build a statue for in most Canadian cities. They played for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Including Toronto. Yeah. Well, they need him.
They need a guy like that. That's what they need. They need someone to move the puck up. But, again, I apologize for getting long-winded. I'm not upset that the other guys were right there because they're great players and had great seasons. So I don't look at that as a snub.
I think it's nice to be recognized, and I think it's nice that when you're in that conversation and you're 24 years old, I think Bouchard's now 25, You could be in that conversation for the next 10 years if you continue to progress in your play. So congratulations to the other guys.
I had them on my list, and obviously a bunch of other voters did because they were the finalists, and they deserve to be there.
Well, since you picked him to win, if you want, you can ask him the question about the Norris Trophy.
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Chapter 4: How does the recent performance of Canadian teams affect their offseason plans?
You see all these Trade Center shows and all of that. They're all loaded up.
You know what it reminds me of? And Strutty, you'll appreciate this. When Dallas Aikens became the head coach of the Oilers and he changed the whole media spread and it went from Snickers bars and donuts to fruit and the uproar in your city,
Oh, people were mad. People were mad. And I wasn't there every day. But then I was going a little bit more often and into those more. And the guys, they couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe it. And that's a bridge too far. Like, let the guys have donuts in the morning. Don't mess with the media's food. They look forward to it, right? It's like your morning coffee. You dunk a donut in there.
You're on your way. Well, you know what?
Free food is for everybody, and that's what... The thing is, Hayes was mad because there was nothing left when he went to circle back. He had his eye on it, and it was gone because the plate was empty.
Well, I hope the guys are having fun. I hope they're doing well on the course, and clearly someone's going home with some Snickers, so... Always great to fill in for Brian Hayes. Again, if some major news happens, well, we should expect it. But coming up next, our Hockey Insider, Pierre Lebrun, who's in Buffalo for the Sabres and Canadian Series. So he was there for Game 1.
We'll get his thoughts on that. As Overjob continues on TSN 4 and 5, the TSN app, your home speakers, and live on YouTube. Overdrive continued. Mark Rowan for Brian Hayes today alongside Jamie McLennan and Jason Strudwick. Our hockey insider Pierre Lebrun standing by. He is in Buffalo. We're in between games one and two of that series between the Sabres and the Canadians.
Noodles, we failed our audience a little bit last night. We were on the Canadians panel. We missed a really big part of the game that we did not analyze whatsoever. What did we miss? A Leaf fan in the crowd wearing a Gavin McKenna jersey. Because if Leaf fans can't get more obnoxious...
Why is he even there? I don't understand. Why be a jackass and go to a playoff game that doesn't include your team with a different jersey? It doesn't make sense. Fans can do funny things, I guess. I'm not down on him for getting a McKenna jersey. That's pretty cool. I guarantee you those will be flying off the shelves.
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Chapter 5: What key factors will influence the upcoming NHL offseason?
Oh, boy, they are so pumped in this town for the Sabres. It's sort of like that passion for the Bills and the passion for the Sabres, and it's just colliding in this springtime moment right now. And, man, if the Sabres win a Stanley Cup, I don't even know what the city of Buffalo is going to look like at the end of that night. It really is unbelievable.
And you're right, I felt it in the first round in Montreal. I mean... Again, in the rink, outside the rink, these are the two markets right now that seem to be living it up like no one else left in the Santa Cup playoffs. In Buffalo, I think it's just the years and the pain and 14 years out and losing in the 99 Cup final, toe in the crease, all these things.
Throw in some football heartbreaking moments with the Bills and it's all built up.
really tightly in this emotion right now this market it's unbelievable um and of course goes without saying what it's like in montreal where it's not just about a hockey team but honestly part of their identity uh you know have fans in terms of what that team needs so this is a great series i think in terms of the two fan bases trying to outdo each other but i'll also say this that
I could tell from, you know, being part of it in the athletic and a group discussion with fans during the game last night, Arp and Basu and I, there's a lot of respect, mutual respect between Sabres fans and Habs fans about sort of the parallel ascent of their respective teams at the same time. I mean, this is really a series that represents the changing of the guard in the Atlantic Division.
It doesn't mean that it'll always be these two teams, but there's certainly a decent chance we're going to see a lot of Sabres and Habs over the next several years here in the playoffs.
I agree. And I love the fact that there is that mutual respect between fan bases where it's like, hey, we feel your pain, same type of situation. But they're both very, very passionate. We know what the Habs are like. We know what their fan base is like. They're noisy in both languages. They're very passionate. I love that. I wanted to...
Seeing today a lot of the questions, and Pierre, I wanted your reaction on this because it kind of fires me up. Because I look at Dobish, who was unbelievable in the first series, and I thought he was okay last night. He wasn't tested a lot, but you couldn't blame those goals on him. There were two screen shots, but at the end he gives up four goals and 16 shots.
And they're already going, ah, is it time to maybe take a peek at Fowler? And I'm like, okay. You know, is this guy not allowed to play game two without there being whispers? I mean, Hudson falls down at center ice. You know, Dobson sticks to the ice here, Strutty. I don't know, what's he doing with the slide? You're supposed to slide.
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