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About this Episode
Join Bryan Hayes and Jamie McLennan for Hour 1 on OverDrive! The guys kick things off by recapping their experience throughout this year’s TSN TradeCentre broadcast, and discuss the biggest moves of the day, the Toronto Maple Leafs moves of trading both Bobby McMann to the Seattle Kraken, and Scott Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings, and how those deals affect the club moving forward. Bryan and Jamie then go live to Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving’s post-trade deadline press conference, and break down his comments.
Hosts & Guests
Transcript
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All right, here we go.
Overdrive often running TSN 1050 on the TSN app.
Your home smart speaker up on YouTube live.
Brian Hayes, Jamie Noodles McClennan.
I'm floored.
I don't know what to say about what happened today.
Well, we'll get to that.
I just heard something as a guy walked out the door.
A B said I might be in on the marathon.
I didn't hear that.
Did you not hear it?
Four seconds ago, you were saying welcome to Overdrive.
He leans over.
I'm locked eyes with him.
He goes, I might be in on the marathon.
Wow, that is actually breaking.
Yeah, that's actually substantial news
that will do serious numbers.
Huge number.
Because Al's brother, who we just saw,
and he looks great and it's great to see him as always.
Oh, through that out yesterday, I think it was, right?
Because this marathon 10K thing is getting carried away.
The amount of people writing me who are legitimately insulted
by calling a 10K of marathon.
Yeah.
Like I'm getting legitimate.
Well, it is because people who run,
that's a warm up for them.
I understand that it's not.
It's all relative.
For us, it's a marathon.
Yes, it is a marathon.
All right, it counts.
Like for us, it's a marathon.
A lot of people that play beer league hockey,
beer league baseball, whatever.
For them, it's the major leagues,
the national hockey league.
That's what the 10K is for us.
Yeah.
Oh, throughout the idea of Al's brother being involved in the race.
And I just completely blew past that.
I said, let's not get stupid.
We're trying to figure this out and make it work.
But to get it from Al's brother that he is possibly intrigued.
Maybe it's a kilometer from maybe.
Yeah.
Maybe he starts the race or he brings it home with us.
Yeah.
That could be it.
Maybe Al's brother gives us 500 meters out of the gate
and then meets us at the end for the final five.
For the photo op.
That's pretty it.
The photo op.
It started and it comes across the line.
It should be.
I mean, I'd love to see it.
I just, I heard about it.
I obviously have been calling games and stuff.
So I've missed the last couple of shows.
But I keep hearing this either couch to 5K, couch to 10 or whatever.
Yeah, we're doing it.
We're really doing it.
A B to drop that.
And then listen, I know we need to get to breaking news.
We need to get to what the leaves did.
All of that's breaking news though.
That was breaking news for me.
I'm tiny.
The amount of people down at studio six, which is the main studio here at TSN.
Yeah.
Buzzing about this 10K that O and I are going to run.
The amount of people that want to be included.
The amount of people that want to jump on board and possibly pushes in that direction.
I don't think I can get out of it now.
Yeah.
I saw O in some very revealing clothing today.
That was.
I wouldn't suggest that's a body type that screams 10K.
That was outrageous too.
Yeah.
The ping pong.
It's Marty with a high socks and a tight short short.
And the pants were there.
His side boiler was out.
Very revealing.
Put it that way.
I had a back view of that.
Yeah.
There he is.
Look at this guy.
There was a crack left and right like staring at me.
Yeah.
Because I'm standing behind him.
Right.
Oh, yeah.
Dude, look at this guy.
Literally.
His ass is on TV.
National TV.
There's no other way to put it.
That's a heavy hitter television program.
Yeah.
Here at Belmedia and the Odog is flashing the country.
Yeah.
So we got a lot to get to you today.
Brad Triliving will join us.
Nazum Cadrie.
This just came in.
Nazum Cadrie is heading to the Colorado Avalanche, according to Chris Johnston.
Interesting.
So this is the amazing thing about the trade deadline.
And I don't know why this happens, but it has been consistent the last couple of years.
All the Matt, the biggest deals happen after 3 p.m.
Yeah.
Well, after 3 p.m.
So it leads me to believe that the queue is like one person.
So we not get more people working the queue.
Yeah.
Like you should be able to every team should have a number and go, you know, like Calgary trades.
Nazum Cadrie to Colorado.
I'm reading.
They should have a designated line.
The Calgary line calling into this line to get it into so that they're not waiting.
You're 86.
It's like trying to get through to an airline, especially when other teams are wasting people's
time.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We're trading a minor league here for a conditional seventh in 2032.
Yeah.
Like can you get out of the way?
Exactly.
Like we're trying to have a massive blockbuster trade.
And you're right.
There's a minor league deal done.
And they're in the queue trying to dot the eyes and cross the T's.
Well, this, we talked about it extensively today.
You and I did panels on it.
I did stand up.
So you guys did it with Geno in the back.
Cadrie had to be traded.
Right.
Because it had gone public that he wanted to be traded.
Right.
Right.
Like that had been reported on.
Not that it wasn't anything anti-calgary or anything like that.
No.
It was, he knew, he knew where they were, where they were going, where he is in his career.
And he had concluded it was in his best interest.
And I think especially when Mackenzie Weger gets traded to Utah.
Yeah.
Hubert was hurt for the year.
Like the veterans around them aren't going to be there.
And again, we'll see what the return is.
And I got to give credit to Colorado because now they've looked at their middle ice.
McKinnon, Nelson, Cadrie, Nick, Wah.
Yeah.
Like they trade.
I got to think Calgary now.
It's a little bit complicated because Cadrie's contract is longer.
It has more money.
But if Colorado gave up a first and a fifth for why, I would think Cadrie has more value
than him.
That's probably it.
I would think the return would probably be that or more.
And keep in mind, to make money work, Calgary might have to take something back.
Right.
Right.
So it's, I think that's why you want to wait for all this stuff to trickle out.
But you're right.
I did the game in Calgary last night.
You know, you could tell and rightfully so.
He's a human and you're sitting on pins and needles going is today the day.
You're probably talking to your agent.
I walked into the rink at 445.
He was sitting in his car on the phone.
You have to wonder if he's getting one last phone call in going.
Am I playing tonight or what are we doing here?
Type of thing.
It weighs on your family.
It weighs on everything.
And to be honest, he played like it last night.
He looked a little distracted.
But you know, Colorado got themselves a real good player.
And I would argue, you know, depending on what we know what the return is.
Calgary is heading in a different direction.
They probably got to, you know, picks an employer or whatever.
And some tidy work for Craig Conrad.
Well, it more goes around comes around.
Right.
Cadrie goes back to where he wants to Stanley Cup.
Yeah.
And this team, I don't know if there is good as the team from a few years ago.
But I would think they're pretty close.
They feel good about it.
They're the first place team overall in the league.
Here's the other thing if you're Chris McFarlane to the manager of of Colorado.
You're watching Bill Garen just go, hey, I player.
I'm he's bringing in player after player.
Like I think Minnesota grabbed Robbie Fabrioff Waver.
Yesterday or two days ago, trading for players.
He made the trade of the year for Quinn Hughes.
You already had Caprice off of Boldy and Faber.
And you know, like you just, they've got a wealth of riches.
I've said this all along as much as I like Colorado.
I think Minnesota is a.
They're a wagon.
And guess who else is there?
The Dallas stars.
Like and and Dallas is one 10 in a row for fun.
Just blowing teams out.
And Ranton insert Rupa hints has been sick.
Yeah.
Like they're two best forwards, arguably not even playing.
Yeah.
And they're just rolling through teams.
So we'll see what else comes out.
Because you know, I concluded when we came over here, we walked over here
about a half an hour ago.
It was a dreadful day in terms of activity.
There just wasn't a lot that happened.
And we knew and we know, based on past experience,
post 3 p.m. there's going to be more deals coming in.
This category trade is clearly an example of that.
And I'm sure there's going to be more.
But it to me felt as if today there weren't enough teams
that really grabbed the bull by the horn.
Yeah.
You know, like you mentioned Minnesota, obviously you go out and get Quinn Hughes.
Yeah.
It's a massive, massive statement.
Right.
Vegas could probably put their head up and say we got Ross and Sanderson a month ago.
Right.
You know, maybe a couple of other teams.
But on a day like today, where I thought a buffalo, a Detroit, maybe a Montreal, you know,
things that are hungry, like hungry and are in.
And they're seeing.
And have packed wide open like they have collateral to make deals.
Keep in mind, the Stanley Cup champions are not going to be there.
Right.
Florida's done.
It's going to be wide open for somebody.
There's going to be a new Stanley Cup champion this year.
Yes.
Which has them in the case for the last couple of years.
Right.
The Stanley Cup.
Now, I actually stopped myself there because I said the Stanley Cups leaving Florida.
I don't think you don't.
Tampa is still in a pretty good spot.
Well, here's a scary part.
I joked about it.
They just got Cory Perry.
Is that guaranteed them to get to the finals at least?
Possibly lose.
Probably lose, but still get there.
But you look at it like that's Florida's off the table.
So it is wide open.
There's going to be a new Cup champion this year.
Don't you think that's a little bit of a carrot for an organization?
I figured so.
I figured so.
And I honestly think there's going to be regret from some and these teams made some moves.
Like the trick got Justin fall good player.
Yeah.
But it's, you know, it's one player.
Buffalo made the Jets deal.
And obviously they tried to make other deals and it didn't go their way.
Right.
Montreal has not really done anything.
Yeah.
So they got to know like I'm trying to think if they did anything else that.
Now, here's, here's a thought process on Montreal.
I think they, if you had them in a candid moment, they're saying we're building.
We don't see us as in the top.
We see ourselves a level below.
Right.
In ascending upward.
Exactly.
And maybe we're not one player away from being there.
But maybe that's they let this group play it out.
And then assessing the off season and go, we needed this.
So we got more experience.
You know, Demodovs a year older.
Right.
You know, I just look at all of that.
Well, and that's reasonable.
And I think that's what's happened.
Right.
Where a lot of these, you know, teams that kind of made the dance.
I look at Anna Heimner.
Now they picked up John Carlson.
That's a really intriguing move.
It is.
And, you know, we'll see, see what else happens here.
But like they're new to the dance.
You taught jumped in Seattle.
Obviously picked up Bobby McMahon.
Like teams have made individual moves.
Right.
But it felt like to me, there was an opportunity today for a team to say, you know, we're
going to just, yes, we're going to have bosses.
But we're going to grab like two or three big guys here.
Well, especially if you've got cap space and currency.
You've been, you've been banking.
We're going for it here.
Yeah.
And then on, you know, the flip side, the sellers in Toronto, they trade Bobby McMahon to Seattle.
And they get a second and a fourth.
Yeah.
Scott lot into LA for a third that's conditional.
They make the playoffs.
It turns into a second.
Yeah.
So it's Nick who off for picks, Bobby McMahon for picks, Scott lot and for a pick.
So they've acquired picks.
You know, I think the lot and deal is one that I know the reaction is going to be mismanagement
of asset.
You paid that much for him last year and now you're paying what you are this year.
Right.
I look at it differently because you had to move off the player.
Yes.
You had kicks in or ego kicks in or insecurity as a manager and you say, well, I'm not going
to do that because it's going to make me look bad.
No.
That's worse management.
My opinion.
I don't think you had to move off Scott lot.
You had to.
Yeah.
I don't think Brad tree living's like that.
I think he does what's best, what he believes is best for the organization.
You're right.
Lotten, if it ends up being a second rounder, he paid a first rounder and banking is not
a player in the NHL.
I get in trouble all the time, but he's not going to be a longstanding player.
My argument and I said this is some hockey people the other day.
Your banking is a Russian player.
How many fourth line Russian players do you know in the NHL?
Not many because they go back to the K.
So it's always a crap shoot there.
But first turns into a second, cost of doing business, you went all in last year because
you thought you had the team and you had a really damn good team last year and this year
it hasn't gone the way that you envision.
So you're right.
I think Brad treeling goes, I can get a second out of it.
Couldn't get the first, but, but to be honest, if this was swap, let me ask you this.
If he got a first for Lotten and a second for law, he'd go, not bad.
Well, and I think ultimately, yes, because I didn't see a first for law.
I wasn't sure he would get that based on the way he's played this year.
Now, Lotten, again, you got to just be honest about it.
Scott Lotten has kind of struggled and he hasn't been given a ton of opportunity here, but
he wasn't, you know, the reality is it was an overpay last year to filly.
That's just what it was.
They felt they needed another center.
They paid it.
He didn't really fit in, you know, this year he fit in more.
He certainly had a role.
There was some redundancy there with law and Lotten, both in your lineup, they moved
up both.
Yeah.
So listen, what has become clear here, because Ekman Larsen stuck around and I'm fine
with that because you had to set a price on him and if it wasn't met, then fine, we'll
meet you at the draft or not.
I'm on term.
He's got two years left.
He's a good player.
I've got no problem with that.
I don't think you, I would have liked to have seen them capitalize on his value.
Yeah.
I'm surprised they couldn't like, I am surprised the team didn't step up and say, that's
a really valuable player.
I'll pay your price, but it speaks to what's happening throughout the league.
Now, maybe he is being dealt right now.
We don't know it.
I don't get that impression.
The trickle in effect.
But I'm surprised no one stepped up and paid the price for Ekman Larsen, but it's consistent
with the way kind of everything has gone through.
If you look at the board here, McMan lot and walk out a first in 27, a second in 27,
a third in 26 that could turn into a second, a fourth in 26 and a fifth in 26.
So you know, you brought in five picks.
You brought in some currency that you could either, you know, I think I got to use these
picks.
Well, you have to draft and you get the draft players.
Keep in mind, there's a lot of people that track the Marles.
They're not stocked with blue chip prospects right now, you know, again, because of where
this organization has been the last 10 years.
You've had to trade picks and prospects going all in at the deadline.
This is the first year.
This is unique for you and I and for a leaf fan and this city, because it's always been
this team is good.
Let's give them an opportunity at the deadline, you know, going back, where did this all
start?
Is was it Nick Felino?
And then he came in and had the back injury like they've been having going in as the wrong
work, but they've been very proactive at the aggressively pushing aggressive for quite
some time.
Eventually, when it comes to fruition, you're like, okay, we got to restock the cupboards.
Yes.
And that's what they're doing.
Well, Felino was the year before they went out and got a Riley and a charry and they
all mouse together, but they've been doing it for a long time.
Right.
And I will say from these deals, because no one else was traded outside of pending UFA's
Nick Walnut was standing.
He's got a year left on his deal.
I still don't know what direction they're taking this team and we'll ask tree living this
next hour.
We'll see how much clarity is willing to give us or where how much he's willing to answer.
But that is, you know, really at the core of every leaf fans chat right now with friends
and with anyone online or whatever, what are you going to do?
Because they're sinking like a stone this year.
We know it's over.
It's, I think you got to prepare for it to get really ugly down the stretch.
Right.
Yeah, they got pumped by New York last night.
They have been lifeless post Olympic break.
Craig Baroube, I have to believe, is feeling some insecurity right now.
It's not good.
It's the way they're playing the way it's going.
He's yelling at him.
They don't even look like they're paying attention to him.
It's ugly.
Like it's an ugly scene and you got 18, 19 more games.
It's going to remain ugly.
Their first round pick owned by Boston top five protected.
Can they get into the bottom five?
It's very difficult.
But if you lose 14 or 15 of your next games, you'll be real close to it.
Yeah.
Can you win a lottery possibly, but then you're kicking that down the can Boston gets the
pick next year.
Philly's got your pick next year, which would roll over to the next year.
You're kind of just moving it further down the road.
But what are you going to do here?
What is Brad true living in the Maple Leafs?
What are they going to do?
Are you going to retool?
Are you going to put these picks back and play and try to acquire a defenseman center?
They obviously have, they need centerman now, like Lotten and Wargon.
John Tavares is a three, you know, they need a second line center, a fourth line center.
They haven't changed the defenseman.
That's another thing that sticks out today, this defense core is old, slow, they're on
term.
They have played very poorly this year and none of them were moved.
Yeah.
I think the bigger what else are you going to do here?
It's funny because when I look at it, if you, if you had to say, tell me the most consistent
defenseman this year, it's been at Macmarson, correct, undoubtedly, they kept him.
And I think really, it's not even the elephant in the room.
I think they, they look at Morgan Riley situation in the off season and say, that's the starting
point.
And then what does that look like?
What does Morgan want?
Because he controls that situation.
And then you, you kind of have a, a domino effect after that.
If you, if you, if Morgan wants to move on and you decide mutually to move on, then
it's, you know, what's, what's Chris Tannen's situation?
That's it.
That's complicated.
And in Carlos situation and Benoit and Myers, you know, like it, it really trickles down.
But I do believe if I had, you know, kind of a wish list right now, I think the gold
tenning can be stable.
We've seen it.
It wasn't good.
It hasn't been consistent this year.
They've had injuries, all that type of stuff.
But if you believe that position and then you throw in Hilda B, there's still has to be
a decision made there because Hilda B needs waivers next year.
I don't think he'd make it through.
So you've got to decide on one there.
The forward group, it's a mixed bag.
But you do have Austin and Willie, which are two top tier players, John Tavares on term
who, you know, regardless of what you feel he is, pretty darn consistent point producer.
But you said slide to a three.
You've got Matthew Nies on term.
And then from other respectfully, other players, Max Domey, Michelle, you got all these
guys are still here.
Right.
So the question is, you start with the D first and then revamp and then start to reshape
around those players we just talked about.
Or is it in the off season, you're going to move a key piece and really kind of retool
around Austin Matthews or, you know, Austin and I guess a key piece would either be Willie
or Austin.
It's two guys that you got to determine.
And if those aren't on the table, then it's, it's the Boston mantra with, with past
or not.
Yeah.
You're staying, you're staying where everyone else is going to go through and we're going
to reshape it around you too.
Yeah.
Well, and what also became clear it again, it's not a surprise based on the whole market.
Like, I'd love to yell and scream and say, I wish they got more, I do wish the leaves
found a way to get more.
I wish they traded more, but not a lot has happened in the league today.
A lot of GM's just played it tight to the chest.
But what is clear is if they could have moved yarn croke, Lorenz, Benoit, they would
have.
Right.
Like, you'd take a fifth round pick for those guys, more or less, maybe Benoit is different
because of the position he plays.
He's on tour and he's cheap, but Cali yarn croke, you would literally trade for a sixth
or seven round pit.
No one wants him.
Like no one's tagging him.
So yeah, because every, every team has has a career, Cali yarn croke, you, why would you
pay currency?
But that's the issue is like, you know, Nick Robertson's still here, but what are you
going to do with him?
You know, Steven Lorenz is still here.
He's on term.
What are you going to do with him?
Yeah.
You know, there's obviously other players that they have to figure out on.
They've got to turn some of this defense core over, but these were the guys they had to
move.
You had to move off McMahon.
He was a great story.
Yeah.
It came out of nowhere.
East coast league.
And keep in mind if, you know, again, this is cart before the horse.
If he goes to Seattle and has success, he's going to sign with somebody else.
He might say in the off season, this is what I've got.
And I would like to come back, you know, again, absolutely on the table to do that.
It doesn't usually happen.
I understand, but it's just, there is things that you have to take a look at.
But I, I think this is the beginning of, you know, the retool.
You did what you had to do as far as pending free agents.
The Wad deal was there.
You had to take, you have to take that Nicholas Wad deal.
Yeah.
It's a first round or, you know, and you just, and another peg.
You know, and you've given first rounders away the last couple of years.
You get one back like to me, I thought that was a home run for Brad tree living.
So now it's more about, you know, what do you do moving forward?
And what is the thought process?
Like, what is the mantra?
They play tomorrow, correct against Tampa?
Yes.
Like obviously Craig Beruby, Austin Matthews, Winnie Nealander, they're trying to win.
Like the guys that are playing, but is Brad tree living wanting to drop in the standing
so that they get a better draft pick or, you know, problem is you if top five protected.
I just don't know if you can get that.
I listen, it's not going to be easy.
Like there's certain teams you're not caught on quote, quote, catch.
You're not catching Vancouver.
I don't think you're catching the Rangers, but the Rangers beat you last night.
That was an uninspired effort.
That was weird.
The leaves were awful last night, but it's not like the Rangers were great.
But the least even after that loss, they're nine points up on New York.
Yeah.
They're nine up on Chicago.
The team that is currently fifth from the bottom is Winnipeg.
And the Leafs are five points up on them.
That is not out of the realm of possibility that with 19 games to go, you lose enough
where you drop to fifth, it's possible.
Is it likely?
Probably not.
Unless you're Chevy, like the thing is, is you get a, a Nick, you're shut down type of thing.
Like a little, you know,
but I think I wonder if Florida's going to do that because Florida's below them.
Right.
And Florida, I believe their first pick, first round pick is somewhere, but it's top 10 protected.
Yeah.
Nashville, they still might think they can make the playoffs.
That's the weird thing.
The sharks, the Kings, the Preds, you know, they're all around the dog fight.
They think they might be able to still get in.
So maybe they're still, you know, pushing towards making the playoffs.
Right.
So if you're the Leafs, again, it, it's, it's, it's not going to be easy to do.
It'll certainly not be fun to watch, but it's not out of the realm of possibility.
They could drop close enough to fifth where at a minimum, you're going to get an all time
sweat for that lottery.
Right.
Like Leaf fans, you talk about sweating it out because there is a legit chance here.
They either win the lottery and keep the pick or hand over like the seventh pick in the
draft at the Boston.
Yes.
Like that, that's kind of what they're facing right now.
There are some really good players available talking to Craig about the draft.
Like this draft seems to be, you know, it may not be like generational players,
but really good player.
Well, that's where if you get depth in a draft, you got to get back in.
You got to get those second round picks, right?
Third round picks.
Yeah.
Yes, they're not going to play for you in the next three, maybe four years, but what
we've learned here is time goes quick, man.
Yeah.
Like the Leafs will still be playing in four or five years.
Like we had a big, not an argument.
We had a great conversation about the Leafs on the panel today.
And you know, the Matthews stuff he's struggling right now.
Like you got to be able to acknowledge that.
They're all struggling.
Everybody is way down my list in terms of concerns or issues in terms of how they
got to this position, but he hasn't played well.
Willie's not playing well.
You know, Tavares is slowing down, Riley slowing down.
But you know, for the longest time, it felt like this team and in a way, the fan
base was, you know, so connected to the core for the best players.
And there's always this anxiety like, are you going to keep them?
You got to keep them.
What are you going to do?
What's the contract going to look like?
And now you're 10 years in and you have nothing to show for it.
Why would you continue with that approach?
In other words, why do you feel like you're, you're beholden to Matthews
and or Willie to retool or go all in and try to get back into the dance just
because they're under contract.
Well, like, why do you like, you know what I'm saying?
I understand what you're saying, like the lease or who you're building.
Not Matthews and Neelander and their legacy is leaving.
You're right.
But the question that I would ask in retort to that is if you believe
that those are the guys that you can build around, which I still do believe
they can be a big part of the course.
The question, if you believe that if you're going to reshape retool,
however you want to frame it around the guys that you have on term,
then they're the ones that you want here.
I, I'm not behind the curtain.
I'm not, you know, I'm not sure if they're happy with the culture,
with the attitude, the work at all of that type of stuff.
That's for Brad tree living in his mansion.
And that's two way street.
Maybe the players are looking around.
Sam, what the hell is going on here?
So I don't love this either.
Again, so that type of stuff has to be answered.
But if you believe in player X, Y, and Z, then you're moving forward with them
and you're trying to get better around them.
And that's what Boston did.
Yes.
And, you know, now they're not ready to win yet too.
No, it's going to take some more time.
And Boston's kind of hit the ditch a little bit recently to the point
where, you know, auto was kind of this is right there.
Like there's some teams that are sniffing, right?
Like Washington traded John Carlson.
That doesn't mean they're four points out.
Yeah, they're not waving the white flag.
Yeah, they just waived a, or sorry, they traded a legacy player.
Well, and that's, you know, the, the Matthews angle on this.
And we'll talk about it later this afternoon.
Willie's got six years left on his deal.
Seven years like he's a very different story.
Austin's up in two.
But that's, I think what needs to happen here is you've got to go to Matthews
in the summer.
It's become abundantly clear.
And you just have to ask him, are you committed to, are you committed to winning
here because I can't guarantee it's going to happen in the next two years, right?
The way things are set up right now, I'd be very surprised, right?
If they felt they were cup contenders in the next two years, could be wrong.
Things changed quickly.
This time last year, they thought they were this time.
Now this year, we're talking about them dropping to bottom five in the league.
Things change.
But as I said today on the panel, it's, it's just, you got it.
You got to get a candidate answer.
You got to go to Lynn, then you go, okay, this is what it looks.
And guess what?
If you're obsessed with winning in Toronto, it may take three years, four years, five
years, are you up for that?
Right.
Not every player is, I don't know if he would be.
I wouldn't blame him if he said, you know what?
I don't think that's going to work for me.
He'd be entitled to that.
But you can't fast forward something if it's not available to you.
Right.
You know what I mean?
You can't be like, well, Matt's got two years left.
So you got to go get Robert Thomas.
You better go get this guy.
Trade all the picks because you may lose any longer to get there.
Exactly.
It's halfway through.
I'm out of here anyway, and then you're in an even deeper hole.
Yeah.
So they've got to, they got to have that conversation.
I'm sure they will.
And there's some heavy lifting here because it has gotten ugly pretty quickly.
Like it, it's pretty shocking to watch some play right now.
Thing is too, I don't know, you can speak to it more than I can.
But would it be as ugly if they weren't losing the way they're losing?
You know, if they're losing three, two and it's hard fought and the, or mix in a
couple of wins.
A couple of wins or a, you know, a bounce goes here or there, but like watching the
Ottawa game, watching the game last night, like the silly game was awful, too.
It was an awful hot.
Well, it was and they got a point out of it.
But you know what I mean?
No, yeah.
Like I watched Calgary flames last night.
They give you everything they got.
Right.
Now you can tell the effort isn't at a high percent.
That's where I'm at.
And that's what they need to shore up.
And again, that's the players, the veteran players, they got to wear that.
No better than that.
For sure, all right.
Well, here from Bradshaw, living in the salaries coming on the show as well, overdrive
continues.
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I could fire up a Boston pizza.
Man, it's a weird day here for us because like there's so much energy.
It's a lot of fun.
This year was a different year.
I mean, there was not a time going on.
We did some tap dancing today with what 10 trades.
It felt like it felt like an eternity that we were on air and nothing was going on.
And you're waiting for like, okay, when's the first shoe going to drop?
And it just didn't have us two o'clock.
And we're like, what was it like five trades?
Yeah, we had been on the air for six hours.
And there wasn't really a trade of substance at that point.
Raidenshen.
Raidenshen and Raidenshen is a very, I like that play by the owners because he's a gamer
in the playoffs.
Exactly.
Like he's a killer in the playoffs.
Yeah.
And I think they look at that and think, why not, why not give it a shot?
Like, let's, let's, we can get in.
So Rokens, really good him and Patrick, while I think we'll, we'll gel.
Like, for sure, he's a, he's a Patrick, while type of player.
Absolutely.
But yeah, it was just, it was, it was different.
Like it was, there wasn't as much going on.
But it's a long day, you know, the whole eating you trying to eat away.
And I just, there's a bunch of food, but not food that you want.
Yeah, you can snack yourself to death there.
Right.
And that's what I end up doing.
I just snack myself to death.
I don't know if you saw.
I, I didn't even know there's a legal size red bull like this.
It's like a three liter, like super sized.
I grabbed it on the way over because I'm like, I, you know, and you don't drink coffee.
I don't drink coffee.
So I'm dying for some caffeine because I'm, you know, a two hour sleep.
I was on a red eye last night and in Calgary last night.
Yeah, like I just, but it's, you know, it's the cost of doing business.
Of course, no, it's a plan or having fun.
It's great.
But it just, I felt like I was so excited.
And then I said to you, you know, one of our hits.
I'm like, again, I said, all hell is going to break loose this year.
And it was like even worse.
It contracted.
It actually got worse.
Yeah, there's, there's a weird, I, I'm trying to get a read on what's going on in the NHL right now,
where free agency isn't what it once was.
Yeah.
Now, there are some exceptions.
Obviously, Mariner leaving was substantial.
And there's, there's always going to be players that get there, right.
But a lot of guys just resign with the respective teams.
Yeah.
And even at the deadline this year, like you look at the trade bay board, Vinny Trochek,
how are the, how can the Rangers possibly explain not trading him?
Yeah.
They didn't do it.
Blake Coleman still in Calgary.
The least didn't trade, Ekman Larson, but Brosky didn't get traded from Florida.
Now, you know, Bennington, obviously, still in St. Louis.
Like there were a lot of names that we were consistently talking about that are not,
like their household names in the NHL, like good, good impact veteran players.
Yeah.
And they just didn't get flipped.
I think a lot of managers sat there and said, they're on, you know, all these guys are on
term.
They've got another year, at least or whatever.
Maybe we can deal with it.
But how can you possibly think you're going to trade these guys in the future?
Like that's, that's where, like right before we came on here, we mentioned Vancouver.
And that's a market that's in flames, right?
Like they are so angry out there.
Again, I'm just basing this off.
Who I follow and who I know in Vancouver and people that I've worked with in the past.
We've all worked with.
Yeah.
And like Jim Rutherford, Patrick Alvin are just getting torched because they trade
at Connor Garland today.
And that was effectively it.
You know, and they traded Tyler Myers, you know, Myers went to Dallas and so Myers
in Garland, but you've still got to brosk.
You've still got Bessar, obviously Patterson's still there.
You got a couple of other defendants who I like like that.
There's some guys in that team.
I've said just like Demko and he's heard again.
Yeah.
Like there's some guys in that team that I would be looking at.
And saying, can I get them out of there?
Cause I do like Jake Debrosk.
You know, I think Jake Debrosk is a really good player who hasn't, you know, had that type
of success there.
Garland, I really like.
I like Garland too.
I think he's a good.
I'm a big fan of his.
And I think he's going to be great in Columbus.
But when you look at it, you know, bigger picture like they got a lot more like breaking
down to doing.
Yes, exactly.
Like they might have to go south before they go north.
Yes.
And again, this might be draft and free agency moves to start moving the deck.
Chairs are right.
And Patterson, you may just be stuck with again.
That's kind of the way to phrase it right now.
You might be stuck with Patterson, which sucks because I feel like there's another team.
You just mentioned though Carolina, like, I'm sorry.
You didn't mention it, but I thought about it.
Like Patterson, like would be a fit.
Carolina was linked to a lot of players because I think people believe that Carolina could
be one or two players away from being like super elite always in it.
They're doing it again back in the playoffs.
They got bussy and net.
Yeah, but it's just like, okay, you know, are they good enough to get to the conference
final like they do every year?
But can you get over that?
They have game breakers.
Now, now Florida is not there to knock them off.
Well, and I wonder if that factored into the kind of calculation like that.
We don't feel like we need to be built the same way because we're not concerned about
let me ask you this.
If this the leaf team from last year didn't have to play the Florida Panthers, they had
to play team X, you know, and they didn't make moves.
So they picked up one guy and nick the Laurier or something.
I think people would be going nuts because I think you're saying, why aren't you being
more active?
It's your opportunity.
The doors wide open for you.
I look at it like Florida was such a juggernaut.
They they geled at the right time.
They knew how to play all of that.
And they dismantled teams and now they're not in the mix.
Yeah.
So maybe teams are complacent going, they're not there.
We feel we're good enough to get through team X, Y and Z.
I well.
And again, if you to bring it back to the leaves, if it's becoming a league where you
need flexibility, you accumulate and hold picks, you accumulate and hold prospects.
Yeah, then they've got that's a lot more work to do than people understand.
Yes.
Because it's one thing to say, well, what are you going to do with the second line
center?
What are you going to do with the defense?
Well, how do you handle Riley and Dome, you know, pick a goalie?
Those are on the pro level and those are important.
Right.
And those are very prevalent decisions that have to be made.
But if the league is moving in the direction, kind of like how other leagues have
operated in the past, the NFL, I would say, you know, in particular where it's like,
you have to put a lot of faith in the draft.
Yeah.
Like draft picks are more valuable today than they were a year ago, certainly five,
10, 15, 30, 40 years ago.
Yeah.
Then the Leafs have a lot of catching up to doing that area too because they just don't
have that many picks.
They don't have that many prospects.
But that's, you know, that's been the gotta get that engine move.
And of course, of course, and listen, last year's very clear, they went all in.
Yeah, they paid up, they paid a premium for two players.
Do they regret it?
Now I'm sure they do at the time.
Did they could you make sense of it?
Yes.
Like you, you, you understood what they were thinking.
It didn't pay off because Florida ripped their souls out in game seven, you know,
they didn't show up and now we look back on that, that may have been the death
blow of the organized of the era.
That might have been a, Florida may have just ended them, just said, that's it.
Boys, you're done.
And this is, and we've shaken you to the core.
So that comes back to the decision by Brad tree living in his management group to go,
okay, if that was the, the death blow, Marners left, we have Matthews in Neilander.
We want to continue on with them forward because we believe they can get it done
if we reshape the group.
Or again, it's decisions, Boston's two years away, he's got to figure out what
are going to like, we almost think the value of Matthews would be if he hit the market.
Hypothetically speaking, both sides just say, you know, it's in our best interest.
This is the way it's going to go.
It's, it's big like I, I think what happens is we've seen the best in the worst of
Austin Matthews.
He's still a superstar and keep in mind premium in this league is scoring.
And Sanerman, like he, he checks all the boxes.
He's not physical, but I had somebody say to me the other day, he's more leaning
towards bark off the way he plays than, you know, just a prolific score that, you know,
because he's become, you know, drawn a blank on his name now because I'm tired of coach
of the Rangers.
Oh, Mike Sullivan.
Mike Sullivan was raving about him right over there saying, you know, what his leadership
and what he did there in that great 200 foot game, but he's getting paid 14 million.
Right.
Exactly.
The score goals too.
All right, let's head down to, uh, May beliefs squarely or down by the Ford Performance
Center.
Here's Brad tree living on, on, uh, trades and whatnot that we made today, officially,
they're still in the queue.
Um, so I can't speak to a lot, um, of it, uh, we don't anticipate any problems.
They just got to get through the, the, the, the, sort of the batting order here.
So, um, you know, in, in, in Bobby's case, subject to everything being okay.
We've traded him to Seattle for, for two picks, um, and Scott was traded to L.A.
for a pick here, uh, today, in addition to the move, we made the other day with Nick.
All right.
Why do you think you ended up in the spot where you ended up being a trader on deadline day
this season?
Um, well, today, listen, I'll answer all the questions.
And take responsibility for our season.
I don't look at today's the autopsy day.
We've got 19 games to go.
Um, but I think it's, uh, there's a whole host of reasons.
Um, I'll take responsibility, you know, we, we met earlier in the year, uh,
through about the 20 game mark where we got off to a slow start.
Um, and again, the, the, the failures here start with me.
Um, and once we get through the end of the season, uh, you know,
there'll be all sorts of evaluation, but to, to start parsing through it right now,
I think, Mark, um, we've got games to play, uh, but it's, you know, there's,
there's a lot, you know, we got off to a poor start.
Um, you know, I look for my standpoint, some roster construction issues, um,
lack of consistency, um, you know, the ability to, you know,
to maintain any kind of level, um, you know, there's, there's,
there's been a whole bunch of, there's been a whole bunch of factors.
But, uh, you know, we'll get to that and do course.
Well, how do you evaluate the day and maybe just the market today overall?
Yeah, it's, it's not just today.
I mean, it's leading up today.
Um, you know, we made a decision a while ago, uh, before the break that,
you know, we were, we were, we were going to be as active as we could in terms of
trying to regain some, recoup some assets, you know, whether that be picks or prospects.
Um, this team for a number of years has, has been adding at this time of the year.
Um, and it today, today was a day and leading up to today was a day to try to regain some assets.
And, uh, again, I know there's lots of speculation and all sorts of things out there.
Um, the market speaks, you know, at the end of the day, um, we were,
we were trying to be as active as we could to, to, to obtain and, and acquire as many young assets as we could.
And, uh, um, we were able to do what we were able to do.
How do you think an end of the Larson trade didn't materialize?
Why didn't an end of the Larson trade, it didn't materialize?
Um, at the end of the day, there was, there was some interest in, in, in Oliver, um,
to the level that I thought was required.
Um, you know, for us to move Oliver, I don't, I don't think it was something that we could just,
you know, with term left on his contract, um, we required a, a return that I thought would be fair and, uh,
nobody met that level.
Why do you expect this way for Scott Lotton, Brad, to hit a heavy price for a lot in the last year?
Like, why do you think it turned out this way for him?
That's, that's, that's the market.
I can't speak because I can't speak highly enough about Scott Lotton, you know,
not only, you know, his play, um, but he's as quality human as you're going to find.
And yeah, I'll be the first one to say, last year, at this time, we paid a first in a,
in a, in a, in a young player in Grabby Forum.
Um, this isn't a, this isn't a function of no teams knowing what we, you know,
we, we communicated with everybody, um, and ultimately the market dictates, right?
Um, and, and, and that's where it fell here for, for Scott today.
How different was this market this year with the playoff salary cap with the no double
retention with the, um, a lot of no move clauses, just in general.
What, what have you seen with your herd?
Well, there's no excuse, like, there's no, the, the trade protection.
That's there every year.
Um, obviously, there was a couple of nuances.
Um, I feel, I feel this year, there was a lot more players available.
Um, there was a lot more, um, you know, there was a lot more, there was a lot more players in the market.
Um, you know, and the retention piece, I mean, that's another area for the first time,
a long time, we've had cap space.
So we were very open to being, um, you know, taking on money, taking on contracts.
There wasn't a lot of teams other than one or two that had
cap issues that you normally see, right?
You, you, you normally see double retention, you guys trying to slot guys in.
That wasn't as big a factor, um, as it had been in the past.
Um, and then, yeah, I think there's certainly a lot of talk of, of how the playoff salary cap
is going to, to come into play this year.
I think there's a lot of planning for teams leading up to it.
But the biggest probably change for me is just the amount of money in the system,
as opposed to the most recent years.
Why do you believe Craig is still the right coach for this team?
Well, like everything else, Luke, um, we all take responsibility for it.
And, uh, I think Craig's a terrific coach, um, um, it hasn't worked, right?
So when it, when it doesn't work, we all share a blame, um, and we all share responsibility in it,
right? So start with myself.
So coaches and the players, um, we all are partners in this thing.
And, uh, when it goes poorly, we all got our, we all got a responsibility for it.
But, um, you know, again to do, to do a summation right now I think is pretty mature.
Um, but like everything else, we'll review it at the end of the year.
No, don't, don't, don't.
You have the no look guys at all.
Oh, sweet, that's a bit of a serowaving area.
No, I think communication with those is more
at this time of the year.
Just being prepared, if something comes up,
we weren't, you know, we use all of our, for example,
to talk to him.
He's got some trade protection.
I just made him aware that, you know,
as we're going through this time of year,
there may be a conversation to be had,
so you're preparing them, but I didn't have any conversations.
There was nothing to have conversations about.
Tell me, why do players, Brad,
but just the idea of you group having some currency,
if you will, and to replenish them?
Yeah, for sure.
Like everything else, you hope and wish it was more.
But, like I said, we were on that path
if we have to collect some young assets.
And today is a data to make changes.
As we lead into the end of the year,
and into the spring and summer is another opportunity.
But certainly, that was a big part of today
is trying to collect as much currency as we possibly could.
Did you see it any more?
Anybody?
Or at least make them?
Yes, we did.
Can I win in Quillen?
Can I win in Quillen, yes.
And do you think you'll be using some marlies
later in the year to see what they could anticipate that, yeah?
What do you want to see in these last lines?
I want to listen.
And this isn't, we've came out of the break here flat.
And like I said, it's an important for us to find out why.
I can't give you a good reason for it.
It's not anything we anticipated.
We're pros.
We're in the best league in the world.
It's a privilege to play in the league.
And we've got to compete as such.
I understand at this time of the year,
I know there's lots of, I don't question the quit in our team.
And I know there'll be lots of noise around quitting
and all the rest of it.
It's difficult when you're in the position that we are
and reality sets in.
And not only how the losses have been piling up,
not getting in the points where you sit in the standings,
you've got the trade deadline looming over its reality.
They're humans, not making excuses for them.
But now we've, today's behind us, and it's our job
to go out and be professionals, and that's what I expect.
What do you think the pick you sent to Boston
only top five protected?
Why isn't it top 10 protected?
Because that's what we had to do to get the deal done last year.
Did you push for, how hard did you push for top 10?
We pushed.
What was how late did things go today
in terms of making the deals?
How late did it go?
And what was it like kind of how the deals that you got
that you said they're still in the queue just how late
did you end up leaving those last couple of trades today
and what was it like kind of waiting?
Yeah, we weren't leaving anything.
We were trying to, like I said, there
was lots of activity of outbound calls
and not a ton inbound.
But it went down to the, it went down to the witching hour.
What would you mean?
It kind of went down to the wire as well.
What was the process like to land where you did on him?
Getting the best, taking the best deal
that was available to us, the best offer that we had.
Do you think this team would be a playoff team next year?
Is that the plan?
We're going to get to that once we get through this year.
Today is not the day for that.
There's change that has to occur.
There's changes that we need to make.
And that's not for today.
But do you understand that fans might be a bit confused
or in the dark, but where the direction of this organization
is headed next year and the year after?
Where are the directions?
Yeah, like if this is a minor reset or if it's a thing.
Well, I think it's important that we have to communicate that.
And that's what we have to get to people
once we get to the end of the year
of where this team's going.
The purpose of today was change has to occur, right?
How and what that is will be determined over the coming days.
But today was an opportunity for us
to try as hard as we can to collect and gain as many assets
as we possibly could.
And then we go from there.
So you don't know the direction.
You have a rule that the possibility of a rebuild.
And yeah, I know everybody wants to speculate on it.
We've all got the rewards.
But there's got to be some change.
And I think that's for us to sit down and look hard and fast
at.
It's been a disappointing year.
We can look back at a big chunk of this team
and the year that they had last year.
But this is this year.
And you have to sit down and be real.
And letically, you have to be real clear.
And you have to be real honest to where you're at.
And at that point, make some decisions.
When did you kind of know yourself that you would be a seller
and not a buyer this year?
We always hold out hope.
But there's been just so much inconsistency going back
to October and November.
There's been injuries.
Everybody has injuries, right?
So now the significant ones for us
were in goal over the course of the first couple of months.
Chris Tan has been a big loss.
But if you're deep enough and you're good enough,
you can overcome those things.
We never were able to consistently get traction.
And so I've been concerned for a while.
And so then you look at how do you help?
How do you make change?
And we weren't about to start throwing
a bunch of young assets out the door for a quick help.
So we couldn't find something there earlier in the season
to help us change course.
But we could just never get traction.
We had a stretch there, I think, 901 or something
and that.
But outside of that, it's just been
too much inconsistency.
So I've been concerned for a while.
What are the conversations of ownership?
And like there's an ownership change
this organization, I'm just wondering
what the message from the top has been.
Ownership has been good.
They're updated regularly on what's going on
and keep them advised of not only what's going on,
but presenting a plan moving forward.
So I can't speak highly enough about how
ownership's been supportive.
Count went a month there without playing
and just wondering kind of what your thoughts are on his development
and how things are coming along for him.
Yeah, three weeks of it was because we had a deadline.
Or we had a break.
So he's contrary to some of the things
that I've been sent.
He wasn't eligible to go down due to a number of days on roster.
I think it was good for him to get a break.
But as I said earlier, young players can't set.
He's set a few games leading up to the break
a few games after, but Eastern's going to be playing
and playing a lot, whether that be here.
Or with the Marles.
He's a young player, an important player.
And so that's the plan for his disease.
He needs to play at that age to continue to develop.
How much conversations have you had with Austin
about the future of this team and the future of the organization?
Austin, I have a lot of conversations,
but a lot of our conversations are about
how does the team get better?
And the usual conversations you have during the year
and dealing with the challenges you have every day.
So we have lots of conversations with them.
We don't get much deeper that in terms of how we help our team
and things that we can do better.
OK, thank you.
All right, there he is, Brad Triliving, the GM of the Leafs.
And I would say a somber disposition of a pair like a fair,
you know, I'm sure the guys not on much sleep.
And he knows where people are at.
Like he knows the way his team's playing.
And he took responsibility set a start with me.
He did say it's, you know, kind of a, I don't remember his
exact quote, but basically team building issue.
And he's responsible for that.
Yeah, roster construct, roster construct.
But he also said, you know, players, we had injuries,
all that, I'm not going to use the excuse.
But when asked about it, I think a lot of the questions were fair.
And he said, like, I'm not going to do, can't really use the word,
but like an autopsy or whatever they're going to wait until the end of the year.
Right.
But I thought, you know, someone asked him about the messaging to the fans
and he acknowledged like, we've got to do that.
Like he's not going to do it now because they do have 19 more games to play.
The trade deadline's done.
There's nothing more to be done now, right?
Unless you're going to move off the coach, which I don't, I didn't get that impression.
He was asked about Craig Barubay and he just said, Craig's great coach.
We're all, we all have to take responsibility.
He didn't, that answer would indicate to me.
They're just going to ride this out the rest of the year, then try to figure things out,
let the dust settle.
But messaging, I do think is imperative here.
They've got to let the fan base know not exact details of what's going to go on.
Right.
But which, do you think you can make the playoffs?
Now people may not like that, but do you think you can?
If this is going to take you a year or two, if it's, if you're going to preach for patience,
I think the end you've got to give people something.
Yes, but you're not going to get that until the autopsy of the scene at the end of the year.
You're not going to get that week or two after the season, you know, 11 games left in
the season.
You're not going to go, this is the plan because in, you know, this team, they got 19 games
left.
Like the scary part is they got to keep playing.
Yeah, they got to play.
Well, yeah, what if they go, what are you going to say, 15 and four, 12 and seven, you
know what I mean?
It's possible.
It seems unlikely.
But they get close, but not close.
And then you're like, okay, we're in the murky middle, seems impossible to believe that
could happen.
Well, listen, good.
He talked about it.
The effort coming out of the break has not been good enough.
So it's hard to assess your team right there.
I think there's, there's somewhere in the middle of what we're, we're seeing right now.
Not good enough.
That, that effort's not been good enough as well.
And you know, the best organizations do not allow themselves to get overly emotional
right or panic.
Yeah.
So they have to get to the end of the season, let it breathe and figure out what you
can do here.
Yeah.
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