What are the emotions of Leafs fans over the last 24 hours?

0:01 Number 12 for the Leafs.

0:02 Number 12 for the Leafs.

0:04 10 FOR CALGARY.

0:06 THE LEAFS!

0:07 12!

0:08 WOW, THE LEAFS HAVE WON THE LOTTERY!

0:10 THE LEAFS HAVE WON THE LOTTERY!

0:12 MATS SUNDIN!

0:13 LOOK AT MATS SUNDIN!

0:18 AH, THAT LEADS US TO a special edition of Harvey's Hot Takes with Brian Hayes,

0:24 who as you just saw is the host of OverDrive on TSN Radio.

0:28 And you guys did a special YouTube show for the lottery.

0:32 And there's a lot of doom and gloom

0:34 going into it after Monday's bizarre press conference.

0:38 And that has just been erased entirely.

0:40 It's all positive emotions now.

0:43 Uh, we saw your initial reaction,

0:45 but take us through the emotions the last 24 hours.

0:48 I'm glad you showed that cuz I have not seen that since I'm sitting beside you.

0:52 Uh, 10 years ago I had an even more ridiculous reaction when

0:55 the Leafs won their uh the lottery and they ended up picking Auston Matthews,

0:58 and I blurted out something that I can't now get rid of because it's

1:02 easily the most embarrassing thing I've ever

1:04 said or done in front of a microphone.

1:06 But that was an authentic reaction cuz I I wasn't expecting it clearly.

1:11 I was admittedly rooting for Calgary to win it,

1:13 Vancouver to win it, Winnipeg to win it, or You said it.

1:16 Toronto to win it.

1:16 And by the way, if you're questioning that at home,

1:19 check the tape because you said that on the show yesterday.

1:22 I did.

1:22 I mean, I would love to I wanted to see a Canadian team win it.

1:25 I was again thinking Calgary or Vancouver.

1:28 But this is the Maple Leafs in a nutshell, Cheika.

1:30 I mean, they are a roller coaster.

1:32 They are a soap opera,

1:33 and you can always bank on the next chapter being written.

1:37 I didn't expect the next chapter to happen

1:39 24 hours later cuz you referenced the Cheika hiring,

1:43 Sundin, the press conference, and ultimately what today represented.

1:48 First time in about a calendar year it's been a positive night for Leaf fans.

1:52 And I know people in Vancouver don't want to hear

1:54 that, Calgary don't want to hear that, people in New York,

1:57 Chicago, I understand that.

1:59 But, you'd have to go back to game six of the second round against

2:02 Florida last year when they went down to Florida and they won that game 2-1,

2:05 bringing it back to Toronto.

2:06 We all know what happened in game seven.

2:08 Ever since they lost that game,

2:10 it has been a steady downhill like just just grind

2:15 for the fan base filled with negativity and vitriol and you know,

2:19 a lot of uncertainty of where things are going to go.

2:22 And this is the first time in a calendar year where my phone blew up,

2:25 my social media blew up,

2:27 and Leaf fans are actually just breathing easy and saying

2:30 something broke their way because it was a very, very difficult season.

2:33 It was an awful year.

2:33 They were terrible.

2:34 By the end, they were tanking and the uncertainty was

2:37 would they tank enough to actually end up winning this thing.

2:40 So, I think a lot of Leaf fans for the first time in a year are like,

2:43 "All right, maybe things are going to start turning in the right direction."

2:46 Well, and we we haven't even mentioned our hockey insider Chris Johnston's

2:50 report that Auston Matthews is not committed to the Leafs for next season.

2:55 Chris Johnston's report kind of out there all day on Tuesday.

2:59 Kind of shocking in a in some ways, I think, right?

3:02 Because it's the first time we've ever

3:04 heard anything of that nature about Matthews,

3:07 that potentially maybe he's not sure about sticking around.

3:09 Well, then they go win the draft lottery.

3:11 Do you think this maybe changes Matthews' mind

3:13 and makes him a little more committed to the team?

3:16 I'm not sure it actually affects him

3:18 that much because let's say they take McKenna, right?

3:21 He's going to be 18 years old.

3:23 I would I would assume he steps in and plays for the Leafs next year.

3:25 Maybe he goes back to Penn State.

3:27 Maybe he can play for the Marlies or something like that.

3:30 Matthews is I'm sure looking at this one year at a time,

3:33 but at most two years at a time because he's got two years left on his contract.

3:37 So, I can't imagine Gavin McKenna represents that much

3:41 positivity for Matthews in particular for the next two years.

3:44 Right.

3:44 Right.

3:44 Not to suggest he can't or won't turn into a great player,

3:47 but it might take four years, five years, six, seven years.

3:49 And I don't think Matthews is on that timeline,

3:52 but if he is committed to the Maple Leafs,

3:56 this is a big boost for Matthews because now you you take a kid under his wing,

4:01 that could be his winger as early as possibly this season,

4:04 but certainly two or three years into the future

4:06 if he's going to be here long-term.

4:08 And that's really what left when Marner went to Vegas.

4:11 Right now, I'm not sitting here saying McKenna

4:13 is going to be Mitch Marner or or is

4:15 going to replace that production at any point in the next two or three years,

4:18 but when you get a first overall pick,

4:19 it's a massive boost for the organization.

4:22 And it's interesting the draft is in Buffalo this year.

4:24 That's where Matthews was drafted 10 years ago.

4:27 And you know, it's kind of a a full circle

4:30 moment here where when Matthews came in, it was like,

4:32 all right, who is going to mentor him?

4:34 In reality, it was going to be Mike Babcock.

4:37 And it was probably going to be Brendan Shanahan.

4:39 Now, if it's McKenna that goes first overall and Matthews is here,

4:42 it's a player that is going to take him under his wing.

4:45 And it's a big opportunity, I think,

4:47 for Matthews to possibly step forward and commit to the team and say,

4:51 "I'm going to accept this role as his mentor and take him under

4:54 my wing and hopefully allow him to grow and prosper as a Maple Leaf." Again,

4:58 if it is McKenna, but I think this opens

5:00 the door to multiple opportunities and options now for the Leafs.

5:04 And ultimately, Matthews' future, Jay, is in his hands,

5:08 not the hands of Chayka, Sandin, Paley, and the Maple Leafs.

5:12 He is going to make the decision on his future.

5:14 And if he wants to leave, I think this softens that.

5:19 I think it opens up the opportunity

5:21 for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment and the Leafs

5:23 in their front office to sell a new

5:25 future because you've got this first overall pick.

5:29 Where if they kept their fifth pick, let's say,

5:31 and Matthews determines, "I want to go play somewhere else."

5:35 Mhm.

5:35 It's a tougher sell, right?

5:36 You got the fifth overall pick, what's that trade going to look like?

5:39 I'm not saying this is going to happen,

5:41 but it could be on the table from a marketing standpoint.

5:44 Matthews wants to move on, you're going to get

5:46 a ton of prospects and a ton of picks.

5:48 You pair that with the first overall pick,

5:51 launches you into a completely new era.

5:52 And that was going to be my next question for you.

5:54 McKinnon and Matthews are a decade apart in age.

5:57 The It doesn't The timeline You mentioned timelines,

6:00 they don't really work out for these two players.

6:03 For John Chayka, is it now a scenario where you start to think about

6:07 this team as a team of the future as opposed to a team of the present?

6:10 Well, it depends on what he sold Keith Pelley on, right?

6:12 Like taking this job.

6:14 We never know that.

6:16 Exactly.

6:16 And ultimately, there's a lot of uncertainty on that.

6:18 Exactly what Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment want to see happen here.

6:22 Do they want to keep Matthews and keep Nylander

6:24 and now pair it with McKinnon to sell some jerseys,

6:27 sell some tickets, sell some hope.

6:29 Um I I could see that being the case.

6:31 I can't imagine the Leafs now,

6:33 and I'm talking about ownership more than than than John Chayka,

6:36 would look at this and say, "Okay, let's move off these players." You know,

6:40 I don't I don't think that's going to happen.

6:42 But ultimately, if Matthews stays, and if Nylander stays,

6:46 you still need waves of attack afterwards, right?

6:49 Like you you you look at a team like Dallas as an example.

6:53 Different players, different history,

6:54 but there was a time 5 6 7 years ago that was Jamie Benn's team,

6:58 Tyler Seguin's team, right?

6:59 They had veterans that were the leaders.

7:01 They got pushed down the lineup because players jumped them, right?

7:04 And it obviously happened in conjunction

7:06 with their play falling off a little bit.

7:08 That could be the future with the Leafs.

7:10 Again, Matthews is still in his 20s.

7:11 William Nylander just turned 30.

7:13 They've got years and years of prime play ahead of them.

7:16 But if you can supplement them with wave after wave after wave,

7:19 and I think that's important to point out here, Jay.

7:21 The lottery balls fell in the direction of the Maple Leafs.

7:24 They got lucky tonight.

7:25 It's a big boost.

7:27 The job's far from finished.

7:29 And I I mean replenishing the farm system.

7:32 If it's McKinnon, that's a big get.

7:34 You need a lot more.

7:35 You still got to hit on the other first-round picks in the future,

7:38 second and third-round picks.

7:39 Again, what tonight means is their first-round

7:42 picks in the next two years are gone.

7:43 I was just going to mention that and I

7:45 think that's kind of being under reported.

7:46 Chris Johnston actually reported that.

7:48 That yeah, nope.

7:50 First rounder 2027, no first rounder in 2028,

7:53 which makes my whole theory of rebuilding

7:55 under McKenna sort of a little bit shaky.

7:57 It definitely does because they're unprotected

8:00 and those are scary propositions in the future,

8:02 but it all comes down to selling it to a fan base, right?

8:06 The fans are right now Leaf fans are waiting to see what is the plan here.

8:10 Give us some direction.

8:11 This past year was a mess.

8:13 The previous nine years obviously very good in terms of regular season success.

8:17 It wouldn't be ideal.

8:18 It's not the way I would necessarily paint it up, but those picks are gone.

8:22 The trades are done.

8:23 The Carlo deal's done.

8:24 The Lytten's deal deal is done.

8:26 You can't you can't get them back.

8:28 If this is a purely hypothetical,

8:30 if Matthews determines he wants out, Nylander determines they want out,

8:34 I think you can sell McKenna if it's that if it's him,

8:40 the picks, the prospects you're going to get from those guys, For sure.

8:43 and launch it into a new era.

8:44 What that's going to do is actually extend

8:46 the timeline on when you think you can be successful.

8:48 And you asked me about John Chayka, that would give him a lot of breathing room.

8:52 That would give him a lot of opportunity to get more creative

8:55 as opposed to an initiative from ownership or an objective from ownership.

8:59 You got to try to get back in the playoffs next year.

9:01 That's a very different road.

9:02 It's a more challenging road in my opinion,

9:04 and it's a it's a more nerve-wracking road I

9:07 would think if you're the GM of this team.

9:10 Only we could get Chayka to tell us what he pitched to Keith.

9:15 Keith used to be our boss,

9:16 so I'm sure he'll tell us someday if he ever shows up on our show someday.

9:20 Brian Hayes, you're awesome.

9:21 Draft is June 26th in Buffalo.

9:23 This has been Harvey's Hot Takes.

9:27 Hot Takes is presented by Harvey's.

9:28 Enjoy free toppings your way every day.

9:31 And for a limited time,

9:32 get a junior burger or junior crispy chicken for only $3.

9:35 Harvey's, it's a beautiful thing.