What are the NHL's contingency plans for the Canadian team that makes it to the Conference Final and can't have a visiting team cross the border? What does the future hold for Tanner Pearson in Vancouver? What area are the Flames looking to improve? TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Frank Seravalli discuss this and more.
James Duthie: Let's all hope that by June, whatever Canadian team that makes it out of the North Division will be able to play in the semi-finals in their own rink. But we may not be there, so what are the contingency plans, Pierre?
One of them is for the Canadian winner to play in a U.S.-adopted NHL city. For example, let's take the first-place Leafs. Would it make sense for them to play in Buffalo? The closest in proximity. That's an idea that I know has been floated around.
What if the Winnipeg Jets come out of the Canadian Division? It would probably make sense for Winnipeg to play out of Minnesota. In fact, once the four Canadian teams clinch a playoff birth, my sense is that the league will look at those four Canadian teams and link up a U.S. adoptive city for all four, obviously, for the one team that advances to the semis.
As you said, the focus and the priority is hopefully for the border restrictions to loosen up so the Canadian team can stay home for the duration of the playoffs.
Duthie: Right now the Canucks are thinking about other things, like the trade deadline. What in particular are they going to do to handle the Tanner Pearson situation?
If not, then he's got to get something for Pearson. You can't allow him to walk at the end of the year. That's the business at hand and, post-trade deadline, that's when Benning will start looking at his top restricted free agents, namely Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
Frank Seravalli: From one Canadian team that's struggled, in Vancouver, to another in the Calgary Flames. A lot of people are wondering what Brad Treliving is up to. Well, he's on the hunt for a right-winger. Not just a guy who plays on the right side but a right-shooting winger.
Duthie: One of the standards most of the time with Stanley Cup contenders is to have a veteran goalie or two for the run. Which makes Washington an interesting situation, Frank. How do they handle it with two young guys?
These are essentially two rookie netminders with a roster in front of them that is well-positioned to chase the Stanley Cup again. If he needs to do that certainly could be on his radar moving forward rather than tinker with a depth forward or depth defenceman.
Duthie: We're almost at that time of the year where you get some interesting free agents emerge from college hockey. Guys who haven't been drafted, late bloomers. One from Notre Dame is garnishing attention, Dregs.
Dreger: Right, 21-year-old forward Alex Steeves. He's putting up some real solid numbers this season. 14 goals, 14 assists for 28 points in 26 games played. A lot of NHL clubs with interest in Alex Steeves. But he's focused right now on Notre Dame and winning there and he has one more year of college hockey in front of him. The National Hockey League is paying attention to this young man.