Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston to discuss the latest on Zach Werenski, whether Rasmus Andersson and John Carlson are headed for free agency, and more on the early edition of Insider Trading.
Gino Reda: What are the chances your team is in the hunt for Zach Werenski? Pending UFAs that may not make it to Free Agent Frenzy. Another big-name blueliner drawing interest and you want Patrick Kane, get in line. Details on those stories and more with our insider Chris Johnston.
All right, CJ, let’s start with Werenski. What’s the latest on him?
Chris Johnston: At this stage, obviously, it’s been kind of an emotional time on both sides for Werenski’s camp and for the Blue Jackets as they kind of process everything going public.
It does sort of complicate the trade process. But where the Blue Jackets are is they’re sorting through the offers or the packages that they believe will be available to them, trying to get a sense of maybe the best way for them to proceed on their side of the table. And at some point in time, I do think they’re going to have to get on the same page as Werenski himself, because obviously the player here has a no-movement clause.
You have teams like the Dallas Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, among others with interest in Werenski. But at some point in time, they’re going to have to line up what the best return could be for the team and a place that Zach Werenski himself wants to play.
So, as much as he is under contract for two more years, and I think that we still are kind of in the early stages of the trade discussions, there’s an understanding that allowing this to go on for an extended amount of time will be difficult.
I think at some point in the coming days, maybe a week or so, we’ll see the trade talks narrow in and ultimately get to a spot where the Blue Jackets can deal Werenski.
Reda: Do you think part of that is teams who are looking for help on the blueline are trying to find out what could be available through other routes that might be a little less expensive than trying to make a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets for a Werenski-type player?
Johnston: None of this happens in a vacuum. I think that the truth is, though, there isn’t a Werenski-type player out there available through any means other than Zach Werenski.
The issue, really, on the Columbus end of things is they have insisted on getting back a player or players as the centrepiece of a deal involving Zach Werenski.
Obviously, they would take some element of futures or draft picks as a sort of a supplement to that deal. But they’re focused on not taking a huge step back as an organization in trading away a Norris Trophy winner.
There really is only so many players that would fit the bill of in their prime type of players or players entering their prime who have some sort of contract extension in place or team control.
It’s a difficult trade to make under these circumstances. Especially, as I mentioned, it’s not a true auction of the best offer that would be out there among 31 teams. Zach Werenski himself has a lot of say in where this goes.
Reda: We’re down to the final hours for teams that want to lock up their pending unrestricted free agents before they hit the open market.
What are the chances Rasmus Andersson and or John Carlson get new deals with the Knights and Canes before the opening of Free Agent Frenzy?
Johnston: It’s not very good, I would say. Technically, these guys are pending UFAs because they don’t have contract extensions signed, sealed and registered with the league. But at this stage, about 24 hours out from the opening of free agency, I don’t think either player is likely to truly hit the open market.
We’ll start with Rasmus Andersson. He wanted to be a Vegas Golden Knight a year ago at this time when there were trade rumours around him in Calgary. It took until the middle of the season before that trade was made. But the sense around his situation is that he will be signing an extension with the Golden Knights.
I do believe that there’s been an understanding from the beginning of that trade, with the price that Vegas paid to get him from the Calgary Flames in January, that this is where it would go. As of this day, I can tell you that the feeling is that remains on track for him to extend in Vegas.
For John Carlson, it’s been a busy couple of days. His rights were acquired by the Carolina Hurricanes at the draft. Negotiations on a contract have been happening here over the last 48 hours since that happened.
My sense, at least of Tuesday morning, was that was headed in the right direction, that John Carlsen liked the prospect of playing in Carolina.
He wants a chance to win again before the end of his career and obviously joining the former Stanley Cup champions in the Hurricanes would give him that opportunity.
Of course, the deal isn’t fully done until it’s done. But I would say the teams that were out there hoping to be bidding on Carlson on July 1st are going to have to look in another direction.
Reda: Speaking of pending UFA d-men, Jacob Trouba is coming off a deal that paid him 8 million per season.
Looks like he’s going to hit the open market. This certainly looks like his timing is good. It’s a good time for a blueliner to be looking for a new team, CJ.
Johnston: It is. And look, Trouba is not the same player as Carlson, more physical style, less offensive attributes in the game. But he is a right shot D-man at the top of the UFA list as a D.
I think some of the teams I mentioned that would have liked to have been bidding on Carlson, teams like Tampa, Philadelphia, the Boston Bruins, they’re likely going to have to look elsewhere.
It does seem as though Jacob Truba is stepping into that marketplace at the right time, because as these dominoes fall, there’s just not going to be a lot of other players that can soak up the kind of minutes playing that position with the experience level that he has.
So, if this breaks the way it seems to be headed at this moment, I would say that Trouba will be one of the more in-demand free agents on Wednesday.
I do think some of the teams that would have liked to have got in on Carlson, but are likely to see him go to Carolina, are going to have to pivot in his direction now.
Reda: What about Patrick Kane?
We realize he’s going to turn 38 a month into next season. We also know he’s not going to be able to play the full new 84-game schedule, but I imagine he’s got more than a couple of suitors come opening free agency.
Johnston: He does. And look, I think teams were wondering if he would even get to free agency just because he’s spent the last few years with the Detroit Red Wings and did have interest in returning there.
It seems now as we get this close, though, he’s going to at least take a peek at what the market has out there for him. And I do think there’s going to be a fair amount of interest.
Patrick Kane, you’re right, he’s a legacy player. He’s one of the best, if not the best, American-born NHLers ever. But he also remains pretty productive and produced a fair amount of offense last season. He’s going to have a few intriguing opportunities.
One I would mention that’s been rumored, though, is a fit with the Toronto Maple Leafs. At this point in time, it doesn’t seem to me like that’s actually something that’s likely to materialize. I’m not sure that’s as good a fit as some people have said.
But keep an eye on, whether it’s his hometown, Buffalo Sabres. Does he ponder a return to the Chicago Blackhawks or any number of other situations? I do think Patrick Kane is going to have some options on Wednesday.
Reda: CJ, you and I have been through a lot of movement, a lot of trades over the last few days. A very, very busy time.
Something else we’ve noticed is big-money contracts. With the cap going up significantly and the demand that’s out there right now, Is this just the start of a new trend?
Are we seeing a huge escalation of contracts as we go into free agency?
Johnston: Yeah, and I think that’s going to hit us over the head as we see what happens here, not just on July 1st, but into July.
Even guys like Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes are eligible a year out to extend with the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild. I think we’re going to see a examining of what the marketplace is.
We got a taste of it. Pavel Dorofeyev, obviously, signing for 11 million per year with the Rangers over the weekend after his trade from Vegas reminds you of that. Maybe the Alex Tuch deal in Washington at 10 and a half million.
Yesterday’s price is not today’s price, or tomorrow’s price. Frankly, it’s a good time for players of all skill sets and abilities to be out there negotiating with teams because there’s way more money in the marketplace than there is players that are in demand.
I think that we’re going to see some pretty eye-popping numbers come out with some of the deals in these coming days.
Reda Hopefully we see them spend a lot of that money on the opening of free agency, so Free Agent Frenzy will have lots to talk about.
That’s the early edition of Insider Trading. The full version with CJ, Pierre, and Dregs is coming up on the early edition of SportsCenter.
