TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Gino Reda to discuss Stanley Cup winning goaltenders Sergei Bobrovsky and Jordan Binnington being on the market, the latest on the Sabres’ talks with the Blues on Robert Thomas, Canucks forward Conor Garland drawing interest, and the Leafs leaning towards trading pending UFAs Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton.
GINO REDA: Looking for a goalie? Two Stanley Cup champs are available. With the details, here’s Insider Darren Dreger.
Dregs, Sergei Bobrovsky and Jordan Binnington aren’t what they used to be. As a matter of fact, neither is currently in the top 50 in save percentage. But we know both can come up big, both have hoisted the Cup.
So, what are the chances we see one or both of them move by Friday?
DARREN DREGER: It’s really difficult to handicap the chances. I will say there’s a chance, but I’m certainly not going out on a limb and attaching a percentage to those chances.
The reason that it’s headline stuff here is because of the decorated resumes of Binnington and Bobrovsky.
Now, when we look at Bobrovsky and the Florida Panthers, I think that there’s also a leverage play at work here. He’s on an expiring contract. Obviously, the general manager of the Panthers, Bill Zito, is going to further explore what that extension looks like. If he deems that it’s too rich, it doesn’t fit the Panthers’ future, well then of course he’s going to listen to the level of interest that is being expressed in Bobrovsky.
But this isn’t a full sell-mode dump on either guy. Too much respect for both of these goaltenders to do that. But teams are calling, or at least kicking tires, and there’s a long way between now and Friday’s trade deadline. So, certainly something we’re keeping an eye on.
REDA: Dregs, we’ve been talking about Robert Thomas to the Buffalo Sabres for a while now. It seems like both sides want to try to make it happen, but has the possible magnitude of this thing made getting to the finish line a real challenge?
DREGER: Yeah, magnitude in terms of the ask that Doug Armstrong of the St. Louis Blues has put out there for not just the Sabres, but a number of teams.
I think that the Sabres and Jarmo Kekäläinen were at least willing to go the distance in the trade negotiations. But at the end of the day, it sounded like it came down to four significant pieces, including a roster player off of the Sabres, that Buffalo just couldn’t come to terms with.
So, we’re not closing the door entirely, and as we’ve said before here, be mindful of the fact that Thomas is a good player in St. Louis. He’s a young player on a long-term contract, so they’re not in a hurry to get rid of him. Armstrong has been fishing for a big haul, and Buffalo just wasn’t willing to provide that.
Now, that’s not to say that the Sabres and the Blues have entirely disengaged.
I think that Thomas, for now, is off the table, and I think that Kekäläinen is more focused on a right-shot defenceman like Justin Faulk or Colton Parayko. But you’ve got trade protection that can also complicate things, so there’s more work to get done.
REDA: The Vancouver Canucks are dead last in the league, and it’s not even close. We know they’re happy to clean house, so the vultures are circling.
Is there one guy in particular who’s drawing more attention than the others right now?
DREGER: Right now, it’s Conor Garland. That’s not to say that he’s going to be the guy that goes out first for the Canucks. But based on the level of speculation on Tuesday, I can tell you that there is interest in Garland and some believed that maybe they’d be able to push it over the line on Tuesday night and they weren’t able to do that.
Sources out of Vancouver say that it’s not done yet. We know that there’s interest from the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders, and there’d be other interest in Garland as well.
Patrik Allvin and the Canucks are open to get something done with a lot of different players, not just Garland, ASAP, because as we talked about on Insider Trading, right now the market is still very much a buyer’s market with so many different players in place.
All it takes is one to move. Maybe it’s Garland, maybe it’s somebody else, but the Canucks remain eager.
REDA: For a while now, we’ve heard the Toronto Maple Leafs were looking for team-friendly extensions for pending UFAs Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton. If not, they’d be moved.
What’s your sense on where those talks are right now, Dregs?
DREGER: I would say it’s more likely that the unrestricted free agents, and the top two are, as you identified, McMann and Laughton, are more likely to get traded at this point.
Brad Treliving, the general manager of the Leafs, is continuing to try and drum up interest. As I just said in relation to the Canucks, because of the market and the flood of players that exist out there, I think Treliving has struggled with getting legitimate offers.
There are managers out there who think that the Maple Leafs should get a first-round draft pick for McMann, but that hasn’t been realized just yet. Treliving, again, continues to try and farm for offers, and not just on the unrestricted free agents, but on the defencemen that he’d be willing to move as well.
So Treliving is open for business, but he needs a partner before trades can be realized. Still plenty of time though, again, with Friday’s deadline around the corner.
REDA: The trade talk and news continues to flow in, so Dregs, C.J., and Pierre will be all over it between now and Friday’s deadline.
