Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun to discuss how the Sabres plan to add to their team, the status of Connor Hellebuyck trade talks, where things stand between the Dallas Stars and Jason Roberston, and more on the early edition of Insider Trading.
Gino Reda: What’s next for the Sabres? What are the potential landing spots for Connor Hellebuyck? Is Jason Robertson pricing himself out of Dallas? The details on these stories and more with our insider Pierre LeBrun.
Let’s start with the Sabres. They made a lot of news for who they’ve lost over the last couple of days, but they still have two first-round picks this Friday, at fourth and 20th overall.
Could they be looking to turn one or maybe both of those picks into bodies that could maybe help now?
Pierre LeBrun: That’s the expectation around the league when you talk to other teams around the league.
Most teams don’t think that Buffalo will draft at four. They’re really looking to add because as much as people think they hit a home run with the Bo Byram trade, in terms of the assets they got from the Chicago Blackhawks, they still lost Bryam.
Of course, they also lost Alex Tuch, who they tried to sign. They made a really strong effort this week, but in the end it wasn’t enough. So, they did the sign and trade with the Washington Capitals.
They lost two important players so they’re looking to recoup here and add within the next 24 hours. There’s no question that No. 4 pick is in play.
The question is, which direction do they go?
I believe they’ve had conversations with the New York Rangers about Vincent Trocheck. They’ve talked to the Winnipeg Jets about Connor Hellebuyck and with the Toronto Maple Leafs about Matthew Knies.
I think those are all the type of options that are dancing around the head of [Sabres general manager] Jarmo Kekalainen in Buffalo, among others.
Let’s see where this goes but I would suggest the Buffalo Sabres are not done making headlines in the off-season.
Reda: You just dropped a little gem about the Sabres being in the hunt for Hellebuyck and I want to follow up on that.
How serious would the Sabres be in the hunt for Hellebuyck and how many teams are seriously making calls about him?
LeBrun: It’s hard to say because it depends where the Sabres want to pivot. They can’t do all the things that I just mentioned.
So, it depends where they pivot. Do they really need to replace Tuch up front? Do they focus in goal?
There’s no question that Hellebuyck’s name has been talked about with the Sabres.
When I look at Hellebuyck and the Jets, they don’t have to trade him in the off-season. It’s clear from his comments after the season that it’s something Hellebuyck would prefer.
The Florida Panthers are very much interested in Hellebuyck, but my understanding is that they’re not willing to give up Anton Lundell. They weren’t willing to move him in a Brady Tkachuk deal with the Ottawa Senators, and I don’t believe they’re willing to move him to anyone else.
So, that makes it hard to get Hellebuyck out of Winnipeg when I look at the assets that Florida has left. They’ve traded a lot of assets.
Can they package something that’s enticing enough for Winnipeg? I’m not convinced, but I wouldn’t doubt Bill Zito not to get something done.
The Carolina Hurricanes are another team that has shown interest in Hellebuyck and that’s really interesting to me because the running joke around the Stanley Cup Final was that they could win the Cup without a top-end goalie, and they did.
On the other hand, Carolina is always big-game hunting and Hellebuyck is big game. So, keep an eye them as well.
I don’t know where this goes, but I would say of all those teams we just talked about, if somehow the Jets could get their hands on the fourth overall pick as part of a package, that would be pretty enticing for Winnipeg.
But I don’t know if Buffalo will go down that road or not.
Reda: The Dallas Stars really want to keep Jason Robertson and Robertson would really like to stay if he could. They agree on that.
But what they can’t come close on is the contract details. After averaging 40 goals a season the last five years, he wants to get paid and get paid big,
What’s the latest on that front?
LeBrun: Both sides are still talking, and I think that’s important to note as of last night.
There are people around the league that started saying that this thing is so off the rails that Dallas is only focused on a trade, and I was told categorically that it is not true. The Stars are still trying to sign Robertson.
Word has gotten out that there are trade talks.
The Stars are running parallel tracks, as they have to. It would be malpractice for them not to be looking at what his value is on the trade market as a Plan B in case they can’t sign him.
He’s a restricted free agent on Wednesday, not an unrestricted free agent. So in theory, you don’t have to have him signed by next Wednesday.
But is Robertson a potential offer-sheet target? It’s possible, and because of that there’s some urgency from Dallas to fish or cut bait within the next week.
Having said that, let’s sit back and ponder the offer sheet scenario. If offer sheeting Robertson, that means it’s a seven-year deal and not an eight-year deal to begin with. I think he’d much prefer an eight-year deal by signing in Dallas.
No. 2, if you’re doing an offer sheet at seven years, you probably have to be in the $15 million range in order to get him. I’m not saying a team wouldn’t, but that’s a pretty big number.
And finally, the compensation, which would be four first-round picks in order to offer sheet Robertson. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do it, but I’m just saying you have to think hard about that.
If you really want Jason Robertson, you should trade for him as opposed to offer sheet him, and I think that’s really possible.
Reda: The Rangers and Vincent Trocheck seem to agree that he should be on his way out of New York.
The sticking point there seems to be that the Rangers don’t want to give him away for nothing. Any progress there?
LeBrun: I think they’re going to regret not moving him at the March 6 trade deadline.
There was a lot of interest in him, and they decided to not move him and wait until the off-season. Of course, they couldn’t have predicted that Dylan Larkin would ask for a trade [from the Detroit Red Wings].
The reason I bring that up is that from talking to other people around the league is that the Rangers would prefer Larkin get traded first so that they can control the centre market with Trocheck.
It sounds great in theory, and maybe that’ll happen that way, but Larkin isn’t going anywhere until the Red Wings get what they’re asking for him. I know people might roll their eyes, but we’re talking about Steve Yzerman here [as general manager of the Red Wings].
From talking to other teams, what they’re telling me is that Detroit has told teams that if they don’t get their price met on Larkin, they’re willing to tell him to come back to training camp in September.
Any other team I’d say that’s posturing, but I believe it when teams tell me that about Yzerman.
Again, Larkin could move any day now. I’m just saying you don’t know how wise it is for the Rangers to sit and wait for a Larkin deal because I’m not sure how quickly that deal is coming.
In the meantime, on Trocheck, I mentioned Buffalo, I think the Leafs have called in the last week, the Montreal Canadiens are monitoring that situation, and there are lots of teams interested.
The asking price from New York is a first-round pick and a prospect, I’m told. How many teams are willing to line up for that?
Reda: It’s still way too early to judge winners and losers in this window, but you’ve got to love what the Washington Capitals have done.
LeBrun: You can quibble about the fact that eight years for Alex Tuch at 30-years-old is too long, but you could say that about so many eight-year deals.
At the end of the day, eight-year deals are about getting the maximum out of the player for the first four or five years. Let’s be real, that’s the dirty little secret in the NHL.
I think adding Tuch and Jordan Kyrou in 48 hours is a home run for the Capitals. They have somehow, in the last few years, avoid a total rebuild and do a retool on the fly and done so impressively.
Remember the history here. Chris Patrick, the GM of the Capitals, went hard after Nikolaj Ehlers last July 1 and finished runner up. Ehlers went to Carolina and I’m sure he’s happy he did after winning a Stanley Cup.
Also, the Capitals were in hot and heavy for Artemi Panarin during the season and again they came close and didn’t get him. Panarin directed his way to Los Angeles.
So, there was a lot of frustration the last 12 months from Washington that they couldn’t get another top-six scoring winger.
Well guess what? They got two top-six scoring forwards in the last 48 hours, and I can tell you the Capitals are really happy with the work they’ve done, and they should be.
Reda: Alright Pierre, I’ve kept you away from your phone way too long. I’ll let you get back to it.
That’s the early edition of Insider Trading. The full edition with Pierre, Darren Dreger, and Chris Johnston is coming up in the early edition of SportsCentre.
