Gino Reda: What’s going on with one of the NHL’s top players when it comes to his future? Edvinsson is going home, so now what? A number of NHL coaches are wondering about their futures, and who’s going to run Team Canada moving forward?
Details on these stories and more with our Insider Pierre LeBrun.
Let’s start with Quinn Hughes: What’s the latest on [general manager] Bill Guerin’s efforts to keep the star [with the] Minnesota [Wild]?
Pierre LeBrun: Well, Bill Guerin is obviously just trying to be patient. And if you would have asked him three months ago whether he thought it was even possible that Quinn Hughes would not have extended by puck drop for the regular season, he probably would have been surprised to be quite honest.
But the reality is, as far as I can understand it, Quinn Hughes is in no rush to make his decision.
That doesn’t mean he won’t ultimately sign an extension with the Minnesota Wild, but that’s just the reality of the situation right now.
There have been multiple conversations between Hughes’ agent Pat Brisson and Bill Guerin throughout the past couple months. So if and when there’s a green light from Quinn Hughes to proceed, I don’t think it’s going to take very long to negotiate an extension.
It’s just that he’s just not ready yet. I think the Wild have to be careful not to put too much pressure on the situation. There’s lots of time between now and July 1st, but not ideal to start the season if you’re Minnesota after what you gave up to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes that your franchise defenceman is not yet extended.
Reda: Yeah, it’s so important to get that done. Speaking of question marks surrounding young talent: A restricted free agent, Simon Edvinsson, still doesn’t have a new deal with the [Detroit] Red Wings. The 23-year-old now has gone back home to Sweden. So what’s next, Pierre?
LeBrun: Yeah, and what’s developed since Chris Johnston updated the situation Tuesday on Insider Trading is that one, Edvinsson went back home to Sweden. He’s skating with Frolunda and he’s decided that was his best option to stay in shape while this contract stalemate continued to play out.
So that’s number one. Not a great sign if you’re a Wings fan that he has literally left the continent.
Number two, my understanding is teams have been calling over the last week, calling Detroit and poking their nose [in] on this and saying “Hey, if you ever want to talk trade, let us know.”
I don’t blame teams for being vultures right now on this situation, but my sense of it is interim GM Sean Horcoff has one focus only: Get him signed. Bring him back into the fold.
Where is this at? Well, my sense is that the player’s agent, J.P. Barry, has presented a number of recent options and left them with Sean Horcoff.
They’re sitting on the table for the Detroit interim GM.
Both sides continue to talk on a daily basis. Not an easy situation, but both sides are still at it.
Reda: The Avalanche just gave head coach Jared Bednar a nice extension yesterday, but that brings to mind a number of other coaches going to the final year of their current deals. Any news on those fronts, Pierre?
LeBrun: Yeah, so with Bednar extending, and remember that last month, Martin St. Louis (Montreal Canadiens), John Hynes (Wild), and Ryan Warsofsky (San Jose Sharks), they all extended as well.
These were all guys that were entering the last year of their deals. That leaves a very small list now.
Joel Quenneville in Anaheim, Scott Arniel in Winnipeg, Rick Bowness in Columbus, and Andrew Brunette in Nashville, all entering the last year of their contracts.
Now, Brunette also has a team option for 27-28.
In Bowness’ case in Columbus, he signed a one-year deal last spring. He’s a year-to-year guy at this point in his career at his age, so that’s not a big deal.
But Quenneville is interesting, you know, given his pedigree and stature, still not extended. My sense from poking my nose in that is that no one’s worried about it, that at some point the Ducks will address that.
I don’t know about Arniel and Winnipeg, to be honest. I think the Jets are probably comfortable letting this ride out for a while and see where the season goes.
Remember, they missed the playoffs last year and not everyone was 100 per cent sure that Arniel would be brought back as coach. So I think in his case, he may have to coach through the year on an expiring deal.
Reda: They got a lot going on in Winnipeg right now. Listen, Hockey Canada’s got a huge decision to make right now.
Who’s going to be their next general manager to lead the country into the best-on-best events that are coming up? Who do you figure they’re looking at as the leading candidates?
LeBrun: At the [NHL] GM meetings, Doug Armstrong announced he was stepping down as Team Canada GM at the Olympics.
So what’s happening is Hockey Canada executive Scott Sammon, who will oversee this process again, is slated to meet with some of the candidates at the Nov. 10 GM meetings in Toronto or in and around the GM meetings in Toronto coming up in two months.
The obvious candidates that I’m told are very much part of the mix here are the guys that were part of the Olympic staff under Doug Armstrong. So Kyle Dubas, Julien Brisbois, Jim Nill and Don Sweeney.
Remember Sweeney was actually the GM for the 4 Nations team working alongside Doug Armstrong. Those are the four main candidates.
There could be others that emerge. Scott Sammon is going to meet with all four of those guys, like I said, in Toronto in November, pick their brains, see what their interest is, see what makes sense.
Once Hockey Canada announces a GM for Team Canada, they have another decision to make. And right now, this is undecided.
Do they name a GM for both events, for World Cup of Hockey in February of ’28 and the Olympic Games in France in February of 2030? Or is it one at a time? They just name the GM for the World Cup and then wait on the Olympic announcement?
And the one thing to remember is 4 Nations was played 12 months before the Olympic Games in Milan. Very tight turnaround, so it made sense that a lot of the same group was involved in both events.
This time there’s two years between the World Cup and the Olympics. So I don’t know. Do you want to give yourself some leeway in case Canada loses at the World Cup and maybe you want to change things up?
The last thing I would add is still no decision on the head coach either. John Cooper, of course, the coach at 4 Nations and the Olympics for Team Canada, but the sense is that it’s up to the new GM to decide if he wants to bring Cooper back as head coach or do you give someone new a chance? I don’t know. Rob Brind’Amour just won a cup, obviously in Carolina. So the coaching front [remains] undecided as well for Team Canada.
Reda: It’s interesting you mentioned the World Cup and the Olympics as a package, but you didn’t include the World Championship there. Is that to suggest that the World Championships will continue to be a one-off for whoever they name as the general manager for that event?
LeBrun: Yeah, that’s how Hockey Canada normally operates. Sometimes what will happen is, regardless of who the GM is for the World Championships – and often this is tied to whether their team’s in the [NHL] playoffs or not – there’s still communication and an association with whoever’s running the Olympics and World Cup.
In other words, there’s a lot of interest among everyone involved with those Team Canada decisions about certain players getting looks at the Worlds if they’re able and willing to go play for Canada. That’s always been the case and that will continue.
Reda: Alright, that’s it for now. The full version of Insider Trading with Pierre, CJ and Dregs is coming up on the early edition of SportsCenter.
