Gino Reda: The Jets are just about a week into the regular season and Connor Hellebuyck is already hundreds of thousands of dollars in the hole. Speaking on that and more, here are the Insiders, Chris Johnston, Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun. So Dregs, any news on the Hellebuyck front?
Darren Dreger: Well unfortunately for Hellebuyck and his bank account: No. At least not good news.
And we know that the Winnipeg Jets are off to a great start, we know that Hellebuyck remains under suspension, and the reality is that he is losing tons of money through this process.
Both sides are struggling, navigating, trying to find a trade situation that works for the Jets and works for the goaltender. That’s the ‘best-case scenario.’
Interesting to note that the National Hockey League remains very much on the scene in terms of staying apprised of any sort of developments around the Hellebuyck situation and the Jets - but the league also supports its organization in Winnipeg simply because Hellebuyck elected not to report to camp. So the stance on the suspension of Hellebuyck remains firm.
Reda: In Edmonton, the Oilers have rallied around one of their own who they feel should be getting more positive press, CJ?
Chris Johnston: Yeah, and that would be Evan Bouchard, who, for my money, is off to the best start this season among any player. You look at goals with six through four games, 11 points, the shot share, the chances, everything is happening in a very positive manner when he’s been on the ice for the Oilers this year.
I think that’s why you hear Leon Draisaitl come out and speak about the reputation, the narrative that’s followed Bouchard’s career, that maybe he isn’t as committed on the defensive side of the puck.
You hear Mike Babcock talking about the fact he should be in the running for the Norris Trophy every year.
There’s a deep sense around the Oilers that this guy doesn’t get enough respect. He was left off Team Canada last year, he finished fourth in Norris voting despite having 95 points last season.
You just get the sense this could really be a statement year for Bouchard, especially the way he started.
Reda: If there’s a team looking for a high-scoring winger, there’s one available who scored 23 for the Wild last season, Pierre.
Pierre LeBrun: Yeah, and I don’t know if this is why Vladimir Tarasenko still doesn’t have an NHL job, but what we found out on this day is that he mutually agreed to part ways with agent Dan Milstein late in the summer.
For those who have followed along with this story - Tarasenko has run the gamut on agents the past four or five years. You name a high-profile agent and [Tarasenko] has had him, but right now, he’s without one.
In the meantime, he had an offer in front of him in early July from the Florida Panthers - it was a low-paying offer because the Panthers have no cap space. He decided he could do better, and he hasn’t yet.
I think the reason you’ve seen some Florida speculation again over the past couple of days is because of the injury to Brad Marchand. The reality is those things are not connected.
For starters, I don’t think Florida will circle back to Tarasenko, although we’ll see.
But the other thing is the news will be better than expected on Marchand. He had an MRI on Thursday, the team will have an official update on Friday, but what I’m being told is we’re talking about a number of weeks as opposed to a number of months for Marchand. [The Panthers appear to have dodged a bullet] after the positive news on Sasha Barkov.
Reda: The Ducks are going with a youth movement on their blue line but that is not necessarily by choice, CJ?
Johnston: No, some of this has been forced upon them, and I do think that as we get deeper into trade season the Ducks will be a team to watch when it comes to moving for a defenceman.
At this point in time, they have not played a defenceman in a game over the age of 26.
And a big reason for that, of course, is the money they had to pay through the offer sheet to Leo Carlsson, the raise they gave to Cutter Gauthier, just to not leave them enough cap space to bring in or to keep a veteran defenceman.
They said goodbye to John Carlson, Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas after last season.
So it’s really an interesting experiment because the Ducks planned to take a step forward again. They made the playoffs last year and they expect to be there again.
How these kids perform - especially Tristan Luneau and Pavel Mintyukov - the view inside the organization is those guys have to handle this increased responsibility if it’s going to be a good season in Anaheim.
Reda: Not long ago, expansion into the state of Texas looked like a fait accompli, but not so much anymore, Dregs?
Dreger: No, and we touched on this at the recent NHL Board of Governors meetings, and we’ll continue to visit in on this story. It feels like we’ll be dealing with it in December as well.
It’s going slower, it is not going faster, and it was pushed to the backburner.
There’s some NHL owners who want to be heard because they do not feel like expansion is a good idea.
They don’t believe that the talent pool is deep enough to sustain a competitive balance.
Furthermore, another team in a non-taxed state like Texas - in Houston or Austin - further erodes competitive balance.
So there’s a ton of work before they get close to saying they’re moving forward.