TSN’s Hockey Insiders on how Brad Marchand could have landed in Toronto last summer, the Leafs’ search for blueline help, the Jets seeking scoring, how the Olympic trade freeze will affect moves, Gabriel Landeskog and Victor Hedman’s Olympics status and the latest on the Canucks and Kiefer Sherwood.
Geno Reda: Was Marchand actually seriously considering becoming a Leaf, or is he just kicking the hornet’s nest yet again? Here are the Insiders, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger. CJ, is there any reason to believe this was a legit possibility?
Chris Johnston: 100 per cent there is, Gino. And look, I get the inclination to want to say this was just straight trolling. It is Marchand, after all. He’s made a career out of that. But in this circumstance, I can tell you that he was 100 per cent serious when he said that there was an alternate timeline where perhaps he could have been a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The thinking on his end of things last spring was that Florida wouldn’t have the cap space or the ability to re-sign him with Sam Bennett and Aaron Ekblad also due to be UFAs. And on the Leafs end of this ledger, they were very interested in Marchand. In fact, sources say that in June, there were things they could have done in terms of adding players that they held off doing because they didn’t want to use up the cap space it would have taken to bring him in as a free agent. So, this union didn’t happen. Of course, the Panthers win a Cup. They come up with a creative six-year offer to keep them. But if he hit the open market, I think it was quite likely the Leafs would have been in there big time.
Darren Dreger: Well, obviously, that would have been a big adjustment and add for Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs. It didn’t happen, but his search continues. But there is a little bit different focus now from a Maple Leafs perspective. Yeah, sure, they’re having conversations about players that they might be able to add down the road up front. But the primary focus right now is on their blue line. And I think that Leafs fans can appreciate why that would be. The problem that Treliving has right now, like a lot of general managers looking for defence, is that the market is thin. We’re talking about older defence, perhaps the end of their run, and third pairing guys. So, there hasn’t been a fit that surfaced just yet. Getting Brandon Carlo back will make a difference. That’s certainly a boost, especially with the long-term uncertainty of another veteran defenceman in Chris Tanev.
Reda: When Kevin Cheveldayoff spoke to the media on Monday, he admitted to talking to GMs around the league about possible short or maybe even long-term fixes. Is there anything coming from those conversations, Dregs?
Dreger: What we know here, Gino, is that the Winnipeg Jets aren’t throwing in the towel at the mid-season mark. They can appreciate the unrest and disappointment from their fan base. And as Cheveldayoff mentioned at the start of the week, his interest, of course, is adding some scoring. But ask any general manager in the National Hockey League, any scoring forward with term just isn’t available. So, Winnipeg is looking at all options. Maybe it’s an unproven young player with some upside from a productive perspective that surfaces between now and the March 6th trade deadline. But until then, they’ll continue to kick tires. And there’s also uncertainty as to what Winnipeg would be willing to unload as an asset to acquire a piece up front. So, there’s still a lot of work ahead.
Reda: The Olympic trade freeze is going to kick in about four weeks time. It doesn’t end until February 22nd. That means teams are going to have less than two weeks after the Olympics to make deals before the deadline. Is that going to push teams to make deals before the Games, Pierre?
LeBrun: No, not in the case of teams who have the luxury of controlling when they act here before the trade deadline. What I’m hearing on an increasing rate here is that some contenders are hoping to wait until after the Olympics to make their major move before the trade deadline. And the reason is two fold: One, as they’ve told me, if they’re trading for a player that’s playing in the Olympics, they want to make sure he doesn’t get hurt there before trading for him. But two, they themselves, most contenders have players going to Milan. They want to make sure they don’t suffer an injury, in which case they would have to maybe pivot and change their trade deadline needs. So, teams are hoping to wait to make their major move. But as Dreg’s just outlined with cases like the Maple Leafs and the Jets, there are a number of teams that don’t have a choice that are going to have to act before that trade freeze for the Olympics because they have to save their season. They’re in desperation mode. So, I expect to see some smaller to medium moves in the next few weeks, but the bigger moves for contenders post-Olympics.
Reda: With the Olympic rosters announced, a number of countries are waiting for word on possible injuries that could knock their guys out of the Games. And that includes Sweden, Pierre?
LeBrun: Yeah, I’ll tell you what, Sweden holding its breath really on their captain, Gabriel Landeskog. Now, the news wasn’t terrible on the update from the Avalanche on Tuesday. Yes, he is out for a number of weeks is what coach Bednar said, but it has not ruled him out for the Olympics. That’s a key takeaway. Not to mention the fact that the injury is not to his knee, which was surgically repaired a number of times and kept him out for three years. It’s an upper-body injury. Having said that, there isn’t a firm timeline on Landeskog. The Avalanche say he needs to be reassessed in a couple weeks to see how the healing is going. So really everyone holding their breath there for Landeskog to be able to play for Sweden. The other one, the other big leader on that team is Victor Hedman. The Lightning again this week said that his timeline is that they hope he’s back in early February, right before the Olympic break. Head coach for Sweden, Sam Hallam, told me they hope that Hedman can play a game or two before the Olympics. But again, that is not 100 per cent. So, two major leaders for Sweden, neither one sure to be in Milan.
Reda: Canucks pending unrestricted free agent Kiefer Sherwood’s having a career year, so not surprisingly, drawing a lot of attention around the league, CJ.
Johnston: He is, and right now the focus in Vancouver is seeing if they can sign him. There have been some discussions that end over the holidays, and there’s a big gap here between where the team and the player have been. But one interesting thing that’s developed is Christian Dvorak signed an extension with the Philadelphia Flyers a little north of $5 million on Monday on a five-year term. And while it’s not a perfect comparable for Sherwood, one’s a center, one’s a winger, you know, they are in the same age band. Sherwood has outscored Dvorak, and there’s some thought maybe that could push conversations more towards getting something done. If not, of course, we’ll be talking about him getting traded at some point before the trade deadline.
