Gino Reda: It’s the season debut of Insider Trading with Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger.
Gentlemen, camps are set to begin opening up across the league and big questions loom large. None bigger than will Connor Hellebuyck show up to Winnipeg Jets camp.
Darren Dreger: There’s always a possibility for a sudden change of heart, but as we have this conversation as a group of insiders, I do not believe Hellebuyck will report to the opening of training camp.
If that is the case, that forces the Jets to respond. That response will likely come Wednesday or Thursday.
I think it’s important to note that there will be no immediate financial punishment. Obviously, NHL players don’t start getting paid until the start of the regular season.
As we know, post-draft, the trade interest has been minimal. There was lots of activity with the Buffalo Sabres leading up to the draft, but there has been very little since. Certainly nothing that would qualify as a package that general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Jets could work with in fair value in return for an elite-level goaltender in Hellebuyck with years remaining on his contract.
Reda: One of the biggest questions hanging over Toronto Maple Leafs camp is how will they handle their first-overall pick Gavin McKenna?
Chris Johnston: I think when McKenna was taken first-overall in late June, I think it was easy to imagine him, a talented playmaker, teaming up with [captain] Auston Matthews, a world class goal scorer.
At least early on here, my sense is that the Leafs are going to take things easy with McKenna. They’ll start him a little lower down the lineup as they take the ice for the first time as a team in camp this week and see where things go from there.
By no means am I saying it will be a permanent decision and maybe that duo will eventually link up. But in the early days, I think you’ll see a veteran like Jack Roslovic slot in beside Matthews and Matthew Knies and give McKenna, as an 18-year-old, a chance to get comfortable on the team.
Reda: As we edge closer to the opening of camp, there are some key restricted free agents still looking for new contracts. The list includes Adam Fantilli with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where the two sides still have a big gap to bridge.
Pierre LeBrun: It’s a sizable gap that was relayed to me again on this day and the news is that the dialogue continues.
There have been offers and counteroffers throughout the summer, but the reality is that they are $2-3 million apart on average annual value.
There isn’t this deadline that expires on Tuesday night that floats over this as far as the eight years. Neither side has been talking eight years — it will be less than eight years if and when this gets done.
But they got to get to the number.
They have not been able to get to the number as training camp approaches for Fantilli. Obviously, they don’t want him to miss time in camp or miss time in season, but they have to find a contract fits and so far, they haven’t ben able to.
Dreger: Not related to Fantilli or the Blue Jackets, but it’s been abundantly clear that the Philadelphia Flyers are definitely in the market to make a splash.
They are big game hunting.
They’re looking for a star forward or a star defenceman, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Likely the fact in early July, [general manager] Daniel Briere and the Flyers dropped that five-year, $90 million offer sheet on Leo Carlsson, which the Ducks matched.
So, it is open season for the Flyers as they try to add a star.
Johnston: In Detroit on this day, Shawn Horcoff, was formally named interim general manager of the Red Wings. I’ll point you to the press release where it says that he has authority to make hockey decisions.
There’s a good reason for that.
There’s every chance that Horcoff could be in this role through the entire season. The Red Wings are still searching for a permanent replacement for Steve Yzerman, who departed the GM’s chair to move upstairs.
They want to make sure they find an innovator and the right person. They’ve engaged a search firm and they’re willing to take their time. In the meantime, Horcoff has a lot of business to do between managing the Dylan Larkin situation and a couple of contracts as well.
But he’s in the seat for the foreseeable future.
Reda: As players show up to camp this year, they’re going to have one less thing to worry about?
Johnston: That would be fitness testing.
That goes out the window officially at this year’s training camp. That was agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreement extension.
What I will tell you is that there are multiple teams out there that don’t like this change. One of the reasons is, as they say, it’s not the fitness testing or about gaging the athletes one versus the other to see who is more fit. It’s the data they get for baseline tests for power measurements and crafting when a player gets injured, his return to play protocol.
I think some of those teams were hoping there would be a change. It’s not going to happen now because it was negotiated in good faith in the CBA, but it is a conversation that’s going to pick up down the line.
Reda: They are the Insiders, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger.
