TSN’s Hockey Insiders with the latest on the Habs and their young defenceman, Connor McDavid’s contract and the fallout for the Leafs and Kings, the extension spotlight on Jack Eichel, the Leafs/Easton Cowan and unsigned forward Jack Roslovic.
Gino Reda: With the Insiders, Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun. Gentlemen, the reigning rookie of the year, Lane Hutson, is going into the final year of his entry-level contract, in line for a big raise. The Habs would love to get something done before the regular season opener for them on Wednesday. What are the chances of that happening?
Pierre LeBrun: Well both sides certainly tried. In and around 10 days ago my understanding is that the Habs made a long-term offer for eight years. Obviously, that didn’t lead to an extension. I believe that eight-year offer had some deferral money in it and that didn’t interest the Lane Hutson camp and that’s not the kind of offer the Canadiens can make again now anyway because the deadline for deferred money has now come and passed Monday night as per the new collective bargaining agreement. So where do they go now? I think both sides have kind of retreated a bit which is probably what they needed to bring the temperature down in these talks. Yeah, in a perfect world they’d have an extension in place now, but they’ve got all year. He’s a restricted free agent next summer and the Habs will want to protect their salary cap culture that they’ve had with their core players and they hope they can come to a deal with a very special player at some point.
Reda: Shockwaves continue to make their way through the league on the heels of the huge hometown discount Connor McDavid took on his new deal. Some are calling it a big risk because what if he gets hurt and he’s not able to cash in on his next big deal? But maybe that is not a concern?
Chris Johnston: Well, look. Let’s start where this deal happened and no one was more surprised by the average annual value being $12.5 million than the Edmonton Oilers front office. They only learned that that was McDavid’s wish on his two-year extension on Monday morning shortly before they finalized that contract and announced it and really shook the hockey world. You look at what McDavid could have in guaranteed money, he was always focused on a short-term deal but if you look long-term he could have had at least $100 million more in earnings. But what players do in this circumstance – and I’m told McDavid is one of them – is they do take out insurance to protect future earnings. This is normal for NHL players mid-career. And I did speak to a couple people who know how these things work, they didn’t actually know about McDavid’s specific coverage, but some of them cover tens of million, even up to $50 million in future earnings. So needless to say McDavid should be well protected no matter what happens next.
LeBrun: In the meantime news of that extension as you might surmise was a tough pill to swallow for some teams who were paying close attention to where that was headed. Let’s start with the Los Angeles Kings. I mean, Anze Kopitar has announced this is his final year after a remarkable career. That was sort of perfect timing for the LA Kings next summer to go big game hunting to try and replace a big hole in their lineup. What better than the best player in the world? Ken Holland has a relationship with Connor McDavid. L.A. was definitely going to be all-in on him, but that’s now a moot point. The Toronto Maple Leafs for sure in my mind were going to try and bring Connor McDavid home if they could, if he was available next summer. New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, several teams were keeping a close eye on what was happening with No. 97. But now they have to erase that thought. But one thing I would say, is that some of those teams internally were thinking do we keep our powder dry for next summer on that note, or are we aggressive here at the trade deadline in-season? Now they know they can be aggressive and go another path before March 6.
Reda: With McDavid and Kaprizov off the board, Jack Eichel becomes the biggest name pending unrestricted free agent. What’s the latest on that front?
LeBrun: Yeah, ongoing discussions between the Vegas Golden Knights and Jack Eichel. Really important to know – he does not want to go anywhere. His only focus is signing with the Vegas Golden Knights. The two sides, I’m told, are really focused on an eight-year deal, so forget the idea of him mimicking McDavid and doing two years. No. Eichel wants to sign long-term. In the mean time, they’ve just got to get to the right average annual value. And I’m told that the Kaprizov deal, the McDavid deal, those are not big impacts in this conversation. They’re focused on where they need to go and the two sides hope to get something done at some point.
Reda: When the Maple Leafs announced their opening day roster, Easton Cowan’s name was not on the list. But could we see him back on the Leafs roster before Wednesday night’s opener?
Johnston: Absolutely. I’m looking at my watch right now, he’s eligible to come back at any point right now. And I think what’s important to understand here is the Leafs had to do a lot of roster maneuvering in the last 24 hours in order to set themselves up well in order to recall any player that they currently have assigned with the Marlies. So, that includes Cowan. It would even be David Kampf, who is down with the Marlies and has a bigger salary. But they now have the cap space and the maneuverability to move those players up and down. I think with Cowan specifically that’s important. It won’t be all about his play as much as where the Leafs want him because certainly this organization isn’t going to let him sit out as a scratch at the NHL level for any length of time throughout this season.
Reda: And if there’s a team still looking to add a little veteran depth up front at the centre position, there’s a guy skating on his own in Columbus still looking for work?
Johnston: Yeah, that would be Jack Roslovic. Coming off a 22-goal season and pretty surprisingly as play gets going around the league, obviously training camps completed in all 32 markets, that he’s still just skating at home in Columbus. But it’s been a strange summer. He switched agents, he had some bonafide offers early in the summer. I think it started to dry up as time went along and he’s sticking true believing in his value here. A few teams are already looking for forwards. The Minnesota Wild, his Blue Jackets down the road, maybe it’s one of those teams or someone else that comes calling. But I think it’s only a matter of time for Roslovic.
Reda: They are the Insiders, Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun.
