Countdown to TradeCentre: The price for Tarasenko
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The NHL's March 8 Trade Deadline is approaching, and teams are making decisions on whether to buy or sell, and on which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Check out today's trade rumours and speculation from around the NHL beat.
The Price for Tarasenko
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reports several teams have expressed interest in Ottawa Senators pending unrestricted free agent Vladimir Tarasenko as the deadline nears.
According to Garrioch, the Senators are looking for "at least a second-round pick and a prospect" in return for Tarasenko, with the price potentially being higher if the team retains a portion of his $5 million cap hit. Garrioch reports the Senators are expected to ask Tarasenko about waiving his no-trade clause in the coming days, noting the belief is winger is looking to parlay a trade into an extension with his new team.
The 32-year-old winger is currently listed at No. 9 on the TSN Trade Bait board. He has 15 goals and 37 points in 53 games with Ottawa this season.
Tarasenko is no stranger to deadline deals after being moved last year from the St. Louis Blues to the New York Rangers, eventually joining the Senators as an unrestricted free agent.
The Senators are on track to miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season, sitting third last in the Eastern Conference with a 25-27-3 record.
Necas on the market?
Citing a "reliable" source, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports the Carolina Hurricanes are willing to listen on forward Martin Necas.
The 25-year-old centre has 18 goals and 42 points in 53 games this season after posting 28 goals and 71 points in 82 games last season. Necas could be in for a significant raise from his current $3 million salary as he hits restricted free agency this July.
Selected 12th overall in the 2017 draft, Necas has 91 goals and 232 points in 338 games with the Hurricanes.
Carolina is closing on their sixth straight trip to the postseason and looking to take a final step forward after falling in the conference final last year. The team currently sits second in the Metropolitan Division, seven points back of the New York Rangers.
Fleury Staying Put?
It appears veteran goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury could be off the trade market as the Minnesota Wild push for the playoffs amid a strong stretch of play.
Fleury, 39, is a pending unrestricted free agent and controls his own destiny with a full no-move clause. He stopped 30 of 32 shots faced in Saturday's 5-2 win over the Seattle Kraken as the Wild improved to 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
“If we were last in the conference, maybe it’d be a little bit different,” Fleury told The Athletic after the victory. “But this is my team. We’ve been battling together, right? I take pride in winning with this team. I want us to make the playoffs. That’s my first priority.
"I think being in the hunt, it’s fun, it’s challenging. And I want to be here and see this team make the playoffs.”
The Wild continue to sit outside the playoff picture, four points back of the Nashville Predators for the final wild-card spot with one game in hand. Minnesota has reached the playoffs in each of the past four seasons - and 10 of the past 11 years - but have advanced past the first round just twice since 2013, failing to win a playoff series since 2015.
“I don’t want to just quit, right?” Fleury added. “I like this. I like the guys. It’s a great bunch of guys. When you’re so close, you want to do it all for each other. It’s been fun lately winning a bit more too.”
Fleury has a 12-10-3 record this season with a .899 save percentage and a 2.92 goals-against average. He is in his third season with the Wild, having been acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of the trade deadline in 2022.
The three-time Stanley Cup winner carries a cap hit of $3.5 million on his expiring deal.