Insider Trading: 'Bold and impressive move' by Sens to acquire DeBrincat

 
Over the last couple of years, the Ottawa Senators have been moving assets out, but this year they move a major asset in by acquiring Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks.
 
Pierre LeBrun: The Blackhawks had told teams within the last 48 hours that they were absolutely serious about moving DeBrincat and getting a first-round pick among other assets, so it’s been a bit of a pressure point in that.
As far as the Senators, we know that they tried on Kevin Fiala but he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings instead [from the Minnesota Wild], then they switched gears here. When it comes to DeBrincat, this is also sending a message to other potential free agents around the league, notably as we reported earlier today Claude Giroux as an unrestricted free agent. We know that Ottawa is among the options potentially for him when the market opens on Wednesday. What better way to send a message if you’re Ottawa than adding DeBrincat?

Darren Dreger: Bold and impressive move by [general manager] Pierre Dorion of the Senators. What’s interesting and a bit of a twist was that there was no contract discussion with the DeBrincat camp prior to making that deal. Now is that surprising? A little bit to some around the National Hockey League because after this season DeBrincat is one year away from unrestricted free agency. The flip side to that is if you’re buying his UFA status, you’re paying big term and you’re paying big money. So, therein lies the deterrent.

But the Senators aren’t done yet. The belief is that Dorion is looking for a defenceman and I know there’s been some dialogue for Jacob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes. Do they have enough assets left to pull that off? That may happen after the draft, if at all.
 
After trading for Alexandar Georgiev from the New York Rangers, it appears goaltender Darcy Kuemper is on his way out of Colorado.

Chris Johnston: Ultimately Kuemper priced his way out of town in Denver. It’s believed that he will be looking for something like the contract Philipp Grubauer got, which is a six-year deal from the Seattle Kraken at a $5.9 million cap hit. That’s just something the Colorado Avalanche couldn’t do [though] they did have some discussions with his camp before making this deal.

Now we see the wheels set in motion on the goalie carousel. I wonder when I look around the league for teams that are looking for a goaltender, like the Toronto Maple Leafs, I don’t see them being able to get to that type of number for Kuemper. So, we’re starting to see the pieces fall into place where Toronto and the Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that will have to make some form of decision.

Pierre LeBrun: As for Georgiev, he was always going to be dealt by the Rangers. I’m not even sure the Rangers were going to qualify him. But for three middling draft picks, it was absolutely worth the gamble for the Avalanche. They did their homework before making this trade, they know the parameters of an extension and what it would look like is cheaper than what Kuemper was asking for hence this trade from Colorado.

Darren Dreger: People are asking what do the Rangers do with that backup position? They got a superstar goalie in Igor Shesterkin, they’re not worried about that. They’ll find a backup goaltender in the unrestricted free agent market.
There’s still a lot of rumblings out of Minnesota and the connection to bringing Marc-Andre Fleury back. Bill Guerin, the general manager of the Wild, walked in not that long ago and I tried to push him a little bit but he wouldn’t give specifics other than “we’re still working on it.” So, if there’s an agreement in place, we’re going to find that out in short order here in Montreal.

Beyond that, you’ve got the usual suspects. With Jack Campbell, are the Edmonton Oilers a front runner? What are they New Jersey Devils going to do in goal? And the list goes on.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to keep the band together with Kris Letang getting a six-year deal for a 35-year-old. What does that mean for Evgeni Malkin?

Pierre LeBrun: We know he is frustrated. His camp led by veteran agent JP Barry has not been able to move the Penguins off three years. Term is a key issue. Malkin wants four years for term, and they have to be at the same money too. Right now, the Penguins and Malkin are not on the same page, but I think he is ready to go to free agency if the Penguins don’t move off three years.

Chris Johnston: There’s a game of chicken going on between the Nashville Predators and Filip Forsberg. Forsberg is a pending UFA, and we know there’s a great fit there with him and the team. It seems like the magic number is $8.5 million. If they can get somewhere within that neighbourhood, I think there’s a deal to be made on an eight-year contract but they’re not there today. The clock is ticking down and I think Forsberg is someone who is willing to test the open market if it comes to that. We’ll see if someone blinks first as far as making the first move in getting a deal done.

There’s always a temptation for the host team to try to make a splash at the draft. Are the Montreal Canadiens considering something to try to make more of a splash than the No. 1 pick?

Darren Dreger: There’s been so much talk in the Canadiens management group but it’s mostly on who do they take first overall. Is it Shane Wright or is it Juraj Slafkovsky? We’re going to find out here with the rest of the world, they’re not going to leak that information out. I’m sure that [general manager] Kent Hughes has had a lot of dialogue with some of the other general managers. We know that he would like to add another pick in that first round, so that would be a bit of a splash I would say.

The Devils, unless something changes, sounds like they’re going to hold onto the No. 2 pick as well.