The TSN Hockey Insiders discuss the situation regarding the Leafs' salary cap once Zach Hyman and John Tavares return to the lineup. They also touch on Flames GM Brad Treliving's efforts to re-sign pending UFA defencemen Travis Hamonic and T.J. Brodie, and much more.

On Roman Josi's new deal with the Nashville Predators

Pierre LeBrun: Over the last three days it has really got done. They had gone a month where it had hit a wall. The Predators were around $8.5 million a year on a long term deal, the Josi camp wanted between 9.5 and 10, probably closer to $9.5 million a year and finally, over the last couple days, the Predators really got this jumpstarted and they ended up just a shade north of $9 million a year. Interestingly, the no-movement clause, the Predators have only given one other in the history of the franchise, it went to Pekka Rinne, this one goes to Roman Josi. It was actually put on the table by Nashville early in the process in [an] effort to jumpstart these talks. It didn’t work at the time, but certainly a key factor for Roman Josi, probably spending the rest of his career in Nashville.

 

Calgary Flames looking to get defencemen locked up

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Darren Dreger: When speaking of signing defence, Calgary Flames general manager Brad Treliving has a lot of work to do and he’s trying to get some of it done. He’s had a couple unrestricted pending free agents in TJ Brodie and Travis Hamonic. Now there were discussions in the off-season specific to Travis Hamonic on an extension, however, it didn’t get done prior to the start of the regular season. So the Hamonic camp has decided that it’s in their best interest not to negotiate in season. Now, if that is the case and it drags towards the trade deadline then clearly Treliving and the Calgary Flames are going to have to make a decision on Hamonic’s future and TJ Brodie as well.

 

What about Alex Pietrangelo?

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Bob McKenzie: Josi signing with the Nashville Predators leaves Alex Pietrangelo of the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues as the most prominent, pending unrestricted free agent defenceman. Three weeks ago today, general manager Doug Armstrong of the Blues met with Pietrangelo’s representatives in Toronto and since then? Well, since then there’s been no talks, no offers, no nothing at this point. That’s not to say there won’t be at some point in the future, but something to keep in mind. Obviously since the season has started the St. Louis Blues acquired and signed Justin Faulk, they signed Brayden Schenn to a contract extension and right now the captain of the team hasn’t had any talks in the last three weeks since his agent and Armstrong met, so we’ll see where it goes from here.”

 

What are the implications of John Tavares and Zach Hyman’s return to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup?

Bob McKenzie: Well, the Zach Hyman ACL, six months ago in the last day or two, so he’s on schedule, but he’s probably not going to be back maybe for another couple weeks. John Tavares is the guy that is first up. He could be back as early as the weekend, possibly against Philadelphia on Saturday, if not then, then there are two games next week against the L.A. Kings on Tuesday or the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday. As for Hyman, as I said, probably closer to a week or two and that’s the one that will trigger the salary cap implications. When Hyman comes back into the lineup, three players will have to be sent to the minors.”

 

Any rumblings of change for the struggling San Jose Sharks?

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Pierre LeBrun: Not right now. In fact, if you look at Doug Wilson’s history, he doesn’t make coaching changes in the middle of the season. I know everyone is wondering about Pete DeBoer’s future. In fact, he rarely makes coaching changes period. Ron Wilson and Todd McCellan during his 15-year term both were let go in the off-season. That’s not even, I think, on the wish list right now for the Sharks. This is about their better players being better. Logan Couture, Erik Karlsson, Martin Jones, Timo Meier, those guys have to step up. That’s where the focus is.”

 

Is another neutral site Heritage Classic in store for the future?

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Darren Dreger: Well, the National Hockey League is keeping an eye on negotiations in Halifax. There’s a vote expected in December as to whether or not Halifax should build a CFL-worthy football stadium. If that is the case, the NHL looks at Halifax at being an excellent option for a neutral site game, but there are some city officials who doubt whether or not he project will forward.”