Insider Trading: St. Louis' future to be decided at end of season

TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun join host Gino Reda to discuss the future of Martin St. Louis in Montreal, what’s next for Ryan Getzlaf after he announced his retirement and who might be in charge of Team Canada at the men’s World Hockey Championship in May.

St. Louis’ future as Canadiens head coach

Habs general manager Kent Hughes previously said he was anxious to remove the interim tag from Martin St. Louis in Montreal. Are we any closer to that becoming a reality?

Dreger: No. Both sides agreed and prior to the general manager’s meetings that they would wait until the end of the season. Now, there’s no reason to question the reality of Marty St. Louis becoming the full-time head coach of the Montreal Canadiens. I believe that’s what Hughes and the Canadiens want. But you do have to look at the set of circumstances. We know St. Louis has done a terrific job on the bench of the Habs. We know that the coaching staff has helped refresh this group. But Marty St. Louis still has a young family. So the timing of it may not be perfect but there have been no further discussions at this point.

What now for Getzlaf in retirement?

Ryan Getzlaf announced on Tuesday he will retire at the end of the season. What comes next for the Anaheim Ducks icon?

LeBrun: That’s a good question. What I can tell you is ownership in Anaheim – Henry and Susan Samueli – have already had a very loose conversation with Ryan Getzlaf about the future including a potential role in the organization. They really want Getzlaf to be a part of things post playing career. Keep in mind Getzlaf’s home is in Orange County. He’s very much going to be sticking around. Now, whether or not he needs some time off after making that kind of decision, remember, Scott Niedermayer has a big role now in that organization. Teemu Selanne is still affiliated, Paul Kariya, they want Getzlaf to have the same thing.

What to look for at the Frozen Four

The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels Monday night with a historic come-from-behind win. Next week, it’s hockey’s turn. What are NHL teams looking for at the men’s tournament?

Dreger: There are many NHL teams that are just as excited but maybe for different reasons. I’m looking at the Toronto Maple Leafs and I’m looking at the Buffalo Sabres. Now, we know that Michigan plays Denver on Thursday in one of the semifinals. And we know the University of Minnesota, the home of Matthew Knies of the Maple Leafs, plays against Minnesota. But we also know and expect fully is that Owen Power, no matter what happens with Michigan this weekend, he’s coming out. He will sign with the Buffalo Sabres probably early next week. The same can’t be said for Knies at the University of Minnesota. He’s 19, my sense is that he’s leaning towards going back for another year of college hockey. Again, see how the weekend goes, see how the conversation goes with the Toronto Maple Leafs and then make the decision after that.

Agents, Fehr to meet for the first time in years

Because of the pandemic, we haven’t seen many high-level face-to-face meetings. The GM meetings were last week and now there’s another big one on the horizon.

LeBrun: Yeah, Wednesday in Toronto player agents from around the National Hockey league congregate at a downtown hotel and meet with Donald Fehr and the NHL Players’ Association for the first time in a couple of years. Now, I don’t expect anything big from Fehr’s perspective, but at the end of these meetings there is certainly a Q and A session and there are some agents, I believe, that are going to want to know from Fehr what are his future plans as head of the NHLPA. Does he have a succession plan? And I suspect his answer to the agents will be I’m working on one, and when I have one, I’ll share it with the players’ executive board first. But that’s probably the only news we’ll get from that meeting.  

Who’s leading Team Canada at the Worlds?

We’re just over a month out from the men’s World Hockey Championship. Do we know yet who’s going to be guiding Canada?

Dreger: We don’t know quite yet, but obviously it’s high on Hockey Canada’s radar, Scott Salmond and the group are working on that. I’d be surprised if Shane Doan isn’t the general manager for Team Canada in Finland. You know, he’s passed the grooming phase of being an international general manager. History speaks for itself. Canada didn’t have the Olympic tournament that they were hoping [for], but he invested a ton of preparation and time in putting that team together. So he’s my top candidate.

No-trade fix coming?

After the cancelled deal between the Golden Knights and Ducks involving forward Evgenii Dadonov, the league and Players’ Association was said to be working on a fix to make sure that wouldn’t happen again. How is that progressing?

LeBrun: And just a quick update on an amendment to the no-trade list. We made so much of this last week at the GM meetings. And certainly Bill Daly had given a lot of us the impression that this would be a quick fix with the NHLPA. While it still has not been finalized, I think both sides think it’s going to happen. Remember, this is because of the cancelled trade between Vegas and Anaheim on the no-trade list. It’s going to get done, but the Players’ Association has had some questions about the language. Just give it a bit more time.