Insider Trading: Canucks' decisions could be holding up trade market

TSN’s Hockey Insiders discuss Vancouver's effect on the market ahead of March 7th, the Flames and Rasmus Andersson, suitors for John Klingberg, Drew Doughty’s recovery, the Dallas Stars’ approach to the deadline and Team Canada 4 Nations snubs who are surging.

Potential suitors emerging for Klingberg

JAMES DUTHIE: Your Insiders are Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger.

John Klingberg is a name that frankly I think a lot of people have forgotten about, Dregs. Hadn’t played in 14-plus months, but suddenly he’s back and a lot of interest?

DARREN DREGER: Yeah, there’s a lot of interest, but they’ve narrowed the field a little bit. I would say there’s about five-to-seven teams now in the mix for the return of the veteran right-shot defenceman.

Let’s just remind hockey fans that John Klingberg had hip resurfacing surgery in the fall of 2023. The same surgery that Patrick Kane had, the same surgery that Jesse Puljujarvi had.

It’s been a long road of recovery, but in the last couple of weeks he’s really amped it up. He’s been skating on a daily basis, he feels good. 

So, the next step in his process is to identify the team that he wants to play with, sign a contract at least for the remainder of the year, and then push it forward.

Again, five-to-seven teams basically on the cut line right now that Klingberg is going to have to make a decision on. I’d put the front-runners as the Toronto Maple Leafs, honourable mention going to the Edmonton Oilers and the Ottawa Senators in that group.

But if it isn’t Toronto, then likely Edmonton so we’ll see how that plays out.

Canucks holding up trade market with Miller-Pettersson saga?

DUTHIE: And the Vancouver Canucks dominating the headlines lately with the whole J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson situation. Likely tough on both of those guys, tough on the entire team.

But until a deal happens, CJ, how does it affect the entire trade market?

CHRIS JOHNSTON: Well, there’s certainly a sense out there, I’d say, that this is holding things up. That makes some sense, we’re talking about significant players here.

As Vancouver continues to work through its options, according to the sources I talked to, there’s a sense league-wide that J.T. Miller is the more likely of the two players to be moved.

Now, J.T. Miller has a no-movement clause, none of this has been his idea. You talk about it being tough on the players and the people involved, but I think the teams that have been around this have the sense that if it’s the right situation, he’s likely to move on. 

We might not see much action otherwise league-wide until something happens here with Vancouver, because this is such a big domino that’s out there that’s kind of teetering and hasn’t fallen yet, and obviously this could take some more time before something happens.

Flames not shopping Andersson

DUTHIE: It’s that time of year where, look, there’s a lot of rumours out there and some end up being substantiated, and then you get some guys’ names thrown out there that the team really has no interest in trading, at least they say the don’t.

Is that the case with Rasmus Andersson in Calgary, Pierre?

PIERRE LEBRUN: Yeah, the Flames have no interest in trading him, point blank, and they’re a little confused as to why they’re getting calls from other teams checking in on his availability.

What GM Craig Conroy has told other teams is “We’re not interested in trading Rasmus Andersson.” 

He’s not a player on an expiring deal, the Flames are in a playoff race, and in fact, the Flames hope to extend Rasmus Andersson potentially this summer when he’s allowed to extend one year out. 

That may or may not happen, but for now he is a Calgary Flame, and the Flames, they don’t want to tear it down. They want to keep some key veterans around as they continue to transition their roster, and Andersson is one of those players that the Flames want to be part of that.

Doughty nearing return to Kings' lineup

DREGER: Well, sticking with another defenceman in the West, the Los Angeles Kings are eager to get Drew Doughty back into the fold.

Again, a bit of a history lesson here, remindful of the reality that he had ankle surgery to repair a broken ankle from the pre-season, and he has been progressing incredibly well, to a point where we know he’s been skating. He’s been skating on his own, he’s been out there. 

But he is expected to rejoin the Los Angeles Kings on-ice in a non-contact sweater as soon as next week.

Now, if all goes according to plan, the Kings are hopeful that Drew Doughty will make his back into their lineup before the 4 Nations Face-off around Feb. 10.

Imagine if there’s an injury to Team Canada’s blueline, he’d certainly be on Canadian management’s radar.

Stars planning to buy big at trade deadline?

DUTHIE: The Dallas Stars lost the other night in Ottawa but still on a remarkable run, 8-1-1 in their last 10.

Pierre, are they in great position to make some moves at the deadline if they desire?

LEBRUN: You know, the Dallas Stars the last few years have not been shy to add at the deadline. A year ago, Jim Nill traded for Chris Tanev as we remember, but now they have cap flexibility, so watch out.

I think the Stars, a true Cup contender, could add both a top-6 forward and a top-4 defenceman before the March 7 trade deadline. 

But for now, they’re trying to be patient because there are certain needs that could develop that they haven’t even identified yet based on injuries.

Tyler Seguin’s $9.85 million cap hit is not yet on LTI. The Stars continue to carry him right now on their cap, they’re trying to accrue cap space and then eventually they will probably put him on LTI, and they will have big-time flexibility to add if that is indeed the plan.

Team Canada snubs surging

DUTHIE: CJ, Dregs was talking about Doughty coming on, maybe, if there was an injury on Team Canada. 

There’d be a long list of guys if there’s injuries at any position on Team Canada, because it was like all these guys who got snubbed, at the exact same moment, got hot when they found out that they had gotten snubbed.

JOHNSTON: Exactly, you’re looking at top eight goal scorers since Dec. 2, which is the date that Team Canada’s management picked the team, put in the roster officially, are all players that weren’t part of that list.

So you look at guys like Mark Scheifele, Zach Hyman, John Tavares, Jordan Kyrou. All of these names were in the mix, of course, for original selection, but this is why Hockey Canada refused at that time to say to someone: “Hey look, you’re the next man up”, because they wanted to watch what happened since.

Right now, knock wood, everything looks good injury-wise for Team Canada, but obviously if a forward spot opens up in the next four weeks, they have some pretty hot shooters out there to choose from.

DUTHIE: Yeah, if the 4 Nations was still like that previous event where they had the “young guns” team and the Europe team, you could have a “snubbed” team which would be fascinating to watch.