Insider Trading: What kind of offer would the Habs need to trade Anderson?

Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insiders Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger to discuss the NHLPA’s leadership search, Montreal’s plan for Josh Anderson, Dylan Larkin’s approach to free agency, and more on Insider Trading.

Where is the NHLPA in their process into finding someone to replace Donald Fehr as their executive director?

Chris Johnston: They are moving closer and closer to ending this leadership search and the process that’s been ongoing now for a couple of months. What I’ve been told is that it will not be resolved here during all-star weekend.

That is to say that there won’t be any vote among the executive board on Marty Walsh, who was a candidate who was brought forward on Thursday afternoon by the search committee. It’s my belief that he was the only candidate presented by the search committee to the executive board of the NHLPA to succeed Fehr. This is going to take another couple of days, maybe a little bit longer before we get a little clarity.

While Walsh’s name appeared to come out of nowhere when Darren Dreger was the first to report on Wednesday that he had emerged as a lead candidate, he has been part of this process for some time. He had been identified by the head-hunting firm that has been working on behalf of the NHLPA. They’ve had a few phone calls and interviews prior to this point and it does appear as though he will be put forward as the successor to Fehr.

The Montreal Canadiens are sellers but they don’t appear to be in full rebuild mode so what does that mean when they’re taking calls about forward Josh Anderson?

Darren Dreger: Let’s talk about a player who is not in play and the player is in fact Josh Anderson. As we all know, the Canadiens often get calls on Anderson because he’s a unique player in the NHL. He’s that prototypical power-forward.

So, could he be in play?

The only way he gets on the trade block is if a team persuades [Canadiens general manager] Kent Hughes and makes an offer that they simply can’t refuse. We know historically that [Calgary Flames general manager] Brad Treliving has expressed interest in Anderson. Montreal prefers to keep him because he’s got a good long-term contract but this far out from the March 3 trade deadline, anything is possible.

Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Is he using the all-star break as a time to come up with a game plan?

Pierre LeBrun: Yes, Pat Brisson, who is part of the team at Creative Arts Agency who represents Larkin, his plan is to meet with Larkin in the coming days during all-star weekend in South Florida to cover all the options that are in front of him.

Let’s face it, this is a negotiation that has gone on for months between the Red Wings and Larkin where they don’t have an extension yet. My understanding is that there have been some movement from both sides and that dialogue will continue. But the reason Brisson wants to meet with Larkin is that there’s the trade deadline on March 3 and it may be that the Red Wings get trade offers for this player.

Now a very important note here is that Larkin has a full no-movement clause, so he controls his destiny. But how will he react if there is a trade offer? That’s why this is an important meeting between the agent and the player.

How does Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone’s injury affect their approach to the trade deadline?

Darren Dreger: It’s changed [the] landscape for the Golden Knights and I think we can understand and appreciate why. It’s a huge blow in losing Stone indefinitely. But what they don’t know is if he’s out the rest of the season, if he can come back near the end of the season, or his availability for the playoffs. So, everything is being considered.

General manager Kelly McCrimmon and management are talking with their professional scouts and what we know in their history is that if they have a need or a hole they do everything within their power to fill the need and plug the hole. That is ultimately what’s going to happen here. We know that they’re looking for a forward so maybe this ups the ante in terms of the level of forward the Golden Knights are interested in.

The Columbus Blue Jackets would like to trade pending free agent Gustav Nyquist but what are the complications in doing so?

Chris Johnston: It’s complicated and interesting. Nyquist suffered a shoulder injury last week and may be out for the rest of the regular season. This could actually make him be a more compelling trade deadline chip for teams who have a chance to go for it. That’s because of a lot of those teams are already using their long-term injury reserve and have the ability to add Nyquist before the deadline and if he’s not available until after the regular season, they can stash him on LTIR and activate him in the playoffs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, for example, have star forward Auston Matthews on LTIR, they can acquire him and have him there for one day and when Matthews is activated off LTIR, they would have essentially added a player without hurting their cap position whatsoever.

This is something to watch but the player does want to get healthy again. He is open to a move and wants a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. I think he’ll still be traded even though he is injured at the moment.