TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Gino Reda to discuss speculation around Connor Hellebuyck’s return, the price tag for Dylan Larkin, Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev being ruled week-to-week, Josh Anderson’s future in Montreal and Rick Bowness calling out his team again.
GINO REDA: Big news on the Chris Tanev front. Is Connor Hellebuyck going to rejoin the Winnipeg Jets after all? What’s the price for Dylan Larkin? What are the Habs’ plans for Josh Anderson, and what’s the fallout for Rick Bowness?
Details on these stories and more with our Insider Darren Dreger.
Dregs, let’s start with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who this morning announced that Tanev is now out week-to-week.
Where do they go from here?
DARREN DREGER: Well, this is a change. Earlier in the week, prior to our Tuesday Maple Leafs game at Utah on TSN, the information we had at that point was that everybody was cautiously optimistic about the prognosis and the fact that Tanev wasn’t believed to be out of the Leafs’ lineup for that long.
But they needed to get the player, the team back to Toronto, they went through additional testing, and it was determined this week that, in fact, Tanev does need more time, week-to-week.
But again, based on the injury that Tanev dealt with last year, I would caution Leafs fan not to panic here or worry too much. Week-to-week means that’s the time required to get Tanev healthy and back on the ice.
REDA: Alright, let’s talk Hellebuyck. He’s already lost over $600,000 and counting while sitting at home and holding out for a trade. Meanwhile, the Jets have only lost one game in regulation without him.
What are you hearing about him possibly deciding to end his holdout to rejoin the Jets while he waits for a trade?
DREGER: What I can tell you is that all of it is speculation and the focus remains on getting Hellebuyck traded and the Jets getting a fair return.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff deserves an award for patience to this point, because we know over the last several months there have been offers, there have been tire kickers, there’s been continued conversations with general managers, but no one yet is stepping up.
I think, financially, we can all appreciate Hellebuyck - he’s feeling the stress, he’s feeling the pressure, hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of dollars – but the focus remains on navigating through to a trade.
Nothing has changed on that front, and I do not expect to see Hellebuyck back with the Jets.
REDA: Big move by Red Wings interim general manager Shawn Horcoff, he just signed Alex DeBrincat to a new seven-year, $91 million deal. But nothing done with restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson and no trade for Larkin yet.
Dregs, do we know what the Wings are hoping to get in a deal for Larkin?
DREGER: Yeah, three or four pieces. That’s standard operating procedure when you’re talking about a player of this significance.
He’s at a prime age right now. His contract in incredible – you’ll remember he signed that eight-year extension with Detroit that carries him through 2031 at an $8.7 million cap hit – so there’s a lot of teams with interest in Larkin.
Unfortunately for those teams, they are not on his trade list.
So, three or four pieces is what Horcoff is looking for. Again, it’s kind of the usual stuff here. You’re talking about two ‘A’-quality prospects, you’re looking at a top-nine forward who can play with the Red Wings in the NHL right now, and on top of all of that, a first-round draft pick.
I believe that there are clubs out there that are willing to pay that price. It doesn’t sound too steep when you look at the significance of Larkin as a No. 2 centre on most teams in the NHL.
But so far, there hasn’t been a fit – at least with the teams on his list.
REDA: When it gets done, it’s going to be a big trade.
A nice start for Josh Anderson to the season, he scored his third and fourth goal in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. That’s four in just seven games out of the gate.
He’s 32 years old, in the final year of his seven-year deal with the Habs. What’s Montreal’s plan for him?
DREGER: Ultimately, it is to extend Anderson. He’s a special player.
He’s a power forward with the Habs, and when players like this – going into the final year of their contracts – have big starts the way Anderson has started in Montreal, guess what happens? Hockey insiders like me start poking around to find out what’s going to happen here.
It’s also important to note that Anderson is represented by Darren Ferris, and we know that Ferris likes to march his coveted free agents right to July 1. How do you know what the market value is for a player unless that player is willing to go to market?
But I know that Anderson and his family love the idea of staying in Montreal, he’s had success there.
And I also know that general manager Kent Hughes spoke with Anderson before the start of the season to say, ‘Look, we’re focused on trade, we’re trying to bring in pieces to help this team. So don’t take this the wrong way, we just need a little but longer but we’ll get to you.’
REDA: Harsh comments from our buddy Rick Bowness after the Columbus Blue Jackets got pumped 7-3 by the Florida Panthers.
He basically said if there were players on this team that weren’t embarrassed, he doesn’t want them on his team. We understand he’s ticked off, but they’ve only played five games and they’ve won two of them.
Is it a little early to take this so public, Dregs?
DREGER: It is, it is. I don’t know if you caught it or not but I listened to Henrik Lundqvist on the NHL on TNT hockey panel and he talked about, as well as the other guys on the panel, how slippery a slope this is and you do risk the fear of losing players, especially this early in the season.
The bigger problem is the fact that, look, we start poking around when you hear from Bowness, this isn’t the first time that we’ve heard him snap on his team.
You remember at the end of last year and there have been other occasions where he’s been very direct and been very honest. You’re talking about a veteran coach who has no time for a lack of effort.
But player agents with clients on the roster of the Blue Jackets are saying ‘Okay, enough,’ or there is, again, the possibility of losing the room.
That can’t happen in Columbus. There’s too much at stake.
REDA: Yeah, there is. That’s the early version of Insider Trading.
The full version with Dregs and C.J. is coming up on the early edition of SportsCentre.