Insider Trading: Jets may not have to go to market to fill need at centre

TSN’s Hockey Insiders on how Winnipeg may already have the second-line centre they thought they needed, the latest on John Tavares, teams calling Chicago on Seth Jones, a strong message delivered by Blues GM Doug Armstrong and concern over slow-moving 4 Nations tickets.

Jets may not have to go to market to fill need at centre

Duthie: Your Insiders today are Chris Johnston and Darren Dreger.

It's become an annual event that around trade deadline time, the Jets are looking for a second-line centre, but maybe not as urgent right now, Dregs?

Dreger: No, I think that's fair. And frankly, James, we look around the contending teams in the National Hockey League, there aren't too many that aren't looking for some help up the middle of the ice and looking for another top-four, top-five defenceman. And for the most part, that is Winnipeg. But because of an injury to [Vladislav] Namestnikov, they've had to alter their lines, and that means captain Adam Lowry has been thrown into the second-line centre spot. And again, it's a small sample size, but they really like what they see. I mean, the size is there, the physicality, the hockey IQ, he can shoot, he can do so many good things. So if this continues up to the deadline, and the Winnipeg Jets aren't injured, maybe this allows Kevin Cheveldayoff to take a more versatile approach, and instead of specifically looking at centre ice, maybe just grabs the best forward available at that point.

Leafs get encouraging news on Tavares injury

Duthie: The Toronto Maple Leafs lost their second-line centre in John Tavares. It didn't look good when he went down in practice, one of those awkward falls, CJ, but the worst-case scenario is all ruled out?

Johnston: Yeah, that definitely seems to be the case. A few sighs of relief for anyone who saw that video and cares about the Leafs, or anyone that was at practice on Wednesday when Tavares went down, throws his gloves down. You're right, didn't look good at all. But you know, the Leafs have officially listed Tavares as week to week. I'm told that could be as short as two weeks before he's back in the Leafs lineup. And this is a bit of an unusual situation all around. John Tavares, in his seven years as a Leaf, has played 97 per cent of the games. This guy hasn't missed much time, and the fact that it isn't going to be a long-term injury, I think, allows them not to have to worry about speeding up any looks at bringing in extra help, and obviously good news that he won't be dealing with any too serious before he's back.

Teams calling on Jones as Hawks fight through rebuild

Duthie: We all expect Chicago's rebuild to continue as they'll be active heading up towards the deadline. Taylor Hall's name has been out there. Any potentially surprise names out of Chicago, Dregs?

Dreger: Yeah, veteran defenceman Seth Jones. I mean, that name is a surprise to me, but again, let's not play with semantics here. It's not like Kyle Davidson and the Chicago Blackhawks are shopping the defenceman. I mean, he's got a pile of years left at $9.5 million AAV, his contract doesn't expire until 2029-30 and he has the full no-move clause across the board. But look, he's a quality defenceman, and yes, teams are calling and they're asking about Seth Jones’ availability. So it's going to be something that we have to continue to watch as Kyle Davidson, again, put some form of stamp in this fight to the rebuild of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Blues GM Doug Armstrong delivers strong message

Duthie: The St. Louis Blues sitting in fifth in their division right now, three points out of a wild-card spot, but the general manager not happy, Dregs?

Dreger: No, getting a bit feisty. I think we can understand why. I mean, Doug Armstrong has been the architect of change for a long time in St. Louis, including this year and a drastic change right, in firing his coach and bringing in Jim Montgomery. The St. Louis Blues have not been consistent, have not played good hockey of late. The coach is frustrated, and now the general manager is as well. He recently visited the dressing room and relayed the message that, look this is an important month. January is big. They're just outside the wild-card cut line in the Western Conference, so there's time on their side. But he basically said, ‘Look, if you guys aren't going to get the job done, I'm going to start moving bodies, and I'll change some things moving forward here.’ So not a threat, but just an acknowledgement from the GM that he needs more.

Concern growing over slow-moving 4 Nations tickets

Duthie: Guys, we’re less than a month away from 4 Nations now. We've been talking about it all year. Plenty of hype around the rosters etc. but is there concern about lack of interest as far as ticket sales, CJ?

Johnston: Well, there are plenty of good seats still available, and I would say that's enough to set up at least a few alarm bells for the NHL and the NHL Players Association. I mean, how much concern depends who you talk to. Some are really worried about this. Others a little bit less so, but there is certainly consensus that after such a long time waiting for international hockey to come back with the best NHL players, they can't do it in front of an empty building. And so I think you're going to see a real push here to sell tickets, and targeted marketing is planned for later this month, and they do have some tickets to sell, because there's a lot of games, and a lot of them are unaccounted for at this point.

Duthie: Canada opens up against Sweden in Montreal just under four weeks from now.