Insider Trading: Treliving makes a move…more to come in near future?

Host James Duthie and the TSN Hockey Insiders have the latest update on Connor McDavid, if the Leafs have more moves coming any time soon, William Nylander’s ice time comments, early returns on the Dubois-Kuemper trade and an upcoming NHL meeting that will likely deal with growing NCAA/CHL concerns.

So, the Oilers announced McDavid is out 2 to 3 weeks and he responds by skating right away?

Chris Johnston: That's right. On Thursday morning, Connor McDavid did put on the skates just to test things out with that ankle injury. I had a chance to speak to his agent, Judd Moldaver from Wasserman. He basically said, 'look, things are pretty encouraging here.' I mean, there was some real concern, obviously, when McDavid left the game earlier this week, flew home, went through the battery of tests he did. And you get that two-to-three week timeline. But you know, at this point they're going to have to take things day-by-day, make sure he has no setbacks. But this is a player that's come back ahead of schedule before and [I] won't offer any predictions at this point - but certainly all signs are pointing to him getting up and running here again as soon as possible. 

The Leafs make a deal already in sending [Timothy] Liljegren to San Jose for Matt Benning. More to come?

Darren Dreger: Yeah, no doubt about that. And [it] has more to do with roster space as opposed to the cap issues that the Toronto Maple Leafs seem to tangle with on a day-in and day-out basis annually. So, I would expect that Brad Treliving is either going to have to place another player on waivers. Perhaps there's a conditioning stint to the American Hockey League that can be applied, or the idea of a trade, because Toronto right now is locked in with its 23-man roster. But beyond that, it was a fresh start for Timothy Liljegren. Right? He wasn't fitting the eye of head coach Craig Berube. So, he gets that start with the San Jose Sharks. The Toronto Maple Leafs get a couple of draft picks, which they need. Matt Benning - a veteran defenceman - who Treliving could also flip and add an additional asset. So, tidy work with depth players.

Johnston: And, a few eyebrows raised on this day when William Nylander was getting grilled by Mark Masters and company and just happened to mention that he isn't happy with his ice time. Obviously, whenever any star player takes that kind of conversation publicly, it's going to get a little bit of a reaction here. And, I think the context is what's important. Nylander has seen his ice time drop roughly two minutes this season from where he was at last year. He was not killing penalties where he once was. He's been recently put on the second power-play unit. I think that this is a guy who once doubted his position in the Leafs' lineup or how committed the organization was to him. That went away last year when he played so much, he signed that big extension. And since, a little bit of confusion from him behind the scenes on why things have been where they're at. But, Craig Berube says he doesn't mind a player who wants to play more. He's got to earn that ice time. But you know something interesting for us to keep our eye on here.

So, back when we were covering the Cup final and everybody [was] focused on the Oilers and Panthers - in the middle of it, L.A. and Washington make frankly, a stunner of a deal. Pierre-Luc Dubois - that big, long contract goes to Washington for Darcy Kuemper. It's early in the season, but do we have some early returns on it?

Pierre LeBrun: I think [it's] a trade that we're going to look back on for several years, but so far so good is the early return. You know, speaking with Caps head coach Spencer Carbery and asking him about Dubois play. And, yeah, the points aren't there, he said. But he goes, 'that does not tell the story about what's going on here.' He called him terrific - quote, unquote - said he puts him out against the top offensive players from the other team, and Dubois has shut them down. Off the ice, he said he has fit in seamlessly with that dressing room with the Washington Capitals. So, they're thrilled with what they're

getting so far from Pierre-Luc Dubois. On the L.A. side, that seemed like maybe a contract dump for L.A. But they believe that Darcy Kuemper can bounce back after losing his job to Charlie Lindgren last year. Kuemper is back from injuries won back-to-back games. Well, all I can tell you is that when you look at goalie's numbers - when they go to L.A. the last several years - they get better and they think that will be the case for Darcy Kuemper.

So, if it gets approved in August, CHL players are going to be allowed to go play NCAA. And knowing that and knowing the fact that NCAA players can now get paid, [there] seems to be implications on multiple levels.

Dreger: No question about that and there's a continued search by all levels for more information that includes the National Hockey League, the National Hockey League Players' Association continuing to do its due diligence, and the Canadian Hockey League. Now, from an NHL perspective, NHL general managers want to know if their agreement, the signing window with NCAA-drafted players or major junior hockey-drafted players - that window to sign - Is it going to change? So, that's going to be a big item coming up at the National Hockey League GM meetings in November. Meanwhile, you've got the CHL who [has] a focus on providing the best opportunity academically and developmentally for their class of 16-to-18 year olds so that the NCAA takes 19 and 20 year olds. But the biggest concern here is what if you've got a guy like Landon DuPont - who's a terrific young defenceman in the [WHL], or Gavin McKenna - a really talented young forward - what if a top program in the NCAA makes it financially worthwhile for kids like that to jump early? That's the biggest concern among CHL GMs.