Insider Trading: Where the Canadian teams stand two days out from trade deadline

James Duthie is joined by the TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston to go across the country and look at where each Canadian team stands with two days left until the NHL trade deadline.

James Duthie: What we thought we'd do here is a little cross Canada check up and go through the seven Canadian teams as to where exactly they stand less than two days before the deadline. Let's start in Toronto. Dregs, we've been talking about this for about two months. Does the pursuit of a centre continue?

Darren Dreger: It does and Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs are as eager as ever to acquire that number two centre or worst case, the number three centre. But I don't think that the targets have changed a whole lot despite the reality of where the St. Louis Blues are and that's right near the playoff line in the Western Conference. Treliving is going to continue to push Doug Armstrong and end until he says, ‘we're not trading the captain.’ And then you've got, of course, Brock Nelson, you've got Scott Laughton and you have some other options, but for me it's that 1-2 scenario between Schenn and Brock Nelson. Would Toronto consider trading all three of their young prospects? You're talking about Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten and Ben Danford for Brayden Schenn. Is that even enough? And the belief out there is as long as Armstrong is willing to listen that means that he's absolutely fishing and shopping for an unbelievable return, and if it's not Toronto, is it a team that is willing to also give roster players, right? Because the players that I've mentioned out of Toronto aren't ready to be NHL roster players, so still looking at Schenn and then Brock Nelson for Toronto.

Duthie: Let’s go right up to the West Coast and Vancouver, who made those two deals back-to-back. The big one with JT Miller going to the Rangers back at the end of January. Still, some talk about Elias Pettersson, but maybe it's got a little quiet. What happens with Brock Boeser? Is that at the forefront right now?

Chris Johnston: I think it is. And to me, what's interesting about Vancouver is you're talking about a team that could be both buying and selling by Friday. And I think when it comes to Brock Boeser, of course, a pending UFA, they're gauging the market certainly on what he might be and what the Canucks found, at least at this point is there's a few players in that same mix. You got Mikko Rantanen out there in Carolina. You got Rickard Rakell having a 20-goal season in Pittsburgh. And so they're kind of in the same cluster of teams to see what the level of interest is in Boeser. Of course, they can still elect to hang on to him, and so I think that's still to be worked out. But one thing to underline here with the Canucks is anything they do before the deadline, it's about next season. Yes, they're in a playoff chase now. They'd love to get in the playoffs with this group, but they're not thinking anything short term. Right now, it's a bit of stepping back and looking at the bigger picture.

Duthie: Montreal's gotten hot. But you don't think they're going to deviate too much from the plan? Just a couple of UFAs, what's the likelihood of them getting moved?

Pierre LeBrun: Yeah, I mean, listen, the biggest thing has been taken care of in signing Jake Evans and frankly, their season in many ways has been achieved in terms of their goal, which is playing meaningful games in the month of March. The rest right now is gravy, including what they do with Joel Armia and David Savard, their two most notable pending UFA's. My understanding is they don't want to trade both by this deadline. That they feel they've been taken away too much from a team that's trying to make the playoffs. But certainly, they could trade one or the other is what they're telling teams. But you know, the price has to be met in the sense that they don't need another fourth-round pick. They got lots of those from the last few years, so a team may step up for Savard or Armia for it to make sense. The other conversations Montreal is having according to people around the league is that they're looking to make a hockey deal, potentially the type of deal that Kent Hughes been known to make in the month of June. If he can do it before Friday's deadline for a player that fits long term, then he would. But right now, I don't see anything that is imminent that way.

Duthie: The best team in Canada all year long. The best team in the NHL all season long…the Winnipeg Jets. Is second-line centre still the number one priority?

Dreger: That's exactly what the priority is. And look, I mean it could come down to Toronto, Winnipeg and ultimately, I guess comes down to Lou Lamoriello and the New York Islanders deciding whether or not they're actually going to trade Brock Nelson. Nelson would be a real good add as a two centre for the Winnipeg Jets. If he's not available or they don't have the package, or you know, sometimes trade protection comes into play too, when players have to waive to go to Winnipeg. In this case it feels like Nelson would be willing to go to Winnipeg if that all falls through, then I think that they would consider Joel Armia as a bottom-six player who can play in the top six. And they'd also like to add a veteran defenceman and Winnipeg also has the prospects coming that would facilitate a trade like that.

Duthie: The Oilers made an addition up front in Trent Frederic (on Tuesday). Would they still like to add on the back end, Pierre?

LeBrun: You're asking about Edmonton. Listen, the priority is D? They've been spending all day looking at the D market. But the other thing is I think what's important for that organization is in some ways is to make sure the emotion is out of this. They're in a bad way right now. They're playing their worst hockey of the season. And this is a time that's really dangerous, 48 hours out to make a trade that you regret, and I think Stan Bowman's trying to keep his cool here and I think he will. Yes, they need a defenceman. But even though a lot of people want to see him go trade for a goalie, I don't believe that's a priority for the organization.

Duthie: I want you to cover the Sens and the Flames. Sens in that wild hunt for the wild card right now. Anything significant likely to happen there?

Johnston: I don't think in either case. I mean, if there's still time. So, if there's gonna be a surprise, it would be if anything big happened in either Ottawa or Calgary while the Sens, well look, some of their younger names have been out there. Josh Norris a bit during this year. I don't get the feeling that anything like that is brewing. They'd like to add maybe some depth to their roster, but you know, because of cap constraints, I don't expect them to be too active. Meanwhile, in Calgary, they've hung in the race, right? People are calling on Rasmus Andersson, who's got one more year beyond this one on his contract. But you know, it does seem as though Calgary is indicating to teams, ‘look, we'll deal with his future this offseason, let's keep this group together and keep pushing for the playoffs.’