Meier stays atop new Trade Bait board - but for how long?

They may not be in the same realm as newly traded NBA superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, but Bo Horvat, Vladimir Tarasenko and the New York Rangers’ first-round draft pick moving in deals well before the March 3 trade deadline is sounding the alarm and may be a harbinger of things to come.

Horvat, Tarasenko and the Rangers’ pick all ranked as premier assets on the trade market.

And now, precisely three weeks before the deadline, there is talk that Timo Meier, San Jose’s 30-goal-scoring power forward who is No. 1 on the new TSN Trade Bait Board, could be traded sooner rather than later.

“The amount of interest in Timo Meier continues to escalate,” TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun said Thursday. “And that's just going to continue now with Tarasenko off the board. And the sense from talking to people around the league today was that the Sharks don't necessarily have to wait to March 3 to get this done here and there's a couple reasons for that.

“One is that if an extension has to be part of this, and [Meier's] agent Claude Lemieux has to be part of this…Among the teams that were reported before: New Jersey and Carolina remain very interested. But there are several teams that have shown interest. Bottom line here with Timo Meier is that I don't think this is a March 3 trade. I think this is going to happen before then.”

New to the TSN Trade Bait Board this week is Detroit left winger and impending unrestricted free agent Tyler Bertuzzi, who debuts at No. 6.

“The Red Wings are taking calls on Bertuzzi,” said TSN Insider Darren Dreger, “and we shouldn't be surprised by that based on his contract status. He's 27 years of age. He's having a tough year with [the] Red Wings. Now that's coming off scoring 30 [goals] last year. So the interest is there, but it's no different than any of the other pending unrestricted free agents.”

Bertuzzi has two goals and six points in 19 games this season.

Even with Tarasenko and defenceman Niko Mikkola gone, the Blues remain front and centre on the TSN Trade bait Board with No. 3 centre Ryan O’Reilly and No. 5 winger Ivan Barbashev.

Chicago, meanwhile, remains well-represented on the TSN list with four players among the top 11: No. 7 Patrick Kane, No. 8 Jonathan Toews, No. 9 Jake McCabe and No. 11 Sam Lafferty.

Kane dropped from No. 3 one week ago in the wake of New York trading for Tarasenko.

“There are those close to Kane that believed that if he got to a point where he was ready to waive his no-movement clause from the Chicago Blackhawks, that New York would be the prime destination in Patrick Kane's mind,” said TSN Insider Chris Johnston.

“And that's no longer in play. The Rangers, ultimately, decided that the acquisition cost plus the cap implications had Tarasenko making more sense for them. And so, while Kane continues to mull his options, the odds of him leaving Chicago get just a little bit slimmer. Because I believe there's only a small handful of teams he'd even consider waiving that no-movement clause for.”

Arizona has four players on the new TSN Trade Bait Board, including the top-ranked defenceman - No. 2 Jakob Chychrun – and the only goalie, No. 20 Karel Vejmelka. Also listed are No. 13 centre Nick Bjugstad and No. 21 defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere.

Last week’s No. 21, Edmonton right winger Jesse Puljujarvi, has moved up to No. 12.

Johnston said, “Despite some of the struggles he's had this year, I still think there is some interest in Puljujarvi. It's even possible maybe we see him put through waivers. If that happens, I think he's a more tradeable chip because you'll be able to go up and down between the AHL in the NHL.”

Minnesota defenceman Matt Dumba was the biggest faller, week to week, going from No. 19 to No. 30 because there has been no substantive trade talk associated with him.

NOTE - 2023-24 indicates player’s status beyond 2022-23: UFA, RFA or number of years under contract