What to expect from Canada's teams as NHL off-season heats up

The NHL off-season is in full swing with the NHL Draft taking place in Montreal on Thursday and Friday and free agency getting underway on July 13. TSN Hockey reporters and analysts give their takes on the storylines for Canada's teams going into a very important couple weeks. 

Montreal Canadiens

What do you expect to happen with the Habs owning the No. 1 pick in Thursday's Draft?

John Lu: Kent Hughes said if the draft were to take place tonight (Monday), the Canadiens would be selecting first overall. They wouldn’t be trading that pick away is what he’s saying as of this moment. However, he didn’t close the door to other possibilities, saying there would be a greater chance that they would trade up from their No. 26 position as opposed to trading away their first overall pick. Hughes inferences a lot can happen between now and Thursday night and especially Thursday night on the draft floor. So he’s open to possibilities, but at this moment and time it looks like the Canadiens will be selecting first overall.  

How is the front office debating who to pick?

Lu: Hughes inferred that the debate is between three players: Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky and Logan Cooley as opposed to just the two top picks. What the Canadiens are debating about are not just hockey issues, but a lot of it has to do with projection. What these players will look like at 23 to 24, not necessarily at 18. And where will be the best place for them in the short term…in Montreal or in Junior? Or at college hockey? They’re also trying to discern how these players, especially their successful candidate, will deal with the unique situation of the pressure attached to being the first overall pick in Montreal. So there’s still due diligence going on behind the scenes. Special Advisor of Hockey Operations Vinny Lecavalier has already had a conversation with Wright and inferred he may still be talking with Slafkovsky and Cooley as well.

Winnipeg Jets

Do you expect Kevin Cheveldayoff do be busy ahead of the Draft and free agency?

Sara Orlesky: I think it will definitely be a very busy couple weeks for Kevin Cheveldayoff behind the scenes. What exactly that translates to remains to be scene, but when the Winnipeg Jets missed the playoffs this past spring, I said that I felt this could be a very interesting off-season for them and that it really should be as well. Obviously they’ve checked the box now of hiring a new head coach, but there was obviously issues with the Winnipeg Jets last season and the way they underperformed. When the players spoke to the media for their final media availabilities, you could see the frustration with the group. There was a lot of talk about the need for increased accountability. Looking in the mirror about players needing to all pull in the same direction. Whether or not that can be solved simply by changing a coaching staff remains to be seen. There’s a lot of speculation about the future of different players as well.  Mark Scheifele, there was lot of talk at the end of this season when he said he wanted to look and see what the direction of the Jets’ organization was going to be. Well, it’s been very positive in terms of the conversations that we’ve heard that Scheifele has had with new head coach Rick Bowness. He said that they’ve already talked about things. He’s described that conversation as being positive and those rumours have really quieted down. But, we’ve heard captain Blake Wheeler’s name be out there, Pierre Luc Dubois, who headlines the restricted free agents that the Jets have, his name has been out there in terms of speculation as well to what his future could be. So there are a lot of different moving pieces and I think that regardless of what happens over the next couple weeks when we look at the rest of the off-season leading into training camp in September, I think it will be a very interesting time for the Winnipeg Jets as they look to rebound from a disappointing campaign last year and tried to get back into the postseason.”

Vancouver Canucks

Is Pickering a perfect pick for Canucks with 15th overall selection?

Button: “You look at the Vancouver Canucks, they have a No. 1 goaltender, lots of top-end offensive talent, they have Quinn Hughes on the blue line. If this team wants to move forward and be taken seriously as a team capable of winning and having success in the NHL, they have to add defencemen. Owen Pickering is that type of defenceman. He reminds me so much of Jacob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes. He has the same efficiency, effectiveness and lots of room to grow.”

Kori Cheverie: “Pickering’s got great size and he’s got the confidence and poise to carry pucks out of his own end. He also has patience on the offensive blue line. He waits for net-front presence to be there, whether it’s stick or body, and gets the puck to the net...He’s a player who can help you on the breakout. He’s confident, he’s got the deception, and he’s a great defenceman.

Where can he improve?

“For his size and reach it’s going to be crucial for him to focus on his stick details...But that’s going to come with time, he’s got lots of room to go. The sky's the limit for Owen Pickering.”

Calgary Flames

Onrait: Talking about the state of the Canadian teams going into the offseason, and we continue that with the Calgary Flames. Look at this list of key free agents: Johnny Gaudreau, unrestricted free agent, Matthew Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane restricted free agents. Gaudreau tied Jonathan Huberdeau for the second-most points in the National Hockey League this season. We welcome in Salim Valji – I imagine this Flames’ fan base, who enjoyed some real success this past season in the regular season… is everyone full of anxiety about the Johnny Gaudreau situation because he’s been very coy about exactly what he wants to do?

Valji: Yeah Jay, it’s a mystery that may require some investigative journalism but all parties are being silent including [Flames General Manager] Brad Treliving, Johnny’s agent Lewis Gross, Johnny’s not responding to my Instagram direct messages so unfortunately we do not really know a ton but it does look like he’s seriously mulling his options. His love for Calgary, Jay, is truly genuine, his family adores it here, his parents come often and speak highly of how he’s been treated but this is a life decision.

I don’t think this is necessarily a huge step back if, heaven forbid for Flames fans, Gaudreau decides to test the market and ultimately move on because I think you can replicate or rebuild your roster in a different way if Johnny ultimately decides to move on and the NHL is full of players that play on top lines but don’t necessarily look like they have top-line pedigree on paper – in Toronto you have players like Michael Bunting who was undrafted and he is a real success story. Over in Edmonton Kyler Yamamoto and Zach Hyman – of course with the Toronto Maple Leafs cemented himself as a top-line player.

I think the Flames, if they lose Gaudreau, it’s not necessarily the end of the world. They’ll obviously have to remake that top line a little bit, but you can plug and play certain types of players that play well with skill players – Elias Lindholm and Tkachuk are really phenomenal at what they do and if Johnny walks, I don’t think it’s the end of the world – perhaps the stats of the player coming in might not be as gaudy but Calgary I don’t necessarily think will take a huge step back quite like a lot of people fear they might if he ultimately decides to move on.

Onrait: We always try to see the silver lining on this show and that is a nice way to look at things for Flames fans who are feeling a lot of stress right now. Calgary has just under $27 million in projected cap space – other than dealing with the Gaudreau situation, what are some of the things this team needs to address this season.        

Valji: Well if Gaudreau does walk you have additional cap space to look at adding another depth forward; their forward group is already pretty good in terms of quality scorers up and down who can also play a defensive game but I’m most intrigued by Calgary’s defence because Chris Tanev, that warrior who played so well while very injured during the postseason might not be back until the new year and Oliver Kylington is in need of a new deal he was arguably Calgary’s most improved player – if not the most improved player in the NHL and then Eric Gudbranson and Nikita Zadorov are both coming off of career seasons and likely want to cash in on that on the open market.

I do think that Calgary will try to remake that second pairing and get a little bit meaner and tougher to play against and to have someone to compliment Tanev and that true stay-at-home defence pairing on the back end as opposed to having a more shifty and skilled player like Kylington playing top-four minutes. The truth is that Calgary might have three to four new blue liners next season so in addition to the usual depth forwards and acquiring people that can play responsibly up and down the lineup I think Calgary will likely have a very different looking bottom-four defence in the new year and that, after the Gaudreau situation is solved, will be Treliving’s next priority.

Onrait: Can I ask you about Tkachuk? The Kevin Fiala trade and then subsequent seven-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings last week – TSN Hockey Insider Craig Button brought it up, he said this is a potential comparable for Treliving and maybe for Tkachuk – do you see it being a problem to get Tkachuk to sign long-term with this team?

Valji: I think the fascinating thing is all eyes – or most of them – are on the Flames in the NHL world with whether they’ll re-sign Gaudreau because of the talent he has but if an American commits to a franchise long-term that tells Tkachuk that this Flames team is very capable of doing what it did last season which was surprise a lot of people and win the Pacific division.

So when you look at the potential ramifications if Gaudreau signs it probably signals to Tkachuk that Calgary is a long-term viable destination for consistent success and that goes a long way and I think it opens a lot of eyes around the NHL world if Johnny ultimately commits to the Flames. We already know that Tkachuk publicly has said he is very open to signing long-term with Calgary but the ripple effects of Gaudreau signing or not signing I think will play a huge role if Tkachuk views Calgary as a consistent, long-term contender for the Stanley Cup and of course that would certainly be helped if his line mate re-signs here.

Onrait: We brought up Treliving a lot, which makes sense, but Treliving and [head coach] Darryl Sutter are going into the final years of their deals – do you think they’re ultimately rewarded with new long-term contracts for the success that this team has had, particularly last season? What would it take for this team to blow everything up and star over again?

Valji: I think the Flames ownership group values stability a lot. Treliving came in here in 2014 and they had come off a stretch where they hadn’t really won a playoff series since that ’04 run and he’s done a lot of really good things. They have a really good decision-making process here - you look at the contract Gaudreau is coming off of, he was making less than $7 million as a 100-point player, Mangiapane is making less than $3 million and he’s a 35-goal scorer, the Lindholm and Noah Hannefin contracts look like steals.

The Flames have been very successful big-game hunters in the free agent market: they’ve brought in James Neal, which maybe didn’t work as they wanted but Blake Coleman and Jacob Markstrom had other offers and opportunities but they chose to come to Calgary so I think the Flames management has a really good structure and process in place. I imagine we’ll hear about Treliving re-signing here before long because the franchise values stability and I think Treliving and his colleagues have done very good work I just think they have to figure out how to get Calgary to that next stage where they are having consistent long playoff runs.

For Darryl Sutter I think his relationship with ownership is also very strong and to me I look at it as a blank slate for however long Sutter wants to be here, he will be here. I could see a situation where after the season coming up Darryl maybe decides to take a step back and promote Kirk Muller to the head coach position and Sutter has sort of a ‘coaching consultancy’ role like he did with the Anaheim Ducks. Either way, I strongly believe both Sutter and Treliving have very strong relationships with Flames ownership, and I don’t anticipate them blowing it up any time soon. 

Edmonton Oilers

Are the Oilers looking at Claude Giroux and would he be a fit in their system?

Franklin: TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports the Oilers could have interest in Claude Giroux. How would he look alongside Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl?

Johnson: He would look amazing, of course they have interest in him. You should always have interest in every good player out there and Claude Giroux unquestionably is still a very good player. He can play centre, though if he goes to Edmonton he will very likely play the wing. And he’s a guy who good players like playing with. That matters in Edmonton. Those two top centremen want to feel good, want to feel comfortable and confident in the people that they play with all year long and Claude Giroux can certainly do that. Now, Edmonton is a far departure from Philadelphia and from South Florida and you wonder if Claude Giroux is going title chasing right now and does he believe Edmonton is the best opportunity to go catch a Stanley Cup for the first time. Those will be some of the problems, as well as, what does this mean for Evander Kane? If you’re spending lots of money on Claude Giroux – and make no mistake, he’ll cost a lot – can you afford everything on your wish list?

Toronto Maple Leafs 

The top priority for the Maple Leafs this off-season

Onrait: Teams all have lists of things they need to accomplish in the off-season. Does Toronto’s list just say “goaltending?”

Mark Masters: Yeah. It’s goaltending, goaltending, goaltending. Nothing else is close to the top of the priority list. They’ve got to figure it out. We know what happened last summer. Petr Mrazek, three-year deal, $3.8 million cap hit, it was a miss. It did not pan out. Injuries and patchy play. And we know Jack Campbell is going, it appears, is destined to go to the open market and is due a raise and the Leafs may not be able to afford him. And this is a chance for them to reset. The goaltending has been up and down during this era. You can look back at the last season and make an argument that the dip in goaltending during the middle of the season cost them a chance to make a push for the division title which could have been something that made the playoffs a bit different, a different matchup perhaps. So, it’s important. And that is the top of the list, it’s by far the top priority for the club heading into the off-season.

Who are the Maple Leafs looking at in net?

Franklin: LeBrun believes the Leafs will inquire about Marc-Andre Fleury and Ville Husso and others. Fleury is the biggest name on the market, do you think he would be a good fit in Toronto?

Johnson: Of course he’d be a good fit, he’s a good goalie. And what Toronto could use with Marc-Andre Fleury is that he’s not going to demand a lot of term, he probably won’t even demand a lot of money because he’s trying to find the right situation but while they will ask about Fleury, I think his best spot is going into Colorado – the defending champs – for a year or two and partnering up with Pavel Francouz and letting Darcy Kuemper walk. So, while Toronto will ask about Fleury, he’ll have to choose Toronto and playing for the Maple Leafs and all that that entails for him and his young family. But also, there will be other really good teams like Edmonton and Colorado that will be after services. So he has to pick them as well. The Leafs might be forced to go with option No. 2 Ville Husso or option No. 3 Kuemper, whatever might be. Because they do need a goalie. I like Fleury in Toronto too, but if I’m him, I’m heading out to Denver.
 

Ottawa Senators

Why did the Sens move on from Colin White?

Onrait: Under the age of 26, why have the Sens decided to move on from this player at this age?

Bruce Garrioch: Well I think the Senators just look at this as something that makes sense. Sometimes you just have to admit your mistakes and I think that’s what Pierre Dorion has done here. Colin White has been hampered by injuries and inconsistency and when you look at the situation that he’s been in with this team right now, he just doesn’t fit anymore. Shane Pinto will replace him down the middle next year, they’ve got Josh Norris in the No. 1 spot and Tim Stützle in the No. 2 position. White doesn’t want to play wing, they tried to trade him and they couldn’t. I think they just came to the realization that both sides had to move on.

How might the Sens approach Thursday’s draft?

James Duthie: If Ottawa does decide to trade the No. 7 overall pick, what kind of player does general manager Pierre Dorion need to get in return?

Button: You need a quality player who can help right now. How often have we heard the name Jakob Chychrun over the last months? Right age, right contract, and he can come in and make a significant impact. So, if you’re the Ottawa Senators and you’re trying to improve the blueline with high-end quality, Jakob Chychrun is a top-pair defenceman. It allows Jake Sanderson to grow a little bit. You’re not forcing other players in to take some of the pressure off Thomas Chabot. That’s the type of player you need if you’re giving up the seventh overall pick.

Duthie: If the Senators hold onto that selection, who is the best fit?

Button: Cutter Gauthier. A big winger that can score goals. And he doesn’t just score them, he scores them in multiple ways. He’s not just a one-trick pony and when I watch Gauthier play, I clearly see somebody that can take advantage of good play-making centres and understand how he needs to score, when he needs to score and he becomes really difficult to deter. I’m looking at the best goal-scorer in this year’s draft.

Cheverie: Cutter Gauthier has it all. He has size, he has speed and he has an NHL-level shot. He uses his physicality [in the video above] to separate his player from the play and he gets to the net, doesn’t stay on the wall, and he’s rewarded with a backdoor empty-net tap-in. On the power play, he sets up in his one-timer position hovering around the dot. This gives him a great angle for his release and his accuracy is next level. Gauthier is a player who is going to play physical, he can make time and space for himself and others, and he can score goals.