TSN’s Hockey Insiders on the Leafs’ and Avs’ talks with Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen, how deferred compensation could bridge Toronto’s talks with John Tavares, the Flames’ search for a top-six centre and the latest on Kaapo Kakko and the Rangers.
Marner, Rantanen’s impending free agency
DARREN DREGER: Insider Trading. Darren Dreger, Pierre LeBrun, and Chris Johnston.
Guys, as we know, it’s relatively quiet on the NHL free agent list. You can look months down the line to find July 1.
Pierre, that doesn’t mean we’re not watching the great starts of, say, Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche, and all of the scenarios that could unfold between now and July.
PIERRE LEBRUN: Imagine those two star players, Dregs, on the market July 1, and James Duthie frothing at the mouth for Free Agent Frenzy. And by the way, it’s not out of the question. But if you ask me, I think it’s more likely each of these players ends up signing an extension and staying put.
However, the road there, I don’t think will be easy. And the reason for that is, I think both the Avalanche, with Nathan MacKinnon at $12.6 million a year, and the Leafs, with captain Auston Matthews at $13.25 million a year, certainly have sort of an internal cap there that I believe has been or will be cited in negotiations with Rantanen and Marner, respectively.
And you get why the teams would have that position – pretty obvious, but it’s not like an actual rule in the CBA, and the agents in question representing Rantanen and Marner, I think have some counter-arguments.
One is those extensions were signed and since then the salary cap landscape has changed dramatically. The cap is going way up here over the next few years.
Number two, those agents, for sure, will talk about percentage of the cap, not necessarily the actual AAV. And so, this negotiation, to me, both for Rantanen and for Marner, is going to be so interesting where it ends up.
Can the Leafs get Mitch Marner at $13 million or less? Can the Avalanche get Rantanen at $12.6 million or less?
I’ll tell you right now, I think Rantanen believes he can make $14 million on the open market, so, I don’t have the answer, but I think those are the stakes right now in those two negotiations.
Leafs engaged in extension talks with Tavares
CHRIS JOHNSTON: And at the same time, the Leafs are involved in, perhaps a little bit less complicated of negotiation with John Tavares, who has made it very clear he would like to remain in Toronto, has no interest in testing the free-agent market, but to this point, discussions have not gotten to a stage where everyone is comfortable with the deal on the table.
One thing that’s popped up as a possibility here is using deferred salary compensation as a way, perhaps, to bridge some of the financial gap that exists today.
You’ll remember the Leafs did use this with Jake McCabe, lowering his cap hit on the extension he signed in October. Carolina did it with a couple players over the summer. And so, as these negotiations and discussions with Tavares go on, I think that’s certainly a possibility we see should they get to an extension.
Flames looking to trade for a centre
DIFFERENT: Alright fellas let’s shift to the West.
Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames are on an Eastern Conference tour. Conroy is scouting the OHL, but he’s also in search of a top-six centre. The fact that Calgary would like to add a centreman isn’t news, but it has to be very age appropriate.
He’s looking for a second-line centre, who can play with the Flames for the next three-to-five years. But beyond that, he could get aggressive, as well. It all depends on if the Calgary Flames hang in the mix.
They’re off to a terrific start, top 10 in the National Hockey League. Craig Conroy and the Calgary Flames could be a bigger player than anticipated on that March 7 trade deadline.
LEBRUN: It’s interesting, Dregs, that you mentioned the Flames looking for a centre. Brad Treliving, I courted him recently, where he reiterated that all things being equal, probably centre depth is where the Leafs are going to look at ahead of the March 7 trade deadline. Barry Trotz has been quoted extensively this year by a lot of people, saying they’re looking to upgrade at centre.
I detect an early trend here ahead of March 7, and teams trying to upgrade down the middle. Easier said than done.
Rangers fielding calls
DIFFERENT: We have to look back at the New York Rangers, as well. Lots of teams are just swirling around Chris Drury and the Rangers, beyond what’s been speculated this week with the news of Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba being available.
Ice time is a bit of an issue. Kakko probably wants a fresh start, but again, if they’re trading out pieces like that, then the return is going to have to be exactly what the New York Rangers are looking for. But undoubtedly, there’s interest there.
NHL’s quarter-century teams
Meanwhile, Chris, the NHL, as we know, is always looking for a project, and it sounds like they’re working on a big one for 2025.
JOHNSTON: Absolutely. A unique project in which the NHL is going to name quarter-century teams for each of the 32 franchises.
The way they are going to do that is they’re using members of the media, retired players, executives, to vote on each team’s top six players at forward, top four at defence, and top goaltenders that played for those teams between January 1, 2000, and today.
Those will start getting rolled out at the end of December, and through into the New Year. But lots of debate, I’m sure, with the selections that ultimately get made.
DIFFERENT: That’s a big project. We are the Insiders, Darren Dreger, Chris Johnston, and Pierre LeBrun.
