The NHL’s trade deadline remains a ways away, set for March 6, but the impending Feb. 4 roster freeze has heated up action around the league. TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours ahead of the freeze and will return after for the final Countdown to TradeCentre.
Follow all the latest trades here and the most up to date signings here.
Kane set to move?
Vancouver Canucks winger Evander Kane met with the media Tuesday to discuss his future after multiple reports indicated his agent, Dan Milstein, has been given permission by the team to facilitate a trade.
“I think there’s a lot of names that are out there. All of a sudden, just because a member of the Vancouver media to tweet it out, we got a big scrum today,” Kane said of the added attention Tuesday. “But yeah, it’s part of the process. It’s part of the way business is done at the NHL level.”
Speculation regarding Kane’s future in Vancouver is nothing new, with the Canucks sending a memo out in November that the team was willing to listen on their pending unrestricted free agents. Winger Kiefer Sherwood was dealt to the San Jose Sharks last week and Kane could be the next to go.
Kane spoke prior to a 5-2 loss to the Sharks, which marked Vancouver’s 14th defeat in their past 15 games. The team sits last in the NHL with a 17-31-5, eight points behind the 31st-place St. Louis Blues.
“Yeah, I think everybody’s disappointed with how the season has gone,” Kane said. “Nobody wanted to be in last place. I don’t think anybody has that anticipation or that desire to start off a year. But it is what it is, and, you know, you have to be ready to show up to work and be a professional. I think that’s what everybody in the room has done so far. We’ll let the chips fall where they may.
“I don’t think anybody anticipated, from top to bottom, the season going the way it’s gone. So, you know, when that does happen, I think every single year with the team who’s in last place, changes happen.”
The 34-year-old Kane has nine goals and 24 points in 52 games with the Canucks this season after being acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for a fourth-round pick in June. He carries a cap hit of $5.125 million on his expiring deal.
The Vancouver native missed all of regular season last year before returning for the playoffs with the Oilers, posting six goals and 12 points during the team’s second consecutive run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Having played a key role for the Oilers in each of the last four postseasons, Kane is hoping to have a chance to take part in the playoffs once again this year.
“I don’t know if there’s a person in this room that doesn’t have a hunger to play playoff hockey,” Kane acknowledged. “When you train all summer and come to training camp, that’s what you’re training to do. So, obviously that’s a desire for anybody, and that’s no different with me.”
Jets not in on Wright
While the Winnipeg Jets weigh their deadline options, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports the team has not reached out to the Seattle Kraken regarding the availability of Shane Wright.
The Kraken are willing to move Wright if the former No. 4 overall pick can land the team a top-six winger for their playoff push. While some have speculated the 22-year-old centre could be a fit in Winnipeg, Dreger notes no conversations have taken place between the two teams.
“They’re at a crossroads to be fair and, directionally, it’s still somewhat uncertain as to what the plan is for the Winnipeg Jets,” Dreger explained Tuesday on Insider Trading. “Right now, their focus is on winning and not about what’s being speculated around their team.
“They don’t control the speculation, and is it a waste of time for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to put out fires and spike speculation?
“What I can tell you is that if we’re relating speculation for Seattle and Winnipeg, there’s been no conversation between those two clubs about the potential availability of Shane Wright. Now, maybe that changes down the road.
“The focus for Winnipeg is on winning, but if they have to shift into a sell mode. I would look at somebody like big defenceman Logan Stanley. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. There has been no contract extension dialogue between Stanley, the Jets and the agent involved, so he could be a piece that betters their position in the draft, but it’s too early.”
Stanley, 27, has eight goals and 17 points in 51 games this season while averaging 16:32 of ice time per game. He carries a cap hit of $1.25 million on his expiring deal.
The Jets are 6-2-2 in their past 10 games but continue to try to recover from a nosedive that has left the team outside the playoff picture. Winnipeg is currently eight points back of the Sharks for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference after winning the Presidents’ Trophy last year.
Wild eyeing a top-six centre
The Minnesota Wild already made what could stand as the biggest trade of the season in acquiring Quinn Hughes last month, but it appears general manager Bill Guerin is not done trying to add to his roster.
Michael Russo of The Athletic reports Guerin is looking for a top-six centre to bolster his roster and believes the team will have interest in Vincent Trocheck of the New York Rangers. Citing sources, Russo reports the Wild aren’t on the 12-team no-trade list Trocheck has part of the seven-year, $39.4 million deal he inked with the Rangers in 2022.
Signed at a cap hit of $5.624 million through the 2028-29 season, Trocheck has 11 goals and 33 points in 39 games this season. He has topped the 20-goal mark in each of the past four years and scored a career-best 31 goals with the Florida Panthers in 2017-18.
Guerin also serves also general manager of Team USA and named Trocheck to the roster for both the 4 Nations Face-Off last year and the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Russo wonders if the Wild could attempt to flip forward David Jiricek to acquire a first-round pick as fodder to make another deal, while trading breakout rookie Jesper Wallstedt also appears to be on the table in Minnesota.
Wallstedt was the final name listed on the updated TSN Trade Bait board last week, slipping on at No. 35. The 23-year-old goaltender has a 13-5-4 record this season with a .914 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average.
“The chances of trading one of this year’s top candidates for the Calder Trophy may be slim and none, but if the Wild wants to make a big move it may require moving a big asset,” TSN Hockey Contributor Steve Dryden wrote in his Trade Bait breakdown. “A reminder that Minnesota’s No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavsson signed a five-year, $6.8-million AAV contract that kicks in next season.”
Gustavsson, 27, has a 17-9-6 record this season with a .909 save percentage and a 2.58 GAA.
The Wild remain on a collision course with the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs, sitting one point ahead of Dallas and nine points of the Colorado Avalanche for first in the Central Division.
