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LeBrun: Bo Horvat’s trade cost, Oilers’ defense targets, more NHL rumblings

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The return that Vancouver could be looking for in a Bo Horvat trade is one of the interesting things to consider as this market starts to develop.

It might not be what we expect.

I assumed the Canucks would be asking for a futures-only package, as selling, retooling teams most often do when they’re dealing with an in-season trade for a pending unrestricted free agent. But so far, it seems that Vancouver is looking instead for more of a hockey deal — to upgrade at center ice and/or right-shot defense if possible and bring in a player in the twentysomething age range this Canucks management group has focused on since Coming on board.

My TSN colleague Darren Dreger first reported similar information on our Insider Trading segment Thursday evening.

There’s no timeline on a potential trade at this point. If the Canucks get an offer that matches their criteria, a deal could be done quickly. But it could also easily wait until closer to the deadline.

Either way, I think it tells you a couple of things that this is what they’re looking for.

First, it tells you that the Canucks don’t feel that competing for a playoff spot this season is far-fetched. And look at the standings. They’re still only a few points back from a wild-card spot.

Second, it could signal the possibility of an acquiring team signing Horvat to a contract extension as part of a trade. That possibility is easier said than done, but if it happens, it would increase the return value for the Canucks.

The difficulty in pulling off an in-season hockey trade like that is that most contending teams with interest in an asset like Horvat aren’t going to want to lose a player off their roster who can help them win now. That’s why most high-profile rentals traded before the deadline go for futures. On the flip side, with so many contending teams right at the salary cap, a team landing Horvat would have to move money out anyway.

And the possibility of Horvat re-signing with his new team as part of a trade? It’s hard, but we did see it happen last season with Hampus Lindholm after being traded from the Ducks to the Bruins. I also wonder if non-playoff teams with cap room to spare would try to get in on Horvat, viewing the acquisition price as worth it in order to cut off the competition ahead of July 1 free agency. That’s a longer shot, I think, but you can’t rule it out.

I would also never completely close the door on Horvat re-signing with the Canucks, even though those chances are certainly more remote now than they’ve been in the past. Sometimes when the reality of a possible trade hits you — both as a front office and as a player — there can be a sudden change of heart.

At the moment, all signs point to the Canucks front office exploring the trade route after being unable to sign Horvat a couple of weeks ago. But stranger things have happened.

Oilers’ D search

It’s hardly a secret that the Oilers will be on the lookout for a blueliner before the March 3 trade deadline. It is their obvious need.

As such, the Oilers’ front office, I’m told, has already been busy examining the potential D available.

Two names that I believe have come up in those internal discussions are John Klingberg and Joel Edmundson. And talk about two completely different players.

Klingberg is a pending UFA after signing a one-year, $7 million deal with Anaheim last August, and it’s been a rough season for both him and the Ducks. He has a unique no-trade clause that is 100 percent until Jan. 1 and then is modified to allow Klingberg to list 10 teams he will accept a trade to. If the Oilers decide to go after Klingberg — and I heard they looked at him over the summer, for what it’s worth — they obviously would have made the determination that he’s an upgrade over Tyson Barrie.

With Edmundson, meanwhile, you’re talking about a shutdown-type blueliner with a Stanley Cup pedigree. He’s also not a rental. He has a year left on his deal, with a $3.5 million cap hit. As far as I can tell, the Canadiens have not been bringing up his name in talks with teams, but given where Habs GM Kent Hughes is in the team’s “rebuild we shall not name a rebuild,” he will certainly listen.

It’s happened before. Hughes wasn’t trying to move Artturi Lehkonen before the deadline last season. But it got to the point where the insistent Avalanche got past a tipping point in their offer.

To me, Edmundson is the better fit for what the Oilers need, especially on the left side. It wouldn’t surprise me if GM Ken Holland has those discussions with Hughes in the new year to at least see what the price is.

Crowded Carolina crease

So what happens when the Hurricanes get fully healthy in goal with the return of Frederik Andersen?

Pyotr Kochetkov can’t be put back into the genie bottle. He’s played too well to send back down, right?

My sense of things at the moment is that the Hurricanes are ready to carry three NHL goalies for the foreseeable future, if not the entire season, depending on how things unfold. If that’s what happens, it speaks to how injury-prone their veteran goalies, Andersen and Antti Raanta, have been — but also to what the Canes feel they have in the emerging Kochetkov, the 23-year-old they picked at No. 36 in the 2019 draft.

Some people raised their eyebrows when the Canes signed Kochetkov to a four-year extension at a $2 million average annual value last month — a deal that doesn’t kick in until next season. Now it looks more like the Canes front office getting ahead of a breakthrough season.

Scoring boom

My phone certainly filled up after my piece from Dec. 8 on the NHL’s scoring boom.

Here are a couple of responses I wanted to share.

First, from a longtime NHL goalie, who said he thought the article was interesting but wanted to add another layer to why he thinks we’re seeing more scoring these days:

“One thing that has popped out to me, as well, is the loss of goalie talent in the last three years,” the goalie, who requested anonymity, said via text message, listing Roberto Luongo, Pekka Rinne, Ryan Miller, Henrik Lundqvist. , Tuukka Rask, Corey Crawford, Ben Bishop, Jimmy Howard, Braden Holtby, Carey Price, Mike Smith and Devan Dubnyk as examples.

“That’s a lot of experience, talent and hardware that were legit ones for 10-15 years who are gone,” he added. “So lots of turnover, breaking new goalies into the league with lost development time due to COVID-19, plus all of the elements you talked about has created a perfect storm. Love the new generation of guys taking over (Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Juuse Saros, etc.) but that’s one-third of the league’s starting goalies being turned over in a short period of time.”

It’s a great point.

I would add that the position has also never been harder to play, as far as stress on goalies going post to post and dealing physically and mentally with the game being faster than ever.

Another response I got was from an NHL referee, who also requested anonymity but sent this message after reading my piece:

“I will say, and he never gets credit, but all these positive changes would not have been allowed to flourish if (Stephen) Walkom wasn’t our boss. The players could be as offensive and skilled as they want, but if he didn’t lead us to the current standard, it would be all for nothing!”

Walkom, the NHL’s director of officiating, has worked hard with his group over the past several years in specific areas. Think of the crackdown on cross-checking, for example. And even just look at all the power plays in the playoffs last season. They called penalties in the playoffs!

We can debate all day long about NHL officiating — there is no end to that conversation — but from this point the referee is valid.

(Photo of Bo Horvat: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

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