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LeBrun: Potential NHL trade candidates (O’Reilly? Horvat?) and deadline buyers emerging early

It’s just one month into the NHL season, and already we can start contemplating potential scenarios for the March 3 trade deadline.

Including, perhaps, some that we didn’t see coming.

Take the Blues, for example, mired in a franchise-record eight-game losing streak, and already having their general manager, Doug Armstrong, warn of possible consequences if there is no turnaround.

I mean, who saw this coming for the Blues?

It could have trade deadline implications for a few players.

The two names that jump out are pending unrestricted free agents Ryan O’Reilly and Vladimir Tarasenko, although the latter has a full no-trade clause, so all roads would lead through him.

But O’Reilly, the 2019 Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP, could be a rather coveted target closer to March 3 in the event the Blues don’t salvage their season. He hasn’t played great to start the season, with two points (both goals) and a minus-12 rating through 11 games, but I think his body of work would give contenders enough confidence to take a serious look.

The preseason plan was for the Blues and O’Reilly’s camp, led by veteran agent Pat Morris of Newport Sports, to circle back to each other in the New Year regarding an extension. But if the Blues’ season gets out of reach to save, and considering Armstrong’s comments last week, it’s hard to envision an extension in that scenario for O’Reilly, who turns 32 in February.

O’Reilly doesn’t have any no-trade protection, so the Blues would have an open field to work with if they decide to go down this path in a few months. On the other hand, his $7.5 million cap hit wouldn’t be easy to absorb with so many playoff contenders right at the cap. The Blues would have to be willing to eat 50 percent of that and/or bring in a third-party broker team to further minimize the cap hit.

If they do, I would have to imagine the market would be healthy for a proven playoff winner and such a reliable two-way center.

But he might not be the only center of that ilk on the market.

While the Canucks continue to suggest they still hope to re-sign pending UFA Bo Horvat — president of hockey ops Jim Rutherford mentioned it this past week in an interview on Sportsnet Vancouver radio, a week after he told me the same — I think the emerging The reality is that unless the Canucks start resembling a playoff team very soon, it makes a whole lot more sense to feel out the trade market for the 27-year-old Canucks captain, who is off to a wicked offensive start to the season, with 12 goals and 16 points in 14 games.

Horvat doesn’t have no-trade protection, so it’s a clean process for the Canucks as far as being able to speak to any team. And they’ll have plenty of interest, especially if they’re willing to eat some of his $5.5 million cap hit to maximize the return.

It wouldn’t surprise me if there are even non-playoff teams with trade interest in Horvat, to get a jump start on July 1 and sign him to an extension.

Then there’s Jonathan Toews. I went over the Patrick Kane trade scenario last month but only briefly touched on his pal Toews, for the obvious reason that Kane would be the most in-demand commodity — still one of the world’s top offensive players.

But Toews, 34, in the opening month is playing his best hockey in a couple of years in a top-six role, with seven goals and nine points in 12 games. He had only 12 goals in 71 games last season.

What remains to be seen is whether Toews will actually want to be dealt. He controls the process with a full no-move. And there’s the issue of his whopping $10.5 million cap hit, which would almost certainly require a third-party broker team. If Chicago and another team each retained 50 percent on him, that hit would come down to $2.625 million.

At that number, contenders would definitely be intrigued.

All of which brings us to one obvious suitor when it comes to a potential trade for O’Reilly, Horvat or Toews: Colorado.

The reigning Stanley Cup champion Avalanche lost no. 2 center Nazem Kadri to the Flames in free agency this past summer, and I’m convinced they will try to go out and replace him — even if just for this year’s playoffs — closer to the March 3 trade deadline.

O’Reilly, Horvat and Toews would all be good fits on Colorado’s second line.

Horvat would be the most expensive acquisition, to be sure, but it’s worth pointing out that the Avs still have their first-round pick for the June NHL Draft. (The Canucks would surely want a first-round pick as part of a bigger package.)

Toews, by virtue of his complete no-move, limits Chicago’s ability to manufacture a true market, so he’s likely the cheapest to acquire, asset-wise, although someone has to pay an asset for the third-party broker to get involved.

A healthy Sean Monahan (also a pending UFA) from Montreal could be another option for Colorado.

But if I were Avs GM Chris MacFarland and were looking to bolster my lineup for a chance to repeat, O’Reilly and Toews are the two guys I’d zero in on closer to March 3 — two captains who have won and understand what it is. takes come playoff time.

It would be ironic, of course, if O’Reilly ended up back in Denver, where his NHL career began, especially given what transpired there. As you might remember, he signed a two-year, $10 million offer sheet with the Flames in February 2013 coming out of the lockout, which the Avs begrudgingly matched. That eventually led to his June 2015 trade to Buffalo. But lots of time has passed since then. I can’t imagine Joe Sakic would hold that kind of grudge.

The rental defense market

It’s still early going here, but already there are three pending UFA blueliners worth pointing out ahead of March 3.

John Klingberg will be the headliner on defense among the pending UFAs, having signed a one-year, $7 million deal with Anaheim late in free agency this past summer, knowing full well that being flipped at the trade deadline could be part of the plan. It’s the same kind of scenario that the Canadiens tried to sell Klingberg earlier in the offseason, offering him a one-year deal, but he declined at the time. The Habs had a view to flip him at the trade deadline, which is what the Ducks will probably do unless they decide to extend him.

Klingberg’s contract with the Ducks actually has a full no-trade clause until Jan. 1 and then shifts to a partial no-trade, which includes a list of 10 teams he can be traded to.

Ducks teammate Kevin Shattenkirk is also a pending UFA, and his $3.9 million AAV will be easier to manage in a trade. Shattenkirk has a modified no-trade that includes a list of 12 teams he cannot be traded to without his consent. That list was submitted in the offseason.

And finally, if the Wild fall out of contention this season, pending UFA blueliner Matt Dumba most likely will be trade bait. He has a 10-team no-trade list. He might be part of trade discussions even if the Wild stay in the playoff race, as part of a hockey trade to augment the Minnesota roster.

(Top photo of Ryan O’Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog: Tom Pennington / Getty Images)

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