TSN’s Hockey Insiders discuss the Lightning’s injured star centre Brayden Point, Elias Pettersson on the Canucks’ list of trade candidates, if a Dougie Hamilton trade can happen before the Olympics, how the next 7-10 games will shape the Sens’ ‘trade intensity,’ Bowness joining the Blue Jackets and the IIHF looking to get back to the table with the NHL on the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Gino Reda: There are over a dozen players currently on the Canadian team bubble, keenly interested in what’s going on across the league right now and wondering if they’re going to get a late call. To speak to that here are the Insiders: Chris Johnson, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger.
CJ, what’s the latest on Brayden Point?
Brayden Point Brayden Point (Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Johnston: Well, the word I’m hearing now is that it’s not good for Point after he left Monday’s game in Philadelphia without putting any weight on his right leg with a suspected knee injury. The Tampa Bay Lightning have not provided any further timelines or severity on the injury.
They’re in the midst of a back-to-back playing Tuesday in Pittsburgh, but the feeling with Point is that this could be something potentially that keeps him out longer term which obviously brings into question what would happen with the Olympics.
No reason to get ahead of ourselves. Team Canada obviously would still love to have this player available to them, but they do have five or six forwards on the reserve list that I think could be under some level of consideration if they need an injury replacement. Keep in mind that they’ve been looking for players that would be similar to the skill set of a player they’re losing in that case, and with someone like Point, he is tabbed for top six duty in Milan.
Reda: Just over three weeks left until the Olympic trade freeze kicks in. Dregs, are we getting to the point where the Canucks will listen to offers on pretty much anyone on their roster?
Elias Pettersson Elias Pettersson (Icon Sportswire/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Darren Dreger: Yeah, just about anyone. Obviously, every club in the National Hockey League has untouchables, but management of the Vancouver Canucks is now using the rebuild word, so they have to be open for business, open for just about anything, and that might include finally trading Elias Pettersson.
Now, we know that there’s been a ton of speculation from a media perspective on Pettersson’s future with the Vancouver Canucks. That was more into the offseason, more last season than to this point. I can tell you that there’s been no communication with the agent who represents Elias Pettersson, Pat Brisson, and they would have to communicate directly with Pettersson’s camp because he has the no-move clause.
But the Vancouver Canucks are listening and will listen to interest in Pettersson despite believing that if he gets a change of scenery and a new start somewhere else, he’s going to thrive in a new environment.
Reda: Pierre, over the weekend, you were part of quite the exchange between the Devils and Dougie Hamilton’s agent. New Jersey made him a healthy scratch, saying they don’t have room for him. But he was right back playing again on Monday. So now what?
Anaheim Ducks v New Jersey Devils NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – DECEMBER 13: Dougie Hamilton #7 of the New Jersey Devils in action against the Anaheim Ducks at Prudential Center on December 13, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils won 4-1. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Pierre LeBrun: Well, yeah, Gino, and I think that caught some people off guard that he was right back in the lineup because the impression on Saturday is that he wasn’t going to play for a while, but it doesn’t change anything. Everyone involved is still focused on finding a trade for Dougie Hamilton as a resolution. Just not a sense that anything is imminent at this point. The fact that he’s got two more years on his deal at $9 million a year is a complicating factor.
Carolina and Toronto are among the potential fits. Let me stress potential. Of course, he was with the Hurricanes and played well there. But it would really depend in terms of whether Carolina would go down that road and in terms of what New Jersey would take back in exchange. And with the Leafs, I think there’s no question they’re not taking him at $9 million a year, the Devils would have to retain. So we’ll see where it goes. They hope to get this done before the Olympic break.
One final thing is that New Jersey needs to move money too. That’s what they’re focused on now in a separate deal. Andre Palat is the player they’re trying to move, [he’s owed] $6 million a year. Again, not an easy proposition.
Reda: After a solid start, the Sens have slipped badly. How much longer before they decide if their buyers or sellers, Dregs?
Steve Staios Steve Staios Ottawa Senators
Dreger: Yeah, I would say seven to 10 games. That’s the mark that I think Steve Staios, the general manager of the Ottawa Senators, is looking at. Now, there was a bit of news made on Monday night with Staios visiting Montreal to watch the Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks. But really, that’s more about opportunity, right?
You know, Staios and most Eastern Division teams don’t have a ton of opportunity to scout the Western Conference teams, and in this case pre-scouting because Vancouver and Ottawa are playing.
But Staios is going to use the next seven to 10 games to gauge how aggressive he can and should be. I mean, I look at Kiefer Sherwood, who’s a pending unrestricted free agent for the Vancouver Canucks. I see a fit with the Ottawa Senators, but first the Sens have to start climbing back into the playoff conversation before the GM gets that aggressive.
Reda: Rick Bowness is back in the game taking over for the fired Dean Evason in Columbus but could this be a short-term fix, Pierre?
Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness yells during the first period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness yells during the first period of Game 4 of an NHL Stanley Cup first-round playoff series April 28, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) (David Zalubowski)
LeBrun: It is for now. It could lead to more but for now he’s just signed on for the rest of the season and that was a mutual decision. It came together so quickly that they didn’t get into what a contract might look like past this year.
Also, let’s remember how Rick Bowness left the game two years ago as he talked to reporters in Columbus on Tuesday. He said health concerns were the number one reason he stepped down as coach in Winnipeg two years ago, not just for himself, but also his wife, Judy. Both are in a much better place now, but the bottom line is now with the stress of being an NHL coach again in his life, I think both Don Waddell, the GM, and Rick Bowness want to see how he feels at the end of the year and how it goes before revisiting whether he could be a longer-term fit behind the bench in Columbus.
Reda: Chris, you just got back from Milan where crews are going crazy trying to get the rink ready for the Olympics next month. And all sides are already talking about future NHL involvement.
An outside view of the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, in Milan, where Ice Hockey discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) An outside view of the Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena, in Milan, where Ice Hockey discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno) (Luca Bruno)
Johnston: Yeah, it’s a big priority, Gino, for the IIHF to get the NHL signed on already for the 2030 Olympics. I had a chance to sit down with IIHF President Luc Tardif over the weekend. He said as soon as the games are done in Milan, he wants to reignite those conversations.
There is a framework between the sides for something that would take the players to the south of France in 2030, but the details need to be hammered out. And given how things have gone in Milan, how rocky it’s been, that’s going to be an interesting conversation.
Reda: The next winter games you mentioned are set for the French Alps. Also not a hockey mecca. So we certainly hope that the rink construction gets a little bit started a little bit sooner than it did for Milan.