Almost there.
But for anyone who thinks Team Canada has already fully decided its roster with the Dec. 31 roster deadline less than two weeks away, think again.
The management group had another internal call Thursday night. Via league sources, here’s what I’m hearing on final roster decisions and debates:
• The forwards who weren’t at 4 Nations who have pushed up the highest are Macklin Celebrini, Tom Wilson, Bo Horvat and Nick Suzuki. I think Celebrini and Wilson are most likely in. I’m not sure if Team Canada can take both Horvat and Suzuki or just one of them.
• Another internal debate, if the group is locked on Wilson, is whether there’s room for him, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand. Would they take only one or two of the three? Or all three? That’s still unresolved. Bennett, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner last June, had a slow start to the season but has been way better the past few weeks. Marchand had been good all season after a strong playoffs and was a vocal leader for Team Canada at 4 Nations.
• Connor Bedard did absolutely all he could before his injury. His stellar play has him firmly still in the conversation. Could he end up a 14th forward on the team? I’m still not closing the door on it, despite his injury. He’s going to be back playing next month. But he’s probably just on the outside looking in. He could also be the first call-up if he’s not taken and there’s an injury.
• Evan Bouchard has been written off by many, but the reality is that he remains in the conversation, at least at some level. He’s been better over the past month. My sense is it’s down to Bouchard or 18-year-old rookie Matthew Schaefer for the eighth defenseman spot, and I would give Schaefer the edge right now if Team Canada decides to remove one of the eight who played at 4 Nations. Schaefer continues to be unbelievable, playing top minutes in key situations for the New York Islanders.
• It’s also not completely out of the question that they bring back all eight who played at 4 Nations.
• The three most vulnerable defensemen from 4 Nations, based on play this season, are Thomas Harley, Colton Parayko and Travis Sanheim. One or two of those guys could potentially be out. Does that open the door for Schaefer or Bouchard or Jakob Chychrun?
• At goalie, there was a sense since the summer camp in August that Jordan Binnington was the one lock in goal based on his 4 Nations championship performance and overall body of work, but his ongoing struggles appear to have at least made that a conversation now.
Logan Thompson, Darcy Kuemper and Mackenzie Blackwood have all been good. I believe there’s a conversation now about whether the struggling Binnington should still be a lock. It sounds like Binnington will still make it in the end, but it has forced a conversation, at the very least. The 2019 Stanley Cup champion goalie still has a lot of fans in that Team Canada group.
So I think they go Binnington with two of Thompson, Kuemper or Blackwood. I believe those are the four goalies left in the conversation right now.
• One very important thing to keep in mind: There are players who will get bad news from Team Canada on the morning of Dec. 31 — told they were close but didn’t make it — but some of them will also be told they may be next in line, depending on injuries. Martin St. Louis in December 2013 was crushed when he didn’t make Team Canada’s original roster, but he ended up in Sochi in February 2014 for the injured Steven Stamkos.
Team Canada will want to remind some of those next on the list to stay ready because that Olympic call could still come between Dec. 31 and puck drop in February if there are injuries.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
Teams calling on Kings’ Danault
Despite having zero goals on the season, the body of work still speaks large for Phillip Danault, as sources say the Los Angeles Kings have gotten a number of calls on him lately. The Montreal Canadiens are among the teams that have called about their former player, and the Utah Mammoth (Logan Cooley injury) have kicked tires, as well.
It probably speaks to how difficult it is to find help at center that the Kings would get so many calls on Danault despite his struggles this season. His role has been reduced in L.A., and the Kings are willing to hear from teams on him. But they’re not interested in just trading him for the sake of it. They still value the player. He’s got one more year left on his deal next season at $5.5 million.
Danault’s agent, Allan Walsh, strongly denied a report saying Danault had asked for a trade. But I think it’s still fair to suggest he wouldn’t be against a change of scenery. The biggest hurdle in a trade for L.A. is that they don’t want futures in a deal. They’re a perennial playoff team, trying to stay in it. They need offensive help. Finding a match that way may not be easy.
Danault is 32. He’s far from finished. He’s gone toe-to-toe in matchups with Connor McDavid in the playoffs, including last year, and shown he can still play that shutdown role. That’s also exactly why the Kings don’t want to give him away.
No specific trade ask on Sherwood
The Vancouver Canucks haven’t given teams a specific asking price on Kiefer Sherwood, but are open to different scenarios depending on the team. It could be a younger player that makes sense, or a high pick, or a top prospect. The Canucks will be flexible depending on what interests them from team to team.
The goal is to keep getting younger assets now in the post-Quinn Hughes world for Vancouver, but I would stop short of calling it a full rebuild. It’s more of a “hybrid build,” as someone put it to me this week. They want to get more younger pieces but turn it around quickly enough.
Interest picks up on Andersson
Teams have been more active reaching out to the Calgary Flames on Rasmus Andersson after the Hughes blockbuster, which makes sense given that there may not be a bigger name on defense remaining available between now and March 6.
One of the decisions the Flames have to make is whether to try to move the pending UFA as a traditional rental or to allow agent Claude Lemieux to enter the process in a potential sign-and-trade to augment the trade return.
It’s also not completely out of the question that the Flames try one last time to re-sign Andersson at some point.
The Toronto Maple Leafs showed interest in Andersson last season before the deadline and made an aggressive trade offer at the time. What’s interesting there is that I believe the Leafs would be among the teams Andersson might be willing to sign with. There’s some history there between the player and Leafs GM Brad Treliving from his days as Calgary’s GM, when Treliving drafted Andersson.
Having said that, the Leafs don’t have that many assets left to deal — they don’t have a first-round pick until 2028 — and also have a need for a top-six forward.
So I don’t think the Leafs can swing both. It’s going to be hard enough to upgrade at one of those two lineup spots, given Toronto’s limited trade assets.
Waiting on O’Reilly
Some teams interested in Ryan O’Reilly were informed this week that the veteran center isn’t ready to entertain the idea of a trade at this time. He likes Nashville and would rather be part of the solution rather than abandon ship.
It was disappointing news for some teams that covet him and hoped to get going on those discussions sooner rather than later. That’s not to say O’Reilly, 34, won’t be moved before the March 6 trade deadline, but for now, what it says is that it won’t be happening any time soon. And I mean, it may not happen at all.
O’Reilly, who has one more year left on his deal after this season at a $4.5 million average annual value. He doesn’t have no-trade protection, but Predators GM Barry Trotz has a verbal understanding with him that if he were to go down the trade route, he would have the player involved in things.