Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger to discuss the reaction around the league from Connor McDavid’s hometown discount extension with the Oilers, the chances the Canadiens can lock up Lane Hutson before Wednesday’s opener, the latest with the Jets and Kyle Connor as he enters the final year of his deal and more.

Gino Reda: Over 24 hours since McDavid accepted one of the biggest hometown discounts in NHL history and the league and its fans, they’re still buzzing about it.

Dregs, you’re in constant contact with general managers and agents from right across the NHL. What kind of feedback are you getting from them about all of this?

Darren Dreger: Yeah, somewhat similar I think to the Edmonton Oilers fan base and fans across the National Hockey League, Gino. Fair amount of surprise in some cases, borderline shock, and the shock would come in the $12.5 million annual average salary over the two-year extension because we all know that Connor McDavid is worth millions and millions more than that.

But I think that a lot of GMs are also impressed by the position that Connor McDavid took. This is an incredibly team-friendly deal and extension, and whether or not McDavid stays beyond the three years doesn’t really matter.

He’s locked in his legacy, win or lose, and one general manager said to me it’s obvious that, above everything else, McDavid really wants to win. He’s a special player and he’s a special teammate, so pretty high accolades, I would say, from GM offices across the league.

Reda: Yeah. Speaking of teams trying to lock up their stars, Lane Hutson is going to the final year of his entry-level contract with Montreal. The Habs would love to get something done with the reigning rookie of the year before the start of the regular season on Wednesday against the Leafs, but what are the chances that that happens, Dregs?

Dreger: Yeah, I mean, it’s unlikely. I think that’s best-case scenario. In fact, I can’t imagine they close the gap any time soon. The hope is that there will be a meeting, perhaps as early as Thursday in Detroit between Kent Hughes, the general manager of the Montreal Canadiens, and the agents from Quartexx who are working on this deal on behalf of Lane Hutson.

But frankly, Gino, there’s no guarantee that that meeting is going to happen. We know for the last few months, several weeks, that there have been on and off negotiations. We know that at times this has been an emotionally charged situation between the Habs and their star young defenceman. So, I think right now, everybody is just trying to lower the temperature in the process and calm things down.

I believe that the team of course wants to keep Lane Hutson. They’d like to extend him on full term of eight years, and the player would push towards a six-year term. But even the parameters to get to that point don’t appear to be on the table, even though there have been offers in recent history.

Reda: Getting back to the Connor McDavid signing. Like McDavid, Kyle Connor is a pending UFA going to the final year of his deal. Is there any progress on that front with the Jets, Dregs?

Dreger: Yeah, I mean, if you want to fine-tune and to define progress, I would say there’s been progress in the reality that the agent representing Kyle Connor and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff are talking on a daily basis. We know that Kyle Connor has leverage. He is a star in the league, and he is a pivotal piece moving forward for the Winnipeg Jets.

He wants to stay in Winnipeg. Winnipeg wants to keep their star forward, but he has the leverage in negotiations.

You know Winnipeg is one of those teams that has to be careful when it comes to the structure, but Kyle Connor has earned the ask of wanting certain elements included within that structure. So, I’m told that there’s still multiple components in play, Gino. They’re going continue to chip away with the hope that they do get something done.

Reda: As the opening-day rosters get set across the league, interesting move by the Ottawa Senators. Despite a really solid camp, Carter Yakemchuk, the seventh-overall pick in the 2024 draft, is going to start the year in the minors. What are you hearing about how they made that call, Dregs?

Dreger: Well, it depends on how you look at it. You can look at it and say, well, Carter Yakemchuk is a victim of circumstance. The Ottawa Senators were not expecting Nick Jensen to be available to them to start the regular season. That’s just fact. They thought that he could miss 15, 20, maybe 25 regular-season games with the hip problems that he had, which were corrected.

But here he is, he’s good to go for Game 1. I mean, the reason why they acquired Jordan Spence was as a backup plan to Nick Jensen to get them out of the gate with some experience there. So, because of that, they can embrace patience with Carter Yakemchuk and that’s what they’re doing. They’ve done it with other Ottawa Senators defencemen – Tyler Kleven comes to mind.

This one stings for the 20-year-old. He had a good camp. I wouldn’t call it a great camp, his first camp last year, maybe marginally better, but that just proves how difficult it is to crack an NHL lineup as a young up-and-coming defenceman. But he’s going play in the National Hockey League this year. They just like the idea of him getting a little bit more experience and seasoning in Belleville.

Reda: That is the early edition of Insider Trading. The full IT with Dregs, Pierre and CJ is coming up later today on the early edition of SportsCentre.