TSN’s Hockey Insiders discuss the Flames and their veteran centre, the Bruins and Pavel Zacha, the province of Alberta hoping to host the World Cup of Hockey, how Cale Makar’s next contract will be a factor in a potential Martin Necas extension and why the Rangers are in no rush on pending UFA Artemi Panarin.
James Duthie: Usually, it takes a month or two before we get into the trade rumours of good players on struggling teams coveted by other teams, but we’re well underway already with Nazem Kadri and the Calgary Flames. There’s lots of talk, but is there anything to it, Dregs?
Nazem Kadri Nazem Kadri Calgary Flames
Darren Dreger: Not really. There is a lot of talk and a lot of speculation driven by the media. The reality is it comes from a place where the Calgary Flames are playing well below expectations and there are other Canadian markets – namely the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, and maybe the Toronto Maple Leafs – that could absolutely envision a No. 2, experienced centre like Nazem Kadri in their lineup.
The reality is that Nazem Kadri loves Calgary and unless the Flames decide that their roster needs reconstruction, and that could happen through the rest of the regular season leading up to the trade deadline, then at least for the moment, it is premature.
There’s tons of interest. Don’t get me wrong. But the timing isn’t right yet.
Pierre LeBrun: There was also speculation over the weekend of another centre, Pavel Zacha of the Boston Bruins. There’s no question, and sources confirm, that the Vancouver Canucks did indeed reach out to the Boston Bruins over the summer to gauge interest and to see if he was available.
What I’m being told is that the Boston Bruins view Pavel Zacha as a long-term fit. He has another year on his deal after this year but don’t be surprised if they try to extend him this summer. At 28 years old, they look at him as being age-appropriate for this roster transition, and they feel he fits in very well and would like to keep him around.
Duthie: The World Cup of Hockey is set to return in 2028. Bids were supposed to come in this week. Are there any distinct possibilities of where it will be held?
Dreger: Why not the 2028 World Cup of Hockey in Calgary and Edmonton? An all-Alberta North American host?
It makes a lot of sense from a business perspective, and no doubt the people of Calgary want to show off their brand new building. I know that Calgary and Edmonton submitted their bids at the start of this week. It’s a loose deadline, so there are 10 or more NHL cities that will submit their bids to the NHL. We’re talking about Montreal and Vancouver in terms of the Canadian interest, Vegas, Tampa Bay, and Dallas, among others.
Duthie: The trend in big-name guys who have a chance to extend seems to be them extending with their teams fairly early. Cale Makar has a chance to extend early next summer. Have those talks already started?
Cale Makar
LeBrun: They haven’t started in the sense that they can’t negotiate until next summer. The key thing here is that the potential of that extension, and there’s no question that Colorado will want to put their best foot forward in trying to extend Makar, the best defenceman in the world.
But that possibility has had an impact on a negotiation that is underway, and that’s with Martin Necas, the pending unrestricted free agent who’s off to a great start with the Avalanche. The point being that the Avs in talks with Necas’ agent have said ‘Listen, there’s an ecosystem here and we’re going to have to sign Cale Makar to a healthy raise next summer and MacKinnon makes $12.6 million,’ so where does that leave Martin Necas?
The Avs are confident they can get Necas extended at some point, but that part of the conversation has created a bit of a gap in talks. I think they can overcome it, but it’s certainly something that is real in those conversations.
Keep in mind, there’s a lot of pressure on Colorado to sign Martin Necas. He’s the guy they got for the guy they couldn’t sign, Mikko Rantanen.
Duthie: The Rangers can talk to Artemi Panarin already because he’s going to be a UFA in eight months. We talk so much about these pending UFAs and guys who are a couple of years away but there seems to be so little talk about Panarin. Why?
Artemi Panarin
LeBrun: Yeah they’ve kept that one under wraps and that’s certainly the way the Rangers want it. My understanding is that with a new head coach behind the bench in Mike Sullivan, the Rangers are not in a rush to get into a more serious place in those discussions with Artemi Panarin’s camp.
There’s a lot of time between now and July 1, but I think the Rangers want to see what kind of season this is as a team, after last year’s disappointment, before they decide what to do with a pending UFA that they feel has done a lot for them. They have a lot of respect for him.
If and when they start those talks, I think the term could be an issue here. He turns 34 this week, and I don’t think he’s going to settle for a short-term deal if the Rangers come at him with that, so keep an eye on that one.
Duthie: Seventh season in New York, closing in on 900 points in what has been a terrific 11-year NHL career.