TSN’s Hockey Insiders discuss Connor Bedard, Tom Wilson and Matthew Schaefer’s prospects for Team Canada, the Tkachuk brothers inching closer to returning, Kiefer Sherwood and the Vancouver Canucks, and the Anaheim Ducks and defenceman Pavel Mintyukov.
James Duthie: What a treat, all three insiders in the studio, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger.
It feels like the first time we’ve brought up Connor Bedard and his possibilities for Team Canada and the Olympics. It felt like an extreme long shot, and yet with everything he continues to do, like the hat trick on Tuesday, it seems more and more like a ‘You can’t ignore me’ possibility. Where are we at right now?
Chris Johnston: Exactly, I think you nailed it. Full credit to him, he’s made the conversation interesting. But what I can tell you at this point in time is I still think if the roster had to be chosen today, and it’s good for Bedard that it won’t, he wouldn’t be on the team at this point.
The reality is this: unless there are some injuries to players that are more fixed to this roster, he’s not going to score his way onto Team Canada. So yes, it’s been a fantastic start for him; he’s among the league leaders in scoring, he’s improved his skating, and everything is positive.
But I think there are some concerns about where he would have to play lower in the lineup and his defensive game, so he’s still got work to do to make this team.
Pierre LeBrun: Not unrelated to that conversation, it brings us to Tom Wilson.
If Team Canada were going to have a mulligan, despite winning at Four Nations, it would be that they should have taken Tom Wilson on that roster.
One of the main conversations they’ve had in the debrief from Four Nations, Team Canada management feels that the game is so heavy and so hard, at best on best, not a ton of ice out there. And Tom Wilson, who is very much in the conversation to make the Olympic team, they see a player who leads the Caps in scoring, kills penalties, and really fits that physical style and would have a role on the fourth line.
He’s not guaranteed to make it, but it’s just to say his candidacy is real.
Duthie: If Bedard was a long shot before the season started, Matthew Schaefer wasn’t anywhere near the radar. You can’t even imagine an 18-year-old defenceman cracking what is a pretty deep D core, and yet, like Bedard, he becomes impossible to not consider.
LeBrun: Well, they’re scouting him, Team Canada is, and not only that, Hockey Canada phoned Matthew Schaefer on Wednesday night to tell him, officially, his name has been added to the IOC long list for Team Canada. That’s a list that has 90-plus names, but it’s an important development because you can’t be in consideration for the Olympic team without being on that list. So that’s a huge step for him.
He’s got a lot of eyes on him – still a long shot I think, because of his inexperience, but the only thing you can do with your play is keep on proving them wrong, and that’s what he’s doing with Team Canada.
Duthie: A couple of key players for Team USA, likely to be back, the podcasters, Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, are getting closer to returning.
Darren Dreger: They are getting closer, and we know the NHL is a better place when Brady and Matthew are back playing and playing healthy.
If we start with Brady Tkachuk, the captain of the Ottawa Senators, we know that he is back on the practice ice, so that bodes well for his return. The Sens aren’t pinpointing a specific game they expect him to return. I’d be looking at the middle of next week, maybe Vegas, or towards the end of next week against the Sabres.
And Matthew is still a ways away in Florida, but the good news there is that he expects to start skating in the next 10 days to two weeks.
Duthie: Feel like we spent most of the first month or so of Insider Trading talking about contract extensions. It’s been a little quiet lately, but Kiefer Sherwood has had a great start with Vancouver. Any talks there?
Dreger: Well, not officially, there’s an amicable back-and-forth between the Vancouver Canucks and his agent, Judd Moldaver.
You’re talking about a 30-year-old who’s had a great first quarter; he’s got 12 goals to this point. The problem in Vancouver is the depth they have on the wing. Of course, there’s going to be contract discussions and negotiations, but there’s no guarantee they’re going to extend this guy because of what I just said.
He could become legit trade fodder for the Vancouver Canucks, but that’ll happen closer to the trade deadline.
Duthie: Anaheim continues to be a remarkable story, but not everyone is thrilled on the Ducks right now?
Johnston: No, specifically Pavel Mintyukov, a defenceman who made the jump for them right a couple of years ago from the OHL to the NHL.
This is the nice part of a rebuild is you get all these prospects, but there are too many. And in Mintyukov’s case, he’s been scratched a couple of games this week that the Ducks won; he’s not happy about that, as we wouldn’t expect any player to be. But there has been dialogue between the Ducks’ management and his agent, Dan Milstein, about whether this continues. I think he’d prefer to be somewhere else where he can play.
We’re not at the stage where this is a full-blown ‘he’s being traded,’ but certainly if he’s watching a lot of games, it’s something to keep an eye on.
Duthie: Ducks continue to be one of the surprises of the season, leading a tough Pacific division.
