Gino Reda is joined by TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun to get the latest on how Wild GM Bill Guerin is viewing the hefty extension given to Kirill Kaprizov, which players the spotlight shifts to now in the UFA market, and Jets chairmanMark Chipman’s strong comments about changing the narrative surrounding Winnipeg.
GINO REDA: Are the Minnesota Wild experiencing buyer’s remorse? To discuss that and a lot more, here’s our Insider Pierre LeBrun.
Pierre, just days after the Wild signed Kirill Kaprizov for $17 million a season, the biggest deal in NHL history, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor, and of course, Connor McDavid all sign for significantly less.
Is Bill Guerin feeling like he may have now overpaid?
PIERRE LeBRUN: Absolutely not would be the quick answer there, Gino. I reached out to Bill Guerin moments after the Jack Eichel news became official and completed a hat trick of major signings this week that was started with McDavid and then Connor, as you said.
Bill Guerin could not have been more emphatic. Seventeen million is what it took to keep their superstar,and he would do it all over again. Each market has different circumstances as you noted. For them, that’s the number that it took to keep him.
The reality is that he says giving him $17 million is a way better option than watching him leave the market at the end of the season and being, probably, unable to replace him. The July 1 market is already thinning out at the top, Gino. Who are you getting on the trade market to replace Kirill Kaprizov?
Is that an overpay? In my estimation, yes. Probably in yours as well, Gino. But from the Minnesota Wild perspective, it’s a market that has a hard time attracting free agents on July 1. They have absolutely no regret about giving Kaprizov $17 million a year, especially when you consider that their other core guys, like Matt Boldy at $7 million, Joel Eriksson Ek at $5.25 million, Brock Faber at $8.5 million, they’ve got some pretty decent contracts with their other core guys.
But, obviously someone else on the team is making record-setting money starting next year.
REDA: Pay what you have to.
Listen, I want to follow up on something you mentioned, the top of the market now thinning out. Now that the first big wave of pending UFAs is taken care of, where does the focus shift to now, Pierre?
LeBRUN: Yeah, we’ll see what happens with Artemi Panarin with the New York Rangers. That’s one case, certainly, that’s worth monitoring.
But I think the three names that I focus on that are really interesting are Adrian Kempe, Alex Tuch, and Martin Necas. All three of those players kind of slide in next, I think, after the big names we just talked about that signed.
And I can tell you that there’s no question that I think it has affected the Kempe and Tuch negotiations in particular, as far as I think people involved in those conversations maybe wanted to wait until they saw what Eichel signed for and Kyle Connor signed for as far as maybe setting the market even more in a concrete way.
So let’s go to Kempe. LA Kings, there is ongoing dialogue there. There has been a pretty constant back-and-forth between J.P. Barry, the agent, and the LA Kings.
What I will tell you is that I believe William Nylander’s contract, $11.5 million a year, has been introduced in that conversation, but I would also predict that now Kyle Connor’s $12 million a year will be part of that conversation, as well.
Whenever Kempe get done, I think we’re probably looking at $11-$12 million a year, somewhere in that ballpark. We’ll see if that happens.
Alex Tuch, I’m told from a source in the last 24 hours there continues to be good dialogue there, but nothing imminent. So we’ll see where that goes.
Back-to-back 36-goal scorer, Gino. I think he ends up a double-digit guy as well, based on where this market is going. We’ll see if his camp and the Buffalo Sabres, led by Brian Bartlett, can get that done.
And finally with Martin Necas, I think this is a little different situation only what because I’m being told is that the player here wants the season to start, wants to get comfortable, his first full year with the Avalanche after the trade last year. But eventually, I think he will greenlight his agent to dig a little deeper.
There have been talks with the Avalanche, but dig a little deeper in those negotiations over the course of the season here at some point.
I think he’ll sign, I just don’t think it’s going to be imminently.
REDA: I want to get back to Kyle Connor before I let you go.
This guy is a star in the league. He averages over 35 goals a season, so the Jets getting him locked up is huge.
But it’s not just big because of the offence he provides, it’s also huge for the message this signing now sends across the league, Pierre.
LeBRUN: Yeah, no question. I had a chance to speak with Jets chairman and part owner Mark Chipman earlier today, Gino, and we talked about the fact that there is this narrative out there, like it or not, about players not wanting to go to Winnipeg or play in Winnipeg.
He was pretty strong in his comments tome and said that’s a false narrative in his opinion. They extended Mark Scheifele, they extended Connor Hellebuyck, and back in the day, they extended Blake Wheeler, they extended Bryan Little, as he says.
So, obviously, signing Kyle Connor is an exclamation point of what he feels is actually a trend of the Jets over the years, being able to keep their core guys, the guys that have been Winnipeg Jets players.
Yeah, they’re not big players on July 1 normally. But their focus is more on keeping the guys that they draft and develop. Mark Chipman hoping that people stop throwing that narrative out there that no one wants to play in Winnipeg.
REDA: I get that. That’s the early edition of Insider Trading.
The full version of IT with Pierre, Dregs, and C.J. is coming up on the early edition of SportsCentre.
