The Winnipeg Jets’ slide, Dylan Larkin’s trade demand and the shockwaves from Nikita Kucherov’s request all sat at the center of the latest edition of Insider Trading, with TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger offering a clear read on where things stand.
For Winnipeg, the noise is growing, but Dreger said a coaching change is not imminent despite the team’s winless run reaching nine games. After Sunday’s 7-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, Scott Arniel called the performance frustrating and “an embarrassment,” and Dreger said the pressure will only keep building if nights like that continue.
“You can’t have too many more of those before the general manager or above is going to have to get involved. But they’re not there yet.”
Even with the calls for change coming from fans and media, Dreger said removing Arniel is not on the immediate radar. The Jets have also been dealing with a tough stretch against Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina, and Dreger pointed to a few issues piling up at once: shaky defensive play, added pressure on the goaltending, and a lack of execution around the net despite getting zone time. He also noted the absence of [No. 1 defenceman] Josh Morrissey, calling him a pivotal part of the Jets’ attack.
“It can’t continue for very much longer.”
The conversation then shifted to Detroit, where Larkin remains at the center of an active trade process. Dreger said the Red Wings’ pro scouting staff has been crisscrossing the league, with director of pro scouting Kris Draper among those making the rounds. He was in Boston for the Bruins’ game against the Vegas Golden Knights, and Dreger said the Bruins, along with the Montreal Canadiens, would like a chance to get onto Larkin’s list.
But the list itself has not changed.
“It is an unchanged 10-team list.”
According to Dreger, the Red Wings have not found an offer from those 10 teams that they’re willing to move on, even though talks have continued with interim general manager Shawn Horcoff and other GMs. That’s why the scouting trips keep going, including recent visits around Montreal and an expected stop in Toronto, where the Utah Mammoth are set to face the Maple Leafs.
Dreger also said there has not yet been an official push from Detroit to CAA to ask whether Larkin would consider a destination outside that list. His representatives, Pat Brisson and company, still believe a deal can be made from the 10 teams already on the board.
Then came the biggest jolt of the segment: Kucherov.
Four days after news broke that he wants out of Tampa Bay, the league is still trying to process what it means. Dreger said the reaction around the NHL has been disbelief, with executives flooding him with texts asking whether the story was real.
“It’s causing a lot of chatter, but most general managers and hockey executives are surfing a wave of disbelieve.”
Dreger said the reporting is real, and teams have been calling Lightning GM Julien BriseBois. Even so, Tampa Bay is holding firm for now and is not interested in trading Kucherov at this point.
That “not yet” matters. Dreger said the Lightning could still be a contender, but if their season dips later on, BriseBois may have to revisit the situation. He said it would be hard to imagine Tampa letting a player with Kucherov’s résumé leave for nothing, and he described the possibility of using him as an own-rental as something that would be historic.
“If the Kucherov is used as an own rental, it would go down in history as the most significant own rental of all time.”
For now, Dreger said the real pressure point would come if this is still hanging over the team in February. That, he suggested, is when the situation could turn from tense to unbearable.
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