HORVAT TALK, LEAFS WANT TO ADD, WINGS WEIGHING, AND MORE

TORONTO, ON — We are now less than five weeks until the NHL trade deadline, which means a lot of people will be sleeping less (*raises hand*) and the in-season silly season is about to get turned up several notches.

With the All-Star break coming up and teams heading into bye weeks – some guys haven’t wasted any time, they’re already basking in the sun... yes, I’m jealous – we can expect to hear and read about plenty of speculation as General Managers try to make moves before 3pm ET hits on March 3.

As TFP monitors the trade market, names will shuffle on and off our Trade Watch List. It’s an exciting time for fans, stressful for some players, and tiring for most management and scouting staffs. But it’s the nature of the beast.

I’ll start in Toronto, where the Maple Leafs are looking to make an addition or two up front. We’re starting to hear more speculation over whom Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is believed to be eyeing, with St. Louis Blues forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Ivan Barbashev front and centre.

With defenceman T.J. Brodie expected back in the lineup Sunday against the Washington Capitals, and youngsters Rasmus Sandin, Timothy Liljegren and Conor Timmins holding their own, Toronto isn’t as focused on bolster their blueline as they may have been earlier in the season. Now, if someone falls into their laps, I’m sure they’d take the upgrade, but as I mentioned on NHL Network earlier this week, the Leafs seem focused on improving their forward group with a second-line left winger and a veteran for the bottom-six.

The Leafs don’t have a ton of cap space to play with, however, so any major addition would either result in some masterful salary cap gymnastics or a current roster player heading out of town.

Dubas wants to find the right fits to add to his team, not necessarily the best players on paper. Adding Bo Horvat would be a nice rental, for example – costly, but nice – but is he going to be comfortable playing on the left wing of John Tavares and William Nylander, when the roster is healthy? Is Tyler Bertuzzi a better candidate, price and cap wise? What about Max Domi?

Barbashev is a versatile player multiple teams have their eyes on beyond the Leafs but bringing him in to stabilize Toronto’s third line could be a shrewd, cost-effective move.

Toronto will explore all of its options over the next few weeks and I wouldn’t be shocked to see a couple additions by D-day.

Out west, the Vancouver Canucks have a decision to make on captain Bo Horvat.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin tried to calm the waters during an interview on Sportsnet650 Friday evening, telling “Canucks Central” he met with Horvat’s agent on Tuesday and he’s “still talking to his agent and we’ll see where it goes.”

Later that night, as I mentioned Saturday on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio during “The Hot Stove” with Dennis Bernstein, Ryan Paton and myself, I received information that trade discussions involving Horvat have picked up a fair amount. One source even suggested a move is expected sooner than later.

With the Canucks, anything is possible these days. Just when everyone thought an extension for J.T. Miller wasn’t in the cards, Vancouver called up his agent and they got a deal gone in under 72 hours. I’m leaving that possibility open in Horvat’s case, but the trade chatter is much louder now surrounding him than it was prior to the season when Miller signed his new deal.

Carolina, Colorado, Seattle, Vegas, Boston, Dallas and the New York Rangers have all expressed interest in Horvat, and there have been others. The price tag remains high, but it sounds like progress is being made and my spidey senses are tingling.

The Canucks and six other clubs are in their bye week – 14 teams start theirs today and the rest begin theirs this coming week – so it might be a little surprising to see a trade happen now. But with a four-game roadtrip coming up, could we have already witnessed Horvat’s last home game in a Canucks sweater? It wouldn’t be shocking.

Circling back to the Eastern Conference, as I reported last week, the Detroit Red Wings presented their latest offer to captain Dylan Larkin and it wasn’t received overly well. There remains a solid gap on the dollars, but the two sides are keeping the lines of communication open.

“The communication part has been really good,” Larkin told reporters this week. “There doesn't seem to be any hard feelings. It’s just the way it’s going.”

Nobody wants to press the panic button just yet, though Larkin admitted it’s taken longer than he expected so far.

Talks will continue as the 26-year-old lets his agent, Pat Brisson, handle negotiations. I suspect the two parties will reconnect over the break and try to hammer out a deal. But Larkin isn’t the only piece of business Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman has to handle over these next few weeks.

Tyler Bertuzzi is also on an expiring deal. So far, it’s status quo, but Yzerman and agent Todd Reynolds are expected to have proper discussions soon. No hard feelings here, either.

“That’s the business. We’ll see after the break how everything plays out,” Bertuzzi said this week.

There has been trade interest in Bertuzzi before and there are teams still interested now – I mentioned the Leafs above. If an extension can’t be reached here – and Bertuzzi’s definitely open to staying – he’s likely to be dealt by the deadline.

Yzerman, I’m told, isn’t happy with how some of his recent additions have performed this season. Andrew Copp isn’t going anywhere with that contract of his, but he’s one of the players the team would like to see improve after the break.

Forwards Pius Suter, Oskar Sundqvist and Adam Erne, and defencemen Olli Maatta, Jake Walman, Robert Hagg and Jordan Oesterle are all on expiring deals, too. They’re all candidates to move.

TIP-INS

Some tips from around the League:

• As we reported Friday, the Anaheim Ducks are expected to move John Klingberg and Dmitry Kulikov by the deadline. They’re going to take a stab at signing Kevin Shattenkirk to an extension, something the veteran blueline is interested in, but if they aren’t able to do so, GM Pat Verbeek may not have another choice.

• Lots of talk and reports about the New Jersey Devils. Yeah, we’ve contributed to that – but for good reason. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald wants to add a winger, that much is clear. He’s in the Timo Meier race, and there have been talks with the Canucks about Brock Boeser.

• Cam Talbot will be a goalie to watch between now and March 3. Some teams are debating a move in net for extra security and Talbot checks some boxes. I wonder if LA takes a look, if the Sens eat half of Talbot’s $3.667 million cap hit.

• More Vancouver talk?! It seems a number of teams have Luke Schenn on their radar, and with his cap hit, he could fetch a decent draft pick.

• More Vancouver talk!! If the team can’t trade Conor Garland by the start of buyout window in the summer, I believe he’s one of the players management considers buying out, as Jim Rutherford suggested.

• The Carolina Hurricanes like Ryan O’Reilly. He could be a legit option for them if ROR doesn’t sign an extension with the Blues.

• Just a thought (sorry, Elliotte): If a team has real interest in Seth Jones, would he waive his no-movement clause?