Insider Trading: Chychrun, Manson and Hagel among those drawing sizable interest

TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger, Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun join host James Duthie to discuss the market for Jakob Chychrun, Josh Manson’s availability and what the Sharks might look at if they can’t get Tomas Hertl re-signed.

Jakob Chychrun is the No. 1 name on TSN’s Trade Bait Board. How many teams might be showing interest?

Dreger: At this point eight teams are seriously in the chase for Jakob Chychrun. But again, we’ve reported so much on this. Based on the amount that Bill Armstrong and the Arizona Coyotes need to move the 23-year-old defenceman – good news for us here at TSN – this could come right down to the wire on March 21 based on the package required. Now, it’s Florida, it’s L.A., it’s Boston, it’s St. Louis, it’s Carolina, it’s Anaheim among the primary suitors. But again, we’re inside two weeks from the trade deadline. It could come down to March 21.

When Jake Muzzin went down, some thought the Toronto Maple Leafs would keep him out until the Stanley Cup Playoffs for cap reasons. But now that he’s skating again, might that not come to pass?

Johnston: Yeah, certainly internally there are no indications the Leafs are operating in that manner. And really, Leafs management looks at Jake Muzzin returning to the ice as a positive step for his health as he recovers from his second successive concussion. And for the Leafs, that means they’re not going to use his LTIR space to acquire any extra cap hits at the deadline. And so, really right now the Leafs are looking at having about $500,000 that they could add in an annual cap hit that they could add at the deadline depending on what they do with some players before then. So it’s probably going to have to be some players before then, and so it’s probably