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NHL Notebook: The latest trade rumours surrounding Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, John Klingberg, Morgan Reilly returns to Toronto Maple Leafs lineup and more

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Photo credit:James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Zach Laing
1 year ago
A number of updates on players potentially linked to the Edmonton Oilers in a trade.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun had updates on the status of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and John Klingberg. Here’s some of what he wrote:
I’m putting Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews together just because they’re both represented by agent Pat Brisson, but in no way are they a package deal. There’s the possibility of each player making different decisions here.
There’s just no guarantee Toews wants to go anywhere. And it’s not 100 percent yet with Kane, either, although it’s more likely in his case, which is why there’s that big conversation coming.
Brisson, reached by phone Wednesday, said he’s planning to chat with both players “within the next three weeks” about their feelings regarding the trade deadline. So we should start to get some clarity on where this is headed after that. Both control their own destiny, with full no-move clauses. Brisson added that he doubted an extension with a new team would be part of the trade process, although wouldn’t completely close the door on it.
Brisson handled a similar situation a year ago with client Claude Giroux, who also had a full no-move. We know from that experience that if Kane or Toews signifies he’s open to a trade, Brisson himself will likely be involved in flushing out the market, which could be a pretty limited list of potential suitors depending on Kane’s wishes.
John Klingberg has the unique no-trade clause, which is a full one until Jan. 1 and then drops to a 10-team modified no-trade, with Klingberg listing 10 teams he could get traded to. So that goes into effect Sunday.
There’s little reason to think the rebuilding Ducks would see value in extending Klingberg. Flipping him before the March 3 deadline was always the most likely plan when both sides agreed to a one-year, $7 million deal back in August.

Reilly returns

The Toronto Maple Leafs got a boost back to their lineup Thursday night with Morgan Reilly returning to action.
Reilly missed the last 15 games for the Leafs after suffering a knee injury, and Toronto went 12-2-1 without him in the lineup.
Here’s some of what Daily Faceoff’s Scott Maxwell wrote about it:
Rielly is slated to play on a pair with Timothy Liljegren when he returns instead of his usual partner in T.J. Brodie, who will be partnered with Timmins to give the Leafs three even pairs as opposed to a set first, second, and third pair. Rielly has played 66:45 minutes at 5v5 with Liljegren this season, outscoring the opposition 3-1 and a 50.18% 5v5 xGF%.
Rielly will also see a change on the power play, as he will be on the second unit with Timmins instead of his usual spot on the first unit with the Leafs currently opting for a five forward deployment. The last time Rielly was off the first power play unit for a significant stretch of time was the 2019-20 season when he gave up his spot for Tyson Barrie.
Despite missing more than a month, Rielly is still tied for sixth on the Leafs with points. While he has yet to score a goal this season, Rielly has 16 assists in 20 games, with six on the power play.
It’ll be interesting to see how Rielly’s return impacts the Leafs current defensive structure, as his well-noted defensive deficiencies could either cause the Leafs defense to get worse, or it could be masked by the system. Rielly currently has been on the ice for 2.75 goals against per 60 minutes at 5v5 this season, the worst total among regular Leafs this season, as well as 2.46 expected goals against per 60 at 5v5, which only Victor Mete has worse totals among the Leafs regular blueliners.

Canada eliminated from Spengler Cup

Team Canada has been eliminated from the Spengler Cup without winning a game for the first time in tournament history.
Here’s what Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis wrote about it: 
Canada finished with just four goals in three games, with Brett Connolly scoring three of them. Orebro will now play Sparta Prague on Friday at 9:10 AM ET, with the winner moving on to the final.
Orebro spent significant time on the man advantage in the first, partly aided by the game misconduct to Tobie Paquette Bisson for cross-checking. At 12:00, Filip Berglund managed to score the ice-breaker – the only goal in the first 40 minutes – to put Canada on their heels.
The Canadians had some opportunities in the middle frame, but an early third-period goal from Linus Oberg changed everything. After successfully killing a penalty, Oberg took the puck end to end and roofed it over the glove of Michael Hutchinson, giving Orebro the 2-0 lead.
Canada started to get desperate, and at 53:26, they finally got on the board. Chris DiDomenico – the top scoring Canadian in the National League – deked past a defender and fired a wrister over Jonas Arntzen, who was perfect up until that point. Canada struggled to score with the net empty late in the going, and Mathias Brome was able to slide one in for the 3-1 goal, putting an end to Canada’s title defense.

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