Gord's Notebook: Kucherov's price, Edvinsson's deadline, and Guerin won't beg

The two biggest files in the league belong to players in limbo. Kucherov is skating in Tampa while his agent and the GM trade statements. Larkin is suspended without pay, losing a game cheque a night. My read: the real deadline this month isn't either of theirs. It's Dec. 1, and it has Simon Edvinsson's name on it.

1. Kucherov's number is out, and it wasn't the problem. Johnston has the ask at six years and $20 million a season. Friedman's version is that the pace bothered him more than the money. LeBrun raised the idea of Kucherov sitting out like Larkin; his agent, Dan Milstein, waved that off within hours. Grade: Reported.

The read: He's at 18 points in 13 games with a three-game point streak, per NHL data, and Tampa is 6-0 at home by our count. A player producing like that, on a team winning like that, doesn't sit. He waits. File under: Trade winds.

2. The list has a Canadian door, maybe two. Friedman couldn't confirm the 10 teams, but said Montreal and Toronto could be on it if the package appealed to Tampa. Montreal is 5-0 in its last five, 5-1 on the road, and running a 9.5 percent power play, per NHL data. Grade: Rumbling.

The read: That power play is the one number a Kucherov pitch writes itself around. The Canadiens have everything but the man-advantage. It still costs Tampa a center coming back, and Montreal isn't sending Suzuki. File under: Trade winds.

3. What the numbers say: Tampa's net outlasts Tampa's winger. Vasilevskiy is at .877 through 10 starts and .870 over his last five, per NHL data, on a $9.5 million cap hit with two years left after this one. The power play is 15.2 percent. Kucherov leaves in July no matter what. The goalie doesn't.

The read: BriseBois said "unequivocally" on Friday. By March he'll be weighing a Kucherov return against a goalie problem he can't trade his way out of. Nobody's reporting that part yet. File under: Cap crunch.

4. Larkin's list is about to shrink, and Florida's the one leaving. Friedman said the 10-team list could change inside 48 hours, and that Florida, Vegas and Colorado are "very hard, if not impossible" as bidders. Grade: Reported.

The read: The Panthers item in this file was always a courtesy. Florida is 5-3 on the road with a 24.2 percent power play, per NHL data, and Barkov and Marchand are skating again. Zito doesn't need a center at Detroit's price. He needs the two he has back. File under: Trade winds.

5. The Larkin market, team by team. LeBrun has Minnesota making multiple offers and Detroit wanting more immediate NHL help, with Carolina talking internally and New Jersey waiting on Hughes. Di Marco adds the wrinkle: Philadelphia would broker it, taking Yakov Trenin's $3.5 million off Minnesota's sheet for a prospect. Grade: Reported.

The read: Trenin has no goals in 16 games, 13.1 minutes a night and a seven-game pointless streak, per NHL data. Paying the Flyers to take that is the clearest sign yet that Guerin is building the deal, not just making calls. File under: Trade winds.

6. Edvinsson is the file with a real date. Friedman says five teams have taken a long look, San Jose's talks were substantive, Detroit turned down a serious offer, and Detroit will wait until the Dec. 1 RFA signing deadline. Dreger has Detroit's offers at one, two, five and seven years, with the money the sticking point. Grade: Reported.

The read: He hasn't played a game, so there's no usage line to run. That's the point. A 23-year-old with 10 teams interested and no stats has one lever, and it expires in four weeks. Somebody signs him by Dec. 1. The question is the sweater. File under: Extension watch.

7. Guerin on Hughes: "What am I going to do, say please, please, please?" Hughes said in Vancouver that his feet are planted in Minnesota and something could happen soon. His GM, on Minnesota radio last Wednesday, said there's no date, there's nothing to talk about, and it isn't that complicated. Grade: On the record, both sides.

The read: Those two quotes agree. A GM who says "there's no date" has been told the number and doesn't need to beg. Hughes is at 21 points in 16 games and 27.7 minutes a night with a five-game point streak, per NHL data. Still a press release away. File under: Extension watch.

8. Winnipeg's captain said the word. Nine straight losses, a 7-0 in Carolina on Sunday, Skinner pulled after five goals on 17 shots. Adam Lowry said if it keeps going "there's going to be changes for sure." Arniel, asked about his job: "Not in my mind." Grade: On the record.

The read: The Jets are 0-5 in their last five at minus-17, by our count, and Skinner is at .864 over his last five starts, per NHL data. The coach didn't trade Hellebuyck. The GM did. A Canadian market fires the coach first anyway. Tuesday in Montreal is the kind of night careers change. File under: Hot seat.

9. Niederreiter is next out the door in Winnipeg. Pagnotta has the Jets shopping him, and Friedman had said earlier the club might move him to help him extend his career elsewhere. He has no points in nine games at 12.0 minutes a night, per NHL data. Grade: Rumbling.

The read: A 12-minute winger with a nine-game pointless streak isn't a trade chip. He's a favour. Winnipeg eats salary or takes a seventh. File under: Trade winds.

10. Miroshnichenko: Vancouver's in, and the price is a first. Pagnotta has the Canucks among several teams interested, with Chicago, Calgary, Seattle, Los Angeles and Philadelphia also in. Friedman's line on the Capitals: "They will trade him, but the return has to be legitimate." Marek has the ask at a first-round pick or better. Grade: Reported.

The read: Vancouver is 1-6 at home and 1-4 in its last five, by our count. A team in that spot isn't spending a first on a winger with three games played. Chicago can. File under: Trade winds.

11. Carolina's quiet month got loud. Kochetkov is 10-0 at .929, .945 over his last five starts, per NHL data, on an extension that starts next season at about $3.95 million a year with bonuses. The Hurricanes are 7-1 on the road and plus-13 over their last five. Marcus ran the contract this morning. Grade: On the record.

The read: The team that just beat Winnipeg 7-0 doesn't need a center. It wants one, and it has goalie money to spend. If anyone jumps Minnesota on Larkin, it's Raleigh. File under: Trade winds.

12. Seattle and Nashville traded their disappointments. Wright for Wood, one for one. Wright had a five-game pointless streak at 14.2 minutes a night; Wood had three points in 14 games at 14.1, per NHL data. The Desk has the deal. Grade: On the record.

The read: Two first-rounders, two fourth lines, one swap. Nashville gets the center and is 2-1-2 in its last five with an 88.9 percent kill, by our count. That's the side I'd rather be on. File under: Trade winds.

13. Housekeeping. Voronkov is in trade talks in Columbus after falling out of favour with the staff; he's at 10.6 minutes a night, per NHL data, which says the same thing.

Toronto opens a six-game homestand with McKenna at 11 points and 13.7 minutes, per NHL data. LeBrun says Nill opens talks with Jason Robertson in mid-to-late December, and the CBA says nothing gets signed before January, so the Dallas-for-Kucherov chatter is noise until then. The Jets finish their trip Tuesday in Montreal. See item 8.