TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger details what's next for the Canucks after acquiring Evander Kane from the Oilers, the latest on Leafs John Tavares and Matthew Knies, if there's belief Nik Ehlers will return to Winnipeg, the Panthers' priorities on their pending UFAs, and the trade speculation surrounding Bowen Byram in Buffalo.

Sarah Davis: We welcome you into SportsCentre, and we're joined by NHL insider Darren Dreger. So Darren, the Canucks acquired Evander Kane, and they have about $7 million in cap space. So safe to say they're looking to do more?

Dreger: No doubt about that. Patrik Allvin, the general manager for the Vancouver Canucks, supervised, of course, by Jim Rutherford, these guys always like to get in the game early, especially on the trade front, and that's what they pulled off here in acquiring Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers.

But they're not going to stop with the speed and competitiveness of Evander Kane. They've got some other eyes. They need a centre so they're looking up the middle of the ice in Vancouver, and I’d also keep an eye on Thatcher Demko, star goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks. There has been some trade speculation around him over the last number of months. I'm not buying any of that at this point. I know there are ongoing discussions with Demko’s representatives, and I would expect the two sides to get a multi-year contract completed sooner rather than later.

Davis: Okay, and now you know, we can't go a day without an update on the Leafs key free agents.  We believe Mitch Marner will test the market. What's the latest on John Tavares and Matthew Knies?

Dreger: Well, to quote a source close to the situation, grinding away, and it's been that way for the last number of days, but you can see that the end is coming, obviously, especially with Tavares, who's an unrestricted free agent as of July 1. He's made it abundantly clear that he'd like to stay and finish his career in Toronto. So there is a mutual appetite to get something done.

I feel like progress was made on this day. And I'd say the same thing in Matthew Knies. Little bit different because he's a restricted free agent, but I know that Brad Treliving, general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs, looks at both of those guys as priorities, and I think that he'd prefer to get something done, again sooner rather than later, so that he's got a clear deck going into July 1 and open the shop.

Davis: Okay, we'll see how soon that grinding comes to a stop. And then Winnipeg’s biggest unrestricted free agent is Nik Ehlers. Any belief that he'll be back with the Jets?

Dreger: Lots of hope Sarah. Lots of hope. But I don't think that they're in a position where they can believe that he's coming back at this point. Again, July 1 is right around the corner. So if you're Nikolaj Ehlers, you've earned the right to have a look at what that market shows. I think that the Winnipeg Jets are hoping, and had at least some belief, that the fact that Jonathan Toews has agreed to play with the Winnipeg Jets. That might help persuade, or even lure Nikolaj Ehlers back into the mix, because they'd like to keep him but Kevin Cheveldayoff, the GM, will have ongoing conversations with the agent for Nikolaj Ehlers, either before July 1 obviously, or certainly after, if he remains undecided.

Davis: Now yesterday Darren, Pierre LeBrun said he believes the Panthers’ priorities to re-sign their free agents rank Sam Bennett No. 1, Brad Marchand No. 2 and then Aaron Ekblad third. Do you have an update on any of them?

Dreger: Well, all of that is accurate. There's no doubt about that, and it is a process for Bill Zito, the GM of the Florida Panthers. A source close there says they're still very hopeful that they are going to be able to sign all three of these guys. There's only so much money that can be spread around according to the salary cap and with their taxation in Florida, they do have a beneficial strategy in play.

But again, I sound like a broken record here, Sarah, but it's still relatively early. Even though there's still there's lots of trade conversations that are ongoing over the course of the day, but by the time you get into Friday, you're focusing on the draft. Maybe there's still some trade conversations, but you still have time to prep for July 1. So I think the two of the three are likely, probably the two forwards, but that is that's still a long way away from reality at this point.

Davis: Okay, we still got about a week to Free Agent Frenzy. Today is only Wednesday. Now there's also speculation persisting that defenceman Bowen Byram could be traded out of Buffalo. Does that remain a possibility?

Dreger: Absolutely remains a possibility. And look Kevyn Adams, the GM for the Buffalo Sabres, would prefer to keep Bo Byram. This is a contractual matter. You know, he's got Owen Power. He's got Rasmus Dahlin. And I mean, Bo Byron is such a strong complement, the player has arbitration rights. So where is he going to come in if the rights are enacted? You know, he's two years away from unrestricted free agency.

And probably most importantly here, is the market for Bo Byron is terrific. It sounds like Adams, you know, to get involved in a trade conversation, a serious one, needs a right-shot defenceman coming back. I was told earlier today that things sound like they're getting closer in terms of a trade, but we'll see how it develops in the days, if not hours ahead.