Melbourne have declared star forward Jesse Hogan off limits during the trade period, but Collingwood have emerged as a contender to secure out-of-favour veteran Jack Watts.
Watts is desperate to stay at the Demons, but the club are keen to trade him off despite the 26-year-old having two years to run on his contract.
The former No.1 draft pick, also linked with Sydney, had a meeting last week with Port Adelaide.
But it seems Collingwood are firmly in the race to secure Watts, with Magpies players this week reportedly contacting the 153-game forward.
The Demons moved quickly on Wednesday to quash any talk they would put Hogan on the draft table.
Hogan, who is contracted until 2019, has endured a tough year off the field.
Just a month after his father died in April, Hogan was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
The 22-year-old hails from Perth, but the Demons won't entertain the prospect of trading him back to his home state.
"At no stage have we spoken about Jesse Hogan being a trade option at any point to any club, or even internally," Demons football operations manager Josh Mahoney told AFL Trade Radio.
"He's a very important part of our team moving forward; he's committed to our club already last year.
"The year he went through this year showed great resilience.
"The year of things that he had to go through was probably more than I've seen of any other player, and we can't wait for him to turn back up in pre-season and then really attack next year."
Bulldogs forward Jake Stringer is expected to nominate his club of choice by Friday, with Geelong and Essendon at the head of the queue.
Brisbane star Tom Rockliff has nominated Port Adelaide as his club of choice, despite Carlton's bid to snare the restricted free agent.
The Lions will receive an early second-round pick or a late first-round pick as compensation for losing Rockliff.
Adelaide are still signalling they'll play hardball with Jake Lever as the defender attempts to make the switch to Melbourne.
Some Crows players are reportedly furious with Lever's impending defection.
Crows captain Taylor Walker was so incensed, he blasted Lever when the young defender phoned him, according to AFL great Garry Lyon.
Melbourne are prepared to offer a combination of a first and second-round pick at this year's and future drafts for Lever, but the Crows aren't satisfied.
Contracted Power ruckman Matthew Lobbe is on the lookout for a new club after struggling for opportunities this season behind Paddy Ryder.
The Lions are reportedly interested in Lobbe.
Port Adelaide hope to land Geelong livewire Steven Motlop but Gold Coast are also strongly in the mix.
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