Hawthorn list manager Mark McKenzie is confident a deal for West Coast's Tom Barrass is tracking in the right direction as the Hawks aim to add another defender to their roster this off-season.
"We've had some good chats with West Coast over the last couple of weeks, we'll keep that going over the next couple of days," McKenzie said.
"We've both been pretty open with where we see it and the conversations are going well, and hopefully we'll keep proceeding from there. [We're] positive at this stage."
McKenzie was withholding of the finer details of Barrass' deal but noted a high-draft pick, or two, would unlock a trade for the Eagles' key backman.
"We understand there's going to be a significant pick that has to be involved with that, but we'll also see what else is going on in regards to their picks and our picks, with the environment with where certain other trades are at this point in time," McKenzie said.
"But we know that there's a significant pick that has to be tied to bringing a quality player potentially into your footy club, so that's where it sits at this point."
West Coast list manager Matt Clarke too implied that Hawthorn will need to pass over a high draft pick to land Barrass this trade period.
"Everyone would love two first-rounders, but he's a contracted player for three years, a key position back, so he's really important to us," Clarke said.
"Andrew [McQualter] made that really clear when he came on only a week or so ago what he thinks... so it's up to [Hawthorn] to come to us now. We're not going to be silly about it, we want fair compensation for a player of his value."
McKenzie continued his secrecy of the deal when asked about whether West Coast paying some of Barrass' salary would help incline Hawthorn to trade away an additional high draft pick.
"There's a lot of different other scenarios that can come up, whether it be future picks or these current picks... we'll look at everything and see what it comes to," he said.
Hawthorn have already made off-season moves with Josh Battle transferring from St Kilda through free agency, whilst extending the contracts of utility Harry Morrison and head coach Sam Mitchell.
The Hawks have fended off interest for renowned tagger Finn Magginess too, holding him to his contract expiring in 2025, as well as shutting down interest for Sam Frost.
West Coast officially landed Jack Graham on Tuesday through free agency, and will also be aiming to seal Liam Baker's trade request to Western Australia before Wednesday, October 16.
