BEN REID'S impressive second coming as a forward could influence Collingwood's off-season chase for a Robin to Darcy Moore's Batman in attack, coach Nathan Buckley says.

Reid began his AFL career as a forward, but has spent most of it in defence, including being an All Australian centre half-back in 2011.

Buckley dropped Reid for the Magpies' round 15 clash with Hawthorn and has deployed him as a key forward since he returned to the senior side, which has resulted in him kicking eight goals in four matches.

Out-of-contract Adelaide forward Mitch McGovern, who took the match-saving mark to secure a draw last week against Collingwood after the Crows trailed by 50 points, has been linked to the black and white.

"(Reid)'s looked really good the last couple of weeks since coming back – it looks like he's got a bit more spring in the step and … he laid five forward-50 tackles on the weekend," Buckley told reporters.

"He had only six touches and kicked a couple of goals, but I think it was a really influential game as a key forward. You'd love 20 touches and six goals every week, but all we expect is for guys to play a role, and Reidy's influence was profound.

"A lot of what happens in the next month probably dictates … the last 5 per cent of decisions you need to make on your list going into the next phase of the club's future."

Buckley declined to discuss recruiting specific players, such as McGovern or his in-demand Adelaide teammate Jake Lever, saying any talk at this stage was "disrespectful".

"They're decisions that happen at the end of the year and the life cycle of that happens behind the curtain, when we're in-season," he said.

"I do feel it's disrespectful to be talking about players from other clubs during the year, and we probably learned a bit from the Lin Jong situation last year (when the Bulldog's Collingwood meeting became public).

"It's not good for the player themselves or the clubs involved to get caught in that, so we'll let that happen behind the cloak."

The 13th-placed Pies are no longer in finals contention, and speculation continues about Buckley's coaching future. There was even a suggestion on Thursday that Mick Malthouse could return to the club as director of coaching, the role he was supposed to fill when Buckley succeeded him as coach in 2012.

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has already rejected the Malthouse news as "complete rubbish".

"It's always good when you deal in the realm of fiction, isn't it? There are so many more possibilities than dealing with fact," Buckley said.

"They will be decisions made above where I'm at and … I'm not here next year yet, so we've got to get that right first."

Saturday's match against North Melbourne, another club out of September contention, will be Pies recruit Daniel Wells' first against his old side.

Wells has mixed brilliance with stints out due to injury in his Collingwood career, much like his 14 seasons at Arden St. He had his most prolific match as a Pie last week, racking up 34 disposals and kicking three goals.

Collingwood has won six and drawn another of Wells' nine matches, after he started pre-season in an underwhelming physical condition.

"Wellsy's form recently … it whets the appetite, no doubt," Buckley said.

"He'd be very excited about his return bout against his old club … it's going to be an emotional challenge for him, but he's looking forward to it.

"He's an experienced player and he knows what it's going to take for him to get to his best. "The AFLPA and the CBA have the clubs at arm's length for a lot of it, so funnily enough it comes back to the individual and how prepared they want to be for pre-season, or how much they view that as a decent break away from training or the game."