Latest Rumors from around the League…

The latest on the Avs, Devils, Rangers, Blues, Islanders, Leafs, and Sabers…. These rumors have been reported on Spectorshockey.net:

1. The Gonchar Sweepstakes: Toronto, New Jersey, Dallas, Boston, Vancouver, Nashville and Colorado are the teams interested in Gonchar, Olaf Kolzig and Brendan Witt. The Avs are the closest to landing Gonchar and Kolzig. The Avs are willing to give up Morris, and that basically puts all other teams out of competition. The Leafs seem to have lost the race to the Avs. There’s no way the Leafs can match the reported offer by Colorado unless they give up most of their future. That seems unlikely! Witt seems better suited, but what will be the asking price for him? Are the Caps willing to give him up? Not likely. They do not want to break up the core of their defense.

Favourite: Colorado

2. The Leetch Sweepstakes: New Jersey, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia and Dallas are all reported to be interested in the veteran defenseman. The Leafs and Flyers seem to have the edge in this race. The Leafs seem to have given up on Gonchar, and have turned their attention to Leetch. He is much cheaper than Gonchar, and fits better in T.O. The Flyers, meanwhile, might turn it up a notch with the recent injury to yet another defeseman. The Devils seem a very unlikely destination for Leetch as the two teams have never made a trade. Boston might be the dark horse in this race. They might jump into the race at any moment, especially of they can’t land Gonchar. The asking price for Leetch would be a prospect and a high pick.

Favourite(s): Leafs and Flyers

Prediction: Leafs: Antropov and a first rounder for Leetch

Note: Leetch has two more years on his contract…

3. The Pronger Situation: Reports out of Toronto have stated that the Blues are shopping Pronger. The Blues’ management were quick to deny it. They said that they are trying to re-sign him. Pronger’s agent even tried to find out the source of these rumors. The Islanders were believed to be interested. Personally, I don’t see Pronger going anywhere, and if he does, the return will extremely high. It is believed the Islanders are interested.

4. Islanders looking for a blockbuster: The NY Islanders are reportedly seeking to trade for one of Chris Pronger, Brendan Witt, or Vitali Vishnevsky. The Islanders are also believed to be interested in Buffalo’s Miroslav Satan. Satan has stated that he will likely be moved at the deadline.

5. The Sabers would like to add some long-term defense help. The Sabers have said that they are willing to move one of their forward prospects, but they want a much more than a rental player. The Sabers are losing ground on the Islanders who are 9 points ahead. Sabers have contacted the Rangers about forward Alexie Kovalev, but I don’t see this trade happening.