Hockey Trade Rumors

Well with the ’10-’11 season not getting here fast enough, and also the recent slow down in news/discussion, I figured let’s have a little fun.

I recently read an article in “Hockey: The Magazine” where 12 of their writers made some extreme predictions. Each “expert” ranked each team by conference, 1 through 15. Also Each predicted the Stanley Cup winner, the Presidents’ Trophy winner, as well as the Hart, Art Ross, Maurice Richard, Vezina, Norris, Calder, and Jack Adams.

The Overall Standings, as Predicted by the “Hockey: The Magazine” 12 experts were as follows:

It took 65 days to keep Ilya Kovalchuk a Devil.

Now the hard part begins for Lou Lamoriello.

The Devils general manager must trim $3-6 million in salary cap liability just to start the season, and it’s not going to be easy, or without pain.

With Kovalchuk’s 15-year, $100 million contract approved by the NHL early yesterday morning, tied to an amendment of the collective bargaining agreement clarifying long-term deals, the Devils stand $3 million over the $59.4 million salary cap, with 21 players under contract.

The hockey season is coming soon, and so are hockey pools. For this reason, the ULTIMATE POOL PREVIEW will be back for the 2010-11 season!

Edmonton Oilers GM Steve Tambellini pulled out of a trade that would have sent Sheldon Souray to the Philadelphia Flyers for Scott Hartnell, who had agreed to waive his no-movement clause to come to Edmonton, an Edmonton TV sportscaster, Kevin Karius of Global, says.

The free agent market has dwindled to a handful of good players left and should dwindle even further with the expected signings this week of:

Ilya Kovalchuk – New Jersey
Lee Stempniak – Phoenix

It’s left a few good players around still looking for work with about 3 weeks until the opening of training camp.

Jose Theodore and Antti Niemi are goalies still waiting to be signed.

With Edmonton Oilers training camp less than a month away, disgruntled defenceman Sheldon Souray still doesn’t have a change of address while free-agent centres Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano don’t have contracts.

Needless to say, there is a gulf between what the Oilers and best buddies Gagner and Cogliano feel they are worth after three seasons of playing in the NHL.

The Washington Capitals are in talks with two teams, the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks, about moving forward Tomas Fleischmann, 26, who is coming off a career year, an NHL source says.

The Toronto Maple Leafs blew it. Brian Burke blew it.

Plain and simple the Tomas Kaberle debacle, which should have played out in a trade of Kaberle, was just that, a debacle.

Kaberle was not moved and now the Leafs in earnest have to make an offer to extend the blueliner and do what they can to keep him. Its all about optics. To keep Kaberle only to see him walk for nothing next July would be the absolute worst and a major setback in Burke’s grand plan. And the bitter taste of seeing Mats Sundin in a Canucks uniform is still fresh in our minds and in our mouths

The Islanders reportedly are interested in Stanley Cup winning goalie Antti Niemi, who was let go by the Blackhawks in a salary-cap move.

“The Islanders have been mentioned” as one of the teams “interested” in the now unrestricted free agent, along with the Sharks, according to the Chicago Tribune.

As currently scheduled, Brian Burke plans to be on the grounds of York University Sunday afternoon watching the singles final of the Rogers Cup.

Doesn’t exactly sound like a hockey GM girding for a blockbuster, does it? Maybe they’ll let the Maple Leafs boss set up a war room adjoining Centre Court as the final hours of the Tomas Kaberle trade watch tick down.

Ever since the 2009 NHL entry draft, when the Bruins and Maple Leafs reportedly had a deal fall apart at the last minute that would’ve sent Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle and draft picks to Boston for Phil Kessel and draft picks, the Bruins and Kaberle have been linked in trade rumors. Kessel ended up going to Toronto in a later deal that saw the Bruins get Toronto’s first- and second-round picks in 2010 — which turned into Tyler Seguin with the No. 2 overall pick and Jared Knight in the second round — as well as Toronto’s 2011 first round pick. Kaberle remained a Leaf.

NEW YORK — Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent for the second time this summer.

Independent arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled in favour of the NHL’s rejection of Kovalchuk’s 17-year, US$102-million contract with the New Jersey Devils.

The NHL team released a statement Monday night saying it respects Bloch’s ruling and indicated that it still hopes to land the talented Russian.

Think they’ve about run out of cardboard boxes and packaging tape in the Chicago Blackhawks’ dressing room? In the nine weeks since they hoisted the Stanley Cup, eight players have packed up and moved on as part of the team’s salary-cap-induced bloodletting.

Sharks-killing forward Dustin Byfuglien: Gone. Twenty-goal scorer Kris Versteeg: Gone. Energetic forechecker Colin Fraser: Gone.

As a blurb at the bottom of the Jamal Mayers to San Jose story on Sportsnet.ca they mention that Brian Burke has cancelled his charity lunch this week in order to fly to Europe “in order to negotiate a deal with a prospective player”.

The Chicago Blackhawks have walked away from the $2.75 million contract that was awarded to Antti Niemi in arbitration, which makes the Stanley Cup-winning goalie an unrestricted free agent.

Instead, the Blackhawks have signed veteran netminder Marty Turco to a one-year, $1.3 million contract.

More and more, this is looking like the end.

There are only so many bullets you can dodge. And with the deadline on his no-trade clause fast approaching, it is becoming increasingly evident that Tomas Kaberle will not be continuing his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Kurt Overhardt chuckled when I asked if he is worried that Marty Turco might not end up with a place to sit in this free agent game of musical chairs.

“You’re the second guy to ask me that exact same question in that exact same manner,” said the agent for Turco. “The answer is no.”

Overhardt is confident that something will get done in the 7-10 days and that Turco, the all-time Stars win leader who was not offered a contract extension, will be on a contending team.

As Brian Burke returns home from his fishing trip, talks could once again commence on the possible moving of Tomas Kaberle.

Here are some other various sources on Kaberle:

“The Sharks are the team to beat. The Leafs are aiming for Ryan Clowe as their target”

“The Sharks aren’t offering Clowe yet, but Brian does believe he could get Clowe if he just were to get some kind of bidding war going.”

Another day, another Kevin Bieksa rumour.

The latest twist in Twitter-land is that the Montreal Canadiens covet the Vancouver Canucks defenceman in exchange for 2010 first-round draft choice Jarred Tinordi. The rumour has some legs because the Canucks had interest in the 6-foot-5 blueliner, who’s the son of former NHL defenceman Mark Tinordi. He had nine points and 68 penalty minutes with the U.S. National Team Development Program last season and a was a member of the U.S. team that won the 2010 under-18 world title. Tinordi is projected as a tough, top-four defenceman and that’s why the Canadiens traded up to take him 22nd overall last month.

There were 3 things that needed to happen before the Toronto Maple Leafs could really start to entertain offers for blueliner Tomas Kaberle.

While they’ve gotten some nibbles, its now where some tangible offers should come on the table.

The Leafs first needed the distractions of the draft to pass and allow teams to focus on their current rosters than on the rosters of tomorrow.

GM Brian Burke did mention this during the draft as he put the Kaberle talks on the shelf at that time as teams were simply too busy to think trades.