Hockey Trade Rumors

After the Canadiens formally announced that Chicago Blackhawks assistant GM Marc Bergevin will take over their vacant general manager’s job, Louis Jean of Sportsnet reported on AM 590 in Toronto that Gomez’s contract will in fact be bought out by Montreal.

Maybe all you folks with those trade ideas to move the No. 1 overall pick in the June NHL entry draft should forward your proposals to Steve Tambellini. You could go right to the guy making the final call, never mind voicing your opinion on the talk shows and the blogs.

The Montreal Canadiens will hold a news conference at 2pm et/11am pt to introduce Marc Bergevin as their new general manager.

You can watch it live on TSN and TSN.ca and listen in on TSN Radio 990 at TSN.ca/Montreal.

Bergevin most worked last season as the assistant general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks under Stan Bowman – his seventh with the franchise.

The Columbus Blue Jackets are ready to move on from Steve Mason. Could Antti Niemi be the answer?

According to the Columbus Dispatch, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson said:

“We need a different look in goal. We need better play from that position. I told Steve in our exit interviews (earlier this month) that we’re going to have a different look at that position next year, but that right now, nobody can predict what form that’s going to take.”

Three years ago, a popular discussion in NHL circles was a debate about rookie goaltenders: if you started a franchise, would you rather have Steve Mason of the Blue Jackets or Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators as your building block?

A perfectly laid out plan often gets tossed in the trash before it can be executed.

Or at least, that’s what appears to be the case in regards to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s seemingly endless search to find a long-term goaltender.

Rational thought led many to believe the trades made by Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman prior to the deadline were done with a primary focus in mind – acquire as many assets as possible and use them to work out a deal with the Vancouver Canucks to acquire 26-year-old goaltender Cory Schneider.

On Hockey Night in Canada, there was much speculation that Jordan Staal of the Pittsburgh Penguins could be had for the right price, mainly because the Penguins might want to change things up and Staal might want a bigger role on a new team, as he is playing behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin right now. Said analyst Glenn Healey: “This player is not going to ask to be traded but the hockey world knows something has got to happen.”

Tim Thomas’s no-movement clause will expire on July 1. The same day, Tuukka Rask will become a restricted free agent. The Bruins could move Thomas and allocate part of his $5 million annual cap hit toward Rask’s next contract. Chiarelli, however, downplayed any possibility of trading Thomas.

While the Canadiens brass has maintained their general silence on the the hiring of their next general manager, reports have surfaced that they continue to speak with candidates. Renaud Lavoie of RDS, who seems to have good sources on this search, wrote on his blog this week that while Geoff Molson is not in any rush, it’s very possible the new GM could be in place within two or three weeks.

We’ll know that Daniel and Henrik Sedin are the identical faces of the franchise when the Vancouver Canucks are known universally for their talent, professionalism, humility and candour. Until then, it’s Ryan Kesler’s team.

It’s not like Kesler doesn’t also possess those noble traits, especially since humility made a late charge to the front of the pack on Tuesday when the Canuck centre discussed his National Hockey League season gone wrong.

The process will be the same in San Jose. GM Doug Wilson will meet with his players and will meet with his coaching staff and his ownership. On Tuesday, there will be a media availability in San Jose revealing explanations that might shed light as to why Logan Couture, Douglas Murray, Joe Pavelski and Dominic Moore underachieved at the biggest time of year.

The process will be the same, but the timing will be different. It’s way too soon for San Jose to be doing this evaluation.

The motto has been “Fail for Nail”. If I am the Toronto Maple Leafs, I may not be bad enough to outright get him and the 1st overall pick (without some ridiculous lottery luck involved. I still say the NHL needs to change it to be more like the NBA cause the NHL lottery is Boring, but I digress), so why not go out and trade for him?

The Columbus Blue Jackets would have a really difficult time in making this selection. While he may in fact be better than Nikita Filatov or Nikolai Zherdev, suffice to say this franchise has not had much luck with Russian forwards.

The contenders:

1. Tampa Bay Lightning. They would rather have Schneider because he’s seven years younger and the length of Luongo’s contract scares them, but GM Steve Yzerman was the man running the Olympic team in Vancouver and Luongo was the goalie in the gold-medal game. If they can’t get Schneider they would be looking at the Los Angeles Kings’ Jonathan Bernier or Nashville Predators’ Anders Lindback, most likely. They have two first-rounders and the possibility of four second-rounders to dangle for a young goalie. They also need another top-six forward, so there are other holes to fill.

Brad Stuart almost certainly has played his last game as a Red Wing, as he wants to play close to his family in San Jose, Calif. The Wings will need to know whether Nicklas Lidstrom wants to play another season by the end of June. Tomas Holmstrom may have played his last game. Hudler might be gone.

Center Jordan Staal said Tuesday upon the Penguins’ arrival in Philadelphia that he was unaware of speculation regarding his future with the team.

Staal, with whom the Penguins can begin contract discussions July 1, is set to become a free agent following next season along with fellow center Sidney Crosby.

Both players will likely command raises from their current average annual salary — $4 million for Staal, and $8.7 million for Crosby.

Oh sure, now that the Vancouver Canucks supposedly have no use for Roberto Luongo, there is talk the Toronto Maple Leafs should try and trade for the him in the summer.

Nice try, but no thanks.

Why would the Leafs want a goaltender who was pulled after losing the first two games in the opening round this year? Why would the Leafs want a goaltender who lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final? Why would the Leafs want a goaltender who turns to mush whenever he sees a Chicago Blackhawks jersey?

Wait a second; it is either Luongo or another year of James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson? Well, then, send him over.

Nick Lidstrom is going to do what he always does, which is take some time off, and when it comes time in late June or early July when it’s time to get back in the gym and have to start working again, that’s when he’ll determine whether or not he’s fit to play for next year. It comes down to how much work he’s willing to do in the off-season.

He’s capable of playing. The level he played at this year, he’s still a top five or six defenceman in the NHL. For that reason, nobody thinks he’s going anywhere, but it’s possible.

The axe has fallen on Phoenix Coyotes forward Raffi Torres.

Torres was suspended 25 games for launching himself to deliver a late hit that sent Chicago’s Marian Hossa during Game 3 of the Coyotes-Blackhawks series on Tuesday night.

Should the 25 games not be served by the conclusion of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the remaining games of the suspension will carry over into next regular season. Torres will also be prohibited from playing in any preseason games until he has served this 25-game suspension (playoff and regular-season games).

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=393821

We cannot say this for sure, but ever since Edmonton Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini said that the No. 1 pick he received in Tuesday’s draft lottery could be available for trade, you have to believe that the first call he received was from Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke … or KHL president Alexander Medvedev.

The KHL could use Nail Yakupov — considered the top prospect — and they might get him if the NHL fails to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the players before the start of next season. But the Leafs, who have the fifth-overall selection, truly need this No. 1 pick. Not so much because it will help the team, but because it will help erase the bad feeling in everyone’s mouth after a lousy second half to the season.