Rumors Already Swirling
It has been just one day since a tentative agreement was reached between the league and NHLPA, and rumors about the upcoming offseason are already swirling. This is shaping up to be a frantic sprint to training camp, and here are some of the latest rumors.– Bruce Garrioch is reporting that the Senators’ Bryan Smolinski and Greg de Vries are candidates for being bought out. They would free-up over 4 million dollars and give the Senators some needed room to re-sign their RFAs and go after some UFAs. One name that the Senators could pursue, according to Bruce, is Rod Brind’Amour. They inquired about him last trade deadline, but his 5 million dollar deal was too much. He will likely be bought out and there is a strong possibility that he will come home to Ottawa.
– Brian Burke is apparently interested in bringing Markus Naslund to Anaheim, as well as trading for Todd Bertuzzi.
– Chris Stevenson wrote that Gary Roberts could be heading to Anaheim.
– The two teams that are strongly interested in Nikolai Khabibulin are the Red Wings and Canucks.
– If the Canucks are unsuccesful in landing Khabibulin, they may go after Curtis Joseph.
– If the Red Wings are unsuccesful in landing Khabibulin, Chris Osgood may return to Detroit to split goaltending duties with Manny Legace.