Let's look hard at the Jay Bouwmeester situation. The Panthers are in a spot here, that much is certain.
One needs to only look to Ottawa to understand the importance of not losing star players and getting nothing in return. Jay Bouwmeester is valuable to the Panthers now, but what he could bring to Florida may be more so. I am hearing more and more that the Panthers can't afford to lose Bouwmeester because they need the playoff money. They do need the playoff money, but I don't know that both have to be exclusive here.
Jay Bouwmeester is what many people call "the missing piece." To a team that is a legitimate Cup contender, Jay could be the difference. And for a chance at a Cup a team may very well overpay for him and that's what Florida really needs here.
Florida is not the team. Florida's window is coming. Players like Booth and others are truly the future. Jay Bo's time is now, but the players he could help add to this team could seriously speed Florida to that window. And again depth is definitely an issue in Florida. Some of the teams that are looking the hardest at Jay Bo (Philly, Montreal, and the NYR mostly) have the depth to help the Panthers now and tomorrow.
We saw it with Hossa last year. The Thrashers couldn't lose Hossa for nothing even though they needed to make the playoffs as well. As good as Hossa is, his value pales in comparison to Jay Bouwmeester. Jay is a big, solid, competitive defenseman. They don't exist. You can never get one.
With Robert Lang out for the season I am hearing that the Canadiens may be jumping to the head of the class when it comes to dealing for Doug Weight. Weight's great season has made him very attractive this and there are some teams out there who really want him. He may make sense as a viable option for the Habs.
However, mark my words here, we have not heard the last of the Lecavalier to Montreal possibilities. It has gone underground for now, because teams are realizing the price is significant, but the Canadiens are coming to a real gut check point very soon. You will hear more about Vinny to Montreal in the next month. And not just on this blog.
Pierre LeBrun is one of the premier hockey writers out there. Pierre is a guy I fully respect and every year he is one of those writers that you need to look to for information regarding the deadline. Every year he writes some gems of articles.
Today he has one on ESPN that I recommend checking out.
In it he writes about a crazy rumor that was making the rounds on the Rumor Mill yesterday...
"Take for instance the crazy rumor we heard Tuesday. Someone we were talking to told us he had "heard" the Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers were working on a three-way deal that would send Jason Spezza to the Big Apple, Jay Bouwmeester to Canada's capital and Scott Gomez to South Florida."
Very out there, but also very much the kind of rumors that are out there right now. It's going to be crazy and talking to people day in and day out, I can sense it. A long playoff run is within the reach of several teams right now and they are talking about players we all know logically they can't fit into their cap structure.
You can read the rest of LeBrun's story here....http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3883311&name=lebrun_pierre
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