There's a new #1 in town,
Just a quick hit here...Tomas Kaberle looks likely to return Saturday to the line-up. This is a VERY important step to show possible teams that he is indeed ready to play again...Brian Burke still sticks to the statement that he is unlikely to be traded unless a team is willing to truly pay fair value or even "overpay."
Tomas Kaberle is now #1 on the NHL Trade Rumor Chart, unseating the previously unseated Nik Antropov as the most tradeable and most likely to be traded player in the NHL based on a computer generated number that factors in a dozen changing factors on a nightly basis.
Kaberle has given a list of ten teams to which he would accept a trade. Not much is known of that list publicly, but I have been told that the list is mostly teams in the Eastern Conference, and one of those teams does appear to be Buffalo. There is a rumor that the deal could be Drew Stafford and a #1 pick for Kaberle and Moore.
Phil Kessel on the Move?
There are also rumors that the Bruins are possibly considering moving Phil Kessel in a deal. Perhaps to free up cap space to bring in a defenseman or a bigger power forward...
EKLUND'S NOTE: (hat tip to my RSS feeder, the twitter hash #nhltrade, and Aki Berg) Welcome to the 2008 trade deadline. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN PEOPLE. The Rumour Mongers out there will tell you that he will get Jay Bo and Horton out of Boston and that Kessel is "almost" a cool name and all, but the fact remains that last season Phil was VERY available and offered up to probably ten teams who all questioned his ability to be coached and whether or not his offensive upside would outweigh the fact that he hadn't seen his own zone since 2002. I wrote a blog last year regarding the fact that people needed to wait on Kessel. The Bruins did and they have been rewarded. Not happening. Put away your, "Trade (Phil) in the Blanks" T-shirts.
(note to the note above: The above was in the form of a Parody, and is actually an homage to the man who was the first to put hockey rumors on the internet an analyze them. The Great Spector)
more to come...
From Last Night...
First off Gomez...
I mentioned this yesterday in the Buzzcast, but it seems as though the Florida Panthers and Rangers maybe talking regarding Gomez, and that a Gomez for Bouwmeester swap (with conditional picks if Jay Bo were to re-sign in NY, was definitely a possibility. It is interesting to note that the Panthers have long thought about trying to get Scott Gomez for various reasons... The Rangers performance last night, against the Panthers, will not play well in the land of Torts..I have been told that Gomez doesn't have a straight up NMC...he has to give the Rangers 5 teams that he will not accept a trade to...If that is incorrect, I am sure someone will let me know...
For My Next Jokinen...
Calgary and Buffalo are in on this for certain, and beyond that I am hearing that the Rangers could be considering swapping Jokinen for Gomez as well...
Cole in Their Stocking?
As I wrote earlier tonight...I was checking in on some rumors that Erik Cole could be headed to the NJ Devils....It does have some legs and I will be calling it an e2 for now...but don't count out Boston for Cole AT ALL...
My Frustration Vinny...
It is frustrating to know what I know in this particular situation and hear it countered by some writers that I truly respect. Listen...obviously I have put myself out here by writing that Vinny has been in play. Any person who writes that he hasn't been in play is missing some key clues and being obviously shut out by some big sources in both Canada, NY, and Florida...
All along I have been consistent here. Vinny may get not get traded at the deadline but that does not mean that a deal doesn't exist AT THIS VERY MOMENT that could very well get Vinny traded at the deadline. and the teams involved are absolutely aware of what it would take...to me, that means THIS IS ALIVE.
It does. It does. It does exist.
And if the deal exists, which some people beyond myself clearly know it does, than how can you write or say that Vinny WILL NOT BE DEALT or that this has never been discussed? If we have learned anything we have learned how possible these things can be...
The last time I was holding to my sources like this was Forsberg to Nashville....
I so wish I could tell you all what EXACTLY my sources are saying, but were I to do that I would be breaking that trust that keeps my business alive. Therefore, I can't say the simple facts here and now that would allow you all to know exactly why I am sticking so adamantly to my conviction here and my belief of what is occurring here......which is that the Lecavalier situation is a highly complex, intriguing, political, high stakes game of Chicken...Essentially between Montreal and Tampa, but also possibly to spread into NY and even Vancouver.
Understand me: Tampa doesn't want to trade Vinny...The guy is an icon. He has been amazing to that team through and through. To many in Tampa he "is" the Lightning...However, so is Martin St Louis and so will be Stamkos. But Vinny is also a HUGE asset, and that isn't personal.
The fact is this Lightning team is being aggressive and looking into all ways to improve. They may have made some mistakes but better to go down swinging in my opinion...Moving Vinny for the right pieces is definitely an option...Of course they won't nor can they say that they are moving Vinny...Due to the fact that he is a huge part of their family...But when teams have called they have had to listen...And I have been told that they did more than listen and that those doors are still very open right now and will be until July 1.
I am also told that there was a point when things got really close...REALLY close.
Btw, the Lightning today released some amazing season ticket packages for next year. This organization is doing some great things, and I will tell you this...I hear the Lightning getting torn apart left and right by the old school media who only allows their own to be experimental, but I talked to a player's agent last week who has a player that is in his first year with Tampa this season...This agent admitted to me that he was afraid, due to all he had heard about how "terrible" this organization was, when his player became a Bolt. He told me that his player has not been able to say enough great things about how Tampa treats their players...
More when the sun comes up...
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