***Update***
The NHL Board of Governors has approved the sale of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment to Bell and Rogers.
Another potential goaltending option for the Toronto Maple Leafs has gone by the wayside, as soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Josh Harding signed a three-year, $5.7 Million contract with the Minnesota Wild this morning.
The 28-year-old Harding has spent his entire career with Minnesota as primarily a backup and the deal he signed is in the same ballpark as the contract signed by Tomas Vokoun, who will back up Marc-André Fleury in Pittsburgh.
After the signing, speculation began to circulate that veteran Niklas Backstrom could now be in play on the trade market, but both ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s Mike Russo reported that Backstrom would not be shopped.
Although there did not appear to be a great deal of interest in Harding from the Maple Leafs, his signing does eliminate another possible answer to GM Brian Burke’s search for a veteran netminder. Ironically the top unrestricted free agent goaltender available on July 1 may now be Jonas Gustavsson, which is a commentary on how weak this free-agent crop is.
As much as the Tampa trade for Anders Lindback was a net positive for Toronto(since one of Toronto's main competitors for a goaltender this summer found their solution), the elimination of Harding is a net negative, because the list of viable options remaining for Burke is shrinking.
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In the on-again, off-again world of Bobby Ryan rumors, TSN’s Bob McKenzie flipped the switch on this afternoon, as he reported that Anaheim is open to listening to offers for the young forward. Ryan has three years left on his five-year, $25.5 million contract he signed in 2010, but with both Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry scheduled to be unrestricted free agents at the end of next season, GM Bob Murray may be looking to clear cap room.
In the past, every time a Ryan rumor popped up, Toronto would invariably be listed as a likely destination, since Burke drafted him second overall in 2005 and chose him for the US Olympic squad in 2010, but the last round of trade rumors last November were spurred by a slow start and speculation that Ryan did not get along with Randy Carlyle. At the end of the month, Murray opted to fire Carlyle rather than make wholesale changes to his roster.
For the price that it would likely take to bring Ryan to Toronto, it is unlikely that Burke tried to obtain someone who has a negative history with his coach. One possible effect that Ryan's availability may have is to give teams interested in Rick Nash another option, which would likely put Columbus GM Scott Howson in a less advantageous position.
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