Rumor Central

Note: This post will be updated during the day

Here is a list of players and the teams said to be "interested" in their services:

D Rob Blake (LAK): ANA, COL, NJ, SJ
D Dan Boyle (TB): PHI, SJ
D Brian Campbell (BUF): NJ, PHI, SJ, TB
RW Martin Havlat (CHI): BOS, MTL
C Bobby Holik (ATL): NYR, NJ
RW Marian Hossa (ATL): BOS, DET, MTL, OTT
C Olli Jokinen (FLA): CGY, MIN, MTL, VAN
D Bryan McCabe (TOR): NYI, NYR, PHI
LW Vaclav Prospal (TB): ANA, BOS, PIT
C Brad Richards (TB): BUF, CBJ, DAL, PHI, VAN
D Ruslan Salei (FLA): NJ, PIT
D Ryan Suter (NSH): PHI

Rumor Central

Here are some other interesting rumors:

- According to one of TSN employee Matthew Barnaby's sources, the Washington Capitals are a player for Sabres' defenseman Brian Campbell.

- The Flyers having lost forward Mike Richards for 3 weeks with a torn hamstring and 10 straight games, it is unclear whether they are still buyers or have turned into sellers. They currently sit 9th in the Eastern Conference. Amongst the players they might be willing to trade are forwards Mike Knuble, Jeff Carter and Scottie Upshall.

- TSN.ca reports the Tampa Bay Lightning has "reached out" to Brad Richards and "alerted him" in their interest to trade him. The Blue Jackets seem to be the no.1 favorite to acquire him, reportedly offering a package of Gilbert Brule, Rostislav Klesla and a pick for the 2004 Conn Smythe trophy winner. The Stars and Canucks are also considered to be players in the Richards Sweepstakes.

- The Thrashers are, reportedly, considering dealing both Marian Hossa and Bobby Holik.

- Per Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Penguins need "at worst" a physical defenceman and a faceoff specialist". The later might mean interest in Blackhawks' Yanic Perreault, who is being shopped by Dale Tallon.

- The Pittsburgh Penguins seem to be a player for Vaclav Prospal, as they would like to add him to Sidney Crosby's line.

Rumor Central

Here are a few interesting rumours:

Update, 9:55 AM:

- The Toronto Sun reports Paul Holmgren nixed a Phil Kessel-Jeff Carter deal with the Bruins.
Phil Kessel, therefore, seems to be available and would probably be included in a Marian Hossa trade, or in the acquisition of an other star player.

- Per Hockey Buzz' Andy Strickland, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darcy Tucker was asked to waive his "no-trade" clause by Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher, as he had a deal in place with either Anahem, Detroit or Ottawa. Tucker "politely said no".

Original, 7:31 AM:

- Brad Richards might be targeted by the Buffalo Sabres. If you think about it, the Lightning wants a package including a defenseman, like Brian Campbell who still doesn't have a contract for the 08-09 season, for Richards.

- The Flyers are targeting several defensemen, including Tampa Bay's Dan Boyle, the Maple Leafs' Brian McCabe and the Predators' Ryan Suter. It is important to know that the Predators have been scouting the Flyers for the last 2 weeks.

- It seems as if Bruins are making a big, public, push for Marian Hossa.

- With forward Simon Gagné's shutdown, the Flyers arel likely to be targeting a winger that could replace him, especially for the playoffs, like Flames' forward Alex Tanguay who has played 89 career playoffs games.

- The Blackhawks, currently sitting 8 points out of a playoff spot, might become sellers by this Trade Deadline Day. Chicago has valuable assets to auction off in forwards Martin Havlat and Robert Lang, and a less valuable, but still experienced, asset in Martin Lapointe.

Central Division Trade Profiles, Candidates

Central Division: Chicago, Columbus, Detroit, Nashville, St. Louis

The central division is divided in two clans: the playoff teams (Detroit, Nashville) and the non-playoff teams (Chicago, Columbus, St. Louis).

The Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues are, all at this moment, out of the playoff picture. To add to that, all of them seem to not be ready to contend, and therefore aren't necessarily considered as buyers at this point in time. They also do not seem to be sellers, but they could become some soon.

Amongst the players these 3 teams could part with are forwards David Vyborny, Michael Peca, Sergei Fedorov and defensemen Adam Foote, Barret Jackman and Bryce Salvador.

Eventhough their current status, the Blackhawks have also been linked to Swedish center Peter Forsberg.

As for Nashville and Detroit, both are likely to be buyers.

Detroit, eventhough being ranked 1st in the league in points, feels they need to add a Top 6 forward. Mats Sundin is the most likely to fit the bill.

On Nashville's part, their goalie situation is a concern, due to Chris Mason's inconsistency and Dan Ellis' lack of experience, and, with no reliable goalies on the market, will have to do with what they've got.

This Western Conference division is filled with teams' which status' could vary as the Trade Deadline approaches. Wait right down to the wire, as these teams, except Detroit, could be in and out of the Playoff Picture in no time.

7/8/07 UFA SIGNINGS

9:35 AM- Rumor Central (Teams Interested):

D Bryan Berard (CHI)
D Danny Markov (NYI, CHI)
RFA F Mike Ribeiro (EDM)
D Ossi Vaananen (NYI, CHI)
D Vitali Vishnevsky (NYI, CHI)
C Alexei Yashin (DET)
RFA F Stephen Weiss (EDM)

9:30 AM- Top Free Agents

5) D Brent Sopel
4) C Alexei Yashin
3) LW Brendan Shanahan
2) C Peter Forsberg
1) D Sheldon Souray

7/7/07 UFA SIGNINGS

ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?
Please e-mail me: afi.ville.49@gmail.com

9:00 AM- Rumor Central (Teams Interested):

F Peter Forsberg (DET)
D Sheldon Souray (NJ, NYR, SJ)
D Andy Sutton (NJ)
F Alexei Yashin (DET)

8:55 AM- Top 5 Free Agents:

5) D Brent Sopel
4) C Alexei Yashin
3) LW Brendan Shanahan
2) C Peter Forsberg
1) D Sheldon Souray

7/6/07 UFA SIGNINGS

ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ?
Please e-mail me at: afi.ville.49@gmail.com

6:45 PM- Stars sign LW Brad Winchester:
1 year at US$475,000


4:40 PM- Leafs sign G Scott Clemmensen:
1 year, two-way contract


3:40 PM- Wild sign D Sean Hill:
1 year


12:50 PM- Vanek Update:

In a 12:30 PM Press conference, Sabres' GM Darcy Regier announced that the Sabres will match the Oilers' contract offer of US$50 million over 7 years.

12:30 PM- Oilers send Vanek an offer sheet:

According to various sources, the Edmonton Oilers have sent forward Tomas Vanek an offer sheet. The offer is worth US$50 million over a period of 7 years. If the Sabres can not match the Oilers' offer, Edmonton will obtain Vanek in exchange for a compensation, more precisely of 4 1st round drat picks.

12:25 PM- Senators promote John Paddock to head coach.



8:00 AM- Top 5 Free Agents:

5) D Brent Sopel
4) C Alexei Yashin
3) LW Brendan Shanahan
2) C Peter Forsberg
1) D Sheldon Souray

7:50 AM- Rumor Central (Teams Interested):

LW Martin Gelinas (DAL)
D Sean Hill (MIN)
D Sheldon Souray (NJ, NYR, SJ)
C Alexei Yashin (DAL)

7/4/07 UFA SIGNINGS

ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ?
E-mail me at: afi.ville.49@gmail.com

5:30 PM- Sabres re-sign D Teppo Numminen:
1 year at US$2.6 million


1:45 PM- Islanders sign LW Ruslan Fedotenko:
1 year at US$2.9 million


1:35 PM- Thrashers re-sign LW Slava Kozlov:
3 years at US$11 million (US$3.66 annually)


11:35 AM- Canadiens sign W Tom Kostopoulos:
2 years at US$1.8 million (US$900,000 annually)


10:05 AM- Flames re-sign RW Jarome Iginla:
5 years


10:00 AM- Maple Leafs re-sign G Vesa Toskala:
2 years at US$8 million (US$4 annually)


8:55 AM- Rumor Central (Teams Interested):

RW Bill Guerin (VAN, CBJ)
D Sean Hill (MIN)
LW Slava Kozlov (DAL, ATL)
D Sheldon Souray (NJ, SJ, DAL, NYR)

8:50 AM- Top 5 Free Agents:

5) D Brent Sopel
4) LW Slava Kozlov
3) LW Brendan Shanahan
2) C Peter Forsberg
1) D Sheldon Souray

Rumor Central

CAR/PHI- According to the Raleigh News and Observer, the Carolina Hurricanes are waiting on one of their player's decision on whether or not he will waive his no-trade clause. The no.1 consensus is that this player is defenseman Niclas Wallin. The aforementioned trade would send him to Philadelphia for Flyers' defenseman Joni Pitkanen. The Pensylvanian club is keen on getting rid of the young d-man's salary, in an effort to free up more cap space to sign a prominent no.1 center.

MIN- Per the Star Tribune, the Minnesota Wild have chosen to-resign forward Wes Walz over Todd White and defenseman Martin Skoula. All three are set to hit the market on July 1st.

VAN- According to The Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver Canucks will place center Marc Chouinard on waivers, in an effort to buy him out. He is/was set to earn US$1.1 million this season. Vancouver, per the Vancouver Province, will not play the "free-agency game" this offseason, as they currently have 14 players under contract for an estimated sum of US$41 million. They currently possess 13 unrestricted free-agents.

Rumor Central

OTT- Per Bruce Garrioch of SLAM! Sports, the Ottawa Senators' best interest is to sign starting goalie Ray Emery before July 1st, or his signing could be very costly, especially with arbitration.
He also suggests that some NHL GMs might be interested in offering Emery a contract, via a "group II offer":

Group II restricted free agents

Players who have been tendered a qualifying offer before June 30 by their respective clubs are subject to draft choice compensation and right to match by their previous club. If a qualifying offer is not provided by that date, the player becomes an unrestricted free agent. Another team may make an offer to a restricted free agent by signing the player to an offer sheet. Since the player is restricted, the original team has a right to match the offer. If the original teams opts not to match the offer, it receives draft choice compensation based on a sliding scale

VAN- According to the Province, Canucks GM Dave Nonis is in the market for offense this offseason, but he doesn't think the "group II offer" is a solution: "The only way an offer sheet works is if you overpay the player," Nonis said Sunday. "If you don't overpay, the team is always going to match and to me it's not the way I would approach it. The Canucks desperately need to spark their 23rd ranked offense, but the 40 million dollars on their salary cap, for 14 players, will prove to be a problem. The Canucks' best options in the UFA market are Petr Sykora, Bill Guerin and Dainius Zubrus.

Trevor Linden, the Canucks' captain since the early 1990s, is still without a contract for the 2007-08 season. According to the Vancouver Sun, he, and 'Nucks' GM Dave Nonis are set to discuss a contract for the 37-year old this week.

WAS- According to the Washington Post, the Washington Capitals made offers to 9 of their 17 restricted free agents, yesterday. Among those that were tendered offers, are defensemen Steve Eminger, Milan Jurcina, John Erskine, as well as forwards Brian Sutherby, Tomas Fleischmann, Jakup Klepis, Dave Steckel and Brooks Laich. Forwards Chris Beech and Jiri Novotni, acquired last trade deadline in the Danius Zubrus deal and minor leaguers Joey Tenute, Trevor Byrne, Maxime Daigneault, Matt Stafanishion, Jonas Johansson and Louis Robitaille did not receive offers.

Update 1:

BUF/NJ- TSN's Bob McKenzie reports that some teams may make "group II offers" to forwards Zach Parise of the New Jersey Devils and Tomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres, since both teams are in tough financial situations due to the salary cap.

FLA- The Hockey News reports that the Florida Panthers have not submitted a contract offer to restricted free-agent Alex Ault, which would make him an unrestricted free-agent. Instead of keeping Auld, they have re-signed goalie Craig Anderson to a 2-year contract.

PIT- The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Shelly Anderson reports that the Penguins have not qualified a contract offer to restricted free-agent Michel Ouellet, thus making him an unrestricted free-agent.