Posts Tagged Lee Stempniak

Souray out with Broken Hand, More moves coming for Leafs? Kesler-Canucks talks on hold

Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on February 1st, 2010

  • Joanne Ireland of the Edmonton Journal: Throwing a wrench in to the Edmonton Oilers and Sheldon Souray trade plans, is Souray’s broken hand that he suffered fighting Jarome Iginla on Saturday. How long he’ll be out is still unknown, but he’s not expected back before the NHL trade deadline day on March 3rd.
  • Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun: Brian Burke may not be finished dealing. There’s still a good chance that Alexei Ponikarovsky, Lee Stempniak, and Garnet Exelby will be traded.
  • Darren Dreger of TSN: “It’s not a question of ‘if’, it’s a question of ‘when’”. Dreger is referring to the trading of Tomas Kaberle. Burke continues to say he won’t ask Kaberle to waive his no-trade clause, but yesterday’s trades may send Kaberle up to Burke’s office saying he’s ready to go. The Leafs will be probably looking to get a top-3 or top-6 forward and a 1st round draft pick. To get the top 3 or top 6 forward they want, I don’t think they will be able to pull off that type of deal until after the season. I don’t think teams that think they have a shot this year, would want to trade a top forward during their run.
  • Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune: Tampa GM Brian Lawton is rejecting reports that if Jeffrey Vinik buys the team, that Vincent Lecavalier will be traded.
  • Jason Botchford of the Vancouver Province: Contract negotiations between the Vancouver Canucks and Ryan Kesler have been put on hold until after the season. They have reached an impasse and don’t want it to become an in-season distraction. They are roughly a $1 million apart, Kesler’s camp feel he’s worth $5 million, the Canucks think it’s closer to $4 million.
  • Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal:
    • Teams looking for help on the blueline may come calling for Mathieu Schneider, and to a lesser extent, Chris Chelios.
    • The Penguins need someone to play along side Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, but they also need some defensive help. They could use a player like Barret Jackman but he’s probably not available.
    • 38 year old and recent healthy scratch, Slava Kozlov, will most likely be made available by the Atlanta Thrashers.
    • Matheson thinks that the Penguins will eventually trade Malkin, making Crosby and Staal their 1-2 centers. For Malkin he thinks they could get a front line winger, top defenseman, forward prospect, and a 1st and 2nd round pick.
  • Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Red Wings will get Johan Franzen back next week after being out since the 3rd game of the season. Feb. 9th against the St. Louis Blues is the target date. GM Ken Holland will have to make a move or two to get under the salary cap.
  • AP on Arizona Republic: Phoenix Coyotes forward Scottie Upshall will be out indefinitely with a torn ACL, and will have to undergo surgery. This is a big blow to the Coyotes, as he was leading the Coyotes in goals this season with 18.
  • Adrian Dater of the Denver Post: John-Michael Liles was a healthy scratch for the 3rd time this season, and it has been no secret that he’s available for trade. The problem is his salary cap number is $4.1 million, and he has 2 years left on his contract after this year.

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    Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumors – Jan. 27th

    Posted by Mark Easson in NHL News, NHL Rumors on January 27th, 2010

    Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star: 11 scouts were on hand to witness the Leafs-Kings game last night, with Canadiens GM Bob Gainey as one of them. Niklas Hagman scored 2 goals and might have increased his stock. Leafs GM Brian Burke said that he gets the most calls for Hagman, who’s at a reasonable price of $3 million for each of the next 2 seasons. Both Alexei Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan won’t bring in the return that Hagman would.

    Michael Traikos of the National Post: It’s no secret that the Leafs will be both selling (Stajan, Ponikarovsky, Stempniak, etc.) and buying (larger contracts that come with prospects/draft picks) at the deadline. Burke has said once again that he’ll take on salary, and isn’t afraid to bury some of it in the minors. Traikos brings up once again that the Blackhawks could be interested in this salary dump option, and provides a list of 5 players that might convince Burke to be a buyer: Jack Skille (22 years old, $850,000), Kris Versteeg (23 years old, $3 million), Dustin Byfuglien (24 years old, $3 million), Andrew Ladd (23 years old, $1.55 million), and Brian Campbell (30 years old, $7.14 million). With Campbell, they’d have to throw in a 1st round pick.

    Darren Dreger of TSN via Twitter: Toronto Maple Leafs Jamal Mayers may also be on the move. His agent, Pat Brisson has been given permission to talk to teams to see if they would be interested in trading for him. He’d be a good addition for a playoff bound team, he’s tough, a good leader, and can probably be had for a mid round pick.

    Another Maple Leaf that has been in the news lately is Jonas Gustavsson. My NHL Trade Rumors writer Derek posted a Gustavsson piece titled “It’s Time to Find out About The ‘Monster‘” yesterday, that might have gotten buried a bit with today’s posts.

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    Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumors – Jan. 26th

    Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on January 26th, 2010

  • Damien Cox, Don Landry and Gord Stellick on the FAN 590: Audio from yesterday mornings radio talk show. Talking about the Leaf game on Saturday night, and if Kaberle will waive his no-trade clause.
  • Brian Burke on Hockey Central – Video: Brian Burke was on Hockey Central, discussed Kovalchuk, who won’t be coming to the Maple Leafs.
  • David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail: Jonas Gustavsson has less than 30 games to convince boss Brian Burke that he should be the goalie of the future for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Vesa Toskala won’t be back, possibly gone by the trade deadline. Shoalts presents 3 options for the Leafs goaltending situation.
  • Hand the No. 1 job to Gustavsson next season and sign a good backup from the list of free agents.
  • Look for a veteran free agent who can act as a mentor to the 25-year-old Gustavsson and be capable of playing as many as 50 games if the youngster’s development still lags.
  • Sign or trade for the best possible goaltender money and cap space can buy. Gustavsson can either back up and wait his turn or be traded for another asset.

    • One option that might present itself is that if the Florida Panthers are out of playoff contention, they might put Tomas Vokoun on the trade block. Vokoun has 1 year left at $5.7 million. There’s JS Giguere at $7 million ($6 million cap hit) for next year. Jonas Hiller is also a UFA at seasons end. Nashville has 2 UFA goalies in Dan Ellis and Pekka Rinne, and they won’t be re-signing both. Other free agent goalies are Martin Biron (Isles), Chris Mason (Blues) and Marty Turco (Stars)

  • Mark Spector of Sportsnet.ca: Now that Sheldon Souray has agreed to waive his no-trade clause, will Tomas Kaberle follow suit? Spector thinks Kaberle’s trade value is diminishing.
  • David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail: Maple Leafs defenseman Mike Komisarek is hoping to return on Saturday. Komisarek has been out since Jan. 2nd with a shoulder injury, the injury may not be fully healed. Doctors looked at the shoulder, and Komisarek may have been given the option of surgery now or playing through it and having surgery after the season.
  • Terry Koshan from Canoe Sports: One team that might consider trading for Vesa Toskala might be the Calgary Flames. Other UFA’s that could be moved Lee Stempniak, Matt Stajan and Alexei Ponikarovsky.

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    Around the Boards: Souray will waive ‘no-trade’ clause, Kovalchuk-Thrashers continue talks, Savard out 2-3 weeks

    Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Free Agents, NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on January 9th, 2010

    • Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal: Sheldon Souray has let it be known that he’d be willing to waive his ‘no-trade’ clause if it ‘makes sense’ for his family. His family is out in California, so if he gets traded, expect it to be to a west coast/conference team. Souray has 3 years left on his contract at $5.4 million cap hit. He’s making $5.5 mill this year, and $4.5 mill the next 2 seasons.
    • Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Thrashers aren’t giving up on re-signing Ilya Kovalchuk.

      On the ongoing contract talks with Ilya Kovalchuk, Waddell said: “Talks continue on. We met in Saskatoon (at the World Junior Championships). Our priority still remains to get him signed. We’ve made some progress but we are obviously not ready yet to put a signature on a contract.

      “The positive thing is the talks have continued. They haven’t broken down. We talk almost daily. To me, that’s all part of the process. If talks break down because one side puts their shoes too far in the sand then you know you’re probably at an impasse. At this point, that hasn’t happened. Both sides continue to talk and try to find away to make this deal work.”

    • Chris Zupke of the OC Register: Teemu Selanne expects to return to the Ducks lineup tonight. Changes could be coming for the Ducks if they continue to sit near the bottom of the Western Conference. JS Giguere, Scott Niedermayer, Saku Koivu, and Todd Marchant, could find themselves with another team before seasons end.
    • Paul Hunt of the Toronto Star: Hunt lists some names who are unrestricted free agents this year that could be dealt at the trade deadline: Slava Kozlov, Colby Armstrong and Pavel Kubina (Atlanta), Saku Koivu (Anaheim), Paul Kariya (St. Louis), Ray Whitney, Matt Cullen (Carolina), Jeff Halpern, Antero Niittymaki and Alex Tanguay (Tampa), Martin Biron and Doug Weight (Islanders), Raffi Torres (Columbus), Steve Ott and Jere Lehtinen (Dallas), Alexei Ponikarovsky, Matt Stajan, Lee Stempniak and Vesa Toskala (Toronto)
    • Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun: The Maple Leafs are now allowed to negotiate with RFA Jonas Gustavsson, but have yet to do so. The Leafs don’t feel any pressure or urgency to get something worked out right away.
    • Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald: Boston’s Marc Savard could be out for 2 to 3 weeks with a sprained knee. The Bruins were stayed healthy last season, the same can’t be said for this year.

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    Around the Boards: NHL Rumors from Garrioch and LeBrun

    Posted by Mark Easson in NHL Injuries, NHL News, NHL Rumors on December 20th, 2009

    • Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:
      • Teams that might be interested in Kovalchuk if he becomes available: Kings, Bruins, Capitals, Rangers, Avs and Devils. Talks between his agent and Waddell were yesterday, with more scheduled.
      • Vincent Lecavalier might be moved by the trade deadline. That’s if someone will take his huge contract.
      • The Flyers are believed to be shopping Jeff Carter. Garrioch isn’t the 1st to mention this, but I just don’t see it happening. Unless he gets another young star or two in return, but even then, it doesn’t seem to make much sense.
      • The 39 year old Teemu Selanne could be moved closer to the deadline if he choose to go elsewhere.
      • Joffrey Lupul, his wonky back (out 6-8), and a $4.25 cap hit are available.
      • Edmonton is trying to shake up their roster, offering the $5 million plus contracts of Sheldon Souray, Lubomir Visnovsky and Shawn Horcoff.
      • Trade deadline time will most likely see Lee Stempniak’s and Matt Stajan’s as part of the Leafs list of who could be available.
    • Hockey Night In Canada Hotstove Video
    • Pierre LeBrun of ESPN:
      • Contract talks between Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars probably won’t happen until after the season. If they are out of the playoff race at the deadline, there is a good chance he’ll be moved.
      • Trades are becoming really hard to facilitate. ”My phone has actually been ringing more frequently lately,” said another GM on Saturday. “But it’s just so hard right now with nobody wanting to take on salary.”
      • David Booth’s recovery from a concussion has improved, he’s been on skates since Tuesday with no set backs. Mid-January would be his earlies return date.

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