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| No, sorry, Tomas Kaberle has already been traded this season. (By the way, he isn't about to take a shot in this picture. That would be weird.) |
It's that time of year again: NHL trade rumor time. It's the stretch around the All-Star break when the media and fans (well, mostly fans) start coming up with trade rumors for every team in the NHL. Who stays? Who goes? Who comes in? I've piled up some of the rumors I've heard and included my take on each possible trade senario. Take a look.
Luke Schenn to the Flyers for James van Riemsdyk - This trade absolutely makes sense. Brian Burke gets another American player on the Leafs and the Flyers get a defenseman to threaten the opposition if they take a shot on Ilya Bryzgalov, so it helps their goaltending situation.
Bobby Ryan to the Rangers - Early in the season, this was the hottest rumor in hockey. How did this trade break down? Did Anaheim balk or did Glen Sather think Bobby Ryan was too under-paid to be a New York Ranger?
Jarome Iginla to the Penguins - Everyone in Calgary says Jarome Iginla is staying in Calgary. That's exactly why everyone outside of Calgary is speculating that Pittsburgh will trade for him. Plus, nobody wants to see him in Pittsburgh because he'd inevitably end up on I.R. a week later.
Evgeni Dadonov to the Hurricanes - Well, this isn't really a "Blockbuster" trade, but it has been reported...what? It's official? I just checked his Wikipedia page and...oh, right.
Rick Nash to ??? - This is Nash's 9th season in Columbus, and the team has had their ups and downs (mostly down, though) with him. Right now is probably their lowest point. There are reports in Columbus that a star player wants to get out of there, so they should trade Nash and then figure out what to do with Jeff Carter.
Zach Parise to 29 NHL teams - Pretty much every fan base has reported that their team is going to acquire Parise this season, so expect him to play about four periods with every single NHL team for the rest of the season.
Roberto Luongo to the Panthers - The highly-scrutinized Vancouver goaltender could go back to his former team in Miami. That would relieve him of the media tension of Vancouver and relieve LeBron James of being the city's biggest choke artist.
Teemu Selanne to the Jets - This potential trade is simply speculation, and as great of a story as it would be to have Teemu back in Winnipeg, it would force the arena staff to hire a roof repair crew, as the crowd would blow the roof off of the MTS Centre.
Ales Hemsky to the Red Wings - Detroit is in the market for a top-6 forward, but they might have to settle for Hemsky instead. This does, however, create a problem: Hemsky would be the only active Red Wing to not be aware of the existence of the Stanley Cup.
Ryan Miller to the Lightning - Despite Miller saying he'd like to stay in Buffalo, if the Sabres keep losing, he might want a change in scenery. It's quite an easy fix for the Sabres to replace Miller, too. They simply have to give Dominek Hasek a call. I mean, how much worse could he be at this point? The Lightning also need a goaltender under the age of 40, so it works for both sides.
Scott Gomez to the Islanders - Pierre Gauthier might be able to save his job if he can find a way to trade Scott Gomez. As for the Islanders, hey, why the hell not?
Ryan Suter to the Flyers - If the Predators decide they can't re-sign Ryan, do you think they'll get any Suters?
