Rumours du Jour - November
The one thing you will notice with
rumours is that they never seem to disappear. Most times they are merely
column-fillers for writers who have nothing better to report. What we try
to do at Puckjunkie is evaluate what's been rumoured and assess the
fantasy impacts.
September Rumours
October Rumours
Week of November 27
- Calgary: It appears as though last week's signings of
Scott Niedermayer and Jason Arnott may be the blue-print for what ails
GM Craig Buttons and restricted free agent Derek Morris. Morris’
agent, Grant Devine is rumoured to be wanting to have a chat with
Buttons with his client present to see if they can’t get Morris back
in a Flames uniform. Fantasy Impact: The Flames are in
desperate need of the improving young Morris. We were puzzled by the
Flames picking up of Igor Kravchuk off of waivers for more money than
what Morris is asking for. But Buttons is a firm believer in players
making big money once they have earned it. Seniority means a lot to Buttons. If this meeting is successful, expect Morris back on the ice
as soon as possible. He won’t be in game shape, but a 75% Morris is
still likely better than almost all other of the Flames defensemen
short of Housley and the aforementioned Kravchuk.
- Pittsburgh: Matthew Barnaby is unhappy with the amount
of ice time he has been getting under new coach Ivan Hlinka. He is a
restricted free agent next year, and although he hasn’t been asking
GM Craig Patrick for a trade, Barnaby’s antics may be playing thin
real quick. Fantasy Impact: Barnaby simply doesn’t have
the skills to play on the top two lines on any team in the NHL even an
two expansion squad. His big claim to fame is that he is possibly the
most hated player in the NHL. He is an antagonizer that most players
hate to play against. Stay away from Barnaby though. Even if he does get dealt, it
will likely be to a team that doesn't play the wide open style
that the Pens play. We think Matthew’s fifteen minutes of NHL fame
are almost up.
- Ottawa: Contrary to owner Rob Bryden’s statements, the latest
rumour out of the Canadian capital is that the
Sens would like to move Yashin. He has cooled off over the last couple
of weeks and there is still the bad taste of last season's hold-out. Possible landing spots are Chicago, NY Rangers and Dallas. Fantasy
Impact: Yashin has the ability to be a top ten scorer in this
league for many years to come. Yashin has done little to endear
himself to either Ottawa management or the Sens fans. His
simple showing up for work on the first day of training camp just isn’t
going to heal the rift between Sens brass and Yashin's agent. As far as
a landing spot, we think it’s premature to start speculating on a
Yashin deal. Chicago is a good fit for Yashin, but whom do the Sens
get in return? Is Eric Daze and young prospects Steve McCarthy and Kyle Calder enough for the pouty Yashin. We
don’t think so even for the thrifty Senators. Now if Chicago dealt
some cash along that package and maybe a draft pick... well??? Smart
money is more likely the Rangers just not yet. They have the prospects
and young guys to move for the temperamental Yashin (i.e., York,
Malhotra, Brendl and Lundmark),. The question is, does new Rangers GM
Glen Sather want to risk his reputation and deal for Yashin? The
Rangers are playing fairly well right now under Ron Low's direction
cetered around revitalized Messier, Fleury, Leetch and Richter. When Messier gets
hurt and the team begins to struggle look for the phone lines to heat
up.
- Philadelphia: Lindros is rumoured to be close to
getting the medical green light (Update - Nov. 27: Lindros cleared
to play) to go ahead and assume full contact
practices. He has been skating relatively symptom free for the past
couple of months, but his camp is being very careful right now - they
say what happened to brother Brett. A persistent rumour out of Toronto has
Lindros wanting to suit up for the Maple Leafs but any trade will have to be a
shared risk between the two teams involved and Lindros himself. Look
for a very long and explicit contract. Fantasy
Impact: This is a toughie. Lindros could play for another ten
years or maybe another ten games. Problem here is that Philly GM
Clarke wants "healthy" market value for Eric the Great. If he goes
to the Flyers, Nik Antropov and whole lot of other players are gonna
have to go the other way and the big question is, does Quinn or any
other NHL GM take a chance on a guy who has suffered five concussions
in the past three years? Leave the Big "E" off your shopping
list for now. If he does get dealt and does play well then great. If
not, and there is a good chance that this might happen, Lindros turns
into a fantasy owners nightmare - high price with very little return. He is
simply too risky unless you like the feeling of a developing ulcer.
- Buffalo: Nothing new on the Mike Peca front. The
parties are miles away and there are good arguments on both sides for
why they are digging in their heels. Doug Gilmour’s recent abdominal
wall tear concerns the Sabres, but they are playing pretty well at
home. Fantasy Impact: Sabres GM Regier is dead set on
letting Peca sit in order to make a point. In a cold objective view
point, he can let Peca sit, saving money, until sometime in February
when he can sign Peca, and have a fresh Peca ready for the Sabres run
in the playoffs. If you are a Peca owner just sit and wait. Its pretty
much all you can do. If you want to blame anyone - blame Jere Lehtinen.
The Sabres are offering money that is consistent with what the two
time Selke trophy accepted over the summer.
- Denver: Adam Deadmarsh began skating last week
for the first time since his Nov. 1, 2000 concussion. Peter Forsberg
is reported to be improving and should begin skating soon. Fantasy
Impact: Deadmarsh is likely a couple of weeks away yet, as doctor’s take
their time with him testing his condition in full contact practices in
the near future. Forsberg’s injury has no timeline again as, the
‘Lanche doctors are going to be very careful not to rush him back.
- Toronto: Alyn McCauley cleared waivers. The once key
component in the Leafs deal with the Devils for Doug Gilmour, McCauley
seems to have been slowed by two very serious concussions. Still, not being claimed is a bit of a surprise. Fantasy Impact: If
you have him its time to give McCauley stop with the sentimentality
and dump him.
Week of November 20
- Word out of Edmonton has it that super
prospect Mike Comrie, who may be a free agent come June 1st thanks to
a Collective Bargaining Agreement loophole, has no loyalty to the
organization even though he's from the Alberta capital and his brother
Paul is with the organization. If he becomes a free agent there will
be 30 organizations bidding for his services. He's smallish, but is
considered to be a Paul Kariya-type player
- Seems the Comrie situation may have been
part of the reason for the Guerin/Carter deal. The Oilers are trying
to stockpile cash to make an offer to Comrie and if Geurin were to go
to arbitration he would like get a salary in the $4 million range -
while Carter will only be earning about $1.8 million. From a Fantasy
perspective this is great. Guerin doesn't really lose anything in the
way of talented linemates (he goes from Weight and Smyth to Allison
and Samsonov). As for those of you with Carter, he's been teamed with
Weight and Smyth - not bad for a guy who, a week ago, was sitting at
home.
- Good news (finally!) for the Colorado
Avalanche. Chris Drury is expected back ahead of schedule - maybe even
early next week. This is great news for those of you who cringed when
you saw hit and thought you saw your season go down the drain.
Week of November 13
- Word out of Montreal has the Habs
interested in Phoenix center Daniel Briere. What a surprise. Anytime
the Montreal media is looking to shake up the team they try and hunt
down a Quebec native and start a rumour. If it's not Eric Daze it's
Daniel Briere. Well assuming that Phoenix would be willing to move him
and would be reasonable in their demands, this could be a good deal
for Montreal. Briere has the skill to be a solid 2nd line
center.
- Word on Peter Bondra is that while Caps
GM George McPhee is listening to offers, don't expect anything anytime
soon. McPhee is in no hurry to make the move and no team is going to
complete a deal until they have Bondra signed to a long-term contract.
The list of teams that can afford Bondra is short but don't be
surprised to see the Red Wings, Stars, Flyers and Islanders. Rule out
any team in the Southeast being involved in a trade. Only one team is
likely coming out of that Division and the Caps want it to be
them.
- Is Manny Legace really the Wings #1
goalie? Well, it sure seems that way for now. Rumours have Detroit
hunting for a goaltender to replace the struggling Chris Osgood. Don't
count on it. Coach Bowman is a master motivator. Another few games and
Osgood will be back in net and ready to lead the team into the
playoffs.
Week of November 6
News and Notes:
- So what's going to happen to Igor
Kravchuk. He was placed on waivers by the Senators on November 9 (update:
November 10th). Is this a waive and trade deal?
- Bertuzzi for Carter? That's the word
coming out of the woodwork. Most likely this is just speculation.
Bertuzzi was a Keenan favourite when he was in Vancouver (Iron Mike
traded Mr. Canuck Trevor Linden to get him and Bryan McCabe). Let's
look at this logically. Bertuzzi is an exciting player with untapped
potential. He is just coming into his own and is turning into a leader
on the team. The players are filling the leadership void left by Mark
Messier's departure by working together as team and Todd Bertuzzi is a
HUGE part of that. Anson Carter is an excellent player, but inserting
him and removing Bertuzzi would be exceptionally disruptive. Oh, and
did we mention that Bertuzzi is cheaper? This will not happen.
- Word from Flames GM Craig Button isn't
encouraging regarding Derek Morris. Looks like the two sides are still
nearly $3 million apart on a 4 year deal.If you're a Morris owner,
this could be a long one. Button has caved to enormous public pressure
yet, and it would seem that he isn't likely to cave soon.
- Lou Lamariello has publicly stated that
there will be no more negotiations with Jason Arnott and Scott
Niedermayer. They will either sign the deals that have been offered or
sit. This situation could be even longer. If the Devils continue to
win look for both these players to sign one year deals and come back
with their tails between their legs. However, if they start to fade,
Lamariello's stamina will be tested.
- Ottawa WILL NOT trade Alexi Yashin
before the trade deadline. 5 or 6 teams have enquired and 5 or 6 teams
have been rebuffed. In unrelated news the Sens are looking for a
hard-hitting d-man and Darius Kasperitus' name keeps popping up. On
the goaltending front Ottawa is content to go with Lalime (who will
likely be back on Thursday) and Hurme for the time being. Don't look
for the Pens to part with Kasperitus soon and hard-hitting d-men
aren't exactly a dime a dozen. Look for the Sens to tinker if the
goaltending starts to falter - Shtalenkov is still out there (ya I
know we've been saying that for a while).
- Rumours abound that the Bruins are
interested in Tom Barrasso. This seems very unlikely considering how
much he would want and the fact he wouldn't want to be Dafoe's
back-up. We will go out on a limb here and say that, unless Byron
Dafoe's injury is MUCH more serious than reported, Tom Barrasso will
not become a Boston Bruin any time soon. He'll need to look for work
elsewhere.
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