Latest on the Red Wings, Kings, Rangers and yes, the Maple Leafs.
Who should the Red Wings target?
Could the Red Wings make Brian Campbell a trade target?
ESPN.COM: Craig Custance lists Toronto’s Cody Franson, Arizona’s Keith Yandle, Washington’s Mike Green, Florida’s Brian Campbell and Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly as suggested trade targets for the Detroit Red Wings.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: I don’t rule out the Wings making a deadline deal, but GM Ken Holland pointed out his club’s in a better position heading toward this year’s deadline than they were a year ago. Holland is also reluctant to part with his prospects and young players, and you can bet he’s not giving up his first-round pick. Given those parameters, I doubt very much he’ll be in the bidding for those players Custance listed, as the asking prices for them will likely be more than Holland is willing to pay. My guess is he goes after more affordable fare, like Edmonton’s Jeff Petry. I also doubt the Panthers will part with Campbell as he’s done a tremendous job mentoring rookie star Aaron Ekblad. The Coyotes and Avalanche could wait until the summer to move Yandle and O’Reilly, as they still have a year left on their contracts, as does Campbell.
Another Toronto columnist wants Kessel and Phaneuf traded.
TORONTO SUN: Terry Koshan adds his voice to the Toronto media choir calling for the floundering Maple Leafs to trade Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf. Citing a recent interview by Leafs GM Dave Nonis in which Nonis said it was too early to tell if Kessel and Phaneuf will return next season, Koshan believes the Leafs leadership needs changing and the duo are part of it. “Regarding this talk about not making a trade unless it improves the Leafs: Any trade right now would improve the Leafs. How could they possibly get much worse?”, asks Koshan. He also notes the players the Leafs are getting calls on (Cody Franson, Mike Santorelli, Daniel Winnik) are those who could help the Leafs going forward.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Because Kessel and Phaneuf are in the first year of their lengthy and expensive contracts (with modified no-trade clauses) I’ll be very surprised if either guy gets moved at the trade deadline. I do think one or both could be moved this summer, when there are teams with more cap space looking to pick up expensive stars.
Zuccarello hopes to remain a Ranger.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Pat Leonard reports struggling New York Rangers winger Mats Zuccarello hopes to remain with the Blueshirts. He’s an unrestricted free agent in July and could become a salary-cap casualty. Zuccarello has an ally in head coach Alain Vigneault, who is singing the winger’s praises despite the decline in his offensive output this season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Zuccarello will have to accept a hometown discount to remain with the Rangers. He’s currently earning $3.5 million. Even seeking that much could be a tight fit for the Rangers, who have over $52 million invested in 13 players and Martin St. Louis, Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin to re-sign.
Jonesing for a goalie?
NICHOLS ON HOCKEY: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports teams are making inquiries about LA Kings backup goalie Martin Jones. Friedman doubts Jones will be moved.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: With the Kings battling for playoff contention I don’t see them moving Jones.
Red Wings
The one target, that fits the RedWings need is Zidlicky from NJ. He’s a UFA at seasons end, and probably could be had for a 2nd round pick.
He has been good offensively, and is a right shooting defencemen.
This makes sense for both player, and organizations.
This actually makes all kinds of sense. I not only love this reasonable trade thought, but I could actually see it happening. ^5, Troy!
Every team must start with goaltending and then rebuild from then on…….goaltending in Toronto is horrible. Management seems confused… players are demoralized….can’t just blame Kessel and phaneuf…..islanders and habs are a good example this year.
I’m one of the few that believe jar would be a great fit in montreal for the playoffs….despite his age, he is putting up good numbers. He had mentioned before that he always wanted to play for the habs…..imagine all the young talented players on the roster playing with jagr… especially in the playoffs and with his experience and leadership??? I think they would play better and more excited playing with jagr……and besides. …we don’t have a captain this season and I think he would be perfect for these young guns!! And having a name like jagr in montreal……fans will rip the building apart:)
wonder if the Pens will trade for a Backup Goalie? or if they are staying put with MAF & Griess?
just wondering if there is a possiblity of trading for a Goalie?
kinda Hard to trust these Goalies regardless of how good they are playing!
Of all of the Pens needs, a goalie is at the bottom of the list.
I can answer the pens quest for a backup goalie with a NO and now I question if you are even a pens fan or even watched the pens at all this season.
I question if you live on this planet with the rest of us or ever watched a hockey game at all.
What would make you think the pens need a goalie?
Even I am not a Fluery fan and I can tell you the pens don’t need goaltending at all this year.
Yes I’m a Penguins Fan! Regular season don’t mean much! It’s just that he don’t play well under pressure! We’ll find out in the playoffs! Hope he does well! Go Pens
They are not upgrading goaltending. Do you honestly believe they resigned Fluery to a respectable deal this year and sign Greiss to a million just to sit them.
There are no affordable upgrades to be had at goalie and none that make the pens better.
Fluery hasn’t been a problem for the past two playoffs. The lack of scoring, defense, and not being able to keep up to fast young lines. That’s the weakness the past two years.
We need two things:
1 a shut-down defensive defenseman
2. Scoring depth on the bottom six to replace Adams.
Little over the top there mate. I suspect he’s seen MAF play in the playoffs before. You’ve seen that right? MAF in the playoffs?
His “performances” in those series in the past couple of years against the Flyers and Islanders are indelibly etched in my mind. They could have been using basketballs instead of pucks and he’d have had problems stopping them.
Doesn’t fleury have a history of struggeling in playoff hockey and excelling in seasonal hockey. He was fine last years playoffs but would that not cause concern and raise a desire to acquire a reliable back up with starter potential?
What’s Greiss for then?
Something used in cooking or to hold ones hair back I think.
Leafs fallin fast n will get a nice 2015 1st rounder. Sign n keep Franson n move out forwards n get a top 2 D man.
Leafs Futility
Scoring Race:
Last time a Leaf was in the top 5– Matts Sundin 2001-02
Last Time the Leafs had 2 in the top 30 – 1996-1997 Sundin and Gilmour (Gilmour was traded)
Last Time 2 in the top 10 – 1993-94 Doug Gilmour & Dave Andreychuk
Art Ross Winner – Never (1938 Gordie Drillon)
Vezina Winner – 1964-65 Johnny Bower & Terry Sawchuck
Norris Trophy– Never
Hart Trophy – 1954-55 Ted Kennedy
Calder Trophy– 1965-66 Brit Selby
Regular Season Team Points Leader- 1961-62
I knew it was bad but not that bad for the Leafs.
I think a cup winning team has had an Art Ross winner twice in the last 20 something years. I’m pretty sure Vezina winners have around the same percentage. With those kind of odds, I think I’d rather not be winning useless hardware.
Sounds like the most Holland will part with this year is a 2nd round pick. That won’t get him more than a rental, not an impact player.
Leafs’ management/coaching operate under a bright spotlight – only the Yankess and Cowboys get more media + fan attention in North American professional team sports. At least those 2 franchises have won something in recent memory, Tronna is aways away from doing that. NHL is a better place when the Leafs are good.
Who can remember when the Leafs were good?!! How old are you?
NHL is better when the Leafs are good? I’m not sure they are ready to go back to a 6 team league any time soon (which would perhaps allow the Leafs to be in the top 5 in some areas).
Bettman’s worst nightmare is an all-Canadian final simply because that would be a non-event over U.S. television. It would only be marginally better if the Leafs played, say, St. Louis.
NHL is a better place if Leafs do well?
How u figure that when the league is thriving already with Toronto nowhere in sight for years.
Really its at a bit of a tipping point….ratings of HNIC are the lowest they have ever been (generally Leaf games) and over the past few weeks notice the ammount or resale tickets to Leaf games kicking around for face value? Id say if this team is not substantially better in the next couple years you will see an effect thru the league, fans are not going to plan vacations to see this team in places like Arizona Fla or sell out in places like ottawa or Buffalo to see a team like this for long…thats a bigger drain than you might think on some teams revenues. I agree with Hanson a good Leafs team is good for the League, you got to look at a bigger picture.
Always was sick of 4pm pst stuck watchin a lousy team for decades. Best thing to ever happen was Sportsnet n other games worth watching.
Gordie, the Leaf Nation is one of the strongest groups of fans in the league. Leaf fans never leave hockey, they talk it 24/7, 365 days/year. Like them or not, they are a huge part of the league. Bad hockey for a long time? You bet.
I am not a Leaf fan either.
Yeah, so they have consistently shown they’ll still pay and show up no matter how bad the team sucks. Wasn’t Ballard famous for turning down a potential Gretzky trade because it wouldn’t lead to them selling any more tickets? Reality is that folks show up no matter how bad it is so there is little real need for it to be all that good.
Absolutely nothin against Leaf Nation. Bad hockey yes n only players of note were Salming Sittler McDonald Gilmour Clark Sundin. Pre 1968 does not count. 1967 when expansion was forced on the NHL the Leafs n Habs their greed kept Vancouver out. So again hats off to Leaf Nation n idc how long the Leafs rot.
The Leafs revenue will be fine with or without the leafs being a good team. Obviously merchandise will sell better if the Leafs were better but as far as tickets sales. The games will still sell out in cities like Ottawa. In fact if less Leaf fans go as you suggest, which I doubt, more Sens fans will go. The Leaf/Sens games in Ottawa actually have a lot of Sens fans not purchasing those tickets as they are much higher than those for other games and the crowd can be irritating. I been there I seen it first hand. I am not sure why. When the Habs fans fill Ottawa’s stadium there is a much larger measuring of respect from the visiting fans. I guess it has to do with the Playoffs creating a strong rivalry between the Sens and Leafs but honestly ticket sales will be fine.
Corporations will still sell out the leafs rink and resale tickets can be on resale. The revenue is already had.
Jeff, I was at the last leafs game in Ottawa. It was far from a sell out. At some point you will see the fans not caring.
You are mossing the point Jeff if resale tickets are going face value the game is not going to be sold out, for long. People who are selling tickets off just to get rid of them are not going to be eager to buy more tickets at that price. At some point it will catch up, thing about the ACC that people miss is that its huge seating for 20k and the most expensive tickets im the league, Yes alot 8f ccorporate seats and packages but they still draw walk up a year or 2 more you wont be getting people who are not corporate people in the upper decks paying 3-4 hundred bicks to take their family to see a team like this if they are now starting to sell those tickets for face value…at some point enough will be enough and with so many seats to fill it wont be easy to sell out everygame, and with the cost of tickets that is going to hurt revenue…think about it for a second if they draw even 1700 (which looks pretty close to a sell out), 3000 tickets × 100 bucks a piece is 300k per game that hurts as much as teams like Fla who cant draw flies with tickets at 30 bucks
you make good points I understand and can agree with you in the aspect that a winning team makes more money than a losing team.
however I do believe Toronto is lost right now with no direction. Failing or winning it won’t matter as long as they can sell something to the fans regarding progress. The Leaf fan base is far to large and far to strong.
I also don’t think other teams care if the leafs struggle or the league cares. When one team struggles another team is thriving. The thriving team will generate more income for itself and sell out more of its tickets.
Honestly I don’t think Ottawa cares if Toronto is good or bad. I don’t think the game you went to was not sold out because the leafs suck but rather because the Sens suck. If Ottawa puts a winning team on the ice they sell their tickets and fill the arena. Simple as that. They make money.
How is it that there are people scalping Leaf tickets at this point? Let alone getting face value? They were horrid for years and that was before Burke and Nonis.
HNIC has been on a decline for awhile and that’s not because the Leafs are doing bad. That whole CBC broadcast is horrible team for HNIC.
So, who are those thousands of people who flock to the CTC when the Leafs are in Ottawa, all painted up in blue & white and drowning out the Sens fans with their “Go Leafs Go?”
Why do Leafs, Raptors, TFC fans believe the eyes of the world are on them. They may be laughing it might offer humour but seriously, naw. The sad thing for TO is sold out regardless of the quality of entertainment is like. This provides numerous management/coaches time to talk their way through a couple of years and then it’s time for yet another reset. Know one seems to want a dismantle and rebuild. How about this TO picks up Phaneuf and have slid as a result. Calgary gets rid of Phaneuf and are looking good.
How do we know if the Leafs being good makes for a better NHL? THey’ve never been good in recent memory!
The Wings haven’t been trading much in the last couple of years, which shows that their organization is too afraid to give up anything. I honestly think they’ll end up picking up some journeyman nobody expects (a more permanent roster addition, perhaps, not a rental). Zid, Franson, etc… the Wings are going to be outbid on them.
Doubt Nashville spruces up for the playoffs. The (Peter) Forsberg experiment was a massive failure.
O’Reilly, like Yandle, is subject to a high degree of price variability, which means the team that has him overvalues him, and the team that doesn’t undervalues him. Same happened with Hemsky, and he ended up getting really stale in Edmonton.
Seeing Horachek put Bernier in last night, makes me wonder if he is part of a conspiracy to drop to last for McDavid. Would they have said to him, work on the Defence guys, and do what you can to make sure we drop to the bottom.
Defence gets better, as we have seen the numbers, the defense is getting better under Horachek but when Reimer is outplaying Bernier and you put him back in, or changing up the forward lines to where there is no chemistry you have to wonder.
Maybe they said, if you get us McDavid, we will sign you to a 2 yr coaching deal… who knows….
Reminds me of that nice, open triangle between Bernier’s elbow and body that was offered up to Hanzal. I swear he opened up that gap saying, “Here you go Martin…see if you can hit this.”
Your spot on imo
Regardless of where they finish and who they get in the draft, Horachek is gone just as soon as they name their new GM.
hey I just checked out the league standings and was amazed to see the Leafs sitting in 25th. 6 place in the draft. That tank job of theirs is going really well. They have played 3 games more than the place team Columbus and are only 3 points a head of them. The leafs can revert to 500 hockey now and land in that bottom 5 they seem to covet.
I am predicting 500 hockey the moment they hit that top 5 lotto spot and a sudden ability to score goals again. Perhaps they are aiming for top 3 though. 7 points up on Carolina with only 1 more game played. Can they seriously continue the tank to shrink that gap as well. Time will tell.
I am curious do any of you think this is a tank job? I am not accusing the players themselves but the fact management has instituted a game plan in which the leafs can’t score and refuse to budge from it and Perhaps a yard sale to insure this team continues to sink.
Read the news section instead of lookin in the trades section, doesnt make sense you are going to see the top teams in the league here unless its the pens who seem to do this type of thing every year, generally ypu dont see too much speculation of good teams trading guys away….there are a few other Ducks fans that post here regularly.
Hey, Bruce, thought you said you weren’t coming back. You know, if you actually checked other pages here besides the rumor one, you’d see your Ducks get plenty of mention. But whatever, rant away, as long as you keep visiting and commenting, it’s money to me. 😉
hey lyle I rant and rave all the time can I get a cut?
seriously, though sticky hit the nail on the head …good teams don’t need trade rumors and Im sure you got everything needed elsewhere on your site.
Good job with this one. I like the fact I don’t need to signup, there isn’t any stupid unneeded web-scripts running (like every retarded site out there, good layout, good info, and good peeps.
Even the retarded one-sided leaf trade rumors are good.
Bruce, you want lupul and gardiner back for beucheimin
Yes I concur with assbackwards who apparently isn’t assbackwards after all. I much appreciate a site I don’t need to subscribe to or any such nonsense. I can simply come and go as I please and enjoy some good O’hockey talk with hockey minded people. Even if these hockey minds don’t realize I am always right. haha. 😛
Bruce (if that’s his real name) has been here before. Whine about “bias” against the Ducks to try and stir things up. He’s a troll, but a silly one, since he keeps saying “I’m done with this site!” only to run back and cry wolf again. Hey, it’s hits and ad money to me when he does that, so it’s all good. Whine away, Bruce!
Ok Bruce. Here you go. Methot is going to be traded to the Ducks.
You mean their coverage by a junior reporter in an Anaheim newspaper isn’t sufficient? Like 80-90% of hockey fans in the U.S. who could not possibly care less about what goes on in the Canadian franchises, I think it’s safe to say the same %s of Canadian fans are indifferent about what transpires in La-La Land.