SmokingChicken

Dickson, TN • United States •

The Rumor Mill

My record third blog of the day. I'm sure some folks are getting tired of me, but c'est la vie, as my girlfriend would say.

Manny Fernandez has made it public knowledge that he wants out of Minnesota. Manny said in the Pioneer Press that he wants out of the organization to be with "more supportive team-mates and coaches." I, for one, would've never expected that environment to be all that supportive, so maybe Manny has a case here. Looking at potential suitors is interesting. Lyle Richardsn (aka Spector) brought up Los Angeles but their long-term commitment to Cloutier plus his mediocre play doesn't make anything too likely to happen there. Phoenix may be a viable option, though paying $7M for Jovanovski next year not only huts but is also stupid. Detroit could seriously do something to try and get him should Hasek leave again. Florida may go after him and succeed quite well.

Recchi and Roberts are still in talks with Pittsburgh. They share an agent, and he said he's confident a deal will get done for both players. I really think this was all Recchi had left this year and he should retire. Roberts is 41 but could skate hard if you lined his skates with lead. Needless to say, he's pretty tough and in good shape. It's the Leafs or the Pens for him, one or the other.

Dale Tallon has his hands full. With Johnathan Toews putting the Hamhawks- er- Blackhawks' payroll over $38 million, the GM for the laughing stock of the NHL will need to make some major moves to get this team headed in the right direction like they were after Trent Yawney got the axe. RFAs will sap up another $3-4M, leaving Tallon just $5-6M in cap space. In other words, expect the Hawks to be bad for a while. Also expect Adrain Aucoin to become the subject of a number of rumors as he might get moved for Samsonov, should the Habs let Souray walk(which I feel they should). Bondra should be done, so there's no need to worry abou him... not that there ever was anyway.

Latest(within the last week) prospect imports, courtesy of Eurohockey.net.

Kings- Patrick Hersley (D, SWE)
Ducks- Jonas Hillier (G, SUI), Maksim Kondratiev (D, RUS)
Blues- Tomas Kana (D, CZE)
Senators- Mattias Karlsson (D, SWE, to Binghamton)
Blue Jackets- Kirill Starkov (F, DEN)
Bruins- Vladimir Sobotka (F, CZE)