D-Day Approaches!

1) We at FAUXRUMORS decided it was as good time to take a brief (4 day) hiatus to try to digest the many and varied rumoured deals going around. Its a mere 36 hours until the trade deadline, and even at this late date there are only a handful of teams that we are hearing are going to be definite sellers. Of those few teams that even want to deal away a player, many could be handcuffed by giving ill advised no trade clauses to entice the players to sign in the first place.

2) Now, for the record, we have NO problem with individual players exercising their contractual rights to invoke the clause. It was negotiated in good faith. The team wasn't forced to agree to that term. So the team has no right to complain about it now. On the other hand we can't understand why a player such as a Sundin who has never won a Cup, wouldn't want to get a chance to raise the trophy for which every NHL-er strives. Many may recall how Ray Bourque, an icon in Boston, left the B's to have a chance at a championship in Colorado in 2001. It was a tough choice, but one we're sure Ray does NOT regret.

3) As of this writing here are the teams that are definitely/most likely to be in 'selling mode' in the next 36 hours.:

• Florida: Radek Dvorak, Steve Montador, Jassen Cullimore are all on the block. Its not impossible that the Panthers may try to make a larger deal BUT DO NOT expect Olie Jokinen to be a part of any Panther's trade!!)



• Tampa Bay: Vaclav Prospal, Chris Gratton, Andre Roy, Dan Boyle, Jan Hlavac could all be trade fodder. (DO NOT believe ANY Brad Richards rumours) With the impending sale it'll be difficult for Mr. Feaster to make any block busters. Prospel wants out badly. He has had harsh words publicly for coach Tortorella. He will get a ton of interest. The Rangers and Senators in the East and Vancouver and Calgary in the west have inquired.



• Toronto: Mats Sundin is of course on everyone's list. As reported here he has already agreed to waive his NTC IF the right deal is consummated. Until then he will maintain his desire to stay a Leaf. Others who will probably be moved are Hal Gill, Andrew Raycroft(if possible), Dominic Moore, Wade Belak. Also do NOT expect Blake or McCabe to be traded! Their contracts/health issues are too considerable for any team to take on right now.



• Atlanta: Pascal Dupuis, Joel Kwiatkowski, Mark Recchi for sure. Bobby Holik is being persuded hard by the NYR's Glen Sather. The Marion Hossa sweepstakes is coming down to ony a handful of teams. The Canadiens of course are the favourite, but a sleeper team that could land the gifted Slovak is Vancouver if they can't get Sundin to agree to a deal. Also do NOT rule out a return to the Senators, as they have expressed interest recently.



• LA: Brad Stuart will be strongly sought after. Robert Blake states publicly he wants to stay in LA until the season is over, but some of our sources have told us he'd waive that IF he were given a good contract extension from a short list of Western Conference teams (A sign and trade) Its unlikely, but still possibel then that Mr. Blake could be on the move. Others that might be soon dealt from LA are Brian Willsie, and Tom Preissing



• Edmonton: Injuries have hurt their trade possibilities. We're told Lowe wanted to deal Raffi Torres and actually was close to a deal with an Eastern team before the forward was injured last month. The remaining trade possibilities won't bring back much: Geoff Sanderson, Marty Reasoner



• Chicago: Now that the Hawks are clearly out of it, they have been actively trying to move Martin Lapointe, Yanic Perreault, and Andrei Zyuzin. The Flyers have expressed interest in Lapointe. Pereault being injured is less likely to go anywhere. Khabibulin's name will inevitably come up but we're told his additional year on 6+ mil will make any deal for him difficult

4) Here are the teams that even on this late date are on the bubble and may decide at the last possible second:

• NYI: Miroslav Satan, Mike Comrie, Bryan Berard, Joe Vasicek all will get attention, BUT with their recent surge Garth Snow will have to weigh heavily what his team's long and short interests are. We're told that they would consider a deal for Satan only if they got a good return (1st round pick or young prospect). Comrie isn't likely to be dealt. They have already started contract talks with him to try to keep him after the season. Vasicek after Satan is the most likely to be traded.



• St. Louis: After a very nice run it looks like the Blues have fallen back from contention. So we're hearing that Rucinsky, Salvador and Barret Jackman will be up for trade. Rucinsky to the Rangers seems to be too frequent to be ignored, but Dallas has also expressed interest




• Columbus: The Jackets like the Blues were hoping to avoid being seller yet again, but it appears that they will miss the post season. If they decide to 'sell' the names we are hearing are David Vyborny, Sergei Fedorov and Mike Peca. All would be sought after and could return a nice pile of picks/prospects for the up and coming Jackets. The Flyers' Holmgren would LOVE Feds

5) Thats a mere 10 teams that may or may not be 'selling' players in the next few hours. that leaves 20 or so teams that may want these players. Of course as we saw with Ottawa and Carolina, teams that are both in the race might pull off a deal.

• Along those line the Sabres who see that they will probably lose Brian Campbell are taking offers for the offensively gifted defensemen. There are at least 5 teams in the West alone who would quickly get into a bidding war for his services!



• Alex Tanguay is certainly on the trading block we're told. He and coach Keenan have been at odds almost since training camp



• Michael Ryder is about a sure bet to be traded as anyone. His recent improved play should assists a team in taking on Mike. The inevitable Tanguay for Ryder rumours will continue, but if Alex has any say (and he does!) he will NOT go to the Habs



• R.J. Umberger or even Jeff Carter of the now desperate Flyers could be had. The Flyers are looking for BOTH a defensemen and a forward. Now that Forsberg is a sure bet to not come back Holmgren is super motivated to make a deal for a forward that could get his team back in the playof race. Flyer scouts have been seen in Columbus fueling speculation of a Fedorov and or Vorbony deal?



• Pavel Demitra has been rumoured to be available, but our source in Minny tell us that Risebrough wants to retain Pavel for the playoffs and worry about resigning him in June.



• Ed Jovanovski, long rumored to be going to the rangers appears to want to stay in the desert and is NOT available



• Patrick Marleau's significant decline combined with his huge contract make him almost immovable