NHL and Hockey Rumors for Jan 17, 2014

According to Insider Trading on TSN, the Dallas Stars are looking to unload veterans Ray Whitney and Sergei Gonchar.

The Vancouver Canucks are interested in Colorado Avalanche forward Ryan O'Reilly.  O'Reilly will be eligible to be traded near the NHL trade deadline.

The Carolina Hurricanes have made Tuomo Ruutu, Jiri Tlusty, Riley Nash, Drayson Bowman and Brett Bellemore available to all NHL teams.

The Canucks are also looking to trade forward Dale Weise.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have made Keith Aulie and Tom Pyatt available.

The Phoenix Coyotes have placed defenseman Rostislav Klesla on waivers.

Big trade day!

Only a massive trade day like today would awaken me from my blogging slumber! So to review:

The Calgary Flames have traded defenceman Dion Phaneuf, forward Fredrik Sjostrom, and prospect defenceman Keith Aulie to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for forwards Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and defenseman Ian White. Brochu's take: My philosophy is that the team that the best player goes to "wins" the trade, and in this case I would have to say Toronto gets the better end of the deal. Phaneuf is capable of much more, and he will get plenty of ice-time in T.O. Hagman/Stajan are good players, and I'm not sure how the Leafs will score from now on. Calgary gets a lot more offensive in this deal.

The Leafs have also acquired goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for goalie Vesa Toskala and forward Jason Blake. Brochu's take: Toskala's contract, along with Blake's, were essentially dead weight. After the signing of Hiller, Giguere's contract was the same on the Ducks. I see this trade more of moving dead money around than actual players.

The Anaheim Ducks have signed goalie Jonas Hiller to a 4-year, $18 million contract extension. Brochu's take: Not a bad deal.

The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenseman Lukas Krajicek to a contract. The Tampa Bay Lightning had terminated his contract when he didn't show up to his AHL assignment.

NHL and Hockey Rumors for Jan 8, 2009

Sorry about the lack of updates, it's been a busy time for me.

According to a French language hockey website, the Tampa Bay Lightning are having serious financial troubles and have asked forward Vincent Lecavalier to waive his no trade clause. Brochu's take: There have been rumours that the "Bolts" are having money issues, but I doubt that they asked Lecavalier to waive his NTC, since he just signed a long-term extension. Source

Ottawa Senators Eugene Melynk made an announcement to the media assuring that he is not looking to make changes to his team at the moment. Rumors spread early on Wednesday that coach Craig Hartsburg and GM Bryan Murray would be both be fired, and replaced with Pat Quinn and Bob Nicholson respectively. There have also been speculation that Quinn could become the coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins once Michel Therrien gets fired.

According to the Team 1040 radio in Vancouver, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been scouting the Vancouver Canucks very closely for the past few weeks, and something could be in the works. Brochu's take: The Nucks and Bolts have been common trading partners lately; it wouldn't surprise if there is a trade brewing between these two teams again.

The Anaheim Ducks have traded forward Brad May to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a conditional 6th round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Brochu's take: This makes this the 3rd time that GM Brian Burke has traded for Brad May. He did it in Vancouver, and he brought May into Anaheim. Does May have incriminating photos of Burke or something?

The Calgary Flames have signed defenseman Keith Aulie to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Brochu's European rumor roundup:

Forward Frederik Cabana has left the Philadelphia Flyers organization and signed with Austrian hockey team EC Dornbin. Source