NHL and hockey rumors for July 6, 2008

According to the Ottawa Sun, the Senators could be close to acquiring San Jose Sharks defenseman Kyle McLaren or Anaheim Ducks defenseman Mathieu Schneider. Brochu's take: This is a Bruce Garrioch rumor, so take it with a bag of salt.

The star 940 radio is reporting that the Chicago Blackhawks are trying to move forward Martin Havlat. Teams rumored to be interested are the Vancouver Canucks, Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and Atlanta Thrashers, as well as the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens. Brochu's take: The Hawks have to get rid of some salary soon, and Havlat has only one year left on his contract. This could be a salary dump type of trade.

In an interview with Global TV in Vancouver, Canucks GM Mike Gillis revealed he has had more discussions with Brendan Morrison, and it's still possible a deal could be made to keep the UFA forward in Vancouver.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed Matt Cooke to a two-year, $2.4 million contract.

Sources tell TSN that former Maple Leaf Joe Nieuwendyk is scheduled to meet with Toronto general manager Cliff Fletcher this week to discuss joining the team's management group. Nieuwendyk's contract as advisor to Florida Panthers GM Jacques Martin expired June 30.

NHL trade deadline round-up: Part 2

The Toronto Maple Leafs traded forward Wade Belak to the Florida Panthers for a 5th round pick in 2008.

The Leafs also traded defenseman Hal Gill to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2nd round pick in 2008 and a 5th round pick in 2009.

The Leafs also traded forward Chad Kilger to the Florida Panthers for a 3rd round pick in 2008.

The Florida Panthers traded defenseman Ruslan Salei to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman Karlis Skrastins and 3rd round pick in 2008.

The Columbus Blue Jackets traded defenseman Adam Foote to the Colorado Avalanche for for a conditional first-round draft pick in 2008 or 2009, depending if Colorado makes it in the playoffs. The Jackets would get another conditional 4th round pick in 2009 if Foote re-signs with the Avs.

The Columbus Blue Jackets traded forward Sergei Fedorov to the Washington Capitals for defenseman Ted Ruth.

The Montreal Canadiens traded goaltender Cristobal Huet to the Washington Capitals for a 2nd round pick in 2009.

The Washington Capitals traded forward Matt Pettinger to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Matt Cooke.

Bernier available, Canucks to sell?

According to The Province columnist Ed Willes, the Vancouver Canucks "would be better off selling rather than buying at the trade deadline." Willes believes that forwards Markus Naslund, Byron Ritchie, Matt Cooke and defenseman Aaron Miller could fetch a return. Source

The Edmonton Journal believes that San Jose Sharks forward Steve Bernier could be shopped to bring a defenseman at the trade deadline. Source

Scouts from three teams were at the Phoenix Coyotes-Dallas Stars game Monday night. The Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers were represented. Joe Nieuwendyk is serving as Florida's scout. Source

There are rumors that Calgary Flames prospect Dan Ryder may be returning to the organization soon. Ryder, brother of Montreal Canadiens forward Michael Ryder, left the Quad City Flames (Flames AHL affiliate) earlier this year under mysterious circumstances. Source

The Dallas Stars have signed forward Krys Barch to a two-year, $1.15 million contract extension.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed minor-league defenseman Deryk Engelland to a two-year contract extension.

Look for my European round-up sometime this week; there's quite a lot of rumors from Europe in the past few days.

Pominville rumours heat up

There are rumours that GM Dave Nonis has turned up the burner on acquiring Jason Pominville from the Buffalo Sabres. It's believed that he is offering Luc Bourdon and Matt Cooke. Nonis has recently said that he is looking for help in the top 6, and was quite upset with his team's performance in Thursday's 8-2 loss to the Flyers, calling the effort "lazy and stupid" and adding that if the players "don’t want to work, we’ll find others that will." Coach Alain Vigneault had this to say about Ryan Shannon's demotion: "I'll give you an honest answer," "He doesn't need waivers and we need to move some guys." Source

The ZSC Lions of the Nationalliga A in Switzerland have already started plans for next year and have an offer on the table for Phoenix Coyotes goalie David Aebischer. New CEO Peter Zahner has used his contacts to hopefully persuade Aebischer to come to Switzerland next year, provided he doesn't sign with another NHL team. Source

Ronald Petrovicky has signed with Modo in the Swedish Elite League. Petrovicky has been playing with Dukla Trencin, but will be joining Modo on October 24. Source

Canucks being scouted?

According to the San Jose Mercury News, several teams had scouts observing the Friday game between the Canucks and Sharks. The Penguins, Devils, Flames, Red Wings, Stars, Wild, Flyers and Bruins all had scouts at the game. There has been rumours that the Penguins were having a close look at Matt Cooke. Source

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun is reporting that GM Glen Sather is trying to get Ed Jovanovski out of Phoenix. Jovanovski has a no movement clause in his contract.

Garrioch is also reporting that LA might have a chance of landing Peter Forsberg. Garrioch is citing the close relationship between Forsberg and Kings coach Marc Crawford as a reason.

Garrioch also reports that Toronto may be signing UFA Dave Scatchard, and Pavol Demitra is unhappy with the Wild.

Garrioch is working overtime on the rumour mill, as he is reporting that the Bruins and Devils are interested in signing Danny Markov. Source