Hockey and NHL rumors for the weekend of Dec 5-6, 2009

It's Sunday, so you know it's another round of rumors from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:

The New York Rangers are interested in acquiring forward Pavol Demitra from the Vancouver Canucks. Demitra is currently injured. Brochu's take: Garrioch obviously uses the whole Demitra-Gaborik friendship angle to justify this rumor. He might have forgotten that the Rangers are pushing the cap as it is.

The Nashville Predators may be trying to move defenseman Dan Hamhuis. Brochu's take: This one I agree with. Hamhuis won't re-sign with the Preds, and there's plenty of young blueliners to replace him in Nashville. Watch him get moved at the deadline.

The San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators and Columbus Blue Jackets could be interested in Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Aaron Ward, while some teams have called about Ray Whitney.

"The Vancouver Canucks are expected to trade defenceman Shane O'Brien." Brochu's take: Not likely. The 'Nucks love their defensive depth.

NHL free agent signings for July 10, 2008

The Team 1040 radio in Vancouver is reporting that several sources believe that Mats Sundin will be signing the 2-year, $20 million contract offered by the Canucks in the next 7-10 days. Brochu's take: No one knows what Sundin is thinking at the moment (neither does Sundin himself), but the feeling in the Canucks organization is that they feel confident they can sign him.

The Vancouver Canucks have signed Pavol Demitra to a two-year, $8 million contract. Brochu's take: So the rumor we heard back in April has finally come true.

The Canucks also signed defenseman Rob Davison to a one-year, $560,000 contract.

The Edmonton Oilers have signed defenseman Jason Strudwick to a one-year contract.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed left wing Nikita Filatov to a three-year, entry level contract.

Martin Straka has officially signed a one year deal with HC Lasselsberger Plzen in the Czech Republic. Straka will also be be manager-general (general manager?) of the team. Source

The New York Rangers have signed defenseman Vladimir Denisov.

The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward Eric Fehr.

The Chicago Blackhawks have signed defenseman Aaron Johnson to a one-year contract.

The New Jersey Devils have signed goalie Scott Clemmensen to a one-year deal.

Another offer sheet matched, more signings

The St. Louis Blues signed restricted free agent forward Steve Bernier to a one-year, $2.5 million offer sheet. The Vancouver Canucks have subsequently matched the offer sheet. Brochu's take: This is nothing but pure vindictiveness on the Blues part. They knew the Canucks would match. What is the point of these two offer sheets?

The Blues also signed defenseman Mike Weaver to a contract.

According to a Slovakian publication, the Vancouver Canucks have signed Pavol Demitra to a three-year, $12 million contract. However, in an interview with Team 1040 radio, he revealed nothing is for certain, but Vancouver is his no. 1 choice. Brochu's take: It looks like the most known Canucks rumor is about to come true. Source

The Ottawa Senators have signed defenseman Jason Smith to a two-year, $5.2 million contract.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Joe Nieuwendyk has a special assistant to the GM.

The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed goalie Jaroslav Halak to a two-year, $1.55 million contract extension.

The Edmonton Oilers have signed forward Marc-Antoine Pouliot to a two-year contract.

The New York Islanders have signed defenceman Brendan Witt to a two-year, $6 million contract extension.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Brandon Bochenski to a two-year contract.

The Lightning also signed forward Evgeny Artyukhin to a two-year, $1.9 million contract. Artyukhin played for CSKA Moskva (Moscow) in the 2007-2008 season.

The Bolts also signed defenseman Andrew Hutchinson to a two-year contract.

Kyle Wanvig has left the Tampa Bay Lightning organization and signed with Amur Tigers Khabarovsk in Russia.

Demitra in Vancouver?

In an interview on Team 1040 radio in Vancouver, new Canucks GM Mike Gillis admitted he was aware that Minnesota Wild forward Pavol Demitra was in town and having a look around the city. Gillis did not divulge that he had contact with Demitra. Demitra is now an ex-client of the now ex-agent Gillis. Brochu's take: Expect a whole lot of Gillis' ex-clients to be rumored heading to Vancouver. Demitra might enjoy a new up-tempo system, if the Canucks do indeed change playing styles.

The Canucks also named Laurence Gilman as director of hockey administration.

The Edmonton version of the Metro News is reporting that impending free agent Curtis Glencross is seeking a $2 million contract from the Edmonton Oilers. Brochu's take: Lowe would be stupid to overpay a third-liner like that. If Glencross thinks he can make that much money in the NHL, he's dreaming. Source

The Florida Panthers have re-signed forwards Wade Belak and Kamil Kreps to two-year deals. The Panthers also agreed to terms with defenseman Luke Beaverson on an entry level contract. Brochu's take: Belak's found a home in Florida. Kreps should continue to improve on his stellar season. Source

The Chicago Blackhawks have agreed to terms with Finnish free agent goaltender Antti Niemi. For more on Niemi, check my previous post here.

The Calgary Herald reports sources that claim the Flames will re-sign defenseman Mark Giordano to a three-year, one-way contract (worth around $1 million a year) this summer. Giordano signed with Moscow Dynamo this past season because of contract troubles. Source

Hockey rumors from all over

The following NHL rumours come from the intermission program "The Hotstove", during CBC's Hockey Night in Canada broadcast:

Analyst Al Strachan believes there is "gossip" that the Vancouver Canucks could trade Roberto Luongo to the Ottawa Senators for Jason Spezza. Strachan believes that the rumors and speculation that Luongo wants out of Vancouver is distracting him. Brochu's take: Luongo clearly stated that he does not want out of Vancouver and is happy. But Strachan believes otherwise so it must be true. ;-)

Pierre LeBrun brings up the rumor around the trade deadline of the Florida Panthers asking for Daniel and Henrik Sedin in exchange for Olli Jokinen. LeBrun believes with the uncertainty of the Panthers management, this deal could be revisited in the summer. Brochu's take: I expect the Canucks to make a strong push for Jokinen sometime around the entry draft, as Jokinen and Luongo are good friends.

The latest from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun:

Garrioch believes that both Toronto Maple Leafs coach Paul Maurice and Los Angeles Kings coach Marc Crawford will be fired in the off-season. Brochu's take: Well, that isn't hard to speculate.

Garrioch believes that Minnesota Wild forward Pavol Demitra will not re-sign with the club because he prefers a warmer destination. The Tampa Bay Lightning could be interested. Brochu's take: I didn't know Garrioch was so in tune with Demitra's personal preferences. Demitra will probably stay in Minnesota, as he gets along with friend and fellow Slovak Marian Gaborik.

The Edmonton Oilers will shop goaltender Dwayne Roloson. Brochu's take: The Oilers could use up the money freed by trading Roloson to get some more experience in the lineup.

The Ottawa Senators are planning to re-signing captain Daniel Alfredsson to a long contract extension once July 1st arrives.

Devils in trade talks?

According to the Star-Ledger, New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello missed the game in Vancouver on Wednesday because he was attempting to make a trade prior to last night's midnight holiday roster freeze. It's possible that he could have a trade ready when the freeze ends on December 27. Source

Jeff Gordon of STLtoday.com is speculating that the St. Louis Blues are likely to make more moves this season, and could possibly bring back Minnesota Wild forward Pavol Demitra to the Blues. In order to do this, the Blues would have to get some of their contracts off the books, such as Jay McKee ($4 million), Martin Rucinsky ($3 million) and Christian Backman ($2.2 million). Source

Gordon is also reporting rumors that the Blues could bring in UFA Curtis Joseph as "stretch-run insurance", depending on how Joseph does at the Spengler Cup.

In other Devils news, they have signed forward Brad Snetsinger to his first professional contract, the team announced yesterday. The undrafted 20 year old is in his third year with the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL. Also, forward Jari Viuhkola has left the AHL Lowell Devils and has been re-assigned to Kärpät Oulu of the SM-Liiga in Finland. Source

University of Minnesota sophomore Kyle Okposo has made the decision to forgo the remainder of the 2007-08 season and his career with the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers following the World Junior Hockey Championship where he will play for Team USA. The New York Islanders have begun negotiations with Okposo on an entry-level contract. Source

Canucks putting package for Satan, Demitra shopped?

According to an NHL source, the Vancouver Canucks could be putting a package together to get Miroslav Satan from the New York Islanders. GM Garth Snow has made it known that Satan could be available at the right price. It is believed the Islanders would like immediate scoring help, something the Canucks currently do not have.

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun is reporting that the Minnesota Wild would like to move Pavol Demitra. Demitra is due to be a UFA next summer.

Garrioch is also speculating that the NHL will consider an 84 game schedule, with the two extra games to be played in Europe. Source

The St. Louis Blues could be moving a defenseman in the very near future. They currently have seven defenseman on the roster, with several more NHL-ready prospects in the minors. Source

There are also rumors that the Blues would like to sign UFA Teemu Selanne. They believe that he would fit in perfectly with his old teammates and friends Paul Kariya and Andy McDonald.

According to the Toronto Star, a Russian tycoon has hired former NHLP executive Bob Goodenow to help create a new professional European hockey league. Alexander Medvedev, deputy executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom, is behind the new league, which also has former NHL star Igor Larionov on a ''working group'' to help start the league. It's also believed Scotty Bowman is consulting the venture. The league, tentatively called the "Open Russian Hockey League", or ORHL, could start as early as September 2008. 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