rumours
It's a slow NHL news Wednesday when we dedicate a second consecutive mashup to discussing the Canucks' star for sale franchise goaltender available goaltender.
You can at least partly thank James Duthie's epic tweet from late Wednesday night: "Sources say Roberto Luongo will submit a short list of teams he'd waive his no-trade to go to next week. Toronto will be on it."
That will surely quiet the discussion.
I'm not going to debate the merits of the player, the drawbacks of the contract, or the likelihood of Luongo's possible destinations - that's all been done, even by our own Ryan Fancey, who debated himself thoroughly on the topic yesterday and reached pretty much the same conclusion I do: "I can’t pick a side. I just want the Leafs to get him and their goaltending to not be hilarious next season." Amen, friend.
I'll go a different route. Let's talk about no-trade-clauses. (Links after the jump). [more…]
This is part one of a preview series on potential trade deadline targets for the Leafs. Important to keep in mind is the framework in which I'm analyzing these trade options in this series: Brian Burke will be weighing the future against the present. Burke's only going to be dealing for immediate help if it equally benefits the team long term. There will be no selling out for this season; as much as Burke is feeling the pressure to make the playoffs in his fourth season as Leafs czar, more patience is needed as his team simply isn't at that stage of the competition yet.
Evgeni Nabokov:
The attraction to the 37-year-old pending UFA is one, how well he's fared in front of a porous Islanders defense since his return to the NHL, and two, his history of success under head coach Ron Wilson in San Jose.
The Islanders have struggled to find consistent reliability in net as much as the Leafs have in recent seasons, so dealing Nabokov as opposed to signing him seems unlikely at this point barring an inability to come to terms in contract negotiations. [more…]
In non-news, Cliff Fletcher recently reiterated via e-mail that the reported rumours suggesting he's pursuing Atlanta's sniper Ilya Kovalchuk are "rumours without merit."
Thought I [more…]
