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More on the Flyers goalie situation … Leafs and Blue Jackets interested in Patrick Sharp …
Mark Easson
Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer: Carchidi thinks the Flyers should re-sign Leighton and go after a ‘more proven goalie’. Brian Boucher is still under contract for one more year (at a reasonable number), and they could try to get him through waivers, as injuries happen and he’s still a capable goalie if they need him. Jeff Carter’s name will continue to circulate the rumor mill as the Flyers are deep in capable centers (Richards, Danny Briere, and Giroux). LA’s Quick and Bernier are mentioned, with Bernier seeming to get the nod as the Kings ‘goalie of the future’. They could make a bid for Cory Schneider (for a defenseman), but he may be more for the future and not the ‘proven goalie’. They could ask Gagne if he’d waive his no trade to go to Montreal for Carey Price (would have to send more to Montreal in my opinion). The safest option might be to go after UFA Dan Ellis. The 30-year old Ellis posted a 2.69 GAA and .909 SV% last season with the Predators, where he made $2 million as mainly a backup to Pekka Rinne. If the Flyers want to spend more, they could look at Evgeny Nabokov or Marty Turco.
Tim Sassone of the Daily Herald: The Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets have shown interest in the Blackhawks Patrick Sharp. Sharp has a cap hit of $3.9 million, with 2 years remaining on his contract. The ‘Hawks could interested in a high draft pick or top prospect. I think the Leafs could offer the option of also taking on another unwanted contract, but probably not one of the big ones as they don’t have a ton of salary room themselves (they are not going to bury 3-4 big contracts in the minors as per many Torontians wishes). Their is speculation that the Oilers could be interested in Kris Versteeg and his $3 million salary, 2 years remaining. UFA’s John Madden, Nick Boyton, and Kim Johnsson are as good as gone.
Ken Warren of the Ottawa Citizen: Jason Spezza appears to be available for trade before his ‘no-trade clause’ kicks in on July 1st. GMs are doing some tire-kicking with regards to trade talks according to Kings GM Dean Lombardi. Warren wonders if the Senators and Oilers would consider a similar trade as the Heatley offer, Spezza for Dustin Penner, Andrew Cogliano andLadislav Smid (suggested elsewhere in the past)? Would the Blue Jackets be interested in Spezza to center Rick Nash (I think the Sens would want the 4th overall pick)? Could the Florida Panthers do deal involving Spezza and Nathan Horton plus others?
Andrew Gross of The Record: Gross thinks that the Capitals will likely look at trading Alexander Semin and his $6 million cap hit (he signed a 1-year deal with the Caps during the season). I think this might be a good move for the Caps as if would shed $6 million and allow them to bring in some depth from trading Semin, as well as any other deals they could make. To get full value for Semin, the team acquiring him may want to get an extension in place before they make the deal, similar as to what has been talked about in a Tomas Kaberle trade. Now before Leafs fans start thinking of a Semin for Kaberle, I doubt it would happen. Sure, Semin is extremely skilled but he is really soft, more so than Phil Kessel. I don’t think Semin is what Burke is looking for, though I could be wrong. Kaberle would interest the Capitals (could you image that PP of Kaberle, Green, Ovechkin, Backstom and anyone else?). I could see Semin to someone, and a separate or 3 team deal with Kaberle heading to Washington.
Chris McCosky of the Detroit News: The Red Wings offered Todd Bertuzzi a 2 year contract, but it may not be more than the $1.5 million he made last season (probably closer to $1 million), so he may test the market to see what he can get elsewhere. After signing their RFAs, they’ll need find the best player possible who’ll sign for $1 million or less, on a short term contract. Several names that have been mentioned; Freddy Modin but he’ll probably want more money, same goes for Owen Nolan. Two front runners could be Mike Comrie if he could commit to a 2-way game, and Arron Asham.
TSN: Back on March 2nd, the Philadelphia Flyers offered Peter Forsberg a contract to join the team for the remainder of the season, but he rejected it do to injuries and “wasn’t in good enough shape to join.” As in typical Forsberg fashion, he hasn’t ruled out a return to the NHL but he still doesn’t “know if I can come back and play hockey again”.