Chatter, chatter, chatter ... GMs in town for draft, trade buzz is up
MONTREAL -- An NHL GM turned to me Wednesday and had the look of a 10-year-old about to go to Disney World.
"The next few days are always fun," he said.
The days leading up to the NHL draft are a fascinating time for GMs and player agents. Scheduled meetings in hotel rooms, hotel lobbies and, of course, hotel bars -- the chatter is through the roof as the trade talk intensifies leading up to Friday night's first overall pick.
There's more trade talk than usual for two reasons -- all 30 GMs are in the same town and the first-round picks can be involved in possible deals. Once the first round comes and goes Friday night, fewer moves usually happen.
"The draft, to me, is an opportunity to improve your hockey club," Thrashers GM Don Waddell said Wednesday. "We have the fourth [overall] pick in the draft. We're looking for a top-six forward and a top-four defenseman and you may acquire that either via trades or free agency. Certainly we're going to look at the trade market."
In other words, the fourth overall pick is in play from Atlanta -- for the right price.
One guy who won't be moved this week is Thrashers star winger Ilya Kovalchuk, who is one year away from free agency, a critical time when a player of his caliber must either be signed to an extension or moved in order to get maximum value for the asset.
"We haven't talked to anybody about trading him and we're not going to talk to anybody about trading him," said Waddell. "Our goal is to sign him and we're going to remain that course. I feel good that we have a great dialogue with his representation, Jay Grossman, and I've met personally with Ilya and we're going to continue down this path. The other option [trading him] is not available."
Star winger Dany Heatley is on the block after asking for a trade out of Ottawa and he may move this week or next. The Minnesota Wild have been mentioned as among the group of teams that gave the Senators a call, but rookie GM Chuck Fletcher would not comment Wednesday. In my mind, that might be a bit of an over-aggressive move for a first-year GM to make. Mind you, whoever Fletcher does go after, whether it's via trades or free agency, it'll definitely be a forward.
"We certainly need some help up front, no question," Fletcher said after leaving the NHL's board of governors meeting. "We're deep on defense and we've got two good goalies, but I'd like to add some help at forward."
He'll need even more help at forward if pending unrestricted free agent Marian Gaborik walks out the door July 1. Reports from the West Coast this week said he's already bought a house in Vancouver, where fellow Slovak and buddy Pavol Demitra lives.
"No comment," Fletcher said of the Vancouver report, although he added he still hopes to try and sign Gaborik.
New Jersey Devils GM Lou Lamoriello said much the same about Brian Gionta, also an unrestricted free agent come next Wednesday.
"We'd like to have him back," said Lamoriello. "But we'll see if we can make it work or not."
Sergei Fedorov, meanwhile, isn't quite done with the Washington Capitals just yet, even though reports had him signed, sealed and delivered in Russia.
"No, actually we're supposed to talk this week [with agent Pat Brisson]," said Caps GM George McPhee, signaling there was still a chance to bring the 39-year-old free-agent center back to Washington.
There's also been talk of veteran center Michael Nylander perhaps playing overseas next season, which would be great for Washington because it could get out of the two years and $8.5 million he has left on his contract.
"Some teams over there have been pursuing him, but he doesn't want to play over there," said McPhee. "He wants to play in the NHL."
Chatter, chatter, chatter ... it's great to be at the draft. But will it be as busy as usual?
Veteran GM Jim Rutherford of the Carolina Hurricanes, citing the uncertain economic times, talked like a man who was going to lay in the weeds, especially come free agency July 1. He's usually a very active guy at this time of year, but with the salary cap likely going down for the 2010-11 season, he's going to be careful where he spends his money. And that includes his own pending unrestricted free agents, which include Erik Cole and Chad LaRose.
"Those are good players," Rutherford said. "But we have to mindful of the economics and how everyone fits in. I'm still talking to my free agents, but we'll see what happens."
Pierre LeBrun
