Columbus Blue Jackets left wing Rick Nash isn’t the kind of guy who goes in and demands a trade, but he may be sent off to another team before the Feb. 27 trading deadline hits, according to Sportsnet.ca.
Some friends of Nash tell the site that he “is very unhappy with the way the franchise is going and realizes it will take five more years to rebuild.” The 27-year-old who the Blue Jackets selected first overall in the 2002 draft “is now telling people close to him that he would entertain being moved, but still will not be the one who asks for a trade,” Sportsnet reports.
The 218-pounder was up for the rookie-of-the-year Calder Trophy back in 2002 and then tied Jarome Iginla and Ilya Kovalchuk for the scoring title the following season with 41 goals. So far this year, he has 17 goals and 17 assists.
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Left wing Tuomo Ruttu has been with the Carolina Hurricanes since 2007, but it appears that he may be soon joining another roster. The 28-year-old native of Finland is an unrestricted free agent this summer and unless his team, which is tied for last in the Eastern Conference with the Montreal Canadiens, makes some kind of crazy turnaround, he’ll likely be a hot commodity on the trade market before the Feb. 27 deadline, according to USA Today.
Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford is, of course, hoping for that turnaround, but if it doesn’t come, he could be busy on the phone.
Ruttu, who was drafted ninth overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 2001, has scored 16 goals and notched 11 assists so far this season.
“The cost for Ruutu could be high,” the paper reports. “Last year’s hot rental player, Tomas Kaberle, went to the Boston Bruins for prospect Joe Colborne and a first- and second-round pick.”
Other soon-to-be unrestricted free agents on the Hurricanes roster include defensemen Bryan Allen and Jaroslave Spacek, the paper notes.
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Edmonton Oilers left wing Ryan Smyth was drafted by Glen Sather and worked under him for five years before Sather left to join the New York Rangers.
Now that the Rangers are at the top of the chart in their conference and the Oilers are near the bottom in theirs, Smyth, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, might want to rejoin Sather. A “well-placed” source tells the New York Post reports that Smyth “would give serious consideration to waiving his no-move clause in order to pursue a Cup on Broadway.”
The paper also hears that the Rangers want to add “both scoring punch and a defenseman in advance of the Feb. 27 trade deadline.”
The soon-to-be 36-year-old Smyth, who is in the final year of his contract, has 16 goals and 18 assists to his name this season.
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Zach Parise has spent his entire seven-year NHL career playing for the New Jersey Devils, but the captain may find himself as an unrestricted free agent for the first time this summer.
The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Parise hasn’t had any extension talks with the team even though Parise doesn’t think having them would distract him in the slightest from the season at hand. The Devils are currently in fourth place in the Atlantic Division, 10 points behind the first-place New York Rangers, after beating their rivals in a shootout Tuesday night.
“I try not to think about it,” Parise said, according to the paper. “It can’t interfere with what’s ahead.”
The 27-year-old left wing has 16 goals and 25 assists so far this season. Last year, he only appeared in 13 games because of torn meniscus in his right knee, scoring three goals and notching three assists.
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The NHL trade deadline is on Feb. 27, but the Toronto Maple Leafs’ locker room is already thick with rumors of who is going where for what, according to the Toronto Sun.
On Monday, Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur both finished discussing trade rumors with reporters at different ends of the locker room nearly simultaneously, the Sun notes.
East German native Grabovski, an assistant captain, has been with the Leafs since 2008, but there have been no serious discussions of an extension with GM Brian Burke even though he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer, the Sun reports.
“It’s my home right now, you know?” Grabovski said, according to the Sun. “If they want me here, I appreciate it. My job is to work hard and give my best on the ice. I think more about hockey than about my future. I know if I play well, I can stay with the same team.”
Grabovski has 16 goals and 16 assists so far this season.
Some of the players the Maple Leafs “have been linked to,” according to the Sun, are Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan of the Anaheim Ducks, Ales Hemsky of the Edmonton Oilers, Tuomo Ruutu of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Ryan Clowe of the San Jose Sharks.
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over the long-term, according to TSN.
Morrow, who missed the final game before the All-Star break with an upper-body injury, had 33 goals last year and is on pace for 16 this year, TSN reports. He has two more years left on his contract, which also contains a no-trade clause so he’d have to actually want to get out of Texas.
While one source in Dallas told TSN that the Stars are “probably not” dealing the 33-year-old Morrow, who was selected in the first round of the 1997 draft, an executive with another team is hearing he “might” be available and certainly intends to find out.
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Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter has been named to his first All-Star team. Unfortunately, he may not be able to play on it due to an upper-body injury he suffered Jan. 14 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
The game will take place Jan. 29 in Ottawa and the 26-year-old is doubtful he’ll be competing, according to the Tennessean. “If I can’t play here, I don’t see how I could go do that,” he said, according to the paper. “It doesn’t look good to your teammates. It’s good to know you made the All-Star team, but you also want to go and experience it.”
Suter is averaging 26:31 minutes of ice time per game and has scored five goals and notched 20 assists in the 45 games he’s played this season.
He played one period on Monday night against the New York Islanders before being pulled and then missed games on Tuesday and Thursday. The paper notes that he is going to try and return on Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks.
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Dallas Stars center Mike Ribeiro has missed three games since tearing his MCL when his knee banged into Edmonton Oilers defenseman Theo Peckham’s knee Jan. 7. It’s looking like the Stars don’t expect him back in the near future.
ESPN reports that Ribeiro could be out till after the All-Star break, which would mean he’ll miss five more games for the Stars.
“He’s a little bit better today, but he’s still not a player,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan Sunday, according to the site. “I don’t think we’ll see Ribby until after the All-Star break.”
The 31-year-old Ribeiro, who was drafted in the second round in 1998 by the Montreal Canadiens, has scored 10 goals and notched 21 assists this season.
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Niklas Hagman scored the deciding goal in the eighth round of a shootout and the Anaheim Ducks beat Calgary 3-2 on Monday night for their 14th straight home victory over the Flames. Bobby Ryan and Matt Beleskey scored less than 2 minutes apart in the first period for the Ducks, who won the tiebreaker by a 3-2 margin.
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The Phoenix Coyotes needed a boost after an exhausting first half of the season. Beating San Jose was a big step. Following that with a win over Detroit, another nemesis, could send them into a sprint toward the playoffs again. Mike Smith stopped 30 shots, Martin Hanzal scored twice and the Coyotes ended a seven-game losing streak to the Red Wings with a 3-1 victory Monday night.
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