*-> Well it looks like the Montreal Canadiens / Edmonton deal was a bust. From what I've heard the Canadians are pulling Halak once again off the market. I guess Bob Gainey still does not have the faith in Carey Price for a post season run. It's a weird situation because it seams the Montreal defense plays really well and confident infront of Jaroslav Halak while they seam lackluster and unconfident in Carey Price. I'm starting to think the guys in the dressing room arn't sold on Price yet hence the poor play infront of him. On Halak news Montreal was reportedly asking way too much in return for him. Some other bloggers are reporting a possible deal for Kovalchuk involving Halak, P.K Subban and a pick but I'm very skeptical as the Thrashers soon will have their own goaltending contraversy between Johan Hedburg, Kari Lehtonen and Ondrej Pavelec to deal with and do not need another goalie in the mix. Dallas is also high on Halak.
*-> Saku Koivu's stock went down with his injury, but good news for Ducks fans hoping for a rebuild it's not considered long term and should be in action within 3 weeks. right now theres not a lot of noise surrounding Saku but he is a heart and soul player and would be a good veteran leader for a young team in the playoffs.
*-> As mentioned above the Atlanta Thrashers have some decisions to make soon. Kari Lehtonen the Thrashers "franchise goalie" has yet to really provide "franchise" goaltending yet and Don Waddell and the board is getting very impatient. Kari's still young and has never really played for a contender so a fresh start is maybe all he needs. The Thrashers look to be running with young goalie Ondrej Pavelec who has already made it clear he will not be a backup in Atlanta and has already once threatened to walk out. He's played incredible this season and is clearly ready for number 1 duties. With 2 number one goalies both most likely not willing to take a seat to the other and a career backup the Thrashers management loves it becomes quite the problem. Obviously a deal must happen, the candidate is Kari Lehtonen with his inconsistent play and the fact he's a RFA at the end of this season. Although he's not on the market yet many teams are rumored to be interested. The most interested is Dallas. Dallas is ready to move on from the Marty Turco era next season and young Kari Lehtonen is a goalie their extremely high on. He is a RFA and to qualify him wouldn't be half as bad as to resign Turco. Another team that's interested is the Detroit Red Wings who will almost certainly be leaving long time Red Wing Chris Osgood behind ....again. The Wings aren't sold on Jimmy Howard yet and are still waiting for Daniel Larsson or Thomas McCollum to develop. The Wings would love an insurance marker to ensure they have 2 NHL ready goalies to avoid this years situation of inconsistent play between both goalies.
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He may have a bad work ethic and could be damaged goods with those back surgeries at such a young age, but I would roll the dice on him. He is obviously very talented and could turn into a star once he gets away from that dead-end franchise.
How about St. Louis Scoopz? He could fit in well going forward with their young team. Chris Mason will be a UFA (with Johnson and Perron due for big raises), Toivonen is probably not going to be an NHL starter and we may never hear from Shwarz again. Lehtonen could help them become perennial cup contenders if he can stay healthy and churns out 42 win seasons like the in old Roman Turek days.
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