Ice Scoopz: Thursday Morning -> Draft Day Closing In

With less than a day before the draft the rumors continue to swirl around the league. It looks more and more likely that Danny Heatley and quite possibly Vincent Lecavalier will be moved at the draft . Leafs also have stated they would love to jump up in the draft as well.

*-> Brenden Shanahan is reportedly still interested in playing next season but his agent has reported Shanahan has yet to receive an offer from the New Jersey Devils. Shanahan has no targetted teams and would welcome a deal anywhere in the East.

*-> Sergei Fedorov has officially signed in the KHL with Metallurg Magnitogorsk as previosuly reported on Ice Scoopz. All that is know at this time is that Sergei wanted to furfil his fathers dream of the two Fedorov brothers (Fedor and Sergei) playing together on the same team. It is also reported to be a 2 year deal worth 2MIL$ a season.

*-> Aging defenseman Chris Chelios has stated this week that he definatly wants to keep playing for atleast another year now that Detroit has officially stated that he would no longer be part of their plans for the future. Chelios has no hard feelings about his parting with Detroit and will wait to receive offers from other teams. Is it rumored that Chicago one of his former teams is interested in bringing him on as a 6th to help their young mature. Chelios has also said if he does not receive an offer 2 months into the season he would officially retire.

*-> Rumors out of New York claim the Rangers are close to a deal with Ottawa for Danny Heatley. The deal reportedly on the table is for Chris Drury and Bobby Sanguinetti. The Rangers would love to swap Scott Gomez directly but Ottawa is seeking a impact roster player and ether a high draft pick or a blue chip prospect and it is highly unlikely they'd take such a high salary in return. Prospect Derek Stephan and winger Nikolai Zherdev are another two players that keep getting mentioned in the New York media.

Heatley is also hot talk in Colorado where the Avalanche look to rebuild for next season. Heatley would be a great addition as he is signed long term and could be the building point of a franchise. The return subject is where this rumor sorta falls off. The Avalanche are not interested in parting with any picks, prospects or young players other than Marek Svatos. John Michael Liles is another name been thrown about but he alone is not going to get a deal done with Ottawa. Ryan Smyth would be a name Ottawa is interested in and a player who could possibly turn the dressing room around an reunite the troops. Although Smyth told the media last deadline he is happy in Colorado and would not waive his no trade for any team. Would the prospect of coming back home to Canada sway his mind? Especially the nations capital?

Another Heatley rumor out there is the Chicago Blackhawks is highly interested in replacing Martin Havlat with Danny Heatley. Chicago would have to give up one of their 3 stud defensemen in Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker with only the later in play. Barker who has been slow to develop would be much welcome in the Ottawa organization. Chicago's late 1st round draft pick plus Barker might be able to get a deal done, with hopes Ottawa can land a top line winger via free agency.

*-> Speaking of Marty Havlat, he recently posted on his blog he is enjoying his vacation and hopes to return to Chicago next season. It is his primary choice to resign in Chicago and his agent will continue talks this weekend in Montreal to try and get a deal worked out by July 1st.

*-> Rumors have been out of control this week in Vancouver due to a recent article stating Marian Gaborik has bought a house in the Vancouver area late last week. to add more fuel to the fire the Gaborik and Demetra are best of friends and have been dying to reunite together and Vancouver could be the destination now it looks like the Sedins will walk.

Part two of this rumor is that it is entirely false that Gaborik has purchased a home in Vancouver. Pavol Demetra appeared on a radio interview this week and crushed many Vancouver fans hopes by saying Gaborik has not bought a house and has not dicussed reuniting in vancouver with him although it would be much welcomed.

*-> Tsn reports the San Jose Sharks are shopping Ryan Clowe hard in Montreal today. the leafs have shown interest but San Jose is asking for their 1st round pick a price the Leafs wont pay. The Philly Flyers are also in the hunt but do not want to part with winger Claude Giroux.

*-> Last of all Tsn is also reporting that Jay Bouwmeester's rights are close to being dealt and they are expected to go soon.

Thursday Late Night News Hits and Something To Sleep On

Another slow day today, not much actual confirmed news today except a few injury updates so I'll start with that.

->Joe Sakic of the Colorado Avalanche will be out up to six weeks with an undisclosed back injury.

->Chris Chelios will be back in action soon after recovering from a broken leg. This weekend he will be reporting to Grand Rapids of the AHL for a conditioning stint untill further notice. I really hope Chelios keeps going, I once read in an interview he wants to play till hes 50 or as long as he can physically.

->Raffi Torres of the Blue Jacket will have arthroscopic knee surgery friday and is set to be out for 3-4 weeks.

Thats it for news but heres a major rumour to think about before you sleep tonight.

->From what I've been hearing Don Waddell is starting to think about his major situation next year. By his major situation I mean Ilya Kovalchuk and his unrestricted free agent status at the end of the next season. Now I'm sure deep in his mind he knows that the Atlanta Thrashers cannot compete with the players they have now and it's definitely going to be a "ground-up" project. Come trade deadline really what do they have to offer this season? Todd White? Marty Reasoner? Not really anything that's gonna bring in change. Now what happens if he shops Kovalchuk at the deadline? Atlanta would definitely benefit greatly. I've seen reported on a few sites how Atlanta is shopping Kovalchuk right now. I hardly see that as Todd White's not exactly going to bring in the fans. Also does Waddell really want the image of him throwing in the towel already? The fans and players both would be upset so if he waits till deadline day when the Thrashers are already out of the picture it makes perfectly good sense. He still would get a higher than normal value because Ilya would be under contract for another year. The other team would still have an entire season to try and sign him plus 2 sets of playoffs. Not bad at all! I truly believe Kovalchuk could bring in a gold mine of prospects and draft picks. My guess would be 2 1st round draft picks, a support player and a prospect or Don Waddell could go the other way and aim for an impact player and two 1st rounders to try and improve the team right away. Like it or not Atlanta wont be in contention for at least another season and this deal could give the Thrashers a really big head start.

Who would be the possible trading partners? I'm sure almost every team in the league would be interested but 4 teams come to mind. The Ottawa Senators as they need that little extra offense to spread out. the only problem is they don't have very much room to move. They do have a few prospects to spare and a couple big guns to shop. Imagine a Kovalchuk Spezza combo. What about this?

Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White
Ottawa sends their 09 1st round, 2010 2nd round, Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno

The second team that could really be interested is the Chicago Blackhawks. Their a young core ready to take off. With that extra fire power they could be pretty deep and have that extra flair to edge their opponents. Kovalchuk - Toews - Kane ? That would be incredible. Their also a West coast team so Atlanta wouldn't have to look at Ilya that much after the deal.

Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk and a 2010 3rd round
Chicago sends 09 1st round, Cam Barker, Martin Havlat and Ben Eager

The third team is another west coast team in the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have nobody really to put the puck in the back of the net as sad as it is. The Sedins cant be counted on to do everything. What happens if they get that little extra offense to back up Luongo's stellar play? It would make a huge difference if teams were scared of them offensively and defensively.

Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk
Vancouver sends 09 1st rounder, Mason Raymond and Micheal Grabner

My last team is once again another western conference squad. The Minnesota Wild. The Wild are on the cusp of having a really good team that can possibly contend. Their in a really tough pack though with Detroit and San Jose, both of those teams have incredible offensives while Minnesota's just average. Give them another big gun to play with and it might be a different story. Kovalchuk has that game breaking ability that could turn them into an instant cup favorite. They could go easily two ways about it. They could sign Gaborik to what ever he agrees then turn around and trade him to Atlanta for Kovalchuk and a 1st round. That gives the Wild Kovalchuk and Atlanta a star player back plus a bit of future in return. The second option is to say screw it and keep Gaborik but get Kovalchuk to compliment him.

Atlanta sends Ilya Kovalchuk and 09 5th round
Minnesota sends a 09 1st round, Benoit Pouliot, Chris Hickey and Martin Skoula

We'll see how this one plays out and I'll definitely keep my ear open for anything because as far as I'm concerned this would be the smartest move Waddell could make this year. Well that's it for now but more will come tomorrow. I waited on doing the Avery incident article because I really want to see the final results of it before I dissect it which i figured would be today but ya. I also have the KHL piece almost done about their version of the all-star game which brings back a few old faces. You'll have to wait till tomorrow night though. Peace for now and don't stay up all night thinking about that doozy.

September 9th News Hits

->Keith Ballard of the Florida Panthers just signed a 6 year $25.2 mil contract.

->The Sedin twins are meeting with Vancouver's GM Mike Gillis to talk about his plans for the pair in the future and also contract exstensions for the duo. Both players would like to stay in Vancouver but their asking roughly $6 mil per season.

-> Mathieu Schnieder is almost definatly on his way out, the Ducks are $2 mil over the cap and his $5.6 mil salary for a 3-4 pairing d-man is not exactly worth it. Expect the deal to go down before training camp. Possibly targets include L.A where he once played and are still under the salary cap. I also hear that Montreal could be interested in making a pitch if they loose out on Sundin.

->The Globe and Mail has reported that two more teams are interested in Mats Sundin and apparently the Lightning are among the two. Good luck as Tampa Bay is ether gunna have to make some trades or magically create cap space. Also on the Mats front apparently Bob Gainey has given him a deadline. J.P Barry says Mats could be seriously interested.

-> Teemu Selanne is believed to be re-signing with the Anaheim Ducks sometime this or next week once the salary cap issue is solved. He is believed to be asking for $2 mil or under.

->Chris Chelios has signed a 1 year deal for $750 000 with the Detroit Red Wings, it was reported last week but made official today.

->Free Agent Brendan Shanahan is rumoured to still be in talks with the New York Rangers, he has been attending team practices though. Rumours again have resurfaced about an offer to play in the KHL. Highly unlikely as the Rangers are desperate to have him back.

That's it for today!