Faceoff Factor

Auld Trade An Ice-Breaker? The Latest Trade Rumors

Michael Farkas | National Hockey League

Dec 7, 06:09 PM | Hype this story!

The NHL roster freeze is rapidly approaching (December 19) and any deadline in the NHL is usually a cause for some activity. The lack of movement through the early going, according to a number of agents, can be chalked up to the league’s “restrictive” salary cap. Since a player’s cap hit “lessens” (so to speak) as the season goes on, trades become a bit more palatable in the later stages of the season. As for now, however, the rumor mill is always churning.

“Neid” For Cap Space

As previously reported on Faceoff Factor, the Ducks are looking to move some salary in order to fit Scott Neidermayer under the cap for the entirety of his contract. Apparently, this has drawn the interest of a number of teams. Including Carolina, who may be offering Andrew Ladd in a deal that would see Francois Beauchemin coming to Carolina. However, I think it’s unlikely the Ducks move Beauchemin unless a team overpays for him.

Mathieu Schneider, and his expensive contract, may be what Burke is looking to move the most however. The Blackhawks have been in the market for an offensive defenseman for a while and this could be a chance for them to grab one for pretty cheap (asset-wise).

GM Brian Burke, always confident, said, “We’re not in a bind at all. There’s plenty of interest to make this thing go away.” In fact, according to Bob McKenzie, the Ducks need to clear less than $900,000 in salary that carries over to next season.

Neidermayer, who is signed through 08-09, said, “There’s going to be a time for another decision down the road…” when asked about the likelihood of fulfilling his the rest of his contract.

Brian Burke has already expressed that he does not what to go through an ordeal like this again.

Loose Pucks:

Update: TSN’s Darren Dreger suggested a trade could be in the works between Tampa Bay and Dallas. Tampa would send Martin St. Louis to Dallas for Marty Turco. However, the deal is not imminent and both players have a no-trade clause.

The Philadelphia Flyers may be interested in acquiring Mark Recchi off re-entry waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, more than 20 teams are below Philadelphia in the standings.

Wes Walz, after a month away from the team, has decided to retire from the National Hockey League. The 37-year-old Walz was a third round pick of the Boston Bruins in 1989 and played for Boston, Philadelphia, Calgary, Detroit and Minnesota during his NHL career. A career that saw 607 games played, 109 goals and 260 points.

The Flames and defenseman Dion Phaneuf are still pretty far away from reaching an agreement on an extension.

Apparently, the Senators may be looking to make a trade to offset their recent skid. However, the hottest commodities that they possess are Andrej Meszaros and Antoine Vermette; however, GM Bryan Murray has been extremely hesitant to trade either of them. Joe Corvo remains first on the chopping block.

It seems Trevor Linden may be suffering the same fate as Mark Recchi. Linden has been a healthy scratch recently and coach Alain Vigneault has said that younger players are better suited for the fourth line.

Capitals youngster Jakub Klepis, who has been on a part-time tryout with the Hershey Bears (AHL), has decided to head back to Europe. The deadline for signing restricted free agents is December 1st, and when Klepis realized he wasn’t going to play in the NHL this year, he decided to go home. Klepis is reportedly unhappy with the way the Capitals treated him, and while he plans an NHL comeback next season, it won’t be with the Capitals.

Michael Ryder is constantly on the trade block in Montreal, and it’s all but certain he will be traded this season. Perhaps that time is coming soon, a recent rumor suggested that the Oilers trade Jarret Stoll to Montreal for Ryder. Tonight, both Jarret Stoll and Raffi Torres were both healthy scratches.

Former Tampa Bay forward Evgeni Artyukhin keeps on falling: from out of the NHL, to out of the RSL. His team, Avangard Omsk, recently demoted him to a second-tier Russian team.

According to Rangers defenseman Thomas Pock, he does not expect to be called up as long as Tom Renney is the head coach. Pock reportedly said that he will not accept another two-way deal from the Rangers.

The Avalanche may be shopping defenseman John-Michael Liles, he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. The Avs may look to alleviate their goaltending woes.

As reported in the transaction tracker, the Ducks have waived and loaned Mark Mowers to SC Bern in the Swiss Leagues.