DAILY RUMORS: Lyle Richardson Deflates The Savard For Grabovski Rumor

We at HockeyIndependent.com want to be your resource and filter for what is going on in the NHL. We try to disseminate the noise in the blogosphere. We don’t look to to attack those sources, but to question the veracity of the rumor with cold logic, hockey smarts and knowledge. To do that… we have partnered with the one of the best in the NHL blogosphere….Lyle Richardson of SpectorsHockey.net. Daily Rumors with Lyle Richardson will now be a regular feature on HI this summer and beyond…

For nearly a week now there’s been reports linking Boston Bruins center Marc Savard with the Toronto Maple Leafs, especially after news came last weekend Savard would waive his “no-trade” clause to go to Toronto.

Even the dismissals of Leafs general manager Brian Burke haven’t fully put an end to speculation Savard could end up as a Leaf.

Savard’s trade clause, salary ($4 million per season over seven years) and late-season concussion led to suggestions it might not cost the Leafs – or any other team – very much in return to pry him away from the cap-strapped Bruins.

The Toronto Star’s Kevin McGran suggested Sunday the Bruins could probably be talked into taking on Mikhail Grabovski in exchange for Savard.

I understand why McGran cited Grabovski, as the latter’s one-dimensional play has more than a few Toronto observers hoping Burke will find some way to dump his $2.9 million per season salary.

The problem with McGran’s suggestion however is Grabovski’s a center, which the Bruins have plenty of, and is the reason they’re trying to dump Savard.

Unless the Bruins could find a third team willing to take on Grabovski (good luck with that!) they have no reason to sign off on a “Savard for Grabovski” swap.

Lyle Richardson
SpectorsHockey.net
twitter.com/spectorshockey