RUMOR BOARD: Lyle Richardson Weighs In At The Trade Freeze
BDGallof | Dec 21, 2009 | Comments 2
Everyone should know Lyle Richardson, otherwise known as Spector of SpectorsHockey.net. He is a busy man who works for FoxSports, THN, Puck Daddy’s Free Agent Chats, and also has his own site. I’ve asked Lyle to take part in our Rumor Board, where each week he will weigh in on the hot ones that you, the fan, or that we have added to our Rumor Board system.
Since that Rumor Board is brand spanking new and we are still working out some kinks, I’ve taken it upon myself to give Lyle a brief few subjects to address this week as we go into a trade freeze for the holidays.
And away we go….
BD:
Howdy Lyle, glad you could join us for this weekly feature.
Could you address why there isn’t seem to be much going on at the trade freeze….and what we might expect coming out of the 10 day break.
And anything that is tangible in the rumors? For example…what will teams like Toronto or the Hurricanes do…especially in desperation (if anything at all)
And lastly, the hullabaloo over Kolvachuk by not just by the usual people who may or may not be in-the-know, but by a whole slew of new rumor wannabees on the web and twitter. Is there legs to it? Why or why not?
LYLE:
The reason for the lack of player movement this season isn’t a shocker. 25 teams with payrolls in excess of $51 million, an average payroll of over $55 million and a salary cap of $56.8 million equals no trades in the final two weeks leading up to the holiday trade freeze.
The Hurricanes are believed to have shopped Aaron Ward for weeks now but of course there’s no takers at this time of the year for player earning over $2 million. They’ll have better luck moving Ward later in the season as his salary becomes more affordable and thus more attractive to rival teams.
The Leafs aren’t really in the market now. Burke was testing the waters in late-November but since he made his threats of moving some underachieving veterans via trades or demotions regardless of salary or status – combined with Phil Kessel’s strong debut as a Leaf – the team has played much better and he’s backed off his trade talks for now.
Not too many teams are that desperate yet. The Flyers aren’t going to make any big moves in part because like the Rangers they’re handcuffed by too many big contracts but also because Holmgren genuinely wants to give Laviolette time to assess the roster.
As for Kovalchuk, there’s no trade talks going on. Period. Both sides want to get something done but the Thrashers have until June 30th to re-sign him and he has that long to make a decision. The fact talks are ongoing are a good sign. Sure, things could change in a month or two but for now there’s absolutely no truth to the trade rumors. None at all.
Filed Under: Featured • Featured Rumors
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