With the opening of NHL training camps drawing ever nearer business is certainly starting to pick up around the league. 

In recent days we’ve seen several trades (see my most recent posts since August 29th) and now we’re starting to see some movement in the free agent market.

The big news today comes out of Los Angeles, where the Kings announced the signing of forward Jarret Stoll to a four-year, $14 million contract.

Stoll was acquired by the Kings from the Edmonton Oilers earlier this summer in exchange for defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.

His new contract breaks down as $3.5 million per season against the Kings salary cap, a significant raise over the $2.2 million per season he earned over the last two years with the Oilers.

Stoll got that contract thanks to a 22-goal, 68-point performance in 2005-06, but a concussion the following season and the lingering after-effects hampered his performance since then, with 39 points (in 51 games) in 2006-07 and 36 points in 81 games last year.

The Kings may be taking a chance on Stoll regaining that 68-point form as it appears he hasn’t been the same since the concussion, but if he can round back into form he’ll be worth that kind of coin.

At least cap-wise the Kings are now a little closer (now less than $10 million closer) to the NHL’s minimum cap of $40.7 million.

In Detroit meanwhile comes a signing that surprises no one, that of Chris Chelios returning for another season at a very affordable $850K.

The ageless Chelios is obviously not the great defenseman he once was but is still capable of playing 14-16 solid minutes per game and has proven to be a valuable member of Detroit’s defense corps.

However, that move will likely come at the expense of another Red Wings d-man, as GM Ken Holland recently suggested he’ll likely need to pare down between $100K-$300K from his payroll and could look at shipping out a defenseman to do it.

It certainly won’t be the 46-year-old Chelios.

And finally, after some speculation that Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray was perhaps interested in bringing in a veteran free agent winger, comes the announcement the Sens have signed Brad Isbister to a one-year, two-way contract.

For those Senators fans hoping that Murray was looking at Brendan Shanahan, Glen Murray or Mark Parrish, please try to contain your disappointment.

Fact is, Murray doesn’t have a lot of cap space to play with, and with this signing combined with his recent acquisition of winger Ryan Shannon from Vancouver, it’s clear at this point he’s going for affordable depth rather than squandering precious cap signing an aging veteran to a one-way contract.  

Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray hinted last week he was in the market for a potential scoring winger and may have acquired one today.

Murray dealt little-used defenseman Lawrence Nycholat to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for 25-year-old forward Ryan Shannon.

With this move it appears Murray won't be interested in UFA forwards Mark Parrish and Glen Murray. Shannon has only seen limited action in two NHL seasons split between Anaheim and Vancouver, although he did play in 11 playoff games with the Ducks during their Cup run in 2007.

He spent most of last season with the Canucks AHL affiliate but was called up late in the season where he showed some promise with 13 points (almost half on the powerplay) in 27 games.

At 5-9 and 173 lbs Shannon isn't big by NHL standards but what he lacks in size he makes up for with speed, hard work and decent two-way skills.

He may get his chance at more ice time and a bigger role with the Senators on their second line this coming season.

Shannon also carries an affordable salary ($605K) for this coming season which makes him a good fit in the Senators payroll.

The Canucks acquisition of Nycholat might get tongues wagging that GM Mike Gillis is preparing for "Plan B" (as it appears Mats Sundin still hasn't made up his mind about his future) and might be planning to move a defenseman for some scoring depth.

Kevin Bieska is one of the few decent Vancouver blueliners without a movement clause and has been oft-mentioned in trade rumors, which are likely to intensify with this move.

TSN.ca reports the rumored trade that would send Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe to the Florida Panthers will be announced Tuesday (September 2) at 11 am ET.

The deal would see McCabe and an as-yet-unspecified draft pick shipped to the Panthers in exchange for defenseman Mike Van Ryn.

I’ll have further analysis on this deal once it is officially announced.

**UPDATE**

The trade has been made official, according to TSN.ca, and the draft pick from the Leafs is a four-rounder in 2010.

McCabe waived his no-movement clause to facilitate this trade. He had a home in Florida which obviously made going to the Panthers an easy decision for he and his family to make.

After two seasons under the harsh media spotlight in Toronto McCabe will find playing for the Panthers a refreshing change, where every mistake won't be scrutinized so intensely as it was with the Maple Leafs. That could be just what he needs to get his game back on track after struggling to meet lofty expectations that came with the signing two years ago of his current contract.

This move could also perhaps be incentive for Jay Bouwmeester to perhaps re-sign with the Panthers, or at least that might be what Panthers GM Jacques Martin will be counting on, using the McCabe acquisition as an example to Bouwmeester that the club is moving in a positive direction.

Failing that, McCabe will be seen as a potential replacement (albeit an older one who doesn't play as strong a defensive game) for Bouwmeester should the latter opt for unrestricted free agency next summer.

In Van Ryn the Leafs will get a good, albeit injury-plagued, affordable ($2.9 million per season for the next two seasons) defenseman, saving themselves nearly $3 million per season against their cap.

Should Van Ryn turn into a good acqusition for the Leafs he won't cost anywhere near as much as McCabe to retain after his current contract expires in 2010.

After spending the summer embroiled in a contract stand-off with defenseman Andrej Meszaros Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray resolved the problem on Friday night, dealing Meszaros to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defensemen Filip Kuba and Alexandre Picard plus a first round pick in 2009 which the Lightning had acquired from the San Jose Sharks.

The deal came after speculation in recent days of the Lightning attempting to sign Meszaros to an offer sheet, which they were unable to do as they lacked part of the appropriate compensation, their third round pick in 2009, which they’d dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins back in June for Ryan Malone.

Reportedly the Bolts tried to re-acquire the pick from the Penguins but there were conflicting reports suggesting the Penguins management were unwilling to deal it back or that a deal was in place but the Lightning were trying to directly acquire Meszaros via trade.

Regardless of the aforementioned intrigue the move is yet another in a string of significant roster-altering deals made by the Lightning since new ownership and management took over back in June.

Meszaros is a promising young defenseman but Murray made this move as the young blueliner was reportedly seeking a deal in the range of $4.5-$5 million per season, comparable to the contracts recently signed by Nashville’s Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, Washington’s Mike Green and Chicago’s Brent Seabrook.

The Senators unfortunately lacked the cap space to pay Meszaros that much and still have enough remaining to land a scoring winger, plus there were reports out of Ottawa suggesting that his struggles last season also made Murray leery of committing that kind of coin to him.

Murray got back a pretty good return for Meszaros, fulfilling both a short-term need with the experienced Kuba (who’ll likely play on the second pairing with Christoph Schubert) and possibly a long-term one with Picard, who at 22 still has time to develop into a decent NHL defenseman.  Landing a first round pick in next year’s draft was also a nice catch, demonstrating perhaps Murray’s management experience over that of the Lightning’s new group.

Meszaros is a good pickup for the Lightning and could be a key part of their future but he doesn’t address their glaring need for more experienced defensive depth. He’s only got three years of NHL experience and with Kuba now gone that makes he, Matt Carle and Paul Ranger the Lightning’s most experienced defensemen.

That’s a promising young defense corps but one that could find itself struggling against strong offensive opponents this season.

This move also means the Bolts will still have to shed some payroll, for while they moved Kuba and Picard’s combined $3.8 million salary for this coming season re-signing Meszaros to his anticipated $4.5 million per season salary still leaves them closer to the cap than ownership would prefer.

Perhaps Jussi Jokinen, Michel Ouellet and/or Jason Ward could be packaged for an experienced defenseman, but given new owner Oren Koules’ comments this summer over his happiness with his young defense corps it might be picks or prospects those forwards get shopped for.

This deal works well for the Senators as the combined salaries of Kuba and Picard are close to what Murray was originally offering Meszaros ($3.5 million per season) and still leaves enough cap space to pursue a scoring winger .

In the long term this deal could work out for the Lightning but in the short term it appears to favor the Senators.  

The San Jose Sharks on Wednesday announced the re-signing of defenseman Marc-Eduoard Vlasic to a four-year, $12.4 million contract extension, which breaks down to $3.1 million per season commencing in 2009-10.

This signing follows the trend of most NHL general managers under the current collective bargaining agreement, re-signing promising young talent based more on potential than their experience.

Vlasic, 21, is entering his third NHL season and had 14 points in 82 games with the Sharks last season. His new contract will take him up to age 26, by which time he’ll have seven NHL seasons under his belt and will be eligible for unrestricted free agency.

If he performs as expected this new contract could work out to be a bargain for the Sharks, but they should also anticipated that if he meets or exceeds expectations his value as a UFA in five years time could be worth considerably more than $3.1 million.  

After keeping NHL fans guessing for months as to his future plans, Joe Sakic made it official on Wednesday, re-signing a one-year, $6 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche.

It’ll be Sakic’s twentieth NHL season, all spent with the same franchise which he’s captained since1992-93.

This could be one of the more trying seasons for the Avalanche, as they are no longer considered among the league’s elite teams and are no longer a lock for a playoff berth.

The knock against the Avs heading into this season is they lack capable goaltending and while there are some promising youngsters on the roster will be relying on aging veterans to carry the load.

Sakic would be considered among that last group as he attempts to bounce back from a trying season where injuries limited him to only 44 games, although he did manage 40 points, nearly a point-per-game performance.

The Avs captain had one of the best seasons of his career in 2006-07 with 102 points, and if he can return healthy and regain that high-scoring form the Avalanche’s chances of making the playoffs could significantly improve.

But “Burnaby Joe” can’t carry the load by himself, and he’ll need help from a supporting cast of aging talent (Ryan Smyth, Milan Hejduk, Darcy Tucker) and promising youth (Paul Statsny, Marek Svatos, Wojtek Wolski) to get the job done.

This August has been a much quieter time for real NHL news than in recent ones post-lockout, and for good reason: most NHL reporters were either on vacation or covering the recent Summer Olympics in Beijing, while most NHL general managers and their staff were vacationing or off on scouting missions.

Of course idle hands are the devil’s work and some folks (none of them accredited hockey reporters, by the way) have been busy filling hockey cyberspace with lots of unsubstantiated trade and free agent rumors.

So since there isn’t really very much real hockey news to comment on, here’s a look at some of the latest internet rumors going on:

- Washington Capitals forward Michael Nylander put his house up for sale and could be traded to Vancouver.

Nylander has put his house up for sale, which can be a legitimate tip-off of an imminent move, but according to the Washington Post that’s because he and his family are moving into a smaller one. Nylander has a movement clause and isn’t planning on waiving it, nor have the Capitals asked him to.

-The Montreal Canadiens are pursuing Chicago Blackhawks center Robert Lang.

Canadiens GM Bob Gainey admits he has a “plan B” in place should Mats Sundin opt to sign elsewhere, but it remains to be seen if that’s pursuing another center or sticking with his current roster. The Lang rumor was erroneously attributed to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, who’s been on vacation for much of this summer.

-The Canadiens are interested in Toronto’s Bryan McCabe to replace the offense lost when Mark Streit signed with the Islanders.

No, they’re not. Folks conveniently forget that the Canadiens still have Andrei Markov and Roman Hamrlik on the point, and they’re certainly not going to take on McCabe’s bloated $5.75 million per season salary.

-The Florida Panthers will trade Jay Bouwmeester before the start of the upcoming season.

No, they won’t. Bouwmeester is on a one-year contract and in all likelihood won’t be returning with the Panthers after this season but as long as GM Jacques Martin believes he has a chance to convince Bouwmeester to remain he won’t move the blueliner. If “Jay-Bo” is traded it’ll be in January at the earliest, most likely by the February trade deadline.

-The Minnesota Wild are shopping or will shop Marian Gaborik before the start of the season.

Same situation as Bouwmeester, although judging by recent reports out of Minnesota it appears there’s a willingness on both the Wild and the Gaborik camp to get a deal done.

-The NY Rangers will trade Scott Gomez to make room for Mats Sundin.

Sorry, folks, but I just don’t see that happening. It makes no sense to trade a 28-year-old playmaker entering the prime of his career and in the midst of a long-term contract for a 37-year-old center who, as great as he is, might only commit to one or two years of hockey.  If Rangers GM Glen Sather does this, he has no right being an NHL general manager.

-The Rangers will trade Gomez to Minnesota for Gaborik.

And on that day, the devil skates to work.

Another NHL player is heading to Russia but not as a free agent or as a player still under contract signed away by a KHL team like Alexander Radulov.

New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello announced veteran defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski cleared waivers over the weekend, but rather than being bought out or demoted to the minors to clear salary cap space, he’ll be signing with an as-yet-unknown team in Russia’s KHL.

This move will be similar to what the New York Rangers did with defenseman Darius Kasparaitis last November, when they “loaned” him to SKA St. Petersburg.

Vishnevski has two years remaining on his current contract with the Devils meaning they’ll retain his NHL rights over the period but he’ll be paid by a KHL team thus they won’t have to pay him his remaining salary for as long as he’s playing in Russia.

As the Globe & Mail’s James Mirtle observed, it’s yet another crafty move by “Loophole Lou”, as the Devils GM has freed up $1.8 million in cap space from this year’s payroll and possibly again next season.

For NHL general managers looking for a way to dump salary, the lack of a transfer agreement between the NHL and the KHL gives them a viable option.

Recently I posted The Score Sports Forecaster’s projected NHL standings for the 2008-09 season.

The Hockey News’ 2008-09 Yearbook recently hit the stands, which contained their projected standings.  See below:

Western Conference
1. Detroit Red Wings
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Dallas Stars
5. Anaheim Ducks
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Chicago Blackhawks
8. Calgary Flames

9. Nashville Predators
10. Phoenix Coyotes
11. Vancouver Canucks
12. Columbus Blue Jackets
13. Los Angeles Kings
14. Colorado Avalanche
15. St. Louis Blues

Eastern Conference
1. Montreal Canadiens
2. Pittsburgh Penguins
3. Washington Capitals
4. Philadelphia Flyers
5. Ottawa Senators
6. New York Rangers
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Carolina Hurricanes

9. Tampa Bay Lightning
10. Boston Bruins
11. Buffalo Sabres
12. Florida Panthers
13. Atlanta Thrashers
14. Toronto Maple Leafs
15. New York Islanders

Compared to The Score’s ranking, there are little significant difference of opinion between the two publications over which teams will make the playoffs, how those teams will place and which ones won’t make the post-season dance.

The biggest difference of opinion is THN has the Canadiens finishing first in the East (The Score picked the Flyers) and the Coyotes missing the playoffs (The Score picked them to make it over the Wild).

As for the rest, the two publications both rank the Red Wings as topping the West, and while there’s some difference in where their projected playoffs clubs finish in the standings they’ve picked the same teams (the difference between the Coyotes and Wild aside).

Again, I'll be posting my predictions for the upcoming season standings in late September as most if not all of the NHL rosters should be set by that point.

Discuss!

The Hockey News recently published its annual NHL yearbook and as usual one of the notable features is its Top Fifty NHL Players listing for the upcoming season.

Although I’m now a free-lance contributor to THN.com that won’t prevent me from critiquing this list, and no, this isn’t a free plug for The Hockey News on my part as I reviewed their rankings last summer prior to contributing to their site.

Anyway, here’s how THN ranked their top fifty players for the upcoming season:

1.       Sidney Crosby
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Henrik Zetterburg
4. Pavel Datsyuk
5. Vincent Lecavalier
6. Niklas Lidstrom
7. Roberto Luongo
8. Jarome Iginla
9. Evgeni Malkin
10. Dany Heatley
11. Chris Pronger
12. Daniel Alfredsson
13. Marian Gaborik
14. Henrik Lundqvist
15. Brendan Morrow
16. Evgeni Nabokov
17. Marian Hossa
18. Ilya Kovalchuk
19. Eric Staal
20. Zdeno Chara
21. Joe Thornton
22. Dion Phaneuf
23. Martin Brodeur
24. J-S Giguere
25. Martin St-Louis
26. Scott Niedermayer
27. Brian Rafalski
28. Sergei Gonchar
29. Marty Turco
30. Ryan Getzlaf
31. Andrei Markov
32. Zach Parise
33. Ales Hemsky
34. Jason Spezza
35. Vesa Toskola
36. Rick Nash
37. Joe Sakic
38. Scott Gomez
39. Ryan Miller
40. Jonathan Toews
41. Daniel Sedin
42. Daniel Briere
43. Anze Kopitar
44. Miika Kiprusoff
45. Paul Statsny
46. Shane Doan
47. Derek Roy
48. Mark Savard
49. Mike Richards
50. Patrick Kane

If we’re going by last season’s performance I’d rank Ovechkin over Crosby but they’re definitely 1-2 in my estimation and the case can be made for either to be ranked as the league’s top player.

Lidstrom should’ve been ranked higher, perhaps 3rd or 4th, but he’s definitely the league’s best defenseman.  

As for Luongo, he’s a great goaltender and perhaps will justify that higher ranking this season but I’d swap Brodeur for Luongo if we’re basing this on last season’s performance. I know Brodeur’s getting older and he’s fast approaching his best before date but until he does in my opinion he’s still the league’s best goaltender.  Nabokov, Luongo and Lundqvist are nipping at his heels though.

I would also rank Malkin higher than Iglinla and Lecavalier, ranking him no lower than 6th.

Pronger’s ranking will likely draw some criticism given his penchant for dirty play but he’s still among the game’s elite defensemen and every team (yes, even the Oilers) would love to have him on their roster.

Morrow deserves to be on this list but I wouldn’t rank him above Kovalchuk, Staal, Thornton, Brodeur and Nash and consider him ranked far too high.

Speaking of Kovalchuk, it’s good to see him finally getting his due from THN as his ranking last season (48th) was in my opinion an insult.

And why is Thornton, who was again among the league’s leading scorers, not in the top ten? Or even the top 15? Sorry, but this is far too low for a player of his caliber. Sure, the case can be made that he struggles in the playoffs, but there’s no denying his obvious talent and skills. I certainly wouldn’t rate Alfredsson, Heatley, Kovalchuk, Morrow, Gaborik, Hossa, Staal and Chara above Thornton.

Lundqvist is a terrific goalie but I don’t believe he ranks higher than Nabokov. If it were up to me, I’d rank Brodeur, Nabokov and Luongo over Lundqvist.

I also disagree with Phaneuf dropping in the rankings compared to last season and I’d give him a slight edge over Chara in ranking defensemen.

Niedermayer missed most of the first half of last season before deciding to return to action and that cost him in the rankings. Had he played a full season his ranking likely would’ve been higher.

And Toskala ranked higher than Nash, Sakic, Gomez, Toews, Kopitar, Richards and Kane?  Gimme a break!  In fact, why is Toskala even on this list? Mats Sundin or Tomas Kaberle would’ve been better choices if one is seeking decent Leafs (or former Leafs) to be on this list.

I would also rank Richards higher than where he placed (probably about ten spots higher), but there’s no question he deserves to be on this list and his stock will continue to rise.

As for the rest of this listing, I really don't have much of a quibble over where most were ranked. Some could probably be moved up or down a spot or two but for the most part I have no real argument over the rest of these rankings.

That’s my two cents, folks.  Let me hear yours in the comments, and remember, this is THN’s listing, not mine, so don’t complain to me about where they placed these players as I had no input in this.

Hey, folks, turns out some chucklehead decided to take the opportunity while I'm on vacation to screw around with my website. I've contacted my site's designer and he'll be working on the problem. I would appreciate your patience in this matter and apologize for the inconvenience. I'll be back to work on Monday, August 19th and hopefully we'll have the site back online by then. I'll try to post updates as to the site's status here as I get them.

**UPDATE**

Well, the good news is the site's back up but the bad news is that there were infected files and now we cannot access them. So we're going to purge the site and rebuild from scratch and since we were planning to update the site's design (nothing major from the previous one) we're going ahead with that now. So the site will be off-line (there'll be a notice for folks who check in) until Tuesday at the latest.

Again, I regret the inconvenience and I thank you for your patience,folks.

**UPDATE: AUGUST 18TH 2008**

I'm now happy to report that the site has been revamped and is now active again. We'll be updating it according in the coming days. I'd like to thank everyone for their support, understanding and patience.

The Score Sports Forecaster was first out of the blocks with their NHL Season Preview for 2008-09, and the good folks at Andrew's Dallas Stars Page has a quick review of the magazine's preview of the Stars, but also the projected playoff teams and where they'll finish the season:

Western Conference
1. Detroit Red Wings 2. Dallas Stars 3. Edmonton Oilers 4. San Jose Sharks 5. Chicago Blackhawks 6. Anaheim Ducks 7. Calgary Flames 8. Phoenix Coyotes

Eastern Conference
1. Philadelphia Flyers 2. Washington Capitals 3. Ottawa Senators 4. Montreal Canadiens 5. Pittsburgh Penguins 6. Carolina Hurricanes 7. New Jersey Devils 8. New York Rangers

---

I'll have my projections by late September as we get closer to the season and we have a better idea of what the rosters will look like.

As for the Forecaster, you'll have to buy the issue (I don't get any kickbacks for this) to find out why they're ranking the teams as they have.

And since I'm going on vacation for a few days starting August 14th, this is as good a topic as any for you folks to discuss in the comments, and please, keep it clean!

I don’t usually engage in this much but since there’s been a dire dearth of any real hockey news to comment on I suppose it’s as good a time as any to shoot down some of the wacky trade and free agent rumors flying around.

First off, the Florida Panthers are not shopping defenseman Jay Bouwmeester. Sure, the fact that he signed a one-year contract taking him up to UFA status next summer likely means this is his final season with the Panthers, but as long as GM Jacques Martin believes there’s a chance to re-sign Bouwmeester he won’t be dealt, at least not at this time of the year.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Bryan McCabe may apparently be willing to consider waiving his movement clause to accept a trade but that doesn’t mean he’ll be dealt soon.

According to recent reports out of Toronto the Leafs are believed waiting for a list from McCabe of teams he’d waive his clause to be dealt to, and the odds are that list will likely be a short one containing Cup contenders or perennial playoff teams.

And no, I don’t see him accepting a trade to the NY Islanders, because quite frankly I don’t think the Islanders, who now appear committed to rebuilding with youth, would be interested in his fat contract.

The Minnesota Wild are not shopping Marian Gaborik. That rumor is pure BS. They’re hoping to re-sign him and have no “contingency plans” to trade him now. As of this writing GM Doug Risebrough will be meeting with Gaborik in Slovakia this week to open contract talks.

Maybe later on in the season if Gaborik decides that he wants to test next summer’s UFA market Risebrough will shop him. Not now.

 Oh, and while I think of it, Bouwmeester isn’t being shopped for McCabe or Gaborik.

How do I know this? Because most NHL general managers are either on vacation, just back from vacation or soon to be heading out on vacation. Most teams have committed their cap space and have their rosters pretty much set. Heck, even a good number of player agents are taking this time to get in a little R&R.

That’s why there’s been almost nothing to report in terms of real hockey news. It’s the same thing every year.

Since the 2005-06 season ended, few significant trades have occured between the months of August and December, none of those involving players of the caliber of Gaborik, Bouwmeester and McCabe.

The reason for that is, quite simply, limited cap space, significantly limiting the market for players of that caliber during that time period.

Teams that will be busy in the coming weeks are those currently over the salary cap, like Philadelphia, Anaheim, Calgary and Chicago, who’ll have to dump some salary via trade or demotions to get under the cap by the start of the season.

The Nashville Predators could be forced to make a move or two via trade or free agency if Alexander Radulov remains in Russia for next season, while the Tampa Bay Lightning are heavy on forwards but light on defensive depth which suggests they might have a move or two remaining before next season begins.

That’s where your focus should be, rumormongers, not on dreaming up fantasy trades. 

We’ve hit the dog days of the NHL off-season and while some folks are doing their best to keep the rumor mill churning the fact of the matter is there’s a whole lotta nothin’ goin’ on.

The cream of his summer’s rather thin UFA crop have been long signed and the lack of qualify RFA talent resulted in no blizzard of offer sheets.  The arbitration period ended quietly, and most general managers are now on much-needed vacations.

So here’s a quick look at the few remaining UFAs of note and what their current status is.

Mats Sundin – In Sweden contemplating retirement.

Joe Sakic – Contemplating retirement.

Peter Forsberg – skating in practices in Sweden rehabbing his troublesome right foot; a decision on a possible return currently isn’t expected until early December.

Brendan Shanahan – interested in re-signing with the NY Rangers, willing to consider other offers should the Blueshirts pass, definitely wants to play one more season.

Teemu Selanne – believed willing to return with the Anaheim Ducks and could merely be awaiting the Ducks freeing up the appropriate cap space for his new contract.

Glen Murray – after being bought out by the Boston Bruins has been contacted by the Nashville Predators.

Mark Parrish – after being bought out by the Minnesota Wild has like Murray been contacted by the Predators.

Ladislav Nagy – the forgotten star of the UFA market. Not a peep has been heard from the Nagy camp since the summer began. His recovery from a season-ending neck injury might be the reason.

Bret Hedican – has moved with his family to Northern California and apparently would consider playing only for California-based teams.

Martin Gelinas – hoped to return with the Predators but a recent report out of Nashville claims that’s now a long shot.

Patrice Brisebois – In late July a report out of Montreal claimed he was close to re-signing with the Canadiens but nothing more has been heard.

Bryan Berard, Bryan Smolinski, Jassen Cullimore, Marek Malik, Yanic Perreault, Keith Carney, Luke Richardson, Geoff Sanderson, Aaron Miller – No reports currently linking them with NHL teams.

Next to the seemingly endless guessing game over Mats Sundin’s future and if it involves the Maple Leafs the biggest question involving the club, in the eyes of Toronto fans and media, is what the future holds for defenseman Bryan McCabe.

Leafs management has apparently decided that McCabe’s $5.75 million per season contract is too hefty for the club to continue carrying. GM Cliff Fletcher asked McCabe if he’d waive his movement clause last February but the veteran blueliner refused, and according to reports over the off-season continues in his attempts to convince McCabe to do so.

The problem for the Leafs is that as long as McCabe wants to be a Maple Leaf there’s nothing they can do to prevent him from doing so.

Suggestions of keeping him out of the lineup, by cutting his ice time, banishing him to the press box or telling him not to report to the club quite frankly aren’t wise options for the Leafs, as it could invite legal challenges from the NHL Players Association, which quite frankly is the last thing this rebuilding franchise needs.

Engaging in a smear campaign, publicly running him and his performance down, or trying to stir up fan discontent will only cast the Leafs organization into the kind of bad light not seen since the dark days of Harold Ballard’s ownership.

It’s not McCabe’s fault that his contract is now unworkable for the Maple Leafs. They made the offer, granted, it was Fletcher’s predecessor who made it, but it had the full blessing of the team’s ownership, and he accepted in good faith.

The best Fletcher can do is to continue trying to convince McCabe to move if certain teams that could be of interest to the veteran defenseman and hope that he accepts, and to respect McCabe’s decision if he wants to remain in Toronto.

Some fans and pundits probably won’t like that decision, and will try to paint him as selfish, the exact same kind of slurs that were undeservedly heaped upon Sundin last February.

McCabe isn’t being selfish if he wants to stay in Toronto, indeed, to put up with that kind of disparaging nonsense, particularly after seeing how Sundin was treated, suggests the blueliner has more class and character than his critics.

But if he decides he doesn't need the abuse and agrees to move on, who could blame him after the lousy way he's been treated?

Either way, this doesn't reflect well on the Maple Leafs organization.