Friday, July 17, 2009

The Truth On Tanguay

Has Alex Tanguay signed with Florida as has been reported as an E5? no.

Tanguay to Florida is about 80%, but it's not done. Could it get done as early as today? yes, but as of 12:02 pm today nothing has been signed.

Teams are still in this, including Buffalo and Phoenix, and until something is signed and announced publically, these teams are still very much in it.

I'm hearing the LA Kings are closing in on signing Biron..

Kaberle has left than a month remaining on his no-trade window, which means talks should start heating up. Buffalo, Boston and St. Louis, as well as Vancouver, are the three teams you're hearing the most. I will tell you that Washington and Florida are also very much involved in these Kaberle talks. I still believe it's about 90% that Kaberle will be dealt by August 15th.

Todd Bertuzzi remains at large, and yes the Bert to Toronto rumours do have some substance. With that said, Minnesota and Montreal are two more teams I'm hearing. Montreal could really use his size.

One of the best moves of the offseason goes to Calgary, who snapped Nigel Dawes off waivers from Phoenix yesterday. This kid has serious potential and I'm shocked so many teams passed over him during the waiver process.

The fact that Phil Kessel has not signed with boston yet is another sign that he's likely done as a Bruin. The B's are shopping him heavily but need to bring their asking price down before they can move him. That could happen next week.

For more hockey news and rumours check out Hockeyleaks.com and our forums!

Monday, July 13, 2009

DALE TALLON OUT AS GM OF BLACKHAWKS

According to Eklund, Dale Tallon will be fired as GM of the Blackhawks and replaced by Stan Bowman (scotty's son). The move is likely to take place tomorrow

If this is true, and it seems to be the case, I am shocked.

Dale has done a great job with this team, turning them from bottom-feeders to central-division favourites in 2009-2010.

Maybe it's the fact the Blackhawks are over the cap, but I honestly believe that they could easily be under the cap for this year, which is all that matters. Campbell is moveable beyond this season, while a guy like Seabrook could also be sacrificed without really noticing his loss.

I cannot stress how shocked I am at this move, I guess we'll find out more details in the coming days.

For the latest, check the forums and follow @hockeyleaks on twitter

The Twitter Explosion

Over the last month (especially since the NHL Draft), I have found myself using twitter several hours a day. Twitter has really changed the way hockey rumours have been delivered. No matter what, it seems that a rumour is posted on twitter before it is a website. For example, today I had Jacques Lemaire signing with the Devils before it hit Hockeyleaks.com. Eklund, James Mirtle, Darren Dreger, etc. all post their latest rumours on twitter first, their websites second.

If you don't have a twitter account, I suggest signing up for one so you can be the first to know about EVERYTHING that happens in the NHL.

To get you started, here is a list of the best hockey tweets on twitter.

@hockeyleaks - of coarse, this is me.

@mirtle - James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail and From The Rink. Always one of the first to know when something goes down.

@Eklund - the same great eklund, now in tweet form.

@Bluejacketsbuzz - Eric Smith of Hockeybuzz.com, one of the best Blue Jackets reporters on the web.

@All_Habs - Great Habs Blogger

@JonJordan - From Hockeybuzz.com, best Tampa Buy coverage you will find anywhere

@TheFourthPeriod - David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, has been known to break a deal or two in his time.

@kausatoday - Kevin Allen of USA Today, a must follow for Hockey fans.

@komisarek - Mike Komisarek

@martinhavlat - Martin Havlat, who says "the truth will come out about what happened in chicago

@DarrenDreger - Dregs from TSN, has been great this offseason with breaking signings and giving us accurate rumours.

@brandon_felder - best preds twitter' around

@chrisbosh - this guy is addicted to twitter, Bosh must tweet 20-30 times a night.

@damospin - Damien Cox of the Toronto Star

@FadooBobcat - Bob McCown from the Fan 590

@andystrickland - Best Blues guy around, but does a good job of the rest of the NHL too

@BDGallof - Really strong Islanders blogger

@bluelineradio - our favourite radio station from Las Vegas, I do a trade deadline show for them every year.

@brian_metzer - your source for all the latest Penguins news

@nhldigest - Tyler does a good job of covering the entire NHL

So get on twitter and send me a message, I really can't say enough about how Twitter has changed the rumour game...it's a lot of fun

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Sunday Rumours

- The biggest UFA left on the market is Tanguay, and I'm surprised he is still available. It looks as though he will get something around a 2-3 year deal worth $3 million per. The teams to watch are NYI and Colorado, though I'm hearing Columbus could be in on this. One source even has Calgary getting him back if the Flames can find the funds to do so.

- Zubov seems to be between returning to Dallas and ending up in Columbus. Dallas really needs Zubov back as this is a franchise going in the wrong direction.

- As I've said all along, I believe Heatley will end up in San Jose. San Jose has to shake things up and this is the fastest way to do so. Marleau, Cheechoo and Ehrhoff are three players the sharks are rumoured to be shopping, with each player being linked to about five teams each. We know the Islanders would love to grab one of those players, while Montreal, Columbus, Toronto, and of coarse Ottawa have been linked to at least one of them.

- Mats Sundin, if he doesn't retire, will be an August signing. If he returns, his only two options are Vancouver and Toronto. It could end up being which team has room under the cap to bring him in. I'd expect him to sign a one year deal worth around $4 million.

- Martin Biron is still available and I'm hearing he could land in LA.

- Despite all of Chicago's cap concerns, they like there team as is and don't plan on worrying about all their cap issues until next summer. They're going for it now.

- Zherdev and Kessel are the two biggest RFAs on the market. Zherdev has filed for arbitration and rumours have the Rangers willing to let him go if the price tag is too high. As for Kessel, teams have not made the RFA an offer yet due to the fact that the Bruins still have a little room under the cap and could probably match an offer. This will change in the coming weeks and things will get interesting. The Bruins are still looking for a top three d-man.

How has your team faired this offseason? We'd love for you to write about it at our Team Bloggers blog located at http://hockey-leaks2.blogspot.com. If you are already registered there, post away, and if not, send me an email at cjohnson202@hockeyleaks.com and I will get you set up so you can post!

Monday, July 06, 2009

Two Breaking Signings...

The Leafs have signed Francois Beauchemin to a three year deal worth about 3.5 per season.

According to a source, the Ottawa Senators have signed free agent forward Alexei Kovalev to a contract, still looking for confirmation and details on this one

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Heatley an Oiler, Gaborik a Ranger

Both are done as per a good source.

Gaborik will make 5.75 a year for 5 years

Heatley will go to Edmonton for the package discussed last night (Penner, Cogliano, Smid)

go to the chat and forums for the latest

JULY 1 CHAT ON NOW

http://www.hockeyleaks.com/chat.html

Kaberle could be headed to Boston for Kessel today

Kubina to Atlana for an unnamed package.

so many rumours, get in the chat now!