NHL Trade Deadline: Stephen Weiss, Brad Richards Lead Rumor Mill On Hockey’s Big Day

Another quick check on the rumors and speculation around the NHL:

- Jason Spezza is not going to be traded by the Ottawa Senators, says team GM Bryan Murray. Pierre LeBrun of ESPN passed along that news. Spezza has four years and a no-trade clause remaining on his deal, worth $7 million against the cap each season.

Trade deadline day 2011 is here, and if Stan Bowman has his way, the Chicago Blackhawks will have a different look after 3 p.m than they did when we all woke up this morning.

Via the Chicago Sun-Times, Bowman says he’s “aggressively” trying to improve the team with additions on defense and some depth at forward.

There had been some speculation that Florida was possibly looking into trading their all-star goaltender in Tomas Vokoun. That idea has been quickly squashed by ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.

It’s a busy rumor mill on this 2011 NHL trade deadline day, and while we don’t expect the 30 deals that we saw last year on this day, we do expect some activity. Let’s quickly round up all the speculation we can handle.

- The Tampa Bay Lightning seem happy with their team and we probably shouldn’t expect much from them, reports Damian Cristodero in the St. Pete Times. A deal for depth could be made, but with Ryan Malone on the path to return, they won’t be making much of a splash today.

You don’t often think about the market for a tough guy on NHL trade deadline day, but Zenon Konopka finds his name in the headlines this morning. The New York Islanders enforcer is more than just a bruised and battered face, though.

He’s one of the best faceoff men in the entire NHL.

The big player of the day is Dallas center Brad Richards. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and is coveted by a handful of teams. Richards has a no-trade clause and the Dallas Stars have stated that they really aren’t interested in moving Richards at this moment.

TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting, though, that if Richards were to be moved today, only one team has a shot at him:

The Florida Panthers are currently eight points out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, but the rumors are swirling that their two leading scorers are part of trade rumors all over again.

Stephen Weiss is the leading point scorer with 40 points while Booth is the leading goal scorer with 17. Our Panthers site, Litter Box Cats, has some thoughts on the likelihood of the deal though:

We speculated a few days ago that Tim Connolly’s days in Buffalo were going to be short lived as he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. That may not be the case though with this nugget from the Buffalo News’ John Vogl on Sunday:

We really have no idea what this ultimately mean. It seems that General Manager Darcy Regier feels that the center can add some value to the team with his play on the ice. It could also mean that Connolly is a piece of a bigger trade that hadn’t gone down yet and he couldn’t be moved until the other team really wasn’t going to move the player in question.

Chris Phillips of the Ottawa Senators is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and with the Ottawa Senators in full rebuild mode, he seems like a logical trade option for Bryan Murray and the Sens.

But Phillips is an Ottawa lifer, playing in his 925th game with the team on Saturday night against Philadelphia. Murray would like to keep him around as a veteran presence as the team gets younger on the blueline and beyond, but only, of course, at the right price.

Adam Foote has been the subject of trade rumors for several weeks as the Colorado Avalanche have fallen far and have fallen hard out of the Western Conference playoff picture. According to the Denver Post, however, he won’t be going anywhere at Monday’s NHL trade deadline.

Another player staying in town, according to the Post, is Paul Stastny. Adrian Dater puts the odds of a Stastny trade at “zero”, but he doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Avalanche trading away defenseman John-Michael Liles.

It’s been a miraculous run in the second half of the season for the New Jersey Devils, but after just one loss on Friday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jason Arnott is contemplating his options as the trade deadline approaches. That goes to show just how fragile the Devils’ hopes of making it to the postseason are.

Is Arnott thinking about asking general manager Lou Lamoriello for a trade? Via the Newark Star-Ledger:

Bryan McCabe of the Florida Panthers is definitely on the trading block, and a new marriage with the New York Rangers would certainly make sense. According to Arthur Staple of Newsday on Twitter, McCabe has agreed to waive his no-trade clause only to go to the Rangers.

Here’s what SB Nation’s Blueshirt Banter has to say about the possibility:

There’s no debate that Brad Richards is a really good hockey player, hence the trade rumors circling him and the Dallas Stars non-stop at this 2011 trade deadline.

There’s also no debate that Stars’ general manager Joe Nieuwendyk doesn’t want to get rid of his best player unless he gets a sizable return in a potential trade. At least, that’s what he said yesterday. What does he think a “good deal” consists of, though?

Joe Nieuwendyk wants to keep Brad Richards with the Dallas Stars, but that doesn’t stop the NHL trade rumors from circling around his club and his best player. Nieuwendyk went on NHL Live! this afternoon and discussed those rumors. Our quote comes via Defending Big D:

So, to summarize: he wants Richards to stay, but other concerns, as well as the current standing of the team in the NHL will play into a final decision. The “it has to be a good deal” thing can’t be overlooked, either.

Two years ago at the trade deadline, Sabres forward Tim Connolly signed a two-year contract extension. Now in 2011 as the deadline approaches, that extension might spell the end of his Sabres career. He’s been underwhelming since signing that contract and the natives in Buffalo have become restless with him.

As a result, it’s unlikely that the Sabres entertain him when he hits unrestricted free agency in July. If he’ll walk for nothing in July, it would behoove Darcy Regier to try and get something for him now. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News speculates that several teams could use Connolly’s assistance.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to acquire a defenseman, reports TSN’s Darren Dreger. He says that five defensemen have been targeted, but the only name he reports directly on is Colorado’s John-Michael Liles.

David Driscoll-Carignan at SB Nation’s Mile High Hockey says that this might indeed be the year that Liles goes at the deadline. The Avs don’t have a lot of strengths, but if there’s any place they are strong, it’s in the offense-from-the-defense department.

In a potential move that might not please many folks in Dallas, Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins have discussed a deal that involves defenseman Alex Goligoski and forward James Neal.

Rob Rossi, who covers the Penguins for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, confirmed the report from the Pens’ perspective, saying that Goligoski is on the table in talks with Dallas.

After a wild day of trading that lasted all of Friday and stretched into the wee hours of Saturday morning, things are considerably more calm this Saturday. Two young defensemen find their names in the rumor mill today.

Beginning in Atlanta: the Thrashers will probably not be trading Zach Bogosian, if one is to believe GM Rick Dudley. As quoted by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

2Sheldon Souray is on re-entry waivers and it’s expected that somebody will claim him between now and Monday afternoon when the waiver period ends. Could one of the teams that places a claim be the Nashville Predators? Dirk Hoag at SB Nation’s On The Forecheck raised the question.

The team that claims Souray, if a team does, will only be on the hook for half of his $5.4 million salary. The Edmonton Oilers would pay the other half.

The New York Rangers defense is an extremely young group, and if they’re going to make any noise in the playoffs this season, it’s pretty clear that Glen Sather is going to have to upgrade the defense. According to the New York Post, Filip Kuba might be on his radar.

Kuba played well under Coach John Tortorella in those Tampa years, but SB Nation’s Blueshirt Banter doesn’t think he’d be much of an upgrade, instead hoping that Sather can land somebody like Fedor Tyutin of the Blue Jackets.

It looks like Tomas Kaberle is close to heading to the Boston Bruins. Yes, for really real.

He’s the mobile defenseman the Bruins need and he’s been courted by Peter Chiarelli for several years, and the Toronto Maple Leafs seem set on selling him while they still can. His contract expires at the end of the season.

It looked as though Ian White was all but gone, but then, sweeping in at the end of the day was Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford. He told reporters late Wednesday that there is no complete deal in place for the defenseman, although there is an offer on the table.

Stringing together a few tweets from Chip Alexander of the News & Observer, quoting Rutherford:

Ian White of the Carolina Hurricanes wasn’t on the ice at practice on Wednesday morning, leading to trade rumors that he’s on his way out of town. Chip Alexander at the News & Observer reported that he wasn’t at practice and that “something is in the works” with regards to a trade for the forward.

White has played well this season for the Hurricanes, according to SB Nation’s Canes Country, but he hasn’t been “necessarily spectacular” in his own end. Considering his contract ends at the end of the current season, it would make sense for Carolina to deal him if something right came over the horizon.