- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: LeBrun was told Tuesday night that trade talks involving the Maple Leafs and their $4 million in cap space are heating up, but nothing is imminent. The Leafs are still trying to find a top 6 forward. The St. Louis Blues and David Backes have put contract talks on hold for now, with LeBrun thinking they’ll start up again in 2011. The Florida Panthers haven’t started contract talks with Bryan McCabe or Tomas Vokoun. I wouldn’t think they’d re-sign Vokoun, but McCabe is a good possibility.
- Rich Chere of the Star-Ledger: There have been no talks between Zach Parise and the New Jersey Devils.
- Tim Panaccio of CSNPhilly: Contract negotiations between Jeff Carter and the Philadelphia Flyers have begun. Carter’s agent, Rich Curran said they’ve had some conversations and are making some progress. 2 weeks ago it appeared that no progress was being made. Carter is coming off a 3 year $15 million deal.
- Dmitry Chesnokov via twitter: Rumors are still coming from Russia that Wayne Gretzky has a meeting with KHL president Medvedev. I wonder if he’ll be sporting this look?
- Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette: Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov looks to be ready to go for Saturday’s game, possibly on Friday.
- Michael Russo of the Star-Tribune: Martin Havlat’s agent, Allan Walsh went off yesterday on how his client has been used since signing with the Minnesota Wild. Walsh said Havlat has been used in a “secondary role” with the club.
“When Chuck reached out to Marty Havlat two summers ago after he led Chicago to the conference finals while leading the team in points in the regular season and playoffs, he shared a vision of building an up-tempo offensive team with Marty as a pillar to this strategy,” Walsh said in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. “That’s why he signed with the Wild.
“Since that time, Marty has been used in a purely secondary role. Look at this season, he’s played four straight games at about 14 minutes of ice time, he’s used on the second power-play unit, he sits for long stretches, he’s not used in the shootouts. At a certain point in time, one has to ask, ‘Why is he here?’ One has to ask, ‘Why pay this guy $30 million to not play?’
“It’s like we are in a time warp and the coach has totally ignored or chooses to ignore what Marty has done offensively over the course of his entire career. People say the Wild don’t have a star player. The Wild have a dynamic offensive player right under their nose and yet choose not to use him to their advantage. Look around the league, what other team has a player like Marty Havlat wilting on the vine like this?”
