Kaberle might go to LA. Johnson might leave.

While I was catching up on some of my blog reading, I found a short post over at The Battle of California about the Kings and their struggle to reach the salary cap floor.

So far, the Kings have only $27.7M in salary commitments for the 2008-09 season. The salary cap floor is $40.7M. They have yet to re-sign RFA forward Patrick O'Sullivan, or the recently traded for Jarret Stoll and Brad Richardson. They have bought out goaltender Dan Cloutier, but still have somewhere between three and five goalies under contract. Granted, most of those contracts are two-way deals, so that money won't count against the cap. They have just four defensemen signed. The free agent market has pretty much dried up, so they're going to have to make some trades to get defensemen and possibly some trades just to take on some salary commitment.

O'Sullivan had a pretty good season in the last year of his entry level contract. He put up 53(22/31) points, and stands to have a payday probably in the neighborhood of $3.5M. Even if that's the case, the Kings would be $9.5 below the cap, and they'll need defense. None of their free agent defensemen can command a big bucks payday, so they're still in trouble versus the cap floor. Why not trade some of their young talent and/or draft picks to Carolina for defenseman Franke Kaberle and his hefty $2.5M salary?

Another interesting thing that's being discussed in LA is another trade that would be done for the express purpose of spending money. One of Carolina's favorite "I hate that guy" guys, Jack Johnson, is in the last year of his entry level contract and could be dangled as attractive trade bait to a team looking to shed some salary this season. Jim Kelly from SI.com suggests that the Blackhawks would make a good trade partner, but his suggestion of Johnson for Khabibulin doesn't make sense because the 'Hawks aren't deep enough in goal to do that, and I don't think Huet is ready to be anointed "the one". The Hawks (and Flames, and Flyers) need to shed salary, but I don't see that particular trade going down.

As for the other? Picking up a veteran defenseman and a salary commitment? Absolutely! I'm not sure what Carolina would want in return if they sent Kaberle that way, though. Draft picks? A bag of pucks? 20 gallons of fuel for the Olympia? (Zamboni™ is a registered trademark, and Carolina's is not a ZAMBONI brand ice resurfacer).

When the Kings traded away their best player -- Mike Cammalleri, it was evident that they're entering yet another rebuilding phase. Now, they have yet to re-sign one of their best young players --Patrick O'Sullivan, and there is talk of trading away one of their other young promising players -- Anze Kopitar or Jack Johnson. They're never going to get better if they keep doing that.

Anyway, I hope the Canes can help them (and themselves) by sending Kaberle out there. Anything at all in return would be great.

Seidenberg re-signs, Kaberle becoming more expendable

On Monday, the Hurricanes re-signed defenseman Dennis Seidenberg to a one-year deal valued at $1.2M. This is almost half again what he made last season.
The 26-year old German was hit hard with injuries, and appeared in only 47 games, but he still managed to have a career best 15 (0/15) points. His average ice time of 18:50 per game was second on the team among defensemen.

Seidenberg has never played more than 63 games in an NHL season, and his health is a bit of a concern. He plays an unspectacular but fairly consistent game, and we're glad to have him re-inked.

Despite the retiring of Glen Wesley and the moving on of Bret Hedican, Carolina has gone on a blueline signing frenzy. Now, they simply have too many defensemen. I've said before and I'll say again that Frantisek "Cup Winning goal scorer" Kaberle has got to be the odd man out. He just doesn't fit in with the "younger, bigger, more physical" look that the Canes are trying to give their back end. They need to trade him and his $2.2M for anything they can get out of it. Preferably a depth forward, but anything at all in return will be fine.

Frankie's days are definitely numbered. If you were to make me guess, I'd say that he'll be out of here by the end of next week. I know there are at least two teams out there who are in dire need of defensemen, so I imagine JR will be on the phone with Ottawa and Tampa among others.

Canes snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, beat Leafs 3-2 in overtime

On Tuesday night, it looked like Vesa Toskala was headed for another shutout victory. In 85 seconds, it all came crashing down. Depending on who you root for, either (a) Carolina snatched victory from the jaws of defeat or (2) Toronto gave the game away, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. No matter how you call it, Carolina won 3-2. They made a very late rally to force overtime, then got the winner with under a minute to play in the extra frame.

Early in the game, Carolina was buzzing. In the first minute, they had several shots including a quality chance in the first seven seconds. Toskala stood his ground and rebuffed every turn by the Canes.

In the first period, Carolina had three power plays including about a minute of five-on-three, but they couldn't convert. They lobbed 13 shots at the Finn, but he had a rejoinder for every one of them. It looked like "one of those nights".

It started to look even more like "one of those nights" when the Leafs scored first at 17:50 of the first. Just seconds after the five-on-three expired, Boyd Devereaux -- who was the second man in the box -- buried the rebound from a Tomas Kaberle shot. Chad Kilger got the secondary helper on the even strength goal.

The second period, which has been anathema to the Canes, was pretty bad. Carolina could only muster four shots in the middle stanza, could never mount any pressure, and they put themselves in the box a few times. The last of these is what helped give the dreaded Leafs the 2-0 lead. After Darcy Tucker forced Trevor Letowski to cough up the puck deep in the Carolina end, Kaberle tucked it in from just off the left post. The power play goal was unassisted.

Both teams played full throttle in the third. Toronto had 15 shots to Carolina's 16. Both teams committed two penalties. Neither could convert.

As the final minutes wound down, it looked like a sure thing shutout win for Toskala. In my mind, I had him as the first star, Kaberle as the second and Boyd Devereaux as the third. All that changed quite drastically.

Just as Johnny Crackers was about to leave the ice for an extra attacker, Cory Stillman broke the shutout at 18:35, assisted by Frantisek Kaberle and Justin Williams.

With the goal scored, Peter Laviolette pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with about 50 seconds left. Shortly thereafter, Alex Ponikarovsky had a chance to shoot at the empty net from the Carolina blue line, but he hesitated too much and Cory Stillman took the puck away. This would be the play of the game. Stillman gets mad credit for taking the puck away, and Ponikarovsky gets the "goat" treatment for not salting it away.

Ray Whitney found the back of the net at 19:33 to tie the game and send what was left of the crowd into a frenzy. Erik Cole and Justin Williams Cory Stillman assisted.

The game went to overtime, which hasn't been kind to either squad this season. Late in the bonus frame, Carolina got the benefit of one marginal call and then got another obvious penalty, affording them a rare five-on-three in overtime. The Leafs killed off the front end, and it felt like the game was destined for shootout. Eric Staal, however, had different plans.

At 4:27 of the overtime, Staal fired a shot from the blue line that found the net. Originally, they gave credit to Scott Walker for a re-direction at the goalmouth. Later, they changed it to Staal, saying that the redirection was off Pavel Kubina's stick. Apparently, they've changed it back to Walker. Scott Walker got the game winning power play goal with the helpers going to Eric Staal and Erik Cole.

Vesa Toskala was 85 seconds away from his second shutout in the last three games. 85 seconds. Just like *that*, he lost the game and plummeted from the game's first star to an "also ran".

The "official" three stars went to Ray Whitney (third), Cory Stillman (second) and Scott Walker (first). The Rogers/Sportsnet three stars went to Ray Whitney (third), Hal Gill (second) and Cory Stillman (first) don't really see it that way. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Tomas Kaberle, TOR --- 1 goal, 1 assist
SECOND STAR Erik Cole, CAR --- 2 assists, 4 hits
FIRST STAR Cory Stillman, CAR --- 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 takeaways

Stillman injured his knee on Saturday, and the initial prognosis was that he would be out until after Christmas. Turned out he didn't miss a single game. If his knee was bothering him, it sure didn't show. His late goal got the team going, then his takeaway from Ponikarovsky was probably the play of the game.

Who did miss the game, though, were Rod Brind'Amour and Andrew Ladd. Both have the flu.

For the first time since November 10th and 12th, Carolina has won consecutive games. It feels good. They will put their two game win streak on the line on Thursday in South Florida against the Kitties.

Kaberle under the knife, Sutter helps team Canada, and more

Here's a couple of quick hits for this lovely Monday evening.

For the second summer in a row, Frantisek Kaberle will have to undergo surgery just before the start of camp. This is not good news. Kaberle, who scored the Cup-winning goal in the 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, missed the first half of the 2007 season after having shoulder surgery two days before the start of camp. This summer, he underwent surgery on Saturday to replace torn cartilage in his right knee. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. Although camp officially opens on the 14th, most players have been participating in the voluntary "Camp Brind'Amour". Kaberle has skated a little bit while the trainers hoped that his knee problems would "just go away". They thought the same thing about his shoulder last summer. Six weeks would put him one week into the regular season, but still six weeks behind in terms of training.
The so-called "depth" that the Canes have at the blueline is now under serious scrutiny. Kaberle probably won't play until late October. Bret Hedican's status is still very much in question. Now is the time for the Canes to make a decision. in my opinion, Hedican will be able to give (at best) 45 games this season. Carolina will have consider asking Hedican to retire. The will have to consider re-signing David "Snuggles" Tanabe on the cheap, or sign one of the available free agent defensemen such as Brent Sopel. They will also have to take a long look at youngsters from within "the system" such as Noah Babin and Brett Carson. Babin has already made a lot of fans.
The perpetually on point Scott Cason doesn't want to see the Canes' management sit on its hands like they did last year when the defense was hurting. I'm with him.

Canes draftee Brandon Sutter helped the Team Canada Junior squad defeat the USSR Russian team 4-2 in game one of the "Super Series". He had one assist and had a good shorthanded scoring chance. Game two will be Wednesday. The first four of the eight game series will be in Russia, while the final four will be in Canada. Check the schedule for more details.

Join me and Carolina on Ice in trying to jam the ballot box over at NHL Tournament of Logos. The Canes logo is battling the Devils logo, and frankly, we're getting our butts kicked. So far as I can tell, it doesn't reject multiple votes from the same ISP, so plug away. Vote early, vote often.
That main site has been doing some really cool stuff with looking at the new logos/sweaters. It's a very good way to spend a few minutes or an hour, or whatever. Anyway, go vote for the Canes logo, then spend a while exploring around.

Carolina "officially" unveils its new sweater on September 16, during the first preseason game.

Kooking with Kaberle (v 2.0)

It is a well known fact that Frantisek Kaberle, defenseman for the Carolina Hurricanes, scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Canes last June. He's widely
respected as a well above average defenseman (although not as dominant as his brother) and is a fan favorite wherever he goes.

The reason is pretty plain. Frantisek Kaberle is much more than a hockey player. He's a freakin genius at everything he does.

As Greg from Post-Pessimist Association rightly points out, he is the author of several incredible novels including Underworld, White Noise, and Libra. He also wrote (but refuses to admit) a rare and out-of-print mock-memoirs entitled Amazons: An Intimate Memoir By the First Woman to Play in the National Hockey League. It's a memoir written from the perspective of a fictional woman named Cleo Birdwell, who broke the gender barrier in the NHL before Manon Rheaume. Anyway, Kaberle skirts the issue when anyone talks about this book and he refuses to autograph it, claiming "I didn't write that book. Cleo Birdwell did". Whatever.

F. Kaberle is also widely believed to be the original author of the joke around which the documentary film "The Aristocrats" is based. At a season ticket holder's event, I heard Frantisek riff on the joke for about 25 solid minutes. It was incredible. Even in his broken English, that was hands down the funniest thing I have ever heard.

Kaberle is also an accomplished violinist, is fluent in 9 languages, and can hold his own in just about any professional sport. He has three times defeated American tennis Superstar Andy Roddick in straight sets, most recently this past September at Roddick's home. Former Formula 1 champion Mika Hakkinen has never defeated Kaberle in their semi-annual road race, which will have its 9th renewal this August. The list goes on and on...

To the point here. Frantisek Kaberle is also an award winning chef. He has appeared on "Iron Chef" three times. He defeated Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi in a lobster challenge, lost to Iron Chef Japanese Masaharu Morimoto in an eel challenge, and he defeated Iron Chef Italian Masahiko Kobe in a lamb challenge.

Thanks to a post at Post-Pessimist, I got my hands on one of his recipes.

Here's what it calls for:

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast fillet, boneless and skinless.
1 medium onion, chopped (I omitted this)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt to taste
1 1/2 cups water (I substituted one bottle of Pilsner Urquell)
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp flour

Of course, I modified the recipe to suit my own taste. I figure if it's good enough for Frantisek Kaberle, inventor of Velcro™ brand hook and loop fastener, then there has to be a way for me (a hopeless loser) to improve upon it.

Greg recommends placing a photo or reasonable facsimile of Frantisek Kaberle somewhere in the kitchen whilst preparing the meal. I used a signed puck, and that worked out just fine.

I used a Harris Teeter brand chicken breast, roughly eight ounces. The original recipe called for Butterball brand chicken, but we ain't exactly talking about high end electronics, are we?

The recipe says to brown the onion in the butter, but I hate onions, so I skipped that bit, and just started with a pan and melted butter. I diced the chicken into 1/4 inch cubes, added to the pan with salt and paprika, and browned it. This only takes a few minutes at medium heat. The recipe calls for this to be covered with a cup and a half of water and simmered for about 40 minutes. For the preparation of this meal, I thought it would be appropriate and more Czech to have some Pilsner Urquell on hand. After one sip, I quickly remembered how much I dislike that beer, and in an effort to get rid of it quickly, I decided to substitute it for "water" in the recipe. I mean, it practically begs for the use of beer. 12 ounces? C'mon! Anyway, I dumped the entire contents of one bottle of Pilsner Urquell into the pan, turned the heat down, covered and went back to the game.

Here again, PPA recommends the consumption of vodka limeade during the 40 minutes of simmering. I drank the Pilsner Urquell instead. I don't think actual Czech people drink Pilsner Urquell, but I didn't have time to go to the fancy beer store.

The recipe calls for this dish to be served over pasta, but I substituted risotto instead. I was quite pleased with the results on that front.

I also decided to include bacon. I dare you to name one thing that cannot be improved by adding bacon. While the chicken was simmering and the risotto was cooking, I quickly fried some bacon, cut it into bits and added to the chicken.

After about 40 minutes, roughly half of the liquid had cooked out of the chicken pan. In a separate dish, I mixed the sour cream and flour into a paste, and I diverged from the recipe a bit. It calls for the chicken to be removed from the pan, then the paste to be added to the pan, then the "gravy" simmered for a few minutes, then everything piled on top of pasta. That sounded silly to me. I mean, this is pretty much a variation on beef stroganoff, and I always cook it all in the same pan when I do that. Accordingly, I did all of this in the pan without removing the chicken. It worked just fine.

After a few more minutes of cooking it all together, I poured the whole thing over a plate of risotto and enjoyed the exciting conclusion of the Canes-Cats game.

Huzzah to Frantisek Kaberle for assisting on the game-tying goal and for finishing with a +2.

If I do this again, I might not use Urquell where it says "water" I was quite pleased, though, with my decision to use risotto.

Please note that some of the things I have said about Frantisek Kaberle aren't entirely true.

Canes back from the dead, Belfour is a retard

On Sunday afternoon, the Hurricanes battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the third to send it to overtime. Early in the fourth frame, Bryan Allen took a hooking penalty, then Eddie "I'll give you a billion dollars" Belfour lost his mind. He skated way out of his crease and in front of the referee out by the half wall. He made a bunch of diving gestures and was given an additional unsportsmanlike. This afforded the Canes a rare overtime five-on-three. I've never seen it before, but the rule in overtime is that instead of going four-on-two, the non-offending team gets to put an extra skater out there. Just 23 seconds into the oddball power play, Ray Whitney banged in a rebound to give the Canes the win.

here is the official scoresheet. I'll fill in the details later.

Here's a really cruddy view of Belfour's theatrics. I wanted to get something posted, and the only way I knew how was to use really inferior techniques and sub-par equipment. I apologise for the extremely low quality, but here it is.


I imagine he'll also draw a fine from the League because he continued to berate the official as the penalties were being sorted out. He's a good goalie, but that was just sheer stupidity. You simply can't show up the referee, especially in overtime.

That cost the Panthers the game, and their very slim playoff hopes are washed away.

The win buoys Carolina's hopes, but they are still very much against the wall.

Also of note in this game is that Rod Brind'Amour scored a shorhanded goal and that Chad "Sharpie" LaRose scored his sixth goal of the season to tie it up.

Also, I prepared and ate Frank Kaberle's Chicken Paprika while watching the game. Assist goes to the Post-Pessimist Association for that. A full write-up on that culinary experience later.

Josef Stumpel scored two goals for the Cats in the first period.

The RBH three stars:

THIRD STAR: Chad LaRose, CAR -- goal
SECOND STAR: Josef Stumpel, FLA -- 2 goals
FIRST STAR: Ed Belfour, FLA -- unsportsmanlike penalty in overtime

Seriously, though ...

FIRST STAR: Ray Whitney, CAR -- game winning goal

Holy Kaberle, Batman!

Frantisek Kaberle returned to action for the Canes Tuesday night against the Habs after missing the first 55 games recovering from shoulder surgery. All along, when people have asked me "What's wrong with the Canes?", I've been answering with any number of excuses, but mostly I say that the injuries have killed the Canes. More specifically, the injuries to the blueline and most specifically to Frantisek Kaberle have been the biggest problem.

On Tuesday, Kaberle returned and helped the Canes snap a four game losing streak. Hopefully, this will be the impetus for the team to get back on track and return to something resembling "form".

A lot of good things happened in that game. Most importantly was that the Canes won 2-1 in regulation. Atlanta lost in overtime to the Sabres, so the Canes gained one point on the division leader.

A very close second in the "good things" race was that Carolina was two for three on the power play. THAT IS NOT A MISPRINT! I don't want to jump to conclusions, but Frantisek Kaberle was a very important power play quarterback last season. Between his injury and Aaron Ward's departure, the Canes were missing more than just reliable defensemen. They were missing defensemen who actually know how to run a power play. This season, the power play has been mediocre on a good day and horrible most of the time. The "jumping to conclusion" part is that tonight, Kaberle was on the ice for both power play goals and he in fact scored the game winner. I tend to think that this is not coincidence. He was also on the ice for the Montréal goal. Since power play goals for don't affect one's +/-, this means that his rating for the night (read: season) is a very misleading -1.

Since I don't have Center Ice, and I didn't feel like going to a bar, I listened to ChuckandtheletterK via web radio. I love to hear him pronounce CAB-er-luh and co-VOLL-yev. Good times. Point is, I don't have any visual reference. I just know what ChuckandtheletterK said and what the scoresheet says. I can't give much of a thorough recap, but I think the awarding of the "official" three stars was a sham. They went to Christopher Higgins (third), Cam Ward (second) and Justin Williams (first).

I'm glad that Viva scored, and Chuck K made it sound like a beaut, but I can't see how he's the first star. For that matter, from what I heard, I can't agree with any of those.

Eric Staal made a nice play to create the first goal, and he could be given a star. Rod Brind'Amour helped on both Carolina goals, so he should get one no doubt. Cam Ward made some nice stops, but none that sounded spectacular. At the end of the day, he only faced 26 shots. Unless you pitch a shutout, stopping 25 shots isn't the stuff of "stars of the game" material. Higgins? Please. He didn't do anything. The way Chuck K told it, David Aebischer was very good, but with the goal, it's hard not to award Kovalev, who was all over the place. Since Frankie got the game winner, it's impossible to give the first star to anyone else.

Anyway, the RBH three stars (based on the radio call and the scoresheet)
THIRD STAR Rod Brind'Amour, CAR -- 2 assists
SECOND STAR Alex Kovalev, MON -- goal
FIRST STAR Frantisek Kaberle, CAR -- GWG

The Canes are now on a one game tear and Frantisek Kaberle has a two game goal streak going, dating back to game 7 of the SCF last June. They will be in Boston on Thursday night with a chance to avenge their ugly loss last Saturday.

Maybe Avi Tanabe can just stay in the Fleet Center BankNorth Gardens when the game's over and Brad Boyes can take his chair on the team plane back to Raleigh. Wishful thinking, I know.

Puck drop will be 7:00 on Thursday.

Kaberle in lineup, Cole at home away from home

Tonight, the Hurricanes will have two things working for them as they try to end a dismal four game losing streak. The Canes will be in La Belle Provence to visit les Habitants, who are themselves on a bit of a losing skid. Five standings points and four playoff seeds separate the two teams.

(1)Frantisek Kaberle, who has missed every game this season recovering from shoulder surgery, will be in the lineup. To make room for him, Anton Babchuk was sent down to Albany of the AHL. No trade has been orchestrated at this point, but according to sources, Jim Rutherford turned down two offers yesterday. Apparently, one of them was indeed for Foppa. Carolina will wait a little while to plan their course of action. Unless they can right the ship in the next couple of games, they will become a "seller", which will enable them to get some good young prospects and/or picks for an explosive forward like Ray Whitney, who is scheduled to be an UFA this summer.

If the Canes can straighten up and put themselves back on a post-season bound path, they would still be in a position to buy.

Remember that with each day that passes, the cap hit to a "buying" team is decreased dramatically on high-dollar contracts. Waiting till the deadline is the most cost-effective method for a bubble team.

(2) Erik Cole will be playing in the Molson Bell Centre. Cole loves to play in that building. The last time he played there, he recorded four points (3/1) in an 8-2 romp over the Habs on January 31, 2006. He also had a hat trick there on November 23, 2003 in a 7-3 blasting of the Habs. He scored the game-tying goal in the Miracle at Molson (2002 playoffs), and later in that series scored 2 goals and an assist in game 6 at the Molson Centre. In fact, Cole just loves to play the Habs. Last season, in three total games against the Habs, Colesy had eight points (5/3). This season, in two games, he has two goals (both at home).
This is Cole's first visit to the Bell Centre this season, and in fact the first since "the injury".

Montréal will be without Sergei Samsonov, who has demanded a trade, and is (from what I understand) on waivers. Samsonov is grossly overpaid, has been a massive disappointment both this season and last, and has been a healthy scratch more often than not lately. The diminutive left winger, who is roughly 1/3 the size of Zdeno Chara, once had a 75-point season with the Bruins (2000-01), scored 53 (23/30) points last season combined with Boston and Edmonton. This season, he's on pace for a season barely in the mid-30's. His $3.525M salary is in no way commensurate with his performance, so I wouldn't expect anyone to pick him up, even at the pro rata price. He still has one year remaining on his contract, which would make it even less likely for someone to pick him up. Expect him to clear waivers, then be cut. Then you might see some action.

Puck drop will be at 7:30 eastern, and it isn't on Canes TV. I'll have to listen, or go somewhere where I can watch the French feed on Center Ice.

Kaberle set to return, trade imminent

The latest news is that Frantisek Kaberle is set to return to action after missing the first 55 games of the season after shoulder surgery this summer. His eagerly anticipated return means that the Canes will have no less than 10 healthy defensemen.

Coach Peter Laviolette likes to dress seven defensemen on occasion, and they could carry up to nine if they had to, but they will have to make some roster room somehow.

Obviously, sending a player to Albany would clear some roster space. Carolina might do this with Anton Babchuk. If I remember correctly, he's the only defenseman with a two-way contract. Even if he is sent down, Carolina is likely to turn a trade sometime this afternoon or Tuesday morning.

Carolina, who is clinging to the eighth playoff spot in the East is still considered to be a "buyer" in the trade market, but is in such a position of defensive surplus that they could do a bit of selling as well.

The names that have come up most frequently as "trade bait" are David Tanabe and Andrew Hutchinson. The Boston game notwithstanding, Tanabe has played well of late and might be more marketable than Hutch. He signed a one-year, $900k contract this summer, and would be an excellent stop-gap addition to any team's blueline with very little price tag.

Andrew Hutchinson is in the first year of a two-year deal which will pay him just $500k next season. That wouldn't be much of an albatross on any buyer's neck, but his defensive acumen isn't as strong as Tanabe's. There's been a lot of talk out of Edmonton about a trade involving Hutch, but I don't know what would be involved on the other side.

What Carolina needs is a third line center or winger. There are a lot of Eric Belanger detractors here in Carolina, but I don't have a problem with him. I do, however, have a problem with Trevor Letowski. He hasn't panned out here, and I think the Canes would be well served to package Letowski with Tanabe (or Hutchinson) and possibly a pick for a quality winger/center.

Edmonton is interested. Of their lot, Shawn Horcoff fits the bill quite nicely here. However, his price tag is $3.6M, and still has two years left on his contract. Don't see that happening. Marty Reasoner wouldn't be an upgrade at all. Nor would Petr Nedved. I don't see the Oil willing to part with one of their top forwards, so I just don't see a Canes/Oil deal happening.

Boston needs defensive help, and with their season pretty much done, they're definitely a "seller". Brad Boyes seems like a fair trade. He's got one year left on his contract, which will pay him $1.6M next season. I like that idea a lot, but I'm not sure that the B's would want to part with one of their top young players. One "insider" thinks that Marco Sturm is headed this way. He might fit in, but I would think that the Canes front office would rather give up youth for youth, so Sturm might not be the one.

Chicago is in in the same boat Boston is. Season lost, needs defense. They're rumored to have Radim Vrbata on the chopping block. He's had his time here, and it just didn't work out. But thanks for Anton Babchuk. Martin LaPointe is also rumored to be trade bait. Again, this wouldn't be an upgrade for the Canes unless there's a high pick involved. At $2.4M, too expensive anyway. We'll take a pass on that.

Of course Philly comes up. They're a team Jim Rutherford likes to trade with, they're hopelessly out of playoff contention, they need defense. I refuse to entertain the Foppa rumors. He's WAY too expensive, his skill set is rapidly diminishing, and he's too much of an ass clown.
Mike Knuble? A little old, but he's still plenty talented, comes cheap, and coach Laviolette likes him. It might not pack the same kind of bang that a big name trade would, but it would be nice.

Anson Carter is a name that's out there as trade fodder for the Blue Jackets. This summer, I loudly said that I would have liked to see him in a Canes sweater, but now I'm not so sure. I think his excellent season last year had everything to do with the Sedinbots and little to do with a newfound skill set. He signed a one-year deal over the summer, and was overpaid at $2.5M.

Florida is said to be in the market for a defenseman, but I hate the idea of an intra-division trade.

I don't have any idea, basically. Just expect Hutch and Letowski or Tanabe and Letowski to be packaged for a forward. I won't expect anything of blockbuster proportions, but you never know. A big name might be the only thing that could rescue Carolina from the doldrums.

Kaberle is scheduled to join the team in Montréal Tuesday, so we'll know in the next 24 hours. I just hope it's something good.

My money is on either Boyes or Knuble.