The most ridiculous rumor I've heard all summer

WufPirate, over at Carolina on Ice wrote about this earlier today, and I feel compelled to join the conversation.

Some rumor monger (no, not that one) is suggesting that the Hurricanes are in talks with the Wild about the insanely overpaid Marian Gaborik.

With apologies, I'll paste the entire post from Hockey Leaks:

Gaborik To Carolina?
8/8/2008 Posted by Cjohnson202
I spoke with a source today that confirmed for me that Carolina has had very serious discussions with Minnesota about aquiring Marian Gaborik. The Hurricanes feel that Staal and Gaborik could be one of the most lethal combinations in the NHL. The rumour I have heard would send Justin Williams, F. Kaberle, prospect Jamie Mcbain and a 1st round draft pick to Minnesota for Marian Gaborik and something else to be determined. The Wild continue to shop Gaborik around the NHL, as Gaborik has made it clear to management that he intends to move on to a more offense-minding team after his contract runs out following this season. The Wild would prefer to trade him prior to the start of the season.

Carolina is already over their own budget, and this wouldn't solve matters. Carolina needs to get rid of Kaberle, but this wouldn't solve matters. Gaborik will make $7.5M this season, which is a gross overpayment if you ask me. Minnesota's cap hit on that is "only" $6.33, but I'm pretty sure that if any team takes him, they'd be on the hook for all of the $7.5.

If you ask me, Gaborik is no more of a superstar than Viva, who is under contract until June of 2011 for an extremely reasonable $3.5M a season. Carolina would already lose even if it were a straight up trade. I'm not going to lose sleep seeing Kaberle go, but giving up the first round pick would be terrible, and I'm not keen on giving up one of our promising defensive prospects either.

This rumor doesn't even make sense. Carolina can't afford Gaborik from a purely financial standpoint, and there's no way they can afford to give up what that rumor suggests they'd give up.

Gaborik has already entered talks with Spartak Moscow of the KHL, and there have been rumors that Gaborik is headed to Florida for Jay Bouwmeester; that he is headed to Buffalo for Maxim Afinogenov and either Tim Connolly or Ales Kotalik; that he is headed to Pittsburgh; that he is headed to Ottawa; that he is headed to Washington. I'm sure you can even find rumors circulating that Gaborik is headed to Calgary or Philadelphia, both of whom are already over the cap ceiling.

None of these make sense. Even the Moscow "Sparticus" are denying that they are seriously talking to Gaborik. Directly from the HC Spartak Moscow website was this tidbit. Through a rough translation of a Q&A:

Is it true that "Spartacus" was negotiating with the famous Slovak forward Marian Gaborikom from Minnesota?

- Его агенты интересовались возможностью выступать в нашем клубе. -- His agents were interested in the opportunity to speak in our club. Однако когда дело дошло до обсуждения зарплаты, была названа просто астрономическая сумма. But when it came to discussing salary, was called simply astronomical sum. Некоторые люди наивно полагают, что в России все клубы готовы платить огромные деньги. Some people naively believe that all clubs in Russia are willing to pay huge money.

That sounds like the approach that everyone is going to take. "Astronomical sum". Sorry, Marian.

horrible looking third?

Today, the good folks over at Icethetics were able to present some visual representation of the third sweater desriptions given by Toronto Maple Leafs beat writer and pal of Eklund Howard Berger.

Keep in mind that the image you see is only an artist's rendition of a questionable description given by an unreliable source.

If the desription that Berger gave is accurate, and this rendition is a fair rendition of what he saw, I've gotta say that it looks horrible. There's no way in the world that I'm going to shell out a hard earned $200 or so to get one of these. There is nothing good about this rendition. The stars are crap. The white triangle is crap. The traditional logo inside that white triangle is crap. The sleeves look halfway decent, but the rest of it is crap.

I'm hoping that Berger's account was completely wrong, and the forthcoming thirds feature the "storm warning" secondary logo on a black background. No white triangle and no stars.

We won't know for sure until September 21, but I'll tell you right now that I hate the way that rendition looks.

New sweater design leaked???

Although we won't know for sure until September, our friends at Icethetics have an inside man, and he has a description of all 18 alternate sweaters set to debut this fall. The Hurricanes alternate isn't quite what we were expecting.

Here's what their inside guy says

Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes will introduce a black third jersey, with red and white trim – different than their customary red home uniform with the black and white trim. Each arm will sport red and white angular stripes. The bottom of the jersey will feature a narrow white stripe and a thicker red one. In between, will be 10 white stars. The club’s red logo on the uniform front is placed within a white triangle, presumably to honor the famed Research Triangle that dominates the Raleigh-Durham area.

We were all expecting the alternate logo to appear on the crest and the main logo on the shoulders. This description doesn't indicate whether the "red logo" refers to our traditional crest logo or our alternate "storm warning" logo. Either way, the "white triangle" is a bit unexpected, and the "ten white stars" come out of nowhere.

No pictures are available, although their inside guy says he's seen evidence. Now, to be fair, I should point out that the "inside guy" is one of Eklund's lackeys. Therefore, this shouldn't be trusted just yet.

Here are the details about the other 17 sweaters.

The description of the Sens new third makes it sound an awful lot like the all-star sweaters from last season.

I can't wait to see these. Especially the Hurricanes.

Canucks rumors

During the first round of the draft on Friday, some rumors began to circulate that Jim Rutherford and Vancouver GM Mike Gillis were discussing the possibility of a straight-up trade which would send winger Erik Cole to the Nucks and defenseman Kevin Bieksa to the Canes.

The Canucks would love to have a guy like Cole, who is a perennial 30/30 scorer. He's listed as a left wing, but he can play either wing, and is actually better on the right side. Especially with the retirement of long-time Nuck Trevor Linden, the Canucks will be a little thin on the right side. Presumably, the interest in Cole is to plug him into the Sedinbot line, which is a role that they have had difficulty filling.

While the Nucks aren't exactly overrun with defensemen, their need to get a quality right wing is pretty glaring. While the Canes aren't exactly overrun with consistent 60-point performers, their glaring need is on the blue line.

It makes sense, then, that this rumor would fly around. Every year, there are rumors about Erik Cole. Most of the time, I have shrugged them off as ridiculous. This time, I think there might be something to it.

However, Alanah at Canucks and Beyond is suggesting that there are rumors that one or both of the Sedinbots are on the market.

She writes off the "rumors" much the same way I have written off Cole rumors in past years:

I’m curious about the source of this “speculation.” Something credible or just message board talk?

Personally, I’m betting on the message boards—or maybe just the typical Vancouver sports radio call-in-show blather that I tend to tune out. If it’s coming from someone with actual sources, I certainly haven’t stumbled across it.

It seems impossible to believe if you ask me. The Nucks went to an awful lot of trouble to make sure they could get both of the Sedins. Given the twins' insistence upon playing together, there's no way that one will be traded without the other. Who in the world would come up with an aggressive enough plan to get them both?

Maybe the Red Wings have a plan to send every one of their non-Swedes to Vancouver for the twins, but I'm only making a joke about that.

From a Vancouver perspective, that makes no sense. The Sedinbots have been the only consistently good things about the Vancouver offense for the last several years. Markus Naslund isn't getting any younger, and his production is tapering off. They need the Sedins. And the Sedins need someone to play with. I'm not sure that Cole is the best fit in the world on that right wing, but I doubt that he would be a terrible misfit.

I would be sad to see Cole go, but he's got loads of trade value. He's been a huge part of the Hurricanes team and one of the poster boys. And of course, he's been Carolina's ace in the hole whenever they play Montréal He's scheduled to be a UFA next July, and negotiations with him have always been difficult. It might be time for the Canes to pull the trigger. Cole-Bieksa would instantly fix a gaping hole in Carolina's armor. While it would certainly create a different hole, that one would be smaller.

Now, IF (and this is a big IF) Cole is shipped, that puts lots of pressure on the Canes front office to get Tuomo Ruutu and Chad "Sharpie" LaRose re-signed. It also pre-supposes that our 2007 top pick Brandon Sutter will be able to make the jump to the big team and make an impact.

More news from the draft as it develops.

Ladd's return delayed, JR asks about Neil

Although Erik Cole returned to the Hurricanes lineup on Saturday, the team is still far from "healthy". Ryan Bayda was sent back to Alabany, but Keith Aucoin remains with the big club. Apparently, Carolina is looking for some ways to ease the pain.

Trevor Letowski is getting more ice time than most fans would like. Chad LaRose is doing an excellent job of stepping up into the voids left by the injuries of Andrew Ladd and Scott Walker.

According to Lorenzo Perez from the Raleigh News and Observer, Ladd has suffered a setback in his recovery. His ankle just isn't getting any better, and the decision has been made to take him off the ice for another week or so. At that point, he'll start skating again, and then it could still be another week or more before he returns to game action. Apparently, the Walker injury is so far off the charts that they're not even talking about it. The last think I read was that he was still in "excruciating" pain, dealing with torn cartilage in his ribs. There is absolutely no timeline on his return. Not even a vague, foggy one.

With the loss of Scott Walker, you don't just miss a guy who's going to give you 50 some odd points. You don't just miss a second line right wing. You don't just miss a good locker room-type guy. You miss a guy who is going to do those things AND drop the mitts when necessary. Or at least come to the defense of his teammates.

We're not just talking about pugilism for the sake of pugilism. We're not talking about some hack whose only purpose is to fight or to serve as body guard (read: Georges Laraque). There aren't very many skaters who come to mind when you think about a mixture of skill and tough guy-ness. It's like that sponge that's all abrasive on one side and soft on the other. It's like the McDLT. It's like sour patch kids. It's like that split 7" record you used to have with Minor Threat on one side and Beat Happening on the other. It's like... okay. You get the point.

I've thought about this at great length. After game nights, I drive 1.5 hours to get home. I always listen (and sometimes call in) to the post game show. Once I get out of that station's range, I still think about hockey. Okay. I think about girls, too. But mostly, I think about hockey stuff.

One player that obviously comes to mind who possesses both brawn and talent is Sean Avery. Another is Chris Neil. Neil doesn't exactly fall into the "skill player" category, but he's more than "just a pugilist".

According to Spector's Hockey Rumors (via Bubba from Canes Country), at least two teams (Carolina and Edmonton) have contacted the Senators to inquire about Neil's availability. It doesn't seem like Neil and his $1.1M contract are going anywhere, but it doesn't surprise me that Rutherford is going fishing.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a solid NHL caliber third line right wing who can contribute to the scoring categories AND who will drop the mitts when called upon. With Scott Walker's return looking distant and the setback to Ladd, Trevor Letowski, and no healthy extras, Carolina may need to do something. Soon. They're playing extremely well despite the injuries, but some reinforcement sure would be nice.

The only setback to having a guy like Avery or Neil is the reputation that they each have. Avery is a reputed loudmouth, jerkwad, boor, etc. Chris Neil has somewhat of a "dirty player" reputation. Remember the Chris Drury incident? Remember the Andy McDonald incident?

I don't think I like the idea of having either of those guys. I just don't think they would fit into the system here.

That said, it was just a "rumor" anyway.

The Canes will be back in action on Halloween night at Florida.

Carolina could make big move today.

There's been some speculation all summer, and there's an article in todays N&O suggesting that Matt Cullen could make a return to the Hurricanes. After the Chris Drury deal, the Rangers don't have it in their budget to keep Cullen, and are rumored to be looking to dump him and his $2.8M salary.
Cullen was the player most missed from the Cup winning team in 2006, and the barometer used whenever Carolina looked for a third line center. Last week, Carilona signed Jeff Hamilton to fill that role, but he'll likely move down to the fourth line if Cullen returns.
Also, yesterday the N&O had an article about Erik Cole's lingering pain from his broken neck. The article pointed out that Cole will never regain complete mobility in his neck, and he'll always have pain. This was believed to be a mitigator for a "major trade" that a certain rumor monger has been talking about involving Carolina. I don't really buy any of that talk concerning trading Cole away, but we'll see.