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The Sellers: Carolina Hurricanes

The Sellers is a weekly column presented by NHLHotStove that will discuss all the rumblings and situations surrounding the teams that will most likely miss the playoffs.

Heading up to the March 3rd trade deadline, keep an eye out here for the bottom eight to ten teams in the league that will be known as “sellers”.

We have come to that time of year in the glorious 2009-10 National Hockey League season where general managers have some serious decisions to make.

In taking a look around the NHL there are currently two teams who could be in absolute sell mode. The one team we will touch on today is the Carolina Hurricanes who sit dead last in the Eastern Conference and are 16 points out of a playoff position.

In researching the roster, a few names automatically stand out.  Ray Whitney, Joe Corvo, Matt Cullen, Rod Brind’Amour and Scott Walker to name a few.

What Will Washington Do…

…with all that cap room?

With the loan of Michael Nylander to Grand Rapids of the NHL, the Capitals gained financial flexibility which should allow them to acquire some help in areas they deem necessary.  As of this writing, the Caps 24 wins lead the League making the average fan ask: How can they possibly get better?

Corey Masisak of The Washington Times lists five speculative picks that would bolster this team as they prepare for a lengthy playoff campaign.  As the team stands there is little need for improvement but one could make a case for another top defender.

As we know from our history watching the playoffs, depth is key.  The team’s current construction has featured numerous players shifting up and down the teams forward lines as coach Bruce Boudreau dealt with injuries and juggling in order to find the proper mix.  Still Masisak believes the most glaring need is this top defenseman. His solution: Scott Niedermayer.

Niedermayer currently captains the Anaheim Ducks and has lead them, as well as his former team the New Jersey Devils, to the Stanley Cup.  In addition, this may be the last year in the NHL for the 36-year-old.  Although he only has three goals on the season, he would become a powerful weapon on the Washington powerplay, something dreams are made of.  He along with Mike Green would give them two elite puck-moving defensemen which would be incredibly dangerous for this already powerful offense.

Michael Ryan Placed on Waivers

Earlier today, TSN’s Bob MacKenzie reported Michael Ryan was placed on waivers.  The 29-year-old left wing sustained a concussion during pre-season and remains out of the lineup since.  It was rumored that Ryan would need a conditioning assignment before returning to the team but now it appears he is officially deemed expendable.

Similar to Jeremy Reich and PA Parenteau, most fans regard the Boston native as a career minor leaguer.  Rightfully so, as the former Dallas Stars selection played parts of five distinct seasons in the minors. Similar to Reich and Parenteau I expect Ryan to clear and be reassigned to Albany.

Over 83 career NHL games, Ryan has seven goals and eight assists with the Hurricanes and Buffalo Sabres.

Hope you enjoyed our latest trade rumors feature. You can help NHLHS stay alive by visiting our sponsors to the left.

Follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates

-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com

Leighton to Philly, Ward Stays Put

We at NHLHS are proud to pat ourselves on the back.  As reported, Hurricanes backup Michael Leighton is now the Flyers backup.  Yesterday we discussed the merits of Leighton going through re-entry waivers and PREDICTED the backup going to either the Flyers or Rangers.  Really glad we got this one right.

Yesterday we also predicted Aaron Ward and PA Parenteau clearing waivers.  Both of these players did today as expected.  Ward will stay with the Hurricanes while Parenteau rejoins the Hartford Wolfpack.  The Rangers sorely missed the latter as he was responsible for both of their shootout wins and they failed to score entirely in the skills competition last night.

Ward may have some league-wide interest if he is to go through re-entry waiver at half the price (1.25 cap hit).

Hope you enjoyed our latest trade rumors feature. You can help NHLHS stay alive by visiting our sponsors to the left.

Follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates

-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com

Waivers, Waivers and Re-Entry Waivers

Two players were placed on waivers today, Aaron Ward and PA Parenteau.  Yesterday, goaltender Michael Leighton was placed on re-entry waivers.  Lets take a further look at these players and the value they may have around the league.

Ward according to most Hurricanes fans has been terrible.  That, however, means little when you play on one of the worst teams in the league.  His contract expires at the end of the season and he carries a hefty 2.5 million cap hit.  Teams like the New York Islanders or Columbus Blue Jackets have a strong need for another defender, but they just recently passed on Lukas Krajicek at almost half his cap hit.

As TSN’s Bob MacKenzie speculates, there may be more interest if he goes through re-entry waivers.Ward is a multiple Stanley Cup winner and should add a welcome addition to either team’s blueline.

Leighton sees re-entry waivers as he now is the third man out.  Not starting a game until the end of October, the 28-year-old struggled to find his game winning only one game in seven appearances.

Blues, Blue Jackets Trade & Waiver Roundup

TSN’s Bob MacKenzie reports the news around the waiver wire.  The Florida Panthers placed defenseman Ville Koistinen on re-entry waivers.  His cap hit is a meager 1.2 million, which if claimed would be split by both the claiming team and the Panthers.  In 17 games with Florida the 27-year-old has one goal and three assists.  In 103 career games between his team and Nashville the Finn has 8 goals and 24 assists.

As we predicted yesterday, Jeremy Reich and Michael Leighton cleared waivers.

In other news, the Columbus Blue Jackets and St. Louis Blues made a minor move.  The Blues get Pascal Pelletier while the Blue Jackets receive Brendan Bell and Tomas Kana.

The largest part of the deal seems to be Bell.  The 26-year-old defenseman posted 17 points in 21 games with the Blues AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen.  The former Leaf draft pick played 53 games last year with the Ottawa Senators and was recently selected by Hockey Canada to represent his country in the Spengler Cup.

Islanders Looking for Help on the Blueline

Chris Botta of Islanders Point Blank runs down the Islanders need for a new defenseman in his latest entry.  A few main points from the article:

• Injuries: Radek Martinek out for the season.  Andy Sutton out at least two more games.
• Depth: Rookie Andrew MacDonald already plays 12 minutes a game.  Brendan Witt is a team worst minus 15.  Dustin Kohn is the only option to be called up.
• A few players that Botta thinks would make sense: Aaron Ward, Garnett Exelby, Brent Sopel or Joe Corvo.  Botta prefers Corvo or Ward.

A move could easily be made for all these rumored available defensemen.  As I wrote earlier, I don’t think Carolina is purely in “sell-mode” yet, moving Ward will make the team younger and may even be a bit of addition by subtraction.  Getting rid of a vet not necessarily working out may wake up some other underachieving players.  I still feel Carolina will need a young defenseman coming back or will have to wait for Corvo to return from injury to replace Ward’s minutes.

Interesting to see what will happen on the Island.   They are willing to spend, which is a welcome change to a very promising young team.

Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed this feature. You can help NHLHS stay alive by visiting our sponsors to the left.

Follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates

-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com

Michael Leighton, Jeremy Reich Placed on Waivers

Bob MacKenzie reports, via Twitter, both of these players have been placed on waivers.

According to Chip Alexander’s Canes Now starter Cam Ward is expected to play Wednesday making the Leighton expendable to the team.  In parts of three seasons with Carolina the 28-year-old held a line of 8-12-0-2 averaging a GAA of over three.  With other established backups such as Joey MacDonald and Steve Valiquette passing through waivers earlier in the year I would expect there to be few takers on the veteran.

In other news the New York Islanders also placed 30-year-old Jeremy Reich on waivers.  The Craik, Saskatchewan native did not play a game for the Isles and has six points over 99 career NHL games with the Bruins and Blue Jackets.  He was originally drafted in the 2nd round by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft.

Thank you for reading, we hope you enjoyed this feature. You can help NHLHS stay alive by visiting our sponsors to the left.

Follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates

-Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Founder
thehotstove@gmail.com

Trade Rumors: Busy Day in Carolina

TSN’s Bob MacKenzie reported a trade of former first rounders.  The last place Carolina Hurricanes moved their most recent first round selection, Phillipe Paradis, to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jiri Tlusty.

The Hurricanes get an NHL ready player who can be inserted in their lineup immediately.  Similar to their deals last year for Jussi Jokinen and Eric Cole the team gets a player who has shown flashes of offensive ability but fallen out of favor with their teams.  Considering that Tlusty is only three years removed from his 13th overall selection giving up a young prospect like Paradis does not hurt as much.

Held scoreless in his two games with the Leafs, the 21-year-old put up 15 points in 18 games with their AHL affiliate.  In 66 games last year in the A, the Czech native averaged a point per game with the Marlies.  At his age, his production at the AHL level translates to the ability to hold a regular shift.  Partner that with familiarity with coach Paul Maurice and the youngster should make a seamless transition to the Canes