I think he'd be crucified if he pursued them. The knock against Montreal in the past few years has been their smaller players, getting knocked around. Bringing in the Sedins wouldn't exactly help dispel that image. But hey, they've got like 30 million to spend.........maybe they can bring in some bigger players.

Yeah Brett. I got his dads autograph on my Blackhawks hat and a picture of him when he was number 16 too.

Jay Bouwmeester (sp?) is reportedly looking at Philadelphia. They'd be an actual contender if that deal goes through. As of right now, nobody in the East scares me other than Washington.

And the Philly-Boston Fenway Winter Classic is apparently a go.

Jay Bo might be looking at Philly, but by looking at their cap situation, it looks un-doable at this point. They have 55 million committed for next season on 11 forwards, 7 defenseman, and 1 goalie. At the very least they'll have to sign 1 more goalie to have the bare minimum of 20 players on the roster.

To even think about signing him they have to get clear out in the neighborhood of 6 million (around what he'll get.......might be a little lower). Of their players earning 5M+ (Briere, Richards, Gagne, Carter and Timmonen) I see them trying to move Briere. Is anyone going to bite on that though? A 6.5M cap hit, and for 5 years. I don't see that as very attractive.

Three contracts are what is holding them back now - Lupul at 4.25, Carle 3.438 and Hartnell at 4.2. If these guys played up to their contract, they wouldn't need to go after Bouwmeester and if they got paid relative to the level of their play (I'd say about half of their current pay) they could easily afford him.

A little news before the draft later this evening/afternoon (depending where you are).

Boston offers RFA Phil Kessel to Toronto for Tomas Kaberle and the 7th overall pick. If I was Toronto, there is no way I'd give up the 7th. This is a deep draft year, and the player they pick could very well turn out to be a of Kessel's caliber. A straight up exchange seems fair to me. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282921

There's rumors circulating that Roberto Luongo has already, in principle, agreed to an extension with Vancouver, but as per the CBA, extensions cannot be signed until the player is in the last year of their contract - ie. once July 1st hits. At the outset of this rumor, there were no length/cap figures released, but according to a local radio station, it's a 5 year/40 Million dollar contract. If that's true, I'd be very disappointed. His cap hit would increase from a 6.75 Million cap hit to 8. However, this radio station has been quite bitter towards the Canucks since they lost the broadcasting rights, so I don't know if that is playing a role in this, like it has in the past. http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282927

Kessel's young and is going to get better, while even deep drafts have first-rounders who never develop. That seems fair value to me, and a team like Toronto could use at least marquee player. Not saying I'd necessarily do it, but it doesn't seem out of the question.

If Kessel was signed, and for 3+ years, I'd agree with you. I mean, he's only 21. But since he's unsigned, and looking for a lot (I'm making this assumption, since this is the 2nd time this year that Chiarelli has been looking to trade him) I would think that Boston is not going to get that much (an all star defenseman and a potential top 6 player).

And as I say this, it appears the offer has changed, to Kessel + a pick (not their first rounder) for Kaberle, which seems more fair to me.

Kessel and a later-round pick I'd jump at, yeah.

Dany Heatley: Still a Senator. The league confirms what Ottawa should have known: He's not worth $7.5m.

I don't see anyone offering anything substantial until that 4 million is paid on July 1st............that was a weird way to structure the contract.

If I was Ottawa, and I wasn't offered "fair" value, I'd suspend him and make him sit, and hope for something better at the trade deadline.

The cap is going up by 100K to 56.8M. The recession could have a large effect on next year's cap. If it does, a lot of teams are screwed.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=282925