Re: NHL Trade Rumors February 2010

Ethan Moreau trade rumors?

At one point, there were rumors that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks might be interested in Ethan Moreau.



From CBC Sports:

Now that Toskala is traded, the number one team/player in need of a divorce: the Edmonton Oilers and Ethan Moreau.

I couldn't agree more with this. If captain penalty machine gets moved, then maybe Steve Tambellini has a clue.

Re: Oilers trade rumors.

Here's an update from Darren Dreger's twitter:

Oilers pushing trade hard. Moreau and others, but deals unlikely unless Edmtn sweetens the pot.

Now, this shows me that Darren Dreger's making sense. We already know that the Oilers having been shopping some vets on hefty contracts that have passed their best before dates like Ethan Moreau, Steve Staios, Shawn Horcoff, and previously Sheldon Souray. As well, other names like Andrew Cogliano and Robert Nilsson always seem to popup in trade rumors.

Out of that bunch, only Andrew Cogliano has marketable trade value. The dead wood isn't going anywhere unless they Oilers add some picks or prospects to the mix. They might also be able to move Nilsson with some luck.

Last year, Steve Tambellini wasted a 2nd round pick for Ales Kotalik, so we shouldn't be too surprised if he wastes a few more.

I wonder what it would take to sweeten the pot to move Staios or Moreau? I can only imagine what junk we would have to take back in terms of salary.

Over at Oilers Nation, someone joked in the comments section that the Oilers could sweeten the pot of an Ethan Moreau trade by taking him out of the trade, lol...

That's pretty much the extent of it for Ethan Moreau. Short of throwing in our 2nd round pick for the 2010 NHL draft, Eberle, Omark, Magnus Paajarvi-Svennson, or something crazy, I don't think Steve Tambellini has the ability to trade him. There's always the chance that we could trade Moreau if there's some other brutal massive contract that we take back in trade though.



Over at Sportsnet.ca, someone posted an Oilers/Bruins trade rumor. They don't have the actual link to the official source though.

Apparently, this trade would involve Andrew Cogliano and Lubomir Visnovsky for Mark Stuart, Byron Bitz, Johnny Boychuck and the Bruins first round pick (not the Toronto one).

In terms of cap space, Lubomir Visnovsky has a $5.6 million cap hit while Andrew Cogliano has $1.133 million. Cogs is an RFA at the end of this season, but likely hasn't earned a huge raise.

From the Boston Bruins, here's the cap info:

Mark Stuart: D - $1.3 million (RFA at end of season)
Byron Bitz: F - $.687 x 1 more season
Johnny Boychuck: D - $.5 (RFA at end of season)

Now, to me this is obviously a huge salary dump, but not much else except for Boston's 1st round pick. It also adds some size/youth to the roster but none of these guys look great so far.

Mark Stuart is 25 years old, 6'2, 213 lbs. He has 4 points, -2 in 39 games this season.

Bryon Bitz is also 25 years old, 6'3, 200 lbs, right winger. He has nine points and -8 in 43 games.

Johnny Boychuck is 26 years old, 6'2, 225, defense, and he has 9 points in 29 games with a +3 rating.

I haven't seen that Boston Bruins trade rumor floating around anywhere, so I'm not sure if there's a source for it.

As for Ethan Moreau, Darren Dreger mentioned the potential trade with Toronto today.

Here's what Darren Dreger had to say:


NHL sources say the Edmonton Oilers are pushing hard to move out bodies, but Oilers GM Steve Tambellini hasn't reached a point of desparation where he's willing to sweeten the pot to make a deal.

For example, the Maple Leafs would likely move either Exelby or Stempniak for Oilers captain Ethan Moreau, if Edmonton throws in a draft pick to soothe the pain of swallowing Moreau's contract which includes another year at $1.75 million and a $2 million cap hit.

At 34, Moreau is a character player whose speed and skill is lagging.

It sounds like the word is out about Ethan Moreau. I think sweetening the pot with a 3rd round pick is too much since he only has one more year left on his contract.

I would rather see the Oilers send him down to the minors if they need his salary off the books. The could also just buyout his contract for a 2 year cap hit of $666k which isn't too heinous.

All the rumours of Oiler trades has me thinking that Stevey T doesn't know what he is doing. You can't go out there asking people to take players off your hands as that will only lead to needing to sweeten the pot.

The Oil need to decide who they want to end up on their team, focus on those players and then push our crap onto the team as part of the negotiations. The Oilers need to package some talent with some garbage.

The Dion trade is a good example. Burke knew who he wanted and managed to include a couple of guys who were good (White and Hagman) with a couple of guys he wanted to get rid of (Stajan and Meyers).

Yeah, it doesn't seem like Tambellini has much of a clue.

I get the impression that he uses the media as a sounding board to get feedback on possible trades.

I agree that it makes more sense to focus on what you want on the team rather than just trying to dump contracts by themselves.

I also don't like the idea of packaging a 3rd round pick to dump Ethan Moreau since there are other options to clear his cap space.

Tambellini's history with the Oilers is short, but so far it doesn't inspire much confidence.

1. Last year, Tambo wasted a 2nd round pick for a Kotalik rental for the playoff push.

2. He also turned Eric Cole who had an expiring contract into 3 years of O'Sullivan at a nearly $3 million dollar cap hit x 3 years at the time.

3. Then when we turned one gritty player (Cole) into a smurf, he wasn't sure he had enough small players so he signed Mike Comrie too.

4. Before that, he signed an over 35-year-old goalie with a history of injuries to a 4 year contract at $3.75 million cap hit(too much $$$, too long). There's no cap relief on over-35 players. It was an epically soft goalie market and no other goalie signed last summer got anywhere near the dollars or term of Khabibulin who wasn't even the best goaltender available.

5. When the Oilers were already thin on players who could win faceoffs or kill penalties, he traded Kyle Brodziak involving late round picks that changed hands.

6. Waited too long to make a decision on Rob Schremp and we lost him to waivers without even getting a draft pick for him.

7. Wasted much of last summer begging Dany Heatley to waive his NTC when it was patently obvious to anyone that he wasn't going to. In the process, he handcuffed the team from making other roster changes or addressing need.

Overall, it's not a great track record.

IMO, Steve Tambellini should be fired for signing Nikolai Khabibulin to 4 years @$3.75 million, period end of story.

The New Jersey Devils acquire Ilya Kovalchuk! The balance of power in the Eastern Conference has been shifted!

At least the Kovalchuk sweepstakes is over now...



From the Washington Post:

Kovalchuk arrives in New Jersey with defenseman Anssi Salmela, while rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, defenseman Johnny Oduya and junior prospect Patrice Cormier were sent to the Thrashers along with a first round draft pick.

I heard that a 2nd round pick of NJ was involved too, but I'm not sure.

Re: San Jose Sharks Trade Rumors



There's a rumor floating around today that the San Jose Sharks are interested in Niclas Wallin of the Carolina Hurricanes. He's a 35-year-old veteran defenseman.

Maybe, they'd like Steve Staios instead, lol?

Re: Kovalchuck traded to New Jersey:

Re: Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Rumors.



It looks like Brian Burke isn't finished yet. The next big name to be moved is Alexei Ponikarovsky.

From Daren Dreger's Twitter:

Interest picking up in Ponikarovsky...as many as 10 teams inquiring. Likely March 3rd trade. At least 2nd rounder in return.

Alexei Ponikarovsky has a cap friendly $2.105 million dollar cap hit that expires at the end of this season.

Ponikarovsky already has 19 goals and 40 points in 58 games this season. Last year, he had 23 goals and 61 points playing in all 82 games.

He's a big left winger who's also pretty reliable defensively.

There's no question that he would be a great value to pick up for a playoff push.

Eklund is still flogging his Ethan Moreau trade rumors...

Yesterday as you know, he had Ethan Moreau and Gilbert Brule headed to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a 2nd, 3rd round draft picks along with Rusian Fedotenko.

Today, Eklund has either one of the Penguins still or the Los Angeles Kings being destinations for Captain Dip shit. Too bad none of the credible trade rumor sites like The Fourth Period or Spector have mentioned anything to confirm this.

We can only dream...

Re: NHL Trade Rumors

Well, Spector has confirmed my suspicions about the lack of activity surrounding the Oilers' roster.


Peter Mueller linked to Andrew Cogliano?

From Spector:

Jim Matheson reports things are quiet on the trade front for the Oilers. They're believed trying to move forward Ethan Moreau but would probably have to accept salary back and are dead set against packaging a draft pick with him. Andrew Cogliano's name meanwhile has been linked with Peter Mueller of the Phoenix Coyotes but despite Cogliano's decline this season they're loathe to move him.

Re: Edmonton Oilers Trade Rumors



As you noted in your recent GDT, Spector mentioned a possible trade rumor involving the Pheonix Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers. Specifically, the trade included the players Andrew Cogliano and Peter Mueller.

I'm not sure this is of great benefit to either team.

Spector also noted recently that the Oilers scouts watched the recent Red Wings vs. the Panthers game.

Both sites also reported scouts from Florida, Montreal, Dallas, Vancouver, Washington, Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Chicago and the NY Islanders were in attendance at last night's Sharks-Red Wings game. We'll have to keep an eye on the Wings and Panthers today to see what if anything they'll do.

Re: Ethan Moreau NHL Trade Rumors.

Ethan Moreau was interviewed by Robert Tychkowski recently.

It sounds like there might be hope that the captain gets moved before the trade deadline on March 3rd.

I'm sure that Tambellini is trying to do something to show the Oilers fans that he isn't just sitting on his hands.

It would go a long way to showing the fan base that the Oilers are actively trying to improve the team.

I wouldn't support packaging Moreau with a good draft pick to move him though. It would be easier to just buy out his contract.

Ethan Moreau quotes:

“Change is sometimes good,” he said. “But I can’t stress enough that it’s not up to me. I’ll have to sit and wait like everybody else.

“If I’m here I’ll continue to do the same things I’ve always done. I’ll work as hard as I can for this organization. If I’m not, hopefully there’s an opportunity for me somewhere else.

“I’m impartial at this point. I don’t know what their plans are. I haven’t had a conversation with anybody who makes those decisions.

“Nothing is for certain in this game, I could be an Oiler when I get back.”

Re: Edmonton Oilers trade rumors.

February's been an incredibly quiet month for Edmonton Oilers trade rumors.

I really haven't found anything credible about the Oilers lately. Spector is usually a good, reliable source, but he's had nada about the Edmonton Oilers.

Anyone heard anything?