SB Nation had a major meltdown on Saturday morning due to some host server issues. For those of you who tried but could not access the site, we apologize for the inconvenience.
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The Nashville Predators were very busy yesterday as they traded captain Jason Arnott to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Matt Halischuk and a second round draft pick in next year's draft. The Preds are now in the market for a new center and need to make a decision about a captain.
Before that move, they traded away the rights to defenseman Dan Hamhuis to the Philadelphia Flyers. Hamhuis was due to hit the free agency market on July 1 and obviously the Predator brass decided that they were not able to re-sign him. At least they got something in return as the Flyers sent Ryan Parent to Music City.
Nashville seems to have patented this move. They traded the rights to pending free agents Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen three years ago in a very similar trade. They also traded the rights to Darcy Hordichuk to the Hurricanes a couple of years back for a 5th round draft pick, but Hordichuk never signed with the Canes so the club had their 5th rounder returned for the following year.
If Nashville can continue to do this repeatedly, maybe the Canes could try something like this for the rights to Ray Whitney? If they do not re-sign him, it would be nice to get something in return.
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Dale Tallon is reportedly shopping several of the Florida Panthers, including 2003 draft pick Nathan Horton. While it might be tempting for some teams to bring Horton in the fold, he won't come cheap as he still has three years left on his contract which will pay him $4 million, $4.5 million, and $5.5 million. He's never quite lived up to his billing down in Sunrise but perhaps a change in scenary would do him good.
Word on the street is that the next couple of weeks are going to be very busy as far as trades go. The Draft is always a busy time anyway, so expect teams to continue to move players next weekend in Los Angeles.
Will the Canes trade anyone? We will see.
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Radio Ga Ga Returns:
We have decided to try another Blog Talk Radio Show, this time without the help of our friend at Puck Drops, Brian LaBlanc. We didn't really have time to bother Brian for the use of his studio this time around, so we will be calling in from our homes and doing the show amateur style.
Cory and Hockey Mom will be joining me on the switchboard Tuesday night starting at 8 p.m. There will be plenty to talk about as the NHL will have released the Hurricanes' schedule earlier that day and of course the Entry Draft will occur this coming Friday and Saturday. We might also talk a bit about the free agency market or any other topics that come up.
As before, there will be an open thread running and you may leave questions there, or you will be able to call in to the show and ask questions that way if you please. There will be a recording available afterward as a podcast.
We'll have more information about this on Tuesday.
I'm finishing up my "Mockery of the Draft" and will publish that either late Sunday or early Monday morning. While most mock drafts do not include any trades, (is that a rule or something?), mine will. So beware!
Happy Father's Day!