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Remember that trade rumor coming out of Toronto which had the Hurricanes sending Alexander Semin and the 5th overall pick to the Maple Leafs for Phil Kessel, Nazem Kadri, and a pick? Well, it looks like you can scratch that possible trade scenario off your list, (if it was ever on your list.)
Over the weekend, Bob McKenzie released Kessel's listing of teams he allegedly would accept a trade to and Carolina was not there. Boston, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Montreal, Chicago, Rangers, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh made the cut.
Can they trade him to a cap challenged team with that salary? We will see what happens.
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In other news of interest, last week Elliotte Friedman was on a radio show where he mentioned that Evgeni Malkin was unhappy in Pittsburgh. That immediately set off a firestorm that Friedman did not anticipate.
The next day he backed off his words a bit and even contacted our cohorts at Pensburgh where he elaborated by saying he didn't think the superstar would actually be traded. Apparently, Malkin was just frustrated in general and didn't necessarily want a trade.
That's too bad because if Malkin truly did want out of Pittsburgh, I had a crazy trade idea to offer up. (This is not a rumor, it's just a crazy trade idea.)
We all know how Jim Rutherford likes the Staal family, I wonder if he would consider offering up Malkin and say David Perron and Brandon Sutter for the Staal Brothers and Nathan Gerbe? The cap hit for next season would be about the same for both teams and the trade would be comprised of two short term deals and one long term deal for each team.
It's never going to happen but it's an interesting thought on a slow day.
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Last but not least, the odds were recently released for next year's Stanley Cup race and our Hurricanes are listed tied for last place at 100-1 odds to win. (Buffalo and Arizona are also at 100-1). Check this out at Bodog.com.
I actually think Buffalo will be better than that. With a healthy Evander Kane and the addition of Jack Eichel, along with new head coach Dan Bylsma, they could surprise people. They also have a lot of good draft picks who could start to improve.
The Canes might be better off than 100-1 odds as well but I think I'll save my money.