Bucket of Pucks

Phil Kessel FINALLY Traded to Maple Leafs - Signs 5 Year, $27M Contract

At long last, injured Bruins Forward Phil Kessel was dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who quickly signed the 36-goal scorer to a 5 Year / $27 Million Dollar deal, TSN reports.

Headed the other way were the Leafs' 1st and 2nd round picks next year's draft (2010), and their 1st round pick in 2011 as well. After the jump, we'll break down this long awaited deal from a fantasy perspective.

Heatley Traded to San Jose...For REAL This Time...Finally!!

As it turns out ESPN Analyst John Buccigross was right.  Where there's smoke, there is fire.  Although, his timing and details may have been off, the Ottawa Senators were indeed on the verge of trading disgruntled winger Dany Heatley to the San Jose Sharks.

TSN reports the Senators finally pulled the trigger, trading Heatley and a 5th round draft pick to San Jose, in return for wingers Milan Michalek, Johnathan Cheechoo and a 2nd round draft pick.

"I'm excited obviously, I'm excited to be a Shark," Heatley said.  "I want to thank to thank everyone in Ottawa, the organization, the fans and the city.  I had a great four years here and I'm happy to move on."

The trade ends a contentious summer between Heatley's camp and the Ottawa Senators organization, with both sides seeming to make a number of bad judgment calls in the handling of the situation.  From Heatley's agents going public with the trade request, to Ottawa management apparently letting Edmonton's trade offer slip out - in what appeared to be a pressure tactic to get Heatley to agree to a trade they already knew he wouldn't likely to accept.

Was Dany Heatley traded to the Sharks in a 3-Team / 4-player deal? "Complete Bull" says Kings' G.M. Lombardi.

 

At long last it finally happened - or did it?

In a twitter Post tonight (which has since been removed), ESPN Analyst John Buccigross tweeted that Heatley is headed to San Jose, who will send C/LW Patrick Marleau to the Los Angeles Kings, with LW Alexander Frolov and C Jarret Stoll going to the Ottawa Senators.

However, in an updated article on ESPN, both Senators G.M. Bryan Murray and Sharks G.M. Doug Wilson deny the story:  "It's simply not true," Murray told ESPN.com Thursday night.  "I've had conversations with teams today but still I'm not close to a deal [involving Heatley]." 

Add to that, in a 2 word text message to Kings Beat Reporter John Hammond, Kings G.M. Dean Lombardi says it's "Complete Bull".  Finally, TSN's Bob McKenzie says there is no truth to this widely reported rumor.

On the flip side, the Ottawa Citizen reports Heatley WILL NOT attend tomorrow's Senators team golf tourney tomorrow, quoting the team as saying in a press release:  "In order to direct attention on the efforts of the Sens Foundation on Friday, Dany Heatley will not take part in the golf charity event."

Well, what's the deal? We break it down after the jump.

Deadline Deals + Hockey Talk LIVE today 1PM Eastern today !

This afternoon, I'll be talking about the trade deadline with Tim "T-Money" Miller on his live sports radio show "Around The Stands". Tim Miller is known around the web for his weekly sorts talk radio and I've been a guest on his old show at FIO, "Around the Spectrum, Live".

I'll be on at 1PM eastern and will cover all the actual and potential deals, players on the move and of course, their fantasy implications. Join me over at

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fromthestands and listen in!

Player Purge: Multiple Teams waive players to clear space for trades.

TSN reported earlier today that a ridiculous number (10+) players have hit the waiver wire today in anticipation of clearing cap and roster space in anticipation of possible deadline deals. Here's a quick look at the notables for fantasy purposes:

The Pittsburgh Penguins finally ran out of patience and put struggling 34-year-old winger Miroslav Satan on waivers.  Signed in the off-season to a 1-year, $3.5M c ontract in the hopes he would gel with Sidney Crosby. He didn't and the veteran sniper has only 17 goals and 19 assists in 64 games with the Pens this year. If Satan couldn't score on Crosby or Evgeni malkin's wing, I'm nopt convinced he could do it wherever he ends up if he's claimed. Watch and see where he lands, as even Sergei Samsonov came back from the dead last year. Possible destinations include a return to Buffalo, the site of his former glory, or, if there is a God,  playing with the Devils for some brand name symmetry.

The Rangers waived two players; LW Aaron Voros and D Eric Reitz and neither is a huge surprise.  Reitz has a broken foot, so he's unlikely to be claimed, and Voros became expendable with the return of Sean Avery.  With 2 years left on a 3 year deal at $1M per season, Voros is an affordable goon who showed some hands early in the year. If you missed out on picking up Avery off waiver in your league, keep an eye on where Voros lands.

Dallas Stars place Sean Avery on Re-Entry Waivers. UPDATE: Rangers Waive/Demote Bell - clearing room?

Update Below.

As expected, the Dallas Stars have begun the process of purging themselves of their biggest problem, placing feisty forward Sean Avery on re-entry waivers today.  While the New York Rangers are expected to claim Avery, who has been playing for their minor league affiliate in Hartford, a team lower in the standings could swoop the Blueshirts.

Avery, 28, has 3 years left on his current contract that'll pay him $4M per season. Add in the fact that he also has a No Trade Clause, and it becomes clear that few teams would take the risk of swooping the Rangers and G grabbing Avery - even if you get the gritty forward for $2M discount.  

Having that said, I wouldn't be shocked if a team like the NY Islanders pulling a fast one and claiming Avery if for no other reason than to screw the Rangers and force a deal for a late round pick in the offseason.  Considering Rangers G.M. Glen Sather's man-crush on Avery, it's not such a far-fetched scenario to imagine.

Flyers Activate Briere, Demote Giroux and Kukkonen to make it possible.

You've carried him all season in anticipation of this moment...and as unbelievable as it seems, it's finally here: Danny Briere has been activated from the IR and will play vs. New Jersey on Sunday, March 1st.

After losing two day players in the process, it seems the Philadelphia Flyers have finally cleared  enough room to activate Danny Briere - by demoting C Claude Giroux and D Lasse Kukkonen to the AHL.  Briere is expected to play vs. the New Jersey Devils tomorrow.

We've been covering Briere's ongoing injury saga every step of the way, and are amazed it's taken this long to get this point-per-game player back in the lineup. Briere has had more injuries than a cartoon character.

Penguins Trade D-man Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for Forward Chris Kunitz + Prospect Eric Tangradi

Photo by ztil301.

The Penguins have decided to address the logjam of offensive defensemen on their blue line while at the same time addressing Sidney Crosby's lack of a scoring winger to pass to, by trading defender Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for LW Chris Kunitz and forward prospect Eric Tangradi thursday morning. 

Anaheim also solved a problem, as their defense corps has been decimated this year and only Chis Pronger was under contract for next season.  Acquiring the puck moving 26 year old Whitney, who is in the 2nd year of a 6-year deal at a friendly $4M cap hit, solidifies their blue line for years to come. There have been rumors flying that Chris Pronger is available and this deal will only turn up the volume on those whispers.  

Whitney missed 31 games this season due to foot surgery but never seemed to get back in the Penguins' good graces upon his return. Whitney has 2 goals and 22 assists in 28 games so far this year, but had 59 points in 81 games just two seasons ago.

Kunitz, 29, was made expendable by the emergence of several young Ducks players, including C Andrew Ebbet and Wing Bobby Ryan, who's 39 points in 44 games have him in contention for the Calder trophy.  In the first year of a four year, $3.725M cap hit deal, Kunitz is a goal scorer that's tallied 62 goals over the last 3 seasons, including 16 so far this campaign. 

Rangers Fire Tom Renney - John Tortorella named Head Coach

Photo by vipeldo.

The ax finally fell in New York City today, as the Broadway Blueshirts fired Head Coach Tom Renney and Assistant Coach Perry Pearn.  TSN is reporting that John Tortorella is in line to become the next Bench Boss for the Rangers and will run his first practice tomorrow, pending permission from Tampa Bay.

UPDATE: Tortorella is officially the new Head Coach and had his first practice with the squad today.  From most accounts, it was like starting over.

There had been rumblings for awhile that Renney's job was on the line, and regular serenading of "Fire Renney"  from the crowd didn't help either, I'm sure. Heck, even out of town reporters noticed it.  After their 10th loss in 12 games and with the Rangers off until Wednesday, this was as good a time as any to make a change.

The Rangers need a shakeup and for awhile I've been telling anyone who would listen that Torts was a good direction for the Rangers to look if Renney got canned.  I may not be allowed to eat at Howard Johnson's anymore as a result, but today I am vindicated. 

Renney was 164-121-42 with the Rangers over 4 plus seasons, making the playoffs 3 of the 4 seasons, (one was lost to the lockout.) With the firing of Renney, none of the four coaches whose teams started overseas this year still have jobs; Tampa's Barry Melrose, Pittsburgh's Michel Therrien and Ottawa's Craig Hartsburg have all been sacked by their respective clubs already.

Dallas Stars' Brad Richards out for Season with Broken Wrist? - UPDATE: Yep, out 6-8 Weeks

UPDATE 2PM PST: The Dallas Morning News has confirmed the broken right wrist diagnosis and notes the Stars say Richards is gone 6-8 weeks, the remainder of the regular season, but will not need surgery. Richards and Dallas hope he returns in the playoffs...should Dallas make it in.  Advice below still stands.

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Dallas Stars Center Brad Richards left  last night's 3-2 Shootout win over Columbus with what the team is calling an "upper body injury" and TSN is reporting the injury is a broken wrist.

Fantasy Wise, this could not have come at a worse time. Dallas had finally rounded into shape and gotten their game together, winning 9 of their last 12 contests. Richards, across that span had tallied 4 Goals, 6 Assists, a plus 4, 5PP points and a Short Handed helper as well.  Richards had actually scored 27 seconds in against Columbus, the quickest tally by a Stars player this season.

If Richards has a Broken Wrist, he's done for the regular season. If he has a severe sprain, maybe he could gut it out and play a few weeks down the road, provided can stand the pain.  Either way, he won't be of much use. Get ready to drop him in standard leagues.