As you very well know, general managers from around the NHL are in Naples, FL until Wednesday to discuss various subjects, including possible rule changes, the salary cap, but more importantly for us trade freaks, possible deals.

CBC’s Scott Morrison weighs in on some talk abuzz down in sunny FLA, along with your blogger’s commentary.

According to Morrison, a lot of GM’s are talking on their cells or working in their rooms instead of grabbing their golf clubs and going to the course beside the hotel.

Sens GM Brian Murray actually has an interesting comment:

I think a lot of guys are looking to plant the seeds for a deal here,” said Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray. “There has been a lot of discussion going on, to see if there is something you can create. You want to leave here with a couple of options to act on closer to the deadline.

I’m not going to recap the whole article, :D, you can read it then, but here are the main rumours I can extract from what Morrison says along with some comments.

-With Peter Forsberg shocking the hockey world by deciding not to play this year, the attention shifts completely to Leafs captain Mats Sundin and the highly coveted Marian Hossa.
I don’t know why, but I’ve got a feeling Sundin won’t waive his clause, and I think that would be very low of him.
What Mats has to realize is, yes, everyone loves him in Toronto and he’s been there for about a decade, but realistically, he could go to a contender, win the cup, get the Leafs some quality prospects and/or picks and return to Toronto in the offseason for about the same price as now.
Why wouldn’t he do that? I seriously doubt, and in all objectiveness, that Toronto will be a contender any time soon, take that as well as Sundin’s age into account; I don’t think he’d be able to win it all anytime soon, UNLESS, he pounces on this oppertunity and does what’s best for the Leafs and seemingly him.Hossa?
When I think Marian Hossa, I drool at the thought of him possibly ending up in the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge…I have no doubt, or difficulty believing all the speculation and rumours that have flooded out of Atlanta being tied to Montreal over the past month.
The sad truth is for Thrashers fans, Hossa isn’t going to stay in Atlanta, and even if Don Waddell wants to make a patriotic attempt at winning the mediocre Southeast Division, it won’t be worth it in the long run.
Just imagine what Hossa can net Waddell and co…for starters, there’s an uncofirmed rumour going around the radio waves in Montreal today that Higgins is the centerpiece of a potential Habs-Atlanta deal and that Waddell would rather give up on him and possibly the season rather than lose him for absolutely nothing, and end up in a worse position in the offseason.
I pray Montreal can acquire Hossa, I really am, and for once, I will be entering Trade Deadline Day confident Big Bog won’t disappoint and get us that final piece we’ve been lacking since the 50-goal days of Stephane Richer and the glory times of Guy Lafleur before him.

-Leafs defenceman Tomas Kaberle won’t waive his NTC unless he’s truly blown away by the offer.
Interim GM Cliff Fletcher admits he hasn’t spoken to his 5 players holding NTC’s and will only do so if he can talk to them about a tangible possible trade.
-Speaking of Kaberle, 15 TEAMS are interested in him, and amongst them would be the Philadelphia Flyers and their depleted but deep defence.
Fletcher admits that there’s been a lot of interest, but according to Morrison, he would probably say no if approached to waive it.
Off the top of my head, I can think of Anaheim, the Isles, San Jose, Detroit, Nashville, Montreal, Carolina, Dallas and the Rangers being interested, all for seperate reasons.

-Back to Hossa, per Don Waddell, he only has 3 viable options, which I covered earlier in the article:
“1. Sign him. “The odds of that are getting slimmer,” said Waddell.
2. Trade him. “We’re not interested in draft picks, that can be part of the puzzle, but our future is now and we think we can win our division,” continued Waddell.
3. Keep him. “We could keep him and take a run at the playoffs, but the odds of dealing him before July 1 aren’t good,” said Waddell. “We could possibly sign him later if we had success, that might change things because with him it’s all about whether we are winning.”It only seems logical what Waddell should do.
San Jose is interested, and their asking price is reportedly Jonathan Cheechoo.
The AJC also reported yesterday, that the Wings are HOT on Hossa, followed by the Habs, the Sharks, Ducks and Stars.

-Rob Blake isn’t going anywhere.
His GM in LA, Dean Lombardi, said that no team had presented a viable offer yet and that he wasn’t stupid, knowing Blake would like to remain in the SoCal area, preferably with the obvious favourites in Anaheim and San Jose.
Anaheim waived forward Brandon Bochenski today, leading to speculation Brian Burke may have a trade on the table.
In my opinion, Blake wouldn’t bring anything to the table the Ducks or Sharks have already, and for the amount it would cost to coax him out of LA and his NTC wouldn’t be worthwhile.
Other veterans like Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus and probably Brad Stuart would garner more interest at a lesser price.
However, Handzus is struggling to a pathetic extent this season; Nagy is inconsistent as always, but Morrison notes that his scoring ability is garnering “moderate interest” around the NHL.
Brad Stuart is on the chopping block too, as none of Dean Lombardi’s prized free-agent pickups have really worked out for him this season.
He’d be a good adition to any defensive corps, Detroit being my best bet.
-On the talk of defencemen, Dan Boyle in Tampa Bay is surely to attract a lot of interest.
He’s a UFA as well at the end of the season and by all looks of it, Tampa Bay with its new owner is just about ready to give up on a disappointing season.
He could command upwards of $6.5 million on the free-agent market and will probably earn a contract similar, if not superior to Brian Rafalski’s in Detroit, who commanded $30 million over 5 years.
A 7-8 year deal in the vicinity of a whopping $49-$56 million is probably the kind of deal he would get on the open market, Morrison makes mention of the annual salary (between $6.5 and $.7.5 per) and that Jay Feaster has been talking to Boyle, he’s even engaged to a local girl!

Obviously, this kind of contract is beyond absurd, and this is why I’m beginning to fear for the return of the old NHL.

I think Boyle will walk, the chance to play on a better team, in a better hockey city for a lot of money will be too good to pass up, unless his future Mrs. Boyle convinces him otherwise, along with Feaster.

-Darcy Regier will make “his best offer” to impending UFA Brian Campbell this week.
Give it up Darcy, you lost Daniel, Chris and now you’re probably going to lose Campbell to free-agency, if his indications earlier this season are worth anything.
-Jim Rutherford is going after a third line centre, Dominic Moore’s name has been mentioned.
Ughh, he couldn’t do it in Minnesota, what makes JR think he can fill a partial void left by Brind’Amour?

That’s all I’ve, I mean Morrison + my comments ;-), have got for now!
Enjoy the craziness leading up to Tuesday!

-BBeR