Weiss will only waive for Leafs

Hearing Toronto is the only destination Stephen Weiss would waive his NTC for.

Names coming up that FLA is interested in are, Grabovski & Tyler Bozak.

Leafs zeroing in on Liles + more

Toronto is making a hard push for John-Michael Liles this morning, Colorado wants one of the Toronto 1st Rounders, Colombus is also looking at Liles.

LA is pursuing Ales Hemsky, looking to add a scorer for their playoff push

Ottawa is expected to deal Filip Kuba and Chris Campoli today, Washington is very interested in Campoli

Clarke MacArthur expected to stay with Leafs, which is a good plan for both

Update coming soon.

Saturday Evening Update

Some things I am hearing tonight:

Leafs are waiting to hear back from Colorado on a second proposition for J-M Liles, also having discussions with Dallas about Brad Richards and determining if it's worth making a push for him.

The Chance of Edmonton moving Ales Hemsky are at about 90%, Edmonton wants Schenn but has to up their offer, Hemsky alone won't do it.

Pittsburgh also continues to talk with Edmonton about Dustin Penner & are quietly looking into Paul Stastny as the latest on Crosby is not good.

Ottawa has a deal in place for what is believed to be Chris Neal heading out, I haven't got a team name yet however, will keep tracking this one.

Report: Leafs interested in Stephen Weiss

as per @RealKyper of Sportsnet, Toronto has significant interest in Stephen Weiss from the Florida Panthers, the bad news, is that the starting point would be Nazem Kadri, which even straight up IMO is a horrible deal.

What do you all think?

Toronto Source says things heating up.......

Leafs are closing in on something that will change the franchise, and boost them as soon as this year.

while he would not go into exact specifics one can assume he means Paul Stastny & J-M Liles in Colorado (which Burke has been working with for the past few days).

The return while significant, could do nothing but "accelerate the rebuild making this team a contender by next year" <--- not my words so don't shoot me if they don't make the playoffs next year!

Latest Buzz around the Rumor Mill

as Per Darren Dreger of TSN: Ottawa talking with Chris Phillips about an extension, but an 11th hour deal on Monday still not out of the question.

from what I have heard, Washington has interest, Montreal DID have interest, but latest acquisition of Sopel has tempered that interest a bit.

Toronto continues to search for a D Man, and talks with Colorado continue, Toronto is trying to pry Stastny away in the discussions as well as J-M Liles, but it will be expensive, and Burke may balk at the end, we will continue to watch this.

Heard from a very good source that Pittsburgh is VERY interested in Dustin Penner from Edmonton, the New York Rangers also have interest there, and New York is knocking down Florida's door in an attempt to obtain Bryan McCabe.

Wednesday night quicky!

the Leafs are currently scouting the LA Kings game, it is believed that they have renewed their interest in Brayden Schenn as the defenseman search has gone cold for now.

To be fair however, these teams are also scouting the Kings game - Chicago, Philly, Vancouver, Detroit, Tampa Bay and the Islanders as per Helene Elliott of the LA Times.

Tuesday Notes / Rumors

Montreal is closing in on a defenseman, and I am told were actually in on Erik Johnson right til the end.

Toronto is also close to acquiring a defenseman, and word is they may be contemplating a larger move that would land Paul Stastny, and the Leafs brass is going over the ups and downs of assuming the 6.6 Stastny has on his deal, Toronto was talking with LA about Brayden Schenn, but I have been told LA wanted much more than Burke was willing to give (including Nazem Kadri)

New Jersey continues to roll and are not expected to tinker much with their current line-up, if they lose a couple this week, I expect Arnott will land somewhere else by the deadline.

Toronto has made forward Colby Armstrong an assistant captain, and he returns this evening vs the Islanders along with Mike Brown, Christian Hanson and Jonas Gustavsson were sent to the Marlies of the AHL.
(Joe Colborne acquired in the Tomas Kaberle trade has 3 goals in 2 games for the Marlies, as well as a shoot-out goal)

The NY Rangers are involved in serious talks with Florida about obtaining Bryan McCabe, Florida is close to blowing it up after being on the losing end so often in recent weeks, Montreal also has interest in McCabe.

Sunday Rumors around the NHL

TSN Analyst Darren Dreger is reporting that Dallas & Pittsburgh are in talks involving Jamie Benn & Alex Goligoski - UPDATE : DEAL IS DONE

Toronto continues to talk with LA, Edmonton & Colorado, but also have been told that there is a peaking interest in Florida's Steven Weiss, will continue to monitor that rumor.

Expect Toronto to deal for a defenseman possibly either tonight or early Tuesday, a depth defenseman for the 3rd rounder is all that is expected, but a package deal with one of the aforementioned teams could expand it significantly.

With a week to go, look for Washington to make a move soon, they are looking at Thomas Vokoun right now, as is Philadelphia.

More later on!

little Schenn back on the radar

Brayden Schenn can be re-added to the Leafs radar, talks subsided while the Kaberle deal got worked out, Toronto now has more than enough asset wise to acquire Brayden Schenn.

and perhaps a freudian slip by Burke at the Kaberle Presser mentioning how well Brayden has been playing.

Keep focused with us here folks, exciting times!

Leafs not done, word is out on Penner & Bogosian

Toronto GM Brian Burke has been the busiest of GM's in terms of substantial moves so far leading up to the deadline, and he is no way near done yet.

Word out of Toronto is that the Leafs are using the 1st Rounders received from Philadelphia & Boston in order to package together something for the Oilers Dustin Penner, and Thrashers defenceman Zack Bogosian.

Now that the Kaberle domino has fallen, all hell should break loose on the trade front, expect reactions in Washington as well as in the West where San Jose just picked up defeseman Ian White from Carolina.

This could be "THE" deadline as far as Toronto is concerned is regards to the future, they have cap space free for a big FA splash on July 1st, and now also have an excellent young core to build upon.

Around the NHL - Thursday Rumors

Toronto continues to work things out with Boston, the hold right now is on Kaberle signing a 2-3 year term with the B's, this could be a snag, will stay on this one, something could happen today, or not at all, the Kaberle ordeal is sketchy, I think he's torn between leaving and going.

Montreal acquired seldom used defeseman Paul Mara from the Anaheim Ducks earlier today, a depth move for the Habs

J.S. Giguere came down with a "lower body injury" last evening during the 1st period of the Leafs win over Buffalo, this could potentially hinder any trade talks the Leafs have going with Giguere.

Ian White (Carolina) is close to being dealt, Montreal or Vancouver are the likely destinations

One source telling me the Leafs may wait until after the Saturday night game with Ottawa to see if they make ground on the 8th playoff spot, being just 6 points out now with the teams ahead of them spiralling has changed the philosophy slightly, a win Saturday night combined with losses for the eastern teams ahead of them would result in being just 4 points out, which could mean Kaberle stays.

Toronto, more moves on the horizon

speaking with a few different sources from the Toronto side of things, it looks more like the 3rd rounder is the one involved with LA now, and Burke is also talking to Boston about re-acquiring it's 1st in this years draft from the Kessel deal, so is anyone else as confused as I am? haha.

I'll keep the updates coming more in the day tomorrow.

I am following a few different things right now including Ottawa talking with Montreal about Kovalev.

Kings + Leafs close to Schenn deal

following up with my source from a couple weeks ago, it looks like the Schenn to Toronto deal has hit the final stage and is nearing completion, am expecting something between mid day - monday afternoon.

The deal looks to be bigger than first anticipated which is why it has been dragging out this long.

The Mill is Churning Hot!

Chicago Bound

It's Wednesday night, and it seems Brian Burke has created a trickle down effect!


Minor deal - SJ deals Steve Zalewski & Jay Leach to NJ for patrick Davis & Mike Swift


Chicago trades Jack Skille, Hugh Jessimen, David Pacan to Florida for Michael Frolik + Alexander Salak.


I think this is an excellent move for Chicago, Frolik is a top end talent that just seemed stalled in Florida and playing with talents like Patrick Kane/Toews etc can only help him reach his potential, this may also signal the end to any Kris Versteeg to Chicago rumours.


San Jose is in full reaction mode and are looking to acquire a defenseman asap, they are talking with Toronto and Atlanta at the moment.


The Joe Pavelski to Toronto rumour is kicking up again, I expect the Leafs to be coming up with flurry of trades within the next few days as Burke does not like to be "in the herd on deadline day".


Toronto has a deal for a "top end centre" my source says, and are just waiting for the "Western Conference team" to get back to them, and the deal has been brewing for a couple weeks.

Burke just getting started

It's an exciting time of year for hockey fans for sure!

Monday Morning Musings

Montreal is "very interested" in Kaberle now according to Pierre LeBrun of ESPN, can any Toronto fans see the Leafs trading Kabs to such a close rival?

Phil Kessel:

Now, I wanted to sound off on this topic a bit this morning as I have seasons tickets and I watch Phil quite a bit.

I get the frustration, from both sides, Wilson and Kessel, it comes from NOT WORKING HARD ENOUGH, that's about as clear I can make it, I go to the practices sometimes @ the MC Centre, attend as many home games as I can and it is clear to me that Phil Kessel's problem is he does not work hard enough to be that 40 goal man he is expected to be, perhaps Wilson should not be throwing Kessel under the bus with his comments but Kessel is supposed to be Wilson's meal ticket, and when your star player isn't prepared to work hard enough to achieve what needs to be achieved, it sets a poor example for the other guys on the bench working their tails off just to be a 15-20 goal man or less!

I would not be surprised in the least if some of the other players were ticked off with his work ethic, lets face it, the Toronto Maple Leafs are not a team with a plethora of talent and the one guy that is supposed to be, is taking it for granted, skill only gets you so far Mr. Kessel, like everything else in this world, you have to work your a** off if you want to be the best you can be.

Leafs close to deal / taking on salary

Burke close to acquiring 1st Rounder

I have heard Toronto is close to acquiring a "bad contract" from a western conference team, and in exchange will also obtain 2 draft picks, one of them a 1st rounder.

The contract Toronto would be receiving has 2 years left on it, I haven't got a name yet however, still digging.

Will report back more shortly.