****As I was doing this piece I was told by two sources that Chris Neil and a prospect(possibly Alexander Nikulin) have been traded to Chicago for Cam Barker. More on this as I make calls, but I wanted to get this out there and see if it has any legs to it, along with my latest blog that I have been working on.***
**Very strong rumour out of Vancouver has the Canucks willing to give Antoine Vermette the long term deal he wants as Bryan Murray is unwilling to do so. Ryan Kesler would be the player coming the other way to Ottawa.**
Here is a quick update on the rumoured three team deal with Ottawa, LA and Chicago. Everyone I have talked to have never once mentioned the name of Kings forward Anze Kopitar. I just don't see it happening. I was told Alexander Frolov could be included in a three team deal. To quote our great Chicago Blackhawks blogger Al Cimaglia, "If Tallon can trade Khabby and Barker and get Kopitar in return they should sign him to a lifetime contract. There is no way the Hawks can get a cheap stud player like that and create so much Cap space."
My thoughts exactly Al! There is no way Kopitar is part of the proposed deal that is rumoured in today's Ottawa Sun. I greatly respect Don Brennan's work but I do believe the other four players he has suggested are part of a potential blockbuster deal.
Patrick Sharp's name has surfaced as well. After a stellar season last year it would take a fair amount to get him out of Chicago. At this point, many insider's figured this deal would be finalized by now so it is very hard to figure where things stand at this moment.
Chris Neil's agent met with Sens GM Bryan Murray yesterday morning. It is believed Neil wants a contract extension. He has one year left on his current deal and Neil doesn't want to be traded. Neil recently bought land in Calobogie, about 45 minute drive west of Ottawa where he plans on building a cottage. Someone should tell Neil that if you don't want to be traded that it might be a good idea to show up for one of the 41 road games you dress for or to stop taking selfish/dumb penalties in playoff games when a veteran player like himself should know better. I don't see Neil in a Sens uniform come this October.
As reported here yesterday, Terry Murray the brother of Sens GM Bryan Murray will be the new head coach of the LA Kings. I am told it is a three year deal, financial terms have yet to be disclosed. Terry Murray became very tight with Kings GM Dean Lombardi after Lombardi was fired as Sharks GM and was a scout with the Flyers where Terry was an assistant coach.
Lastly, I wanted to take the time to give you all the details on what went down with Jason Williams.
All of us in the sports media rely on sources for alot of our information. We never reveal these sources but they range from someone closely associated with a team or player, to someone in upper management and sometimes it's a player or an agent that is giving us the information we write about. I could go on and on about the who these potential sources could be. Regardless, we all must trust these sources. Sometimes they are correct and other times they are wrong.
In the instance of the potential Jason Williams signing in Ottawa I was wrong but so were many others on this one. Many other hockey websites said these talks were ongoing and even the Ottawa Sun went as far to say that both sides had one discussion and that is where it ended. On Friday night, Wikipedia even had Williams as a Senator. NHLCAPS.com had Williams salary at 1.9 million per season on the Senators roster.
Well folks, many of us must have been getting our information from the same sources on this one. Someone in the Sens upper management led many to believe the Sens were trying to address one of their needs by signing a top six forward. None of this ever happened.
I spoke at length with someone at Newport Sports Management on Monday night, the representatives of Jason Williams. Of course you are all going to think that any agent wants to spin things to make his client look good. Not in this case. I was given proof that both sides NEVER spoke once. The Senators nor Williams representatives ever had any contact.
So yes I was wrong on this one but I also felt it was important for everyone to know that Williams never burned the Sens as we were all led to believe.
Kevin
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