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This Anton Volchenkov situation is quickly developing into a melodrama, even days after there were reports about the AV contract situation improving on both fronts.

In a recent blog of mine, one of the readers pointed out that through "a source", he's learned that Volchenkov will be asking for 5 million+ per, over the course of 4-5 years. While I obviously can't confirm or deny one man's take on the situation, I think stuff like this is always worth noting.

Is there any way to prove that this person had a strong connect? No. But his point doesn't come that far out of left field, even if it was just his speculation. The simple fact is Anton Volchenkov will be commanding a huge contract this season, especially after last year's UFA D-Men crop turned huge profits. Furthermore, there have been some reports that the reason why Bryan Murray and company won't even go to the bargaining table right now is that Volchenkov's demands are quite frankly out of the question. Simple logic leads me to believe that AV is asking for well above market price, and I can't blame Murray for not wanting to talk.

Some of the bigger names who signed after the 2008-2009 free agency below.

Mattias Ohlund signed at 3.75 million for 7 years
Stephane Robidas signed at 3.3 million for 4 years
Mike Komisarek signed at 4.5 million for 5 years
Francois Beauchemin signed at 3.8 million for 3 years
Johnny Oduya signed at 3.5 million for 3 years
Jaroslav Spacek signed at 3.8 million for 3 years
Scott Niedermayer signed at 6.0 million for 1 year

Again, taking a look at this might scare you if you only look at this from one perspective. My best estimation for Anton Volchenkov is that he'll ask for a salary somewhere around 4.5-5.2 million per year, and to that I'd show him the door faster than Denis Potvin at a Rangers game.

While losing Anton Volchenkov because of the failure to meet on a common ground during salary negotiations would no doubt hurt this team, take a look above as to why it wouldn't cripple them. There will be plenty of UFA d-men next season who won't ask for nearly as much as Volchenkov, and the only player completely out of the question would be Marek Zidlicky, who re-upped with the Minnesota Wild this past month.

I love Anton Volchenkov, but asking for that kind of salary and being virtually a one-way player is at best laughable. Yes, the Philchenkov line is one of the best shutdown pairs in all of hockey, but I'm not ready to strap my team against the cap for a guy who isn't a huge point producer. If the old adage is to not pay for defensemen who don't score, then Anton Volchenkov will be hard pressed to find that kind of a pay day around the league - he's yet to score 20 points in a single season.

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