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D-man Yardsale: Here Are 5 Readily Available Notables

February 16, 2013, 4:29 PM ET [296 Comments]
Eklund
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It's no secret that teams around the NHL are looking to add some depth to their bluelines but except when there are bargains out there (such as Florida dumping off the once highly-touted Keaton Ellerby), the prices have been a bit too inflated for teams to pull the trigger.

It has been crazy just have many NHL teams have been scouring other teams rosters and inquiring about anything that resembles a bargain-priced defenseman who could actually step in and play in someone else's top six on the blueline. That includes a variety of players either with bad contracts, young players in the doghouse and older vets.

In a few cases, teams don't even really have to come calling because it's already a poorly kept secret that those players are available. Here are five such candidates:

1) Ryan Whitney: Despite insistence by the team it is not actively trying to trade Whitney, sources from at least four teams say that the Oilers are hardly trying to discourage offers either. As a soon-to-be UFA with a $4 million price tag, Edmonton already knows that a parting of ways with Whitney is close at hand. It's just a question of whether Steve Tambellini can find a trade partner willing to do more than throw a total lowball offer his way in this inflated price market. But Whitney's stock has nose-dived in the last five-plus years, so other GMs know that there won't be a bidding war for him. At some point, Tambellini will simply take the best offer he feels he can get. Whitney, who will turn 30 next week, is far from old. Even so, his A game has been missing for a long time.

2) Roman Hamrlik: He's 38. He's only dressed in four games this season. He made some enemies among his PHWA brethren during the lockout. He makes $3.5 million and he's unrestricted after the season. Sources say the Capitals aren't even making a pretense of trying to get value in return -- despite the player being a veteran of nearly 1,400 regular season games and still had at least something to offer as recently as last year.

3) Adrian Aucoin: He's been an injury-related scratch (not a healthy one) and is just back off IR. The 39-year-old impending UFA is a virtual lock to be moved as deadline rental to another team, but it looks like he could be in Columbus awhile longer while new GM Jarmo Kekalainen evaluates the personnel. Even so, a slightly higher offer (presumably of draft pick compensation) could pry him loose a little sooner than April. Aucoin makes $2.5 million on the cap this season.

4) Jordan Leopold: The 32-year-old offensive specialist hasn't produced much offense yet this year and the Sabres have been in a bad way this season anyway. He's 32, makes $3 million and is a UFA after the season. It is no secret that Leopold is available right now, and the cost threshold would be relatively modest for a guy who has tallied double-digit goals from the blueline each of the last two years.

5) Yannick Weber: At 24, he's by far the youngest player on this list and the only non-UFA (he'll be RFA) after the season. Weber is not a Michel Therrien type of player, and has only dressed in a single game this season. But he's an offensive-minded D who can move and shoot the puck.
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