Talking to Team people and scouts around the league all last night about the Montreal situation was really an eye opener.

Last night's rumors have mellowed (for the time being) between Vancouver and Montreal. Vancouver could want Plekanec and Halak, but there is no sayong that the Habs would move either...unless they are not part of their future plans and the Habs are desperate for a top 2 Defenseman. Montreal is at a huge fork in the road here. Their refusal to negotiate contracts early lost them all their captains this past summer and now with two more players who have been brought up through the Habs system things are growing tense.

Gainey needs to sign these guys. His old school theory of not signing players early worked in the pre-lockout world, but he is very much in danger here of becoming a guy that everyone will realize is in a game that has passed him by. Gainey has my upmost respect for what he has accomplished, but now he needs to get current or move over.

Gainey is afraid that signing players early will send the wrong message. This is his fatal flaw. In 2009 NOT signing players early, especially guys who came up in your system is actually sending the wrong message. Players who play for the team in Hamilton want to feel there is a future and this franchise will find a way to make that future happen.

Also....

The Penguins and Hurricanes have serious interest in Fabian Brunnstrom. I wouldn't be shocked to see this deal go down sooner than later despite reports to the contrary. There is, and has been, a ton of posturing going on for the last week or so already. Dallas is playing hard to get here, but teams won't stay hot for Fabian for too long. There are more question marks about Brunnstrom than knowns at this point and there is only so much you can ask for a guy who you obviously don't play very much yourself.

New Feature below...If you aren't on twitter, you can keep up with my latest tweets between blogs where I will give hints as to what I am working on, interesting links, and more.

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