A Trade Talk Discussion That Doesn't Involve Ilya Kovalchuk

I'd rather not talk about the game last night at the Mellon because I'm still trying to figure it out. So much for my article about optimism! It's pretty easy though: Pittsburgh cannot disappear for the first 10 minutes of the second period.

Oh and that little thing called the power play is still a disaster. A four minute penalty at the end of the game and you can't cash in? Big time loss and boy does it hurt.

Anyways, I have been reading a lot of articles lately about trade rumors that surround the Pittsburgh Penguins, all of which include Ilya Kovalchuk. Guys (and girls?), he's not coming to Pittsburgh, move on.

There is no way the man accepts the "C" from upper management then gets traded less than two months later. That would make the Atlanta organization seem like more of a joke than it already is.

I would imagine that there were talks between the two clubs earlier in the year, but I don't think they got very far. Is it a coincidence that Jordan Staal signed a four year extension with the Pens just about the same time Kovalchuk became Atlanta's captain?

So it's time to give that notion up, although I hope I'm wrong because Kovalchuk is nasty.

It is really hard to gauge what the trade deadline will bring this year, especially for the Pens. Pittsburgh already has approx. 43 million dollars in salaries locked up going into next year, so trading for a big named guy will be difficult given the salary cap.

This summer Satan, Sykora, Fedotenko, Boucher, Gill, and Garon become UFA's while Thomas, and Goligoski become RFA's.

If anyone has taken a look at the UFA's league wide going into the summer, it's absolutely insane. Names like Gaborik, Hossa, Havlat, Sakic, Rob Blake, Koivu (Montreal), Kovalev, Cole, Zetterberg, Comrie, both Sedins, etc etc!(http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/freeagents.php?team=all&type=UFA&year=2009&pos=ALL to see the full list).

But there are a few guys that I would absolutely love to see dawn a Pens sweater, names not on that list. Obviously most of those big name guys won't be going anywhere at the deadline due to playing on team's that have legit shots at making the playoffs.

However, two guys that come to mind are Nathan Horton of Florida, and Dustin Brown of LA.

Nathan Horton is Florida's purest goal scorer. He has four years left on his deal that is worth four million per year. He has hinted about not being happy in Florida due to the style of hockey they play. For people who are unaware of what style that is, every forward on Florida gets about equal playing time.

Horton only averages 18:48 of ice time per game, less than the man deserves. I think the ice time effects his offensive output as well (13 G and 13 A in 36 G).

Again, this is far fetched due to the length of his contract and with Florida being in a playoff position right now that makes it even more difficult, but my god Nathan Horton getting 22 minutes of ice time along Sidney Crosby sure does sound amazing.

Dustin Brown is a young, gritty, "Ryan Malone" type player for the Las Angeles Kings. He was on the trade block last season, but signed a lengthy contract over the summer.

He has 31 points in 45 games this season and also has 42 PIM; the man is a fighter. At the age of 23, he is sixth in the league with 187 shots. LA currently sits in 13th in the Western Conference and after Anze Kopitar, Brown doesn't have much support on the team, mainly a reason why he asked to be traded last season.

He would only have a 3.175 million dollar cap hit on the Pens if he were to migrate East. Again, unlikely as it sounds, it's simply a different perspective.

So what do I think the wizard Ray Shero will do? Not much because there's not much out there he can do. But I was dead wrong last year when I said the Pens wouldn't make a blockbuster trade, so maybe I will be again this year! Enjoy the week off Pens, get healthy and LETS GO!!!