Blackhawks Trade Rumors Have Media Swirling

As we discussed yesterday, there has been some trade speculation centering around the Chicago Blackhawks recently that’s starting to draw some attention from all over the media world. Two specific writers, though, appear to be keeping tabs on each other’s work.

In yesterday’s article, it was noted that John Jaeckel is reporting for Hockey Buzz that the Hawks have had discussions with both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes regarding a laundry list of players. The most prominent name on the list has been defenseman Tomas Kaberle of Toronto.

Jaeckel begins his piece, dated Nov. 3, by saying “This is what I am hearing from a reliable source.”

Today, in what appears to be a direct response to Jaeckel’s blog, Tim Sassone of The Daily Herald has come out with an article of his own, categorically denying the rumors. He says Toronto GM Brian Burke has not spoken with the Blackhawks about any potential deal, and that the Hurricanes don’t have any players that make sense for the Blackhawks to add (which I agreed with yesterday).

“A blogger writes the Blackhawks are on the verge of making a major trade, citing a reliable source, and all heck breaks loose Wednesday,” Sassone says. “I think somebody needs to check his reliable source.”

This banter is particularly intriguing because one of the first reports to bring suspicion to a potential Hawks-Leafs trade was from Sassone himself, back in early July. In that piece, Sassone connects the dots between the Leafs having a bounty of good defensemen, including Kaberle, and the Hawks having a plethora of forwards, many of whom could entice Burke and Toronto.

In fact, Sassone quotes Burke directly in the July article, and references rumors from the summer that then-Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon and Burke had been linked. Sassone points out that Kaberle’s salary cap number ($4.25M) is just a quarter-million more than Patrick Sharp ($4M).

Now Tallon is no longer the Blackhawks GM, and Sassone is denying any of the rumored talks he found to be a firm enough allegation to report on just four short months ago.

Whether or not discussions have taken place, or to what level those discussions have progressed, is up for discussion. What hasn’t changed, though, is the apparent fit of the two teams in question.