NHL's Breaking Roster News and Rumors

The 2008-'09 NHL season is now well underway, and the strengths and weaknesses of teams are rather obvious. The contenders will seek to solidify their weak spots and what better way to improve than by picking up a new player?

The hot topic is Brendan Shanahan. Shanny has been expected to sign with the Flyers for nearly a week now. In fact, they even cut Lasse Kukkonen to make space for him. Nobody knows exactly what's up with this impending deal, but one thing is for sure, Shanahan will almost certainly be back soon.

No matter which team he's on, he will see powerplay time, along with tons of shots and a number of goals.

The much beloved and now beleaguered Mats Sundin is still looking around the league to find a spot on a cup contender. The front-runners are Anaheim, Minnesota, New York, Vancouver, and possibly Toronto.

The reality of the situation is that nobody knows where he'll end up yet and that Sundin wants a pretty big contract. Vancouver offered him two years for $20 million. So, whoever signs him will have to have plenty of salary-cap space.

Mats has been getting himself in shape the last few weeks. The popular belief is that Sundin will return around Christmas and should be in top shape, raring and ready to go.

Just like clockwork, another day brings another Marian Gaborik rumor. As of yesterday, TSN and CBS Sportsline reported that a trade involving Gaborik might be imminent. The truth is that Minnesota will trade Gaborik, but nobody has any idea when.

The longer he stays injured, the lower his value goes. He's a very dynamic player but GM's around the league are starting to view him as injury prone. He missed 35 games in 2006-'07 with a groin injury, and that's what he appears to be dealing with this time, too.

Michael Nylander in Washington is on the block as well. He's a capable offensive player and one of the best pure playmaking centers in the league. The real problem is his age, 37. Washington is going with the youth movement and Nylander doesn't fit in. Moreover, Nicklas Backstrom is their franchise center and has great chemistry on the top line with Alexander Ovechkin.

Possible destinations for Nylander include Chicago and Florida.

Speaking of players expected to be dealt before the deadline, Jay Bouwmeester comes to mind. "J-Bo" seems to be the odd-man out in Florida with the resurgences of Bryan McCabe and Keith Ballard.

Don't read this the wrong way, the Panthers would like to keep Bouwmeester but it seems definite that both sides will part ways. Perhaps he will simply have an awful year and nobody will offer very much, but beyond that, he seems to be headed elsewhere.

The Penguins recently acquired Phillipe Boucher for Daryl Sydor in a swap of veteran defenseman. Sydor will be manning the blue line once again in Dallas, while Boucher will be manning the power play in Pittsburgh. The Penguins really have been hard up for offensive help on the blue line this year, due to the injuries suffered by Ryan Whitney and Sergei Gonchar.

The good news is that Whitney should return by the second week of December; however, Gonchar is out until at least late February. Boucher has been the victim of nagging injuries and had a disappointing 2007-'08 season.

He should gain some value in the short-term in Pittsburgh and presents them with the unique problem of having too many good defenseman once Whitney and Gonchar return. Look for the Pens to make another deal involving defenseman this year, probably around the trade deadline.