John Ferguson Jr added to the TSN Trade Center Panel / Trade Rumors-Predictions

JFJ's insight will be interesting no doubt at the deadline. It's better than having a schmuck like Eklund on there.
I am still loving the move by Ottawa to acquire Stillman and Commodore yesterday. Like Bryan Murray said, it's the Sens making a statement that they want to WIN NOW. No shit. If Ottawa's goaltending situation holds up (which now is the question mark), then they just became favorites overnight, if they weren't already.

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The 4 player swap between the Canes and Sens is said to possibly spark a bunch of more trades to come before the deadline. That may not be the case. Last year, the biggest names moved weeks prior to the deadline were:
-Forsberg to the Preds (Feb. 15th)
-Tkachuk to the Thrashers (Feb. 25th)
-Gary Roberts to Pittsburgh (Feb. 26th)
The deadline was on the 27th. The rest of the moves were minor prior to the deadline (or nothing to write home about.) Check out the above link to see what I mean.
The biggest names moving on Deadline Day were:
-Bill Guerin to San Jose
-Martin Biron to Philly
-Ryan Smyth to the Islanders
There was no shortage of deals, but the amount of big names moved wasn't all that spectacular.

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So what am I saying? I'm not counting on a barrage of big moves. But I will tell you the gossip floating around and my opinion of each potential deal.
-Forsberg to Philly or Colorado. Given Colorado's cap room and their success even minus Sakic and Smyth, I'd say Forsberg ends up in Colorado for a last hurrah. Screw the unfinished business in Philly bullshit.
-Brian Burke was wooing Rob Blake. Yeah right. He already has plenty of defensive depth. Makes no sense. I could see San Jose making a serious pitch for Blake though, as they have lost out in the Wade Redden scenario. Maybe even Brian Campbell could be an option for the Sharks, as he will no longer have talks about an extension with the Sabres until the summer. San Jose needs a go-to blue-liner and will stop at nothing to get it.
Blake could be an option to sign in Colorado if the still-not re-signed Liles and Avs can't reach a deal.
-Sundin to almost anywhere. OK, count Vancouver out. That is not going to happen. The Leafs have about 7 games left before the deadline. In my opinion, if they aren't even close to a playoff spot by then, Sundin may opt to be traded. But if they are close, he's not going anywhere.
-Detroit's long-term loss of Dan Cleary (6-8 weeks) with a broken jaw should cause them to be somewhat active at the deadline to replace him. How about Michael Ryder?
Alex Tanguay? If the Habs rid themselves of the unhappy Ryder, they could be in the Tanguay sweeps as well.
Who knows.
Nowadays, any team in the top 8-10th spot in each Conference has a chance to make the Finals. It's just that when teams like Ottawa pull off deals like yesterday, it puts pressure on GM's to improve their squad as well to keep up. I just wouldn't count on the middle-of-the-pack teams to squander away all their futures on a big name player to win the Cup. That's what the upper echelon teams do...right?
Remember, if you want expert advice on trade rumors and their validity, check Spector's site.

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