It's the calm before the storm as we gear up for a busy second half of February on the trade front. The Habs have been busy on the scouting front and there's a growing sense a trade is coming; the Wings could be ready to make some moves and more in this edition of the Rumour Report.
- Could the Colorado Avalanche finally be nearing a deal? Three Avalanche scouts were on hand for the Bruins-Canadiens game the other day and there are several rumours suggesting linking Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog to the Montreal. That said, a recent report suggests the Habs are now backing off the idea of a Duchene trade.
- Three Habs scouts were in attendance for Sabres-Canucks this past weekend. The Habs are believed to be closely watching Alex Burrows and likely have interest in several Sabres as well.
- The Red Wings-Blues game on Wednesday night was well attended - 14 scouts in total. You can expect a fair number of them were there to watch the Wings players who could be on the trade block this deadline: Thomas Vanek, Brendan Smith, Tomas Jurco and Steve Ott, among others.
- The Leafs had a big presence at the Avs-Sabres game on Thursday. Both teams are expected to be major sellers at the deadline.
- Six pending UFAs that could get moved at the deadline which aren't being talked about: Fedor Tyutin (D - Colorado), Brendan Smith (D - Detroit), Deryk Engelland (D - Calgary), Jiri Hudler (F - Dallas) and if Florida fall out of it, what about Jaromir Jagr (F)?
- The goalie market isn't too hot right now, though that may change closer to the deadline. In addition to the usual names, don't forget about Jaro Halak, who continues to dominate at the AHL level.
