Per Canes Country, our Carolina Hurricanes affiliate on SBN.

Chuck Kaiton was on 99.9 The Fan late today and told Mike Maniscalco that the trade sending Niclas Wallin to San Jose was close to being completed, but was still not finalized.  The problem?  Wallin's agent was negotiating a contract extension with Sharks GM, Doug Wilson.

According to Kaiton, he believed that the Sharks wanted to sign the big defenseman for a longer term than Wallin originally wanted.  Apparently, the Swede did not want to sign a deal for longer than one year, but Wilson wants two.  Plus, there is still a small matter of dollars and cents to be agreed upon as well.

The "Hall of Fame Voice" of the Hurricanes said that the return would be a good one for the Carolina organization, reportedly a second round draft pick.  But to give up that much, Wilson wanted to make sure he could lock up "The Swede" for longer than a year.

- Canes Country

Time to kick around all the information that is out there.

David Pollak of Working The Corners reported yesterday that Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford referred to San Jose giving up a young asset in exchange for Niclas Wallin. I have never heard of a draft pick being described as a young asset-- they are not synonymous with each other, at least in terms of the common verbiage used by those describing potential trades.

So, if Canes play by play announcer Chuck Kaiton and general manager Jim Rutherford are both citing facts, adding them together means San Jose is giving up a second round draft choice as well as a young player (Joslin, Mitchell etc., take your pick). That's overpayment to the nth degree, and just doesn't make sense. Someone has it wrong here, or two potential deals are in place-- one with a second round draft choice (contingent upon Wallin negotiating a contract extension), and the other with a young asset Rutherford initially alluded to.

There's a third option, and I'll get to that after the jump.

Worst case scenario-- Doug Wilson has lost his mind, like Darryl Sutter before him, and thinks that Wallin is the only missing piece to a successful San Jose Stanley Cup run. He pays accordingly and Fear The Fin shuts down for a month while we all develop drug habits.

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Courtesy of the News Observer, a Carolina based newspaper:

Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said Thursday that a trade involving veteran defenseman Niclas Wallin was in the works and should be resolved before Friday's game against the Buffalo Sabres.

"We have a pending trade for him," Rutherford said. "He has a no-trade (clause in his contract). He has to waive that, and I think at this point in time his agent is working through some things with the other team.

- News Observer

As Fear The Fin reported yesterday, TSN broke the news that Wallin would land in San Jose. No official sources have specified what players, prospects, or picks would be involved going the other way.

That being said, there has been some speculation.

More photos » George Nikitin - AP

What a pic.

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TSN is reporting that Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust have been traded to the New York Rangers for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik. I chimed in with my thoughts on the (then) potential trade earlier today in the comments, but let's reiterate-- dumb, dumb deal for Calgary. On two levels.

The first is salary cap management. Jokinen, who obviously hasn't worked out for the Flames, comes off the books at the end of this season. That would have freed up $5.25 M for Sutter to work with next year. Instead of riding that contract out and eventually cutting ties, he decides to bring in Ales Kotalik for the next two seasons at $3.0 M, a player who has underperformed so vastly he's been scratched in eight of the last nine games for the mediocre Rangers. Makes absolutely no business sense, both in the fact that the outgoing contracts ($5.75 M for Jokinen/Prust) versus incoming contracts ($5.25 M for Higgins/Kotalik) free up very little space for him to make a further deal this season, as well as the fact that he is now burdened with another horrible contract on the roster in the future. This time for two more years, instead of four more months.

The second is the fact that Sutter, according to the trustworthy Darren Dreger, stalled this deal 24 hours because he wanted Jokinen and Prust to play tonight for the Flames. Bush league. You have to wonder how that is going to affect the locker room going forward, as well as how that is going to affect his opportunity to sign free agents in the upcoming offseason(s), when incoming players are well aware that they may be jerked around. Sure it's a business, and I understand that, but this is one of those situations where common sense should override the desire to try and squeeze out the last drop of whatever production Jokinen is going to give you.

I know I gave Sutter a glowing review earlier today, but this trade absolutely reeks. If he doesn't manage to parlay Kotalik into something else before the deadline it's safe to say he's lost his damn mind.

From tulips to turds. From tulips to turds.

As has been widely reported, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke made the first big splash in the 2010 trade market yesterday, acquiring Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom, prospect Keith Aulie, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere from the Calgary Flames and Anaheim Ducks respectively.

There's been some discussion of Fear The Fin already (found here), but I thought I'd take the time to chime in on how the two Western Conference GM's fared yesterday, and how it changes the complexion of the playoff picture going forward.

Who's In: Jason Blake, Vesa Toskala

Who's Out: Jean-Sebastien Giguere

The Skinny: Jonas Hiller's extension on Saturday re-ignited the Giguere rumors, with nearly all sources speculating that Toronto would be his destination considering the Brian Burke and Francois Allaire connection. That speculation, as we now know, turned out to be correct.

Earl Sleek of BoC has a great post detailing why it's a win-win for both clubs from a salary management standpoint, and it's a good point to make-- both organizations were swapping contracts that didn't work with their current alignment, and with the market value of all players involved nearly zero, they were ideal trade partners. I'm surprised Anaheim didn't have to send draft picks Toronto's way, especially with the Kessel deal depleting the Leafs pool, and I think you have to commend Bob Murray for retaining those assets.

On-ice, immediately, I think the Ducks are treading water at best and took a slight step back at worst considering Blake is a middling forward who is past his prime (although, admittedly, playing top-six minutes with Anaheim offers much more opportunity than top-six minutes with Toronto), and Vesa Toskala's career has taken a nose-dive ever since leaving San Jose. The Ducks are now without a proven backup if Hiller regresses and/or goes down with an injury, but on a team that is dealing with an internal cap around $50 M, it's hard to plug all potential holes. It was a move that had to be made.

Verdict: Anaheim gets slightly better on the offensive front, but loses depth at the goaltending position. Wash.

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Congratulations to both teams, as that was one of the most exciting hockey games I have watched in a long, long time.

Jack Campbell was terrific in net, channeling his inner Dominek Hasek on countless occasions to make 32 saves after starter Mike Lee was pulled; Campbell is 17 years old and draft eligible next season. Forward Derek Stepan (NYR) received player of the game honors for the United States, with forwards Tyler Johnson (FA) and Jerry D'Amigo (TOR) joining Stepan for Head Coach Dean Blais' selection of Players of The Tournament honors.

With a 5-3 lead heading into the final ten minutes of the third, the United States was subject to a questionable goalie interference call on Ducks prospect Kyle Palmieri (Sharks fans will remember him as the pick that travelled 4,305 miles); we could make a joke here about him eventually replacing Corey Perry, but will refrain. Team Canada manages to knock two in the back of the net in the ensuing minutes, with both coming off the stick of miracle worker Jordan Eberle (EDM).

In overtime the pace was frantic, as Team USA attempted to avoid a shootout with Team Canada who has been dominant in the skills competition throughout recent history. After a save by Campbell off of Blues prospect Alex Pietrangelo roughly four minutes in, the Americans headed down the ice on a 2 on 1. John Carlson (WAS) managed to slip one through short side with a rocket of a wrister, all the while squaring up to center ice to keep Canadian goaltender Martin Jones (LAK) aware of a potential cross-ice pass.

It was a no-look shot for the ages, and yet another classic between these two teams. Peruse the FTF Live Thread if you're interested, and be sure to check Puck Daddy throughout the day as Bruce Peter has done a bang up job of covering the tournament throughout it's entire duration.

USA Hockey's home page will obviously have more.

Here's to hoping the magic continues a little over a month from now.

Go USA.

More photos » NIKLAS LARSSON - AP

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Detroit's fall from grace has been attributed to a lot of things-- the increasing age of their roster (compounded by two straight Stanley Cup Finals appearances and a trip overseas to start the year), the loss of 40-goal scorer Marian Hossa to Chicago, Jiri Hudler's flight to the KHL, Bertuzzi's black mark (who, admittedly, may have revived his career this season), and the lack of depth in a minor league system that has been hurt by low draft picks due to the success of the big club on an annual basis.

Then there are the injuries, vast and expansive as fallout from the botched Copenhagen talks.

To put that in perspective, it would be akin to playing without Malhotra, McGinn, Ortmeyer, Blake, Setoguchi, Murray, Huskins, and Marleau.

All at the same time.

And yet, despite the absence of those key cogs in the wheels of the, well, Winged Wheel, Detroit sits one point out of a playoff spot heading into tonight's matchup with the Chicago Blackhawks. Jimmy Howard has managed to wrestle the starting spot between the pipes from mainstay Chris Osgood and, if the Red Wings manage to squeeze their way into the top eight by season's end, will be set with a one-two punch ripe with current results (Howard) and experience in high-pressure situations (Osgood).

Babcock's done a helluva job keeping this team above water for the first half of the season, and it's not out of the question to expect the Red Wings to make a run once the majority of their team begins to return in January. They're definitely a playoff team, likely in the 4-5 slot, and a dangerous one at that considering the top-end performers on the roster.

Something tells me it's going to be at least another year until the Ewoks can safely cheer from the rebel moons of Endor.

The Empire hasn't fallen quite yet.

From the wind torn streets of Chicago rose a playing career that spanned three decades, five teams, 513 goals, nine All-Star games, an immortalization in Swingers, and countless controversies. Attempting to summarize the entire portfolio of this noble steed as he rides off into the San Jose sunset would be akin to writing a dissertation on how Gavrilo Princip's decision to eat a sandwich in 1914 led to two world wars- some things are just better left to men of eloquence.

Which is why we're doing the distinguished (and oh so obligatory) top five list.

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Picture courtesy of [mymclife]

1) Hit the road jack, and don't come back. No "wrap up" would be complete without mentioning this- the pick that got around deserves to start us off today.

July 4th, 2008: San Jose acquires Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich from Tampa Bay in exchange for Matt Carle, Ty Wishart, the fourth round pick in 2010, and the 26th pick.

July 29th, 2008: Tampa Bay acquires Andrej Meszaros from Ottawa in exchange for Alex Picard, Filip Kuba, and the 26th pick.

February 20th, 2009: Ottawa acquires Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli from New York (Isles) in exchange for Dean McAmmond and the 26th pick.

Today: New York (Isles) acquires a first and a third rounder from Columbus in exchange for three picks and the 26th pick.

Today: Columbus acquires a third and first rounder from Anaheim in exchange for a second rounder, seventh rounder, and the 26th pick.

Anaheim eventually drafts Kyle Palmieri, who was described by TSN as being, "ejected from his team...for having girls up in his room when he was not supposed to."

Sort of fitting.

[Update 9:42 PM]: I used Daft Logic to calculate the distance this pick traveled. If we are "cheating" by counting each trade in Montreal as the pick moving from city to city (Uniondale to Columbus to Anaheim to Montreal), it amassed 8,889.01 miles across North America. When we take into account that New York was the one who brought the pick to Montreal, it amassed 4,305.09 miles.

Feel free to throw in a few feet for the distance traveled on the draft floor.

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