Stevens Insider: Making Sense Of Gaborik....
Stevens in Vegas.....scary I know!!!
Who is that with me? It is the wife...who else would it be after all. So the Marian Gaborik watch has perplexed and frustrated people for weeks now and I am here to simply tell you for one...that it is going to keep going. Don't you just love that as a fan? I don't. Now imagine what Wild fans are going through right now.
Marian Gaborik's numbers for his career are on the link right here. The talent is not in question folks Last year was obviously a career year with 83 points and that fired up the speculation for this year. However just look at his injury history and games missed. Add in that his groin is more tender than a folded piece of paper and you have the makings for a player that could do great things or go severely bust at the drop of a hat. Right now he is day to day with a groin injury. Yahoo come on...you can say it...it is okay.
Now of course the rumors came flying out that Gaborik was faking this "lower body" injury. Again with the wonderful NHL injury disclosure rule...an injury does not have to be made precisely known to the world. But using a little common sense and thanks to guys like Michael Russo....we know that Gaborik wraps his leg up heavily after most every game. He has chronic groin problems and more than likely it just flared up again.
Ok on to the meat of this situation. Marian Gaborik has been rumored to go to at least 7 or 8 teams and probably more by the time I finish writing this. Just recently he was rumored that he may "want" to go to the Kings. Then there was the Gaborik to Montreal rumors. Guys like Halak and Higgins plus picks were tossed around like a game of hackey sack. Thanks to folks like Spectors who have been making sense of the situation lately with his Marian Gaborik watch. To make it clear, Eric Engels (MTL insider) brought up a great point to me this morning (actually several). The most common sense one that has gotten some legs is this simple fact....Montreal looks damn fine as it is. They would have clear around 3.86 mill in cap space even with the trade to absorb the Gaborik deal and then the Habs would likely try to sign him. Clearly he feels, there is no legs with the Montreal speculation and I tend to agree.
He also contends that a trade is not imminent at all. I also agree with that as well folks. Just because Doug Risebrough is fielding offers....does not mean he has something even close to being on the table. Based on the fact that speculation just keeps running around and around...you have to think that there is nothing that is going to go down very quickly. The reality is this...remember that Joe Thornton trade?? He wasn't traded until November 30th in the 2005-2006 season. Last I checked that is still over a month away. Now that is not around the day Gaborik will be traded but with cap restraints being a reality....Gaborik will certainly not be dealt in October and probably not in November either and a possibility that December may even go out the window.
So for everyone trying to scoop the scoop...WGN, all the Team radio stations up in Canada...I have a bit of advice...take it easy. It will happen when it is going to happen. Because if something leaks and gets accelerated...do you really feel good at the end of the day knowing your leak led to something not happening? Yeah I thought so!
Now with all these rumor mongerings going on over Gaborik....I will throw one team in that could be a distinct possibility. This too has been mentioned just nowhere near as frequently. How about Vancouver? It is nice up there...they do need scoring and they have some $$$ to throw around in the offseason for Gaborik. At the very least, Pavol Demitra plays there now (signed in the offseason). It is no secret that him and Gaborik are very close buddies. Gaborik knows the Sedins pretty well apparently to top it off. Keep in mind, I am not saying he is going to Vancouver...I am just saying it is a possible destination. That is all I can say about it for now. As when you make promises, you have to keep them.
So the Gaborik rumors will keep swirling about and people will inevitably go cuckoo over each one. Nothing has happened yet and nothing appears close. Maybe sometimes that is all we need to know. Think about it.
