Somethin brewin?

Just to piggyback on Eplagge's post below -- here is some more speculation from MapleLeafsHotStove.com:

Just got a tip that the Stralman-Primeau swap is the tip of the iceberg to something larger happening in Toronto. Being told to keep an eye on the Blue Jackets – Brassard and Klesla are two names that have been bandied about in the rumour mill.

There has been a lot of talk surrounding Columbus, Vancouver and St. Louis during the past week. The *suspicion* is that today’s Stralman trade was a necessary move to facilitate another, larger move with one of the three aforementioned teams.

Speculate away, folks. Things are getting real interesting, real fast. Updates will come as I receive them.

Not sure how legit this source is (and hey, it's a low news week) but one thing I can definitely tell you just from common sense is that Derick Brassard ain't goin anywhere!

Klesla, while I'd love for him to stick around for another year to see if he can replicate that playoff performance for a full season, I could see being on the table for the right return. Again the Jackets need that puck mover and have too many defensemen that play the same type of game with Russell being the exception.

Then you say to yourself.. wait a sec.... Toronto is trying to unload another defensemen so why take one back? Doesn't make much sense.

Toronto and the Jackets do make some sense in terms of what they are trying to deal. Toronto needs offense while the Jackets need offense for their defense. I'm just not sure the assets line up to meet both teams needs.

Kaberle is the juicy target and it would take a Brassard type player to land him which, again, Howson isn't going to part with. He wants to build around that young core not subtract from it.

...and how long have we been searching for a #1 center? Think Howson would trade away our best chance to fill that gap? Again, ain't happenin.

Van Ryn is a guy the Jackets may be willing to take a chance on and perhaps Bruke may be interested in a guy like Chimera in return.... Van Ryn comes with a lot of injury question marks however as he only played in 47 games the past two seasons. He is a right hand shot and can be a useful player on the PP. From forecaster:

ASSETS: Moves the puck well up the ice, has a good point shot and is always willing to dish out punishment.
FLAWS: Needs to become more assertive on offense, since he has the talent to produce big numbers.
CAREER POTENTIAL: Top four defenseman.

His contract is also attractive as he's only signed for 1 more year at 3.35 mil.

I suspect we'll continue to hear more and more speculation as it's no secret what the Jackets need and I'm sure Howson is keeping the lines of communication wide open to see if something falls in his lap.

Stay tuned.

-LTL

Check out this glass shattering hit!

Now this is a big league hit by the Bruin's Lucic:



The glass (and Van Ryn) certainly lose this one!

-LTL