Penguins Chasing Shanahan, Kovalchuk???

With several days off before their next game Thursday night at home against the Edmonton Oilers, there couldn't be a better time to kick around some trade and free agent rumors I've been chasing down the last few days.

And we're not talking about no-names here.

First, there was a report yesterday that the Penguins had been talking to and were getting close to signing former New York Ranger and current free agent right wing Brendan Shanahan.

Shanahan had been waiting for the Rangers to sign him to a deal, but New York GM Glen Sather obviously dragged his feet long enough that Shanahan felt compelled to seek work elsewhere one month into the season.

It doesn't appear that Shanahan is looking for a lot of money. Indeed, he may sign for (only) around 1 million. It does look like he's trying to stay relatively close to New York, however.

Shanahan is a veteran who still has some value as a potential 20 goal scorer in this league if used properly -- especially on the power play. He would bring leadership and a little grit, too.

Personally, I'm not sure whether the report has legs, but it's no secret the Penguins could use a little more scoring and aggressiveness on the wing. If he comes at low risk (read: cost), signing Shanahan could be worthwhile.

As of right now, it appears that Shanahan is talking to other teams -- notably the Philadelphia Flyers, and perhaps even New Jersey -- so it remains to be seen whether he becomes a Penguin. Time will tell, since I suspect Shanahan will, indeed, come back sometime --- probably sooner rather than later.

The other rumor of note involves the Penguins exploring a trade for the Atlanta Thrashers' OTHER superstar winger, LW Ilya Kovalchuk.

Why not continue to fleece Thrashers GM Don Waddell while you can, right?

His Atlanta team is going nowhere fast ... Kovalchuk has no help and probably can't wait to get out of there ... and Waddell has shown a penchant for questionable deals in his career. Trading Brandon Coburn to the Flyers for Alexei Zhitnik 2 years ago bordered on the criminal.

Anyway, the talk is that the Penguins may be offering center Jordan Staal, defenseman Kris Letang and either a 1st or 2nd round draft pick for Kovalchuk.

Frankly, none of the names being tossed around in this potential deal surprise me. I've already mentioned how desperate Kovalchuk is to leave Atlanta. Staal has struggled this season, but the 20 year old still has a good amount of potential. With him being stuck behind Crosby and Malkin down the Penguin middle, he's the biggest chip the Penguins have to (again) acquire a top-flight winger to play with #87.

See this post for more: http://theboysofwinter.blogspot.com/2008/10/is-jordan-staal-piece-of-penguins.html

I'm also not surprised to see Letang's name making the rounds. The Penguins are deep on defense, and once Whitney and Gonchar return, will have 4 defensemen with good offensive skill. Goligoski has looked this year like he may even be better than Letang in that respect.

Normally, I would think that a deal like this is just talk. But although Waddell has denied that he's interested in trading Kovalchuk, that doesn't mean he won't. More importantly, the source of the rumor wasn't some hack like Bruce Garrioch in Ottawa. Former Tampa Bay GM and current NHL.com contributor Jay Feaster first reported last week that Atlanta and the Penguins were talking about a major trade.

Mark Madden, everyone's favorite abrasive sports-talk radio host in Pittsburgh and now with the Penguins flagship station, 105.9 WXDX, has since reported on the rumor, as well.

The only thing that makes me wonder about the deal is the salary cap. It definitely would be a factor in a deal like this. The Penguins would have to make room for Kovalchuk's salary (approximately 6 million this season) and are pretty close to the cap ceiling right now. That's why I believe that, if the rumor has any legs, it may not be Kris Letang in the deal --- it could be Ryan Whitney and his 4 million dollar a year salary. If I'm right and it's really Whitney being discussed, don't expect such a deal anytime soon, mainly because of Whitney's injury. That said, Shero and Waddell could very well be working on the framework of the trade at this point.

Again ... I don't believe anything is imminent, but if Waddell is going to trade Kovalchuk -- who has this year and next year left on his current contract -- I think he'd be hard pressed to find another team who could offer him a similar package.

When I know more, you'll find it here.