Awkwardess of Hanging Around

As we see the smoke clear from the trade deadline and the new acquisitions don their new duds, more and more reports are coming out about trades that didn't happen and players who were so sure that they were going to be moved and then didn't; you have to wonder if there's any kind of awkwardness in the room or resentment from some guys in the long-run for not asking to be moved at all.

For instance, Brian Burke came out after the deadline was done and mentioned that Tomas Kaberle had three teams he'd be willing to waive his no-trade clause for. While speculation about the teams will go on and could be obvious, the fact Burke and Kaberle went back and forth about either Kaberle would be moved during the day could have put some weird vibes in the Leafs room, although most of the faces have changed and probably wouldn't have too many issues with the whole thing as some other teams would. If it were another team with a tighter bond, the awkwardness of this guy wanting out and not getting it could have been disaster for chemistry.

Moving onto reports out of Minnesota about Owen Nolan willing to be traded to two teams, San Jose and Washington, if GM Chuck Fletcher got the call from either team. This issue is a bit different, as Nolan said he believes the Wild has a chance at the playoffs; but Fletcher was willing to give Nolan the option because he hasn't won a Cup and Fletcher wanted to give him the chance to have his moment. For a team like the Wild who is still trying to find their identity, I don't think many people would be against Nolan leaving-- especially with what's he put into the league and knowing he doesn't have much time left to play on a contender.

Even though the two names above wanted out-- what about the guys who were pretty much rumored out the door, but stuck around. Especially in the goalie department where the likes of Cristobal Huet, Martin Biron, and Dwyane Roloson were rumored to be moving, but just a matter to where. In the Biron and Roloson case, the news of Rick DiPietro being done for the year, their plans got changed. But with Huet, how much could you prove to a team that seemed willing to dump you at the drop of a hat. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas was in the news because of the fans not accepting him anymore and him losing some playing time to Tuukka Rask, and while there were rumors of him getting dealt, nothing happened. Thomas was then quoted of saying he hopes he can play well enough to shove all the negativity up the arse of the media and fans who doubt him. Nicely played.

Plus, as mentioned on the show; there was something posted on Twitter about a Caps forward, with his number in the teens, having his bag outside the Caps locker room in Buffalo because he was being dealt. That cause rumors about about two players-- Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann-- being moved for something big. In the end, it was a false alarm as neither were moved. At the same time, how could you go back into the room and have to look around and feel sane with the idea of thinking the team was going to move you somewhere else-- the uneasiness of the whole ordeal would be a little much and with a team on a stretch run and wanting to get to the Cup Final; that could disrupt some chemistry. Or it could cause the rumored traded player to show his team he's worth it and prove to other teams they could have had him if they had offered the right price. Or not-- I don't know-- I wish I knew how these things go.

As it all clears out, we see more and more stories come out of this nature. It's always an interesting thing about guys not going places when they were 95% out the door. How that effects chemistry with the team and how that effects relations between the player, his agent, and the upper management is always something that brings interesting subplots to what will happen to it during the summer or other contract negotiations that happen in the future. Though, in this profession, you have to have a short memory, especially when it comes to trades, contracts, etc. It's only business.