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| 18th September, 2006 - 7:18 am |  Fox Sports - As NHL teams open their respective training camps Friday, speculation is growing over potential player moves by the Columbus Blue Jackets and the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
It's rumored that Blue Jackets general manager Doug MacLean might shop holdout restricted free-agent forward Nikolai Zherdev, while news out of Raleigh indicates Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford is shopping highly touted defense prospect Jack Johnson.
The lengthy, contentious contract talks between MacLean and Zherdev reached a head this week when MacLean yanked a three-year, $6.9-million contract offer from the table after it was rejected by Zherdev's agent. The Blue Jackets GM instead signed unrestricted free-agent winger Anson Carter to a one-year, $2.5 million contract.
MacLean insists he'd still like to re-sign Zherdev but realizes he's running out of time to do so. Zherdev signed a contract with a Russian club for the upcoming season and if he plays a single game in Russia after the NHL season begins, he'd then have to pass through waivers before he could re-join the Blue Jackets.
Given his youth and talent, another NHL team would pluck the Russian winger off waivers, which all but ensures the Jackets won't chance re-signing him once the upcoming NHL season begins next month.
Zherdev's agent recently requested a trade for his client, and MacLean recently told the Columbus Dispatch he was examining all options, leading to speculation he might try to trade Zherdev before the end of September. [READ] |
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