Fredrik Modin

The Atlanta Thrashers have had quite a season so far.

They started out surprising everyone in the hockey universe by winning hockey games. Then, as some had forecast, the bottom seemed to fall out in the second half.

Despite the leadership of Rick Dudley, Craig Ramsay, captain Andrew Ladd, Dustin Byfuglien and Toby Enstrom, the team has dropped like a proverbial rock in the standings and sadly appear to again be in jeopardy of missing the playoffs.

New Jersey Devils

Today, I will look further into the Devils' current cap situation. GM Lou Lamoriello must move more than three million dollars in cap space before the season commences to be under the cap. Who can he trade/waive? Let's see.

Eric Stephens of the OC Register is reporting that Ducks GM Bob Murray has been in serious talks with the Bobby Ryan camp to try and get him locked up for at least a few more years.

My take: This is a good move by the Ducks. Ryan needs the Ducks and they need him as they want to make the playoffs this season and without Ryan they don't have a good chance of doing that.

With the Tomas Kaberle saga finally over one can't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It became official last night at 12:01 am with the word coming down that Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke was not able to make a satisfactory deal for embattled veteran defense man Tomas Kaberle.

While it may be a relief to Kaberle that he will remain a Leaf, I'll wager that the bigger relief is that the wait is over.

Burke issued this brief statement immediately following the deadline.

It happens every year, and 2010 will be no different. A player will enter the free agency market with high expectations for themselves. They'll set a price that their former team doesn't match, or had no intentions of even discussing with them. A few teams will nibble around with lower offers or shorter terms, but none will go quite where the man in question wants. As July 1 turns to July 2, days become weeks, and weeks become months, the bulk of the free agency activity will have finished.