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The Dumbest Rumor of All Time

Let me begin by saying that I absolutely cannot believe I have to write a post about this stupid rumor. I am going to quote the asinine rumor:

Another rumor that just broke is the Rangers are considering trading Marian Gaborik to the LA Kings and signing Kovalchuk. Very interesting rumor indeed. We all remember Gaborik had wanted to play in LA going into last summer’s UFA period prior to signing in NY.

Let me ask you this: Why in the world would Sather do this? This serves no purpose in the grand scheme of things for the Rangers. Trading one superstar to sign another one to a larger cap hit? Is anyone even taking a step back to think about this? Marian Gaborik is actually the better all around player. When he’s healthy, he actually scores at the same pace as Ilya Kovalchuk. Remember, Gaborik scored at a point per game pace in Minnesota under Jacques Lemaire.

Let’s ignore the fact that Gaborik is signed to a manageable $7.5 million a year. Kovalchuk wants $10 million for the same production. Let’s also ignore the fact that Gaborik actually had more goals and more points, albeit by one in each category, than Kovalchuk. Let’s ignore the fact that Gaborik carried this team in the winter. This is the single dumbest rumor of all time. General managers do not trade superstars so they can sign a different one. It does not happen.

Let’s define what a credible source is when it comes to rumors. A credible source is a beat writer. A credible source is pretty much everyone working for TSN. A credible source is James Mirtle. These are credible sources.

Let’s define people that should never be taken seriously: Eklund at HockeyBuzz, that guy from NHLSourcesSay, or pretty much anything from Bleacher Report. If you believe anything from any of these sources, then you deserve any kind of stress or worrying you encounter.

Look, GMs are always calling each other. There is constant chatter between GMs. In this scenario, what likely happened was LA missed out on Kovalchuk, so Dean Lombardi called Sather and asked about Gaborik. Sather probably told him the cost it would take to get him out of NY (probably something like Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn, and a 1st rounder to start the conversation), and Lombardi probably said thanks by no thanks. General managers in the NHL, or any sport for that matter, talk all the time. Hockey is a business, and constant chatter is a part of the business. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say over 90% of any kind of chatter amongst GMs is just tire kicking (Note: I am just using logical reasoning here. I am not in the business, thus I am not a credible source for much of what was said in this paragraph. Thus, I made use of the words “probably” and “likely”).

I am going to give everyone some advice. When you hear a rumor, take a step back for a second, and ask yourself these questions:

  • Does the rumor make logical sense?
  • Does the rumor help make both teams mentioned stronger?
  • Does the rumor work under the salary cap? (check CapGeek)
  • Do any of the players involved have no-trade or no-movement clauses?
  • Does the rumor make logical sense? (This is not repeated by mistake)/

By following these simple steps, you will save yourself a lot of aggravation.

Talking Points