So here's the conundrum that is a Michael Nylander trade rumor ...
It's clear that his role with the Washington Capitals is as a third-line center. It's clear that on another team, his role would be that of a first- or second-line center.
One such team would be the Chicago Blackhawks, whom Ken Campbell of The Hockey News believes are looking to clear Nikolai Khabibulin's salary in order to make a play for Nylander:
Sources say the Blackhawks have already made two serious offers to the Capitals for Nylander and believe he would be a good candidate to replace Robert Lang and play with oft-injured Martin Havlat. Losing Nylander would be a blow to the Capitals, but they would still have Nicklas Backstrom and Sergei Fedorov to anchor their top two lines.
But Nylander has this pesky no-trade clause. So no matter how much sense a deal would make -- and lord knows it'd be fun to see him as, for example, Rick Nash's center -- where would Nylander approve a deal?
We'll chat about Nylander, Khabibulin, the remaining UFAs, some awards predictions and the usual tomfoolery with Lyle "Spector" Richardson of Fox Sports and David "Dave" Pagnotta with The Fourth Period. Chat starts at 1 p.m. EDT. Bring the funny.
