Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Tavares Being Shopped Around

The worse kept secret in junior hockey is in the media. Today, Sportsnet is reporting that the Oshawa Generals are talking to teams for John Tavares' services. The top two teams for his services are Windsor and London. Windsor is basically taking themselves out of the race.

"I got a call five minutes ago," said Windsor Spitfires GM Warren Rychel. "Obviously our team is interested in him, but I'm not about to mortgage the future of this franchise to get him. Our strength is down the middle."

I have to agree with Rychel. Don't break something that's not broken. They have Taylor Hall who's in the same class as Tavares. They will have Hall for next year also and most likely Tavares will be in the NHL.

The London Knights like to make the big move. They already got Trevor Cann from Peterborough. They lost a 2nd round pick in 2010. You think a second round pick in 2009, probably another second round pick in 2011, an Import selection, Jared Knight and one of Chasen Bailey or Adam Clenndening would be the core of the package.

What would it cost if Michael Del Zotto was thrown into any deal along with Tavares? Would the Hunters go that far? Zotto has 4 goals and 15 assists in 18 games. Oshawa said this to say today:

"I guess the bottom line is we are a .500 team and we have to consider all our options," DePiero said. "We are very fortunate to have the best player in the Canadian Hockey League and I know there are probably 19 teams out there that would love to have him. I have been fielding calls from teams the last three or four weeks.

Does DePiero think they will be contenders next year? They could get younger and make a run in two years if they trade both Tavares and Del Zotto. Or do they think they can get more for Del Zotto at next year's trade deadline.

Tavares agent had this to say:

"John is very happy with the way he has been treated by the Oshawa Generals," Brisson said. "At the same time it is his fourth year in the OHL, his draft year, and the Generals don't appear to have what it takes to win a championship. John is aware that while he is away at the World Junior Championship training camp or the tournament, he may be traded and return from the tournament to a new team."



Do you think Tavares wants this thing to be over before the World Junior Championships? That will be the number one question heading into the World Junior Championships. I highly doubt that Tavares wants to answer those questions. He will be highly scrutinize to begin with, why would he want to answer more questions. I don't think his potential teammates want to answer those questions either.

That's My Take

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

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