Not that it means much coming from Eklund....but it's postworthy:

"Ovechkin to the Kings is another rumour that I mentioned on the air yesterday. It is an E1, but it is the first legit AO rumour that I have heard. There are also rumours of a possible extension for AO as early as mid January, so we will see. The deal that I heard would start with Cammalerri and Bernier (the goalie) plus...."

I can't believe the Caps would give up their franchise period. Although this might work if they threw Kolzig in the mix. I'm sure he'd like to get out of Washington.

Anyway...just something to read.

How does this grow the franchise? This pretty obviously goes against growing the franchise through the draft, or fix our secondary scoring problem. But other than that, it sounds great.

Well its Eklund... So likely it is just fluff :P But if there was anything to it it would be a huge deal of Gretzky proportions. The thing is that it is actually possible. Because AO, even though he is their franchise, is a very big money hog and the capitals have a goaltending problem coming when they lose Kolzig.

The problem is so do the Kings... Trading Bernier, their #1 goalie prospect right now, is a very dicey move especially if he turns out to be a franchise #1 like Kipper or Luongo but AO is already established as just about the most dominant forward in the league... Its a toss up but if the Kings can trade Cammy, Bernier, some picks and maybe another asset; walk away with Kolzig or some temp replacement, not lose Brown, Kopitar, or Johnson, and can be successful in signing or trading for #1 franchise goaltender in the offseason without losing those three assets you can consider it a win :P Very dicey move indeed... Would be fun if it actually happened even though its 99.9% rumor.

yeah, that would make perfect sense....the Kings trade away their first legitimate chance at a franchise goaltender....that is something the Kings would do, I could see it.

I heard a rumor that Nike or Reebok offered Ovechkin $10 million if he signed with the Kings, Rangers, Maple Leafs, or Blackhawks (the biggest market teams). I believe Ovechkin is a restricted free agent this summer and I have to think he wants out of Washington because they have shown zero commitment to building a winning team, and at some point he has to get sick of carrying the team with no help and continue being compared negatively to Crosby.

I think you put Ovechkin on the Kings on a line with Kopitar and Frolov and then have Nagy, O'Sullivan, and Brown on the second line (assuming they have to trade Cammalleri) and you have perhaps the most potent offense in the league.

Ovechkin is the kind of player where if you have to give up Bernier then do it because while Bernier will probably be a great NHL goalie there are lots of great goalies out there, there are maybe 3 players in the world even close to Ovechkin in terms of talent.

It is a dicey proposition, but it's not like we wouldn't receive some solid assets. Kolzig can play, he's just on a desert island called Washington. The Caps D has always sucked. Even though we're not much better, we've got some good youth coming and anything is better than where he is at now. Besides, I've seen MAJOR improvement from LaBarbara this year. He plays positionally and uses his size much more instead of flopping all over the place. Working with Hextall has helped him guaranteed. Kolzig/Labarbara is a NICE duo in the pipes. They could do damage. If we lost Bernier to get that, we'll get another goalie prospect in the next 5 years while these 2 shore things up. It would be worth it IMHO.

But ONLY if we get AO and I'd trade Cammi and a 1st rounder for him. We're stocked on picks, we are getting value for that 1st rounder. Not to mention, AO is ULTRA competitive, and we NEED that fire on this team. Without losing those 3 assets Maverick mentioned, this IS a win for us. Add the open door Garrett mentioned (Reebok, 10 million) and it makes it possible.

Eklund is hardly ever right, granted, but he's been right before. I honestly think I'd do this, regardless of the diceyness. It could be the shake-up this franchise needs.