So you thought getting rid of Lubomir Visnovsky would be easy, eh?
The defenseman, who might be a Norris candidate if he played every game against the Dallas Stars, seemed to be out of the Stars collective hair earlier this summer when it was announced he was traded to the New York Islanders.
But on Monday, it was discovered that Visnovsky has actually filed a grievance with the NHLPA to nullify the trade, claiming he never gave the Anaheim Ducks a 10-team list of approved destinations that was required by his no-trade clause.
"[General manager Garth Snow] has been great to him, they've had good conversations and Lubo likes what he's heard about how they want to use him," Neil Sheehy, Visnovsky's agent, said. "But this has really nothing to do with the Islanders. For Lubo, this is about establishing what's right and whether a team has the right to move him in the manner that they did."
That no-trade clause stems from his 2008 contract with the Edmonton Oilers. Visnovsky, who for the record has 18 goals, 27 assists and a plus-29 rating in 57 career games against the Stars, was sent from Anaheim to the Island for a 2013 second-round pick.
After the jump, what has Jamie Benn done on his summer vacation, the problems of judging players on apparent effort and what not to do with the Memorial Cup.
- In addition to him and his brother Tweeting what they've been up to on their summer vacation, Jamie Benn has a full schedule of charity game appearances and dryland training. [Victoria Times Colonist]
- I know this will come as a shock, but Tim Cowlishaw isn't a fan of the moves the Stars have made this summer. Also, he demonstrates a pretty solid lack of understand of the realignment power-play that went on last season. All in six sentences! That's impressive. [DallasNews.com]
- The Stars have decided to outsource their merchandising operations to the same firm that handles the Dallas Mavericks' gear. [Dallas Business Journal]
- After the dramatics at the end of last week, the Nashville Predators still haven't made an announcement over whether or not they'll match the Philadelphia Flyers offer sheet for Shea Weber, but the Preds are continuing to take steps forward on the business and community-involvement side of the organization by advocating for more local ice rinks. [The Tennessean]
- There are a few too many gratuitous shots at the average age of the Stars offseason signings in this story for my taste, but it does lay out an interesting case for why the San Jose Sharks should consider trading Joe Thornton. The first trade that sent him from the Boston Bruins is always an interesting discussion topic. The Sharks did get Thornton, but the Bruins were the ones who ended up with the Cup. [The Hockey Writers]
- In terms of player movement that actually did happen, you might have heard that Rick Nash will be joining Brad Richards on the New York Rangers. [New York Times]
- Also finalizing the team he'll play for next season (please god let there be a next season) was Kris Versteeg, who avoided arbitration and signed a four-year deal with the Florida Panthers. [Litter Box Cats]
- This article by my favorite essayist over at Backhand Shelf is ostensibly about Alex Semin and the fairness of the criticism of a players "lack of caring" or "lack of effort." But I could also see a lot of Mike Modano in some of the comments, and the underlying message - that the theatrics of effort are not necessary to be a good hockey player - is a solid one. [Backhand Shelf]
- Dear future CHL winners of the Memorial Cup: Please do not let your trophy end up looking like this, even if it is a replica. It doesn't reflect well on you. [Buzzing The Net]
- Those of you who play hockey in the Metroplex know that the Plano Dr Pepper StarCenter was shut down for more than a year for some pretty significant remodeling. That rink officially re-opened last week, and it definitely fills a geographic hole in the network of rinks around the Dallas area.