Ryan

Due to recent Islanders’ news and developments during the first two days of training camp a previous Checking Line post had to be updated.

It has become apparent that Lubomir Visnovsky will not be reporting to the Islanders’ training camp after skipping a flight the team booked for him on Sunday. The NHL is waiting to see if the KHL will stick to their guns and not allow him to play on his current team, Slovan Bratislava, where he was playing due to the lockout. (Photo Credit: Anguscertified.com)

Something has got to give. The Detroit Red Wings made four signings today, two of which are forwards. This is a strange predicament the Red Wings are in. They have $17 million left in cap space and are still in on the Zach Parise sweepstakes.

Parise will likely make a decision by tomorrow, but with Jiri Hudler out of the picture, the Red Wings still need a top line winger, which might come in the form of Parise or Alex Semin (or possibly Hudler, although unlikely).

The Jordin Tootoo and Mikael Samuelsson signings give Detroit 16 forwards under contract, not including Justin Abdelkader, who is an RFA, or Tomas Holmstrom, who is UFA.

In a league where you usually dress 12 forwards a game, 16 is too many. Factor in a spot for Abdelkader and a Parise type player, and that's 18 forward spots. What is Ken Holland going to do?

With the rumour mill churning and the Toronto Maple Leafs actively seeking a top-six forward, general manager Brian Burke could soon pull the trigger with the trade deadline looming.

As the All-Star weekend wraps up, trade speculation reaches its peek with what’s sure to be a few weeks of absurd trade rumours (Jeff Carter and the Columbus Blue Jackets’ first-round draft pick for Luke Schenn and Mikhail Grabovski is my personal favorite).

Burke has publicly stated his desire to acquire a top-six forward that can add some size and strength to the line-up. The problem, it seems, is such players aren’t acquired at will. Burke had expressed his prefer...

As the end of January approaches, so too does a trade from Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke to bolster his team and elude the madness of the trade deadline.

Burke has stated publicly that he has at least one trade on the burner and he's in conversations with one or more teams. If he pulls the trigger on any deal, however, it will have to a) add size to the top-six unit, and b) upgrade the Leafs for this season as they make a push for the post-season. The only exception, Burke said hypothetically, would be to trade "a 22-year-old for another 22-year-old who plays a different position" in order to fill a need---like, for example, a lack of size in the top-...