Marian Gaborik for Ilya Kovalchuk: Could This Possibly Be for Real?

Watching the Atlanta Thrashers game against Toronto Monday night, it sure seems like there's a lot of talk about what's becoming a hot NHL rumor.

(And Center Ice gave us the Leafs TV feed. I can only imagine what the Thrashers' voices are saying about it.)

The key word to remember is "rumor". But it's a good one.

Multiple reports over the weekend had the Minnesota Wild talking with the Thrash about a blockbuster trade. The deal would send Marian Gaborik to Atlanta for Ilya Kovalchuk.

While it might make sense to some, there appear to be significant roadblocks.

Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News believes a smaller deal is in the works, because a deal involving Gaborik and Kovalchuk just doesn't make sense.

The GMs of the Wild and Thrashers – Doug Risebrough and Don Waddell - may indeed be talking trade, but a Kovalchuk-for-Gaborik deal appears far-fetched.

Kovalchuk is under contract for another season so the Thrashers aren't in any hurry to move him. He's also had a healthier NHL career than Gaborik and has better offensive stats, so this move wouldn't be an improvement for the Thrashers.

Gaborik not only has a lengthy injury history, but also is eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer and is believed to have spurned a lucrative eight-year contract offer worth $8.5 million per season from the Wild.

I tend to agree. Why would Gaborik sign long-term in Atlanta? The future there is murkier than perhaps anywhere in the NHL? At least he'd have some young studs to play with in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Kovalchuk is only signed through next season, and why on Earth would the Wild want to go through that again? And would Kovalchuk give up his impending free agency to sign long-term with a team he's probably never had a serious thought about playing for?

Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star Tribune makes a case for this trade being in the works, because he knows the sides are talking. Then again, he doesn't seem convinced.

As for the Kovalchuk part, he's a true superstar but not exactly known as a "team guy." But if it's not Kovalchuk, I don't know whom it would be. The Thrashers don't have a lot of forwards that I think would interest the Wild other than Kovalchuk, and nobody I talk to thinks they'd trade Bryan Little.

Kovalchuk has one more year left on his deal, so boy, if this did go down, imagine a second straight headache of Kovalchuk extension talks, and then, perhaps, Kovalchuk trade rumors. If Gaborik's Hossa The Sequel, then Kovalchuk could be Gaborik the Sequel. I just don't see the Wild putting itself through that again.

Surely, Risebrough understands the need to do something. It'll help if Gaborik is productive and avoids injury between now and the trade deadline. Even if he isn't, the rumors aren't going to stop, as they didn't when he was hurt the first time around.

The sooner Minnesota makes a move, the better. I'm not a believer in change for the sake of change, but Gaborik is little more than a distraction to this team right now. And with how they're playing, they don't need any distractions.