Rumour du jour; Caps tonight

Well, as we know, the NHL GMs are in Florida to meet and talk about the game and to make trades, etc. Seriously, it's probably an excuse to go somewhere warm and golf and pound a few with other guys who have similar job titles.

Today there are a lot of articles online about shrinking goalie equipment. I guess the prevailing thought is that the league made some changes and rules regarding the size of some of the equipment goalies are using, there are still guys out there cheating or flaunting the rules because the NHL has not been cracking down on a lot of the infractions as much as they should. Who better that our own GM Garth Snow to talk about how he used the equipment to his advantage when he was an active player? Most of us can recall Snow looking like he had a refrigerator box under his sweater when he played for the Flyers back in the day. (When he was on the Islanders, I thought his pads fit him just fine.)

Martin Brodeur had what I thought was a great point in one of the articles I read on the Toronto Star website. He said that smaller guys are using the maximum-sized pads (38 inches) even though they aren't physically as big as Brodeur and Roberto Luongo are. (For whatever reason, I thought immediately of Dubie when I read that remark.)

Brodeur says that the equipment was to fit the guy better. Smaller guys shouldn't be wearing big huge pants and maximum-length pads unless they are big dudes to begin with. Makes sense. You don't see skinny ballplayers wearing stuff from David Wells' closet because there is no inherent advantage to wearing pants that are way too big unless you're trying to take up more space in the net.

Regarding the impending Toronto fire sale, Bruce Garrioch in the Ottawa Sun is the big winner as the one millionth writer to break the news that the Leafs have "talked to" the Islanders about Bryan McCabe. Show him what he's won!

Listen, the facts are all out there and we have read them over and over for years. McCabe has a no trade clause in his contract and the media thinks he will waive that clause to go to the Islanders because his wife is from Long Island and he still has a home there. The fact that the Isles' defense corps is dropping in numbers like AARP loses members only adds to the speculation.

Look, the one thing no one considers is that McCabe makes a lot of money. A LOT of money. Like 5 million a year. Wouldn't adding a salary like that throw the Isles pay scale out of whack? Guys like Brendan Witt--who are arguably more valuable and who make less than that--may feel affronted. I don't know about you, but for what Witt brings to the Islanders in terms of guts, toughness, leadership, and by the way, more guts and toughness, I think he may be underpaid if you compare his game to McCabe's.

Also, let's take into consideration that as currently constructed, the NHL does not allow for on team to take on part of a traded player's salary as is allowed in other sports; most notably, the NFL. Anaheim GM Brian Burke has been talking about this very amendment for years. If Toronto wanted to say pay a portion of McCabe's salary--essentially admitting they made a mistake by over-paying for his services--and have that amount count against their salary cap and not the Islanders' cap, then I would be all for it.

For instance, if McCabe makes 5 million a year and is traded to the Islanders, the Isles are on the hook for a contract that they didn't have a hand in writing. If Toronto traded McCabe and said that they'd give the Islanders 2 million per year of the remaining deal, that would mean that McCabe would be "only" costing the Islanders 3 million a season and that 3 million would apply to the Islanders' salary cap. The 2 million dollars of "dead money" would go against the Leafs.

Again, until this Burke Provision becomes law, there's no real sense for the Islanders adding a guy like McCabe that someone else made a mistake with. Sure, he is a good player and he is quite capable and he also probably is a victim of that contract that he signed with Toronto, but without the Leafs helping out with the salary, it just doesn't add up to be a prudent move in the fiscal sense. Like it or not, that is the world we live in now in the NHL. Trades and signings have to make sense to the bottom line as much as they have to make sense in a hockey way as well.

Caps tonight, in DC. A great article on Alex Ovechkin can be found here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com