Rumors and the Art of De-bunking Them

First, let's look at Zherdev. As soon as it was announced that the Rangers had decided to pass on the arbitration number, Wild fans began asking if he would fit in Saint Paul. Checking the stats, he looks solid, right?

Take a second and look at the new rumor coming via Brad Ratgen's Twitter. He says that according to a rumor site, Alex Tanguay is in the running for two teams. Tampa Bay, and here in Minnesota. Here is Tanguay:

Who wouldn't want Zherdev's 58 points on the roster or Tanguay's 41 in only 50 games, right? Wrong. As Russo pointed out shortly before blasting off for Vegas, Zherdev is a whiner. Russo also reinforces Chuck Fletcher's stance right now (check's in the mail Russo):

Fletcher has made it clear he wants to wait to see what the teams who are pushing the cap do as the season nears. He has said it multiple times. But, that means little, as it is not concrete. Let's put this in our back pockets for a moment.

Here is the concrete evidence used to de-bunk both rumors. NHLNumbers.com. A simple visit to the premier cap site on the web tells us that the Wild are at $53.675 against the cap for the upcoming season. The cap is $56.8 million.

Do the math. You are all capable.

Zherdev:   $53.675 + $3.9 = $57.575 million. 

Tanguay: $53.675 + $5.375 (last years number) = $59.05 million.

Now, reach back in your back pocket and pull out that information from before. Chuck Fletcher wants to see who he can get when other teams realize they are either over the cap or too close for comfort. Both of these players turn the Wild into the team that is over the cap. So, if Fletcher himself has said he wants to wait, why would get so brain cramped crazy about guys that put the team over the cap?

-Buddha