BUFFALO -- Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said Thursday that a trade involving veteran defenseman Niclas Wallin was in the works and should be resolved before Friday's game against the Buffalo Sabres.
"We have a pending trade for him," Rutherford said. "He has a no-trade (clause in his contract). He has to waive that, and I think at this point in time his agent is working through some things with the other team.
"I would expect we will know something here in the next 24 hours."
Wallin was a healthy scratch Wednesday in the Canes' 4-1 loss to the Calgary Flames amid some media reports -- all based on unnamed sources -- that Wallin would be traded to the San Jose Sharks. Rutherford would not confirm those reports.
Either way, Wallin likely has played his last game for the Hurricanes, which he helped lead to the Stanley Cup in 2006, as well as the 2002 Stanley Cup finals and last year's Eastern Conference finals.
"It's tough to let any player go," Rutherford said. "You get attached to these guys, especially the guys who were with us when we won the Cup. You have a special attachment to them.
"And in Nic's case we drafted him. He's been here his whole career. He's such a great guy. But at the same time, with the direction we're going to go with our team, he may or may not have been part of that.
"We have a chance now to get a good young asset. And that's what we're going to do."
In other news, the Canes on Thursday reassigned forward Jiri Tlusty to the Albany River Rats of the AHL. Rutherford said early Thursday evening that no decision had been made on a callup.
The Canes had hoped Erik Cole would ready to return to the lineup for Friday's game against the Buffalo Sabres. But Cole will not play.
"We want to keep him playing through the Olympic break," Rutherford said of Tlusty. "We're real pleased with how he played. He plays against top players on the other team on the (Brandon) Sutter line and he's done a good job.
"We'd like to see him get his scoring touch a little bit more. But the main reason is to keep him playing."
Canes coach Paul Maurice said defenseman Andrew Alberts should be able to play against the Sabres. Alberts suffered an upper-body injury in the first period against the Flames and did not return to the game.
Rutherford said forward Tuomo Ruutu might be able to return to the lineup for Saturday's road game against the Islanders.
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at 
Comments
Per Chip...
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 18:05 — richardfocTweet from Chip indicates the Wallin deal is off. He exercised his NTC.
"ice_chip
Wallin did not waive the no-trade clause, indicating the terms were not fully to his liking."
Mcginn to the Hurricanes?..Kovy = KHL?
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 11:25 — hellfishWallin for Jamie Mcginn would be a steal for the Canes giving the Carolina another top NHL prospect at LW 6ft 200lbs and was the fastest skater at the 06'/07' prospects game and one of the hardest shots as well. Wallin's best years are gone he can keep the penalty box seat warm for SJ ,because he can't play against a team's top 2 lines anymore...If Kovy turned down 102m what "will" he sign for or will he bolt to the KHL to a reported 15m per year in Russia?..NJ may not get anything but a rent-a-player and lose 2 very good NHL players in Odulya and Bergfors...Will we be rid of Kovy after this year for good?..I don't think so ,because in his interviews he stated many times that he wanted to stay in the NHL "where the best players in the world play" a shot over the bow of the KHL maybe being team-mate Slava Kozlov along with Sergei Federov have been rumored to have been extorted by the Russian mafia in the past. Couple that situation with the traveling being more than in the NHL. The KHL will do no better than a Radulov(Nashville) or a occasional Babchuk (who already wants to come back) or a Jagr in the twilight of there careers...Kovy nah when he's done here maybe!
McGinn would be a steal!!!
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 12:28 — jgrant641McGinn would be a steal!!! Plus that would bring our average age down by a year or so (which is a lot).
wow thats cool, do you have a link for that rumor?
link
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 12:39 — hellfishSJ mercury news...the N&O does'nt allow links???
Kovalchuk makes sense
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 10:26 — ctillKovalchuk makes sense for NJ, especially if Brodeur is thinking about hanging up his skates. NJ paid a price by giving up Oduya, who plays solid D. Question is, can the Thrashers survive in Atlanta after losing Heatley, Hossa, and now Kovalchuk? That's a big PR problem. My guess is that the franchise will move. Disclaimer: I attended Atlanta Flames games, so I've seen that scenario before.
Tough Call
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 11:20 — GoShelfIt could go either way and Waddell's in very tough spot, he had to get something for Kovy now, what happened to Florida last summer was brutal and somewhat unacceptable. I don't know how you keep a viable sports franchise in any sport when not making the playoffs for a decade, talk about mismanagement. It's going to be interesting to watch.
Irony is, the Atlanta Flames
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 11:27 — ctillIrony is, the Atlanta Flames made the playoffs 6 out of their 8 years. But they moved to Calgary anyway. Money talks! Eric Staal reminds me of ex-Flame Tom Lysiak. Staal is more gifted athletically, but he could use the hard edge that Lysiak had.
Wow
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 22:21 — GoShelfI sure didn't see the Devils getty Kovy, most felt LA was his most likely destination. You'd have to think this would put LA as a bidder on Whitney and would probably push the rumored time-line up to before the Olympic break. I'm still shocked.
I am very glad that the
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 07:15 — CharlotteCaniacI am very glad that the Kovalchuk situation resolved itself quickly. That makes Whitney the top offensive rental on the market and should greatly improve our return. Had that been prolonged with multiple teams in the running for Kovy, I doubt we would have been able to play the market as much.
I felt LA too, but not a
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 07:01 — jgrant641I felt LA too, but not a suprise by the devils. I thought it was a weak return cinsidering Kovy was looking to be traded somewhere to get an extention.
My first though is that means Whitney is next... when and where is the next question.
Roster Players
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 09:32 — GoShelfIf the Devils can't re-sign him then it's going to look like bad deal for the Devils especially if they don't win the Stanley Cup. They gave up 2 roster players who play significant minutes and a prospect who minus the Mikael Tam hit had a bright future. Nevertheless, with this move the Devils have to be considered one of the fav's in the Eastern conference - love the balls shown by Lou.
yes, short quiet lou. he
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 10:45 — jgrant641yes, short quiet lou. he is like a little hermit living under the bridge. he only surfaces suddenly to snatch a huge player and then quietly goes back to his recluse.
how much longer on this Wallin trade already??? haha
No kidding
Fri, 02/05/2010 - 11:04 — GoShelfI zero patience for this kind stuff.
Yeah...
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 22:47 — richardfocIt would have been nice if ATL had sent Kovalchuk out west. At least he is out of the SE Division.
Ahhhh, the value of an established blueliner...
Thu, 02/04/2010 - 19:04 — hockeyhick"young asset", in other words, "probably not a draft pick." This is surprising to me, as I thought Wallin would fetch only a pick, and a mid-rounder at best. At least with a prospect there is SOME history, not a total unknown like with a draft pick. I still feel we take what we can get for the likes of Wallin and A Ward.
Also- the word 'asset' is telling, in that with Tlusty, JR made no bones about his thought that he will be a top-6 forward. 'Asset' would imply he could be used on another trade...Damn! I guess I have a case of "Trade Frenzy" and am totally over-analyzing this stuff! It is fun though...
Good luck to the big Swede! And keep the rebuilding going JR!