TORONTO -- It's believed the Senators and Detroit Red Wings have the inside track on landing a Swedish scoring sensation.
Not Peter Forsberg or Mats Sundin in this case, but free agent Fabian Brunnstrom, who is lighting it up in his homeland's elite league.
"We're interested in him," Ottawa GM Bryan Murray confirmed yesterday morning at the Air Canada Centre. "But we can't do anything until his year is totally over, nothing can happen until this summer, and then he's like every other free agent. It comes down to recruiting."
Helping Ottawa's case might be the fact Brunnstrom is represented by J.P. Barry, who is also the agent for Dany Heatley, Daniel Alfredsson and Ray Emery.
Of the 10 teams that have expressed a desire in him, Ottawa and Detroit are figured to be the frontrunners, with Vancouver and Toronto in line behind them.
"Any player worth his wait wants ice time, but he wants to play for a competitive team, too," said Murray. "Basically, the money offered will be the same from every organization."
A left winger who stands 6-foot-1, weighs 202 lbs. and turns 23 next week, Brunnstrom is a late bloomer who last season won the Swedish Division 1 scoring title with 73 points (37 goals) in 41 games for Boras HC.
This year he has eight goals and 24 assists in 41 games with Farjestads BK, which plays in Sweden's best league.
"He's just one of those kids that was missed (in his draft year)," said Murray. "Nobody saw him as a prospect ... but then the team he played for wasn't an elite program in Sweden either."
Murray has struck gold with such players in the past. As the man in charge of the Ducks, he signed undrafted free agents like Dustin Penner, Andy McDonald and Chris Kunitz, guys who had major contributions in Anaheim's Cup-winning run.
Murray remembers Penner as a "big, awkward kid who had good hands but needed work."
McDonald and Kunitz slipped through the cracks primarily because they were considered too small.
"That's one of the things I'm trying to change in our organization ... have people that follow these guys to see if they develop (in Europe)," said Murray, who already has two such scouts and is close to adding a third. "If you can get one of those players every couple of years, it really adds to your organization, both the depth and the ability to do things."
Not to mention that, in the case of Brunnstrom, it would also give Alfredsson a teammate to talk to in his native tongue.
STARTS AND STOPS
First Wade Redden, now Antoine Vermette. The dashing forward officially removed himself from the free agent market during the all-star break when he became engaged to Gatineau pharmacist Karen Bonneau. Of course, Vermette's been ineligible to receive female passes for a decade -- he and Karen were high-school sweethearts. "Ten years with the same girl," said Vermette, who popped the question in Miami on the anniversary of their being together. "I thought it was good timing." No date is set for the wedding, only that it will be in the summer of 2009 and therefore not conflict with Redden's. He's marrying Danica Topolnisky in August ... An update on the possibility of Sundin waiving the no-trade clause? Glad you asked. "My position hasn't changed," the Leafs captain, who met with interim GM Cliff Fletcher earlier this week, said to an audience of three reporters in the dressing room after the morning skate. "I don't want to go anywhere else. That's how I feel. I can't control any of the speculation. But it's very clear for me, I want to stay here. It's very clear to my agent. (The rumours are) not coming from us."
BETWEEN PERIODS
Murray has marvelled at the hard work and dedication Heatley has shown battling his way back from the shoulder separation. "You have to give him credit, he's worked his (butt) off after the first week," the GM said yesterday. "You find out a lot about guys when they're hurt." After taking an active part in the morning skate, Heatley shrugged off such compliments to his character, saying all he does is what the trainer tells him he can. As for his return, possibly Tuesday? "I'm not ruling anything out," said Heatley, "after the four-week mark." That would be next Saturday at Scotiabank Place, when the Habs will provide the opposition ... Jason Spezza was so furious with Dan Marouelli's decision to ignore what looked to be an obvious tripping/hooking call in the first that he did more yelling at the ref than skating after a puck-carrying Leaf. Making matters worse was the fact Bill McCreary nabbed Christoph Schubert for holding about five seconds later ... Marouelli has become an official who must make the Senators cringe at the mere sight of his name.
ICE CHIPS
A trip to Toronto meant another stroll down memory lane for Luke Richardson, who started his career with the Maple Leafs in 1987. Richardson's first coach was the rough-edged John Brophy, who at one practice got a little carried away while showing defencemen how to clear the front of the net. "He speared Miroslav Frycer in the back of the knee," Richardson remembered, chuckling and shaking his head. "And put him in the hospital." ... It was suggested that perhaps had Emery practised more, he would do a better job of smothering rebounds than he did on a Matt Stajan shot that quickly became a Jiri Tlusty goal. But practice hasn't helped Martin Gerber with that part of the game, so there went that theory ...
