Chicago / Boston rumors and Selanne update

Few rumors going around the net these days:

Chicago GM Dale Tallon has expressed an interest in acquiring an older defenseman with some offensive upside to mentor his young players. Francois Beauchemin’s name is one that has been bandied about. It’s unknown if Burke is seeking to move Beauchemin due to him struggling this year, but Burke himself has said he traded Andy McDonald in an effort to keep his D corps intact. If there were a deal, it’d likely be for picks/prospects or perhaps a young defender with a low cap hit.

Brian Burke’s senior consultant, Al Coates, also took in two Bruins games recently in Boston. Coates does have personal connections in the city however, so this rumor may not be based on much more than pure speculation. The Bruins and Ducks recently completed a swap, with Anaheim acquiring Brandon Bochenski and Boston getting Shane Hnidy.

Lastly, the latest on Teemu Selanne is that he will be back in 1-3 weeks. I myself predicted we would see him back in a Ducks uniform around the All-Star game; the rumored timeframe seeks to make me correct on that. Teemu has been upping his practice schedule and practicing in full gear this week.