The whispers get very loud around the trade deadline, but the real good listener will hear things that are likely to take place later, rather than sooner.

	Fedorov

In other words, names you often hear at the trade deadline are prime candidates to be moved just before the NHL draft, or over the summer as teams stock up for the next season, or re-configure their balance sheets for the new NHL after the next CBA.

For example, the name of Sergei Fedorov keeps coming up in terms of somebody you can bid for over the summer. There is a growing consent that Fedorov's days are done with Detroit after this season, and that five-year, $50 million deal he was offered by the club's ownership is now off the table. The Red Wings are blessed with young forwards such as Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, with glowing reports about prospects Igor Gigorenko and Jiri Hudler.

Even for the big red cash register known as the Red Wings, the time will come to think about salary cap, and this summer would be the right time. Would they dare try to move Fedorov at the deadline?

"I think they've thought about it," said one NHL scout, "but the Cup is right there for them again. They can make this run with him, and see how those young players develop in the playoffs."

Just makes you wonder if a team such as the Leafs, the Rangers or New Jersey might make some wild call about Fedorov with an offer of young players the Wings would have to consider. The most likely scenario is that Fedorov will sign to play in a city he wants to call home, most likely Los Angeles or a team in Florida.

Always a bridesmaid
Isn't Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Pat Quinn getting tired of finishing runner-up for available players? The latest was Vaclav Varada who went to the Ottawa Senators, and to a lesser extent Dmitry Yushkevich, who went back to Philly, rather than back to Toronto.

It has now become an issue of pride with Quinn and the Leafs, so if they make up their mind they want Owen Nolan, they are going to land the Sharks captain by the trade deadline.

Lucky 7?
Seems like just a matter of time now become Sean Burke becomes a member of the Magnificent Seven -- as in the seventh goalie used by the St. Louis Blues this season. The Blues are cool on Arturs Irbe from Carolina, so watch for a middle-ground deal of draft picks to get Burke from Phoenix to St. Louis within the week.

Poor play or is reality setting in?
Starting with Monday night's game against Vancouver, this is the week the No. 8 Boston Bruins play three of the four games they have in hand with the No. 9 New York Rangers.

Sources say that the Boston management team has decided that if they do pull the reins away from coach Robbie Ftorek that former Bruins goalie Gerry Cheevers will either be the next coach, or coach along with GM Mike O'Connell.

The Bruins will need to win games over the next week to stay alive for the playoffs, this despite a wonderful start to the season. What Bruins management should remember is that points are worth just as much in October as March and April.

Nobody really expected much of Boston this season, not with the decisions to get on without Bill Guerin and Byron Dafoe, and wait on trading Kyle McLaren. It's been ugly at times lately, but Ftorek did provide early hope for what many believed a hopeless situation.

The best trade so far
The best deal of the season, at least from the viewpoint of the Capitals, might have been the Nov. 1 swap in that sent Michael Nylander from Chicago to Washington for Chris Simon and Andrei Nikolishin.

Coming into this week, Nylander had 52 points. Meanwhile, the Hawks have gone bust as Simon has nine points and Nikolishin just 12. The Hawks still have a chance to make the playoffs, mostly because Nashville literally got a bad break when David Legwand suffered a fractured collar bone last Saturday. But the city of Chicago is understandably having a hard time turning on to a team with leading goal scorers who have just 16 goals. Chicago is also headed for a season in which their leading offensive producer -- Alexei Zhamnov -- is on a pace to score just 63 points. That would be the fewest points to lead a Chicago team for a full season since Ivan Boldirev collected 64 points during the 1976-77.

Flyers' biggest additions will be healthy ones
On the other hand, the Philadelphia Flyers are considered one of the teams with a chance to roll to the Stanley Cup finals, and they are also battling a scoring slump of monstrous proportions.

Coming into this week, Jeremy Roenick led or tied for the team lead in both goals and assists with 22 of each for 44 points -- not in the NHL's top 50 scoring leaders. If he continues at that pace, he will lead the Flyers with 28 goals and 28 assists for 56 points. That would be the lowest goal total to lead the team since Bobby Clarke's 27 goals led in the 1970-71 season, the lowest assist total to ever lead the club, and the lowest point total to lead the team since Andre Lacroix scored 56 points in the team's second season of 1968-69.

And yet the team continues to win, with much credit to coach Ken Hitchcock's ability to coach defense.

The Flyers made a depth acquisition when they re-acquired Dmitry Yushkevich last week from the L.A. Kings, but don't expect they are done dealing. In fact, the addition of Yushkevich could mean a deal to send a young defenseman packing.

You can expect the Flyers to lose veteran Eric Desjardins in the summer, as the defense makes room for highly-regarded prospect Joni Pitkanen and Jeff Woywitka. The Flyers have made it very clear they will not deal Pitkanen, but scouts say they were listening to discussions with Calgary about Woywitka as part of a large package for Jarome Iginla.

However, the Flyers biggest trade-deadline additions are likely to be a healthy John LeClair, Simon Gagne, and the increasing possibility that Justin Williams could be back from knee surgery if there is a long playoff run.

When a loss is a win
What kind of nightmare would it be for the NHL if, during the final weekend of the regular season, a team needs a win, tie, or overtime LOSS to qualify for the playoffs? Talk about backing in. At least it used to be you needed the other guys to lose a game.

Al Morganti covers the NHL for ESPN.