Rumor Central
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Chris Chelios knows he might not go on the first day of free agency, but the 47-year-old blueliner is eager to see what happens when the market opens Wednesday and he gets set to leave Detroit after spending a decade there.
"I'm really excited," Chelios told ESPN.com from Hawaii, where he's vacationing with his family. "I want to get it done. I don't think I'll sleep too well until it's taken care of. I'm really looking forward to the new challenge."
I know he's older, but let me tell you, having seen the guy without his equipment on this spring in Detroit, he's as fit as they come. You have to think there's a team out there that can still use him and his experience. But he made one thing clear to me -- he doesn't want to be a spare part again like he was in Detroit this past season.
"I want to play. I don't want to be a seventh defenseman," Chelios said. "I want to jump in at five or six and help out."
Gaborik update
Had a chance to catch up with Marian Gaborik's agent, Ron Salcer, on Monday. He wanted to squash, once and for all, the strange rumor that his star client had bought a house in Vancouver.
"He has not bought a home in Vancouver; that's outlandish," Salcer told ESPN.com. "Marian has been in Slovakia. He hasn't been shopping in Vancouver for a home. That's just crazy."
It appears fairly obvious Gaborik will hit the open market Wednesday. Salcer said that other than one conversation with new Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, he hasn't really talked much with Minnesota lately.
"They have my number; they know how to reach me," Salcer said.
I suspect Fletcher definitely will give it one last phone call later Monday or certainly Tuesday, but the betting money is Gaborik hits the market.
