Breaking: Wild GM spotted attending 2 rival games in 2 days.

There is definitely something brewing in Minnesota.

We are entering what is the most exciting part of the National Hockey League's regular season with a little less than 2 months left prior to the NHL's trade deadline at the en of February. As one would expect this means that trade talk around the league has begun to pick up significantly and with that trade rumors have begun to fly back and forth around the league as well. Rumors are one thing however, it is another matter entirely when an NHL general manager makes his presence known and does so several nights in a row. 

On Saturday night veteran Montreal Canadiens reporter Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette reported a curious sight during the match up between the aforementioned Habs and the Nashville Predators. Spotted at the game was Minnesota Wild general manager Paul Fenton along with one member of his scouting staff, pro scout Chris Kelleher. The sight was particularly curious because the Wild themselves were playing just a few hours drive away in Ottawa where they were taking on the Ottawa Senators. This would appear to be an indication that Fenton was scouting either the Habs or the Predators as some form of precursor to a trade deal, but now things have just gotten even more curious.

Ottawa Senators insider Bruce Garrioch is now reporting that Fenton has been spotted today taking in the game between the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes, although it is unclear at this time if he remains accompanied by a member of his scouting staff or if he is taking in this one alone. This points to a few things, either Fenton is interested in pieces the Hurricanes have reportedly put on the trading block, or something changed over night to draw his interest back to Ottawa where his team was playing just one night before.

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It is of course impossible to tell but there where 3 names who entered the trade market late last night that were not consider trading chips just 24 hours earlier. Multiple reports have now suggested that extension talks between the Senators and star forward Matt Duchene have cooled off considerably and there is a real belief now that he could end up moved before the trade deadline if the Senators can't get a deal done on time. Additionally the Hurricanes are reportedly now willing to deal both defenseman Dougie Hamilton as well as veteran forward Micheal Ferland, and in fact there is a belief that the Hurricanes have already received inquiries from rival teams in regards to both players. I suspect that one or more of these players is what has drawn Fenton back to Ottawa today, and that could mean that something very big is brewing in Minnesota at this time. 

The Canadiens play the Wild tomorrow at the Bell Centre and if Fenton is not on hand for that game I believe it would be safe to suggest that the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators are the teams he is currently in talks with when it comes to potential trades. How close any of those might be is still anyone's guess at this time.