Chiarelli, Lombardi shoot down Marco Sturm trade talk

Yahoo! Sports

Thu Dec 02 10:18pm EST

Chiarelli, Lombardi shoot down Marco Sturm trade talk

Earlier today, reports had Boston Bruins winger Marco Sturm (notes) headed to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional draft pick. It was GM Peter Chiarelli's way of freeing up salary cap space for Marc Savard (notes), who made his comeback tonight during Boston's 8-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

LA Kings Insider's Rich Hammond then halted things reporting that until Sturm passed a physical, there would be no deal. Given Sturm underwent ACL and MCL knee surgery over the summer and has yet to play for the Bruins this season, the Kings wanted to make sure they weren't getting damaged goods in the deal.

Tonight, both Chiarelli and Kings GM Dean Lombardi put a halt to any talk of a trade. Lombardi told the LA Times' Helene Elliott via email, "No deal" and when pressed for a reason why things fell apart replied, "There was no deal".

After the Bruins game, Chiarelli released a statement dismissing the trade talk.

From Bruins.com:

"I am aware of the various media reports today regarding Marco Sturm. I can confirm that I spoke to Marco about waiving his no trade clause and have had discussions regarding Marco with other teams. I can also confirm that there is no trade in place with Marco. At this time, Marco is a member of the Boston Bruins and will continue to train with our team."

Kings assistant GM Ron Hextall told Elliott that this isn't the end to the discussions of Sturm going to Los Angeles. The Kings have been looking for a left winger since the summer and despite the fact that Sturm returned to practicing with the Bruins this week, his recovery from off-season surgery is something the Kings should be hesitant about before completing any deal for him. Sturm is still 2-3 weeks away from returning and there's no need for Lombardi and the Kings to rush into a deal for a player with a question mark over him at the moment.