FanHouse AngeloEsposito

The Boston Bruins are currently the best team in the NHL, and with the trade deadline less than 72 hours away, they're apparently looking to make a blockbuster deal to solidify their status as the odds on Stanley Cup favorite.

On Saturday, a report surfaced that the Bruins were close to a deal for Anaheim Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger. On Sunday, the rumors continued as the Boston Herald reported the Bruins made an offer for Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Tomas Kaberle. NESN picked up on this rumor and called it a "monster" offer.

The Atlanta Thrashers currently occupy the No. 14 spot in the Eastern Conference, 17 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the final playoff spot. Needless to say, it appears as if the Thrashers are destined to miss the postseason for the eighth time in their nine-year existence.

When you combine yet another dismal season with the fact star forward Ilya Kovalchuk is an unrestricted free agent following the 2009-10 season, it's only natural to piece together trade rumors. Rumors the Thrashers have no interest in.

Let me start this post out by getting all my biases out in the open and letting you know that I'm a Penguins' fan. I'm a Pens fan, and I am freaking psyched by this Marian Hossa trade. When I first found out about the trade this afternoon, I was psyched on the condition that the Pens didn't give up Jordan Staal to get the deal done. They didn't and more than five hours later, I'm still freaking psyched, though I'm now trying to figure out why I'm in what seems to be a slim minority, so let me take some time to explain why.

Some people are actually claiming the Pens are mortgaging their future to make this trade. How is that possible? Last I checked, Malkin, Crosby, Staal, Whitney, and Fleury were all still in black and gold and heck, even Ryan Malone's still around. It's not like the Penguins' core is hitting their prime years and they have no one coming up behind them; their core is also their future. Eric Christiansen and Colby Armstrong are just bit players to that group.

I mean, I get that Armstrong and Sidney Crosby are best friends, but people move away from their friends all the time. I get that Army works hard and Pens' fans respect him for that and probably see some of themselves in him, but just because the Pirates play hard doesn't mean they don't suck. Crosby will miss Armstrong until the first time that he whips a pass across the ice to Hossa and Hossa buries it in the net instead of letting it bounce over his stick and to the defense.

This is one in a series of profiles of the International Scouting Service's 2007 Top 15 NHL Draft Prospects, and relies heavily on the 2007 NHL Entry Draft Media Guide. Check back often leading up to the June 22 Entry Draft for more profiles and draft coverage and analysis.

Name: Angelo Esposito
Team/League: Quebec/QMJHL
Vitals: 6'1", 180 pounds, center, shoots left
Born: February 20, 1989 in Montreal, Quebec

The unimportant stuff: Was the CSB's #1 ranked North American skater at the Mid-Term, #8 in the final ranking... great skater, great passer... lacks consistency... needs to do better in traffic... captained Canada's 2006 U-18 gold medal-winning team... won a Memorial Cup in 2006.

The important stuff: Fluent in three languages (English, French and Italian), "Espo" is not related to former NHLers Phil or Tony Esposito, but does have uncles named Phil and Tony Esposito, would invite the more famous Phil Esposito to dinner and wears the same number (seven) that Phil wore in the NHL. Bizarre.... patterns his game after Vincent Lecavalier, his favorite player, and lists juniors head coach Patrick Roy (yes, that one) as "a good mentor"... favorite movie is "Rudy"... used to be "The Next One"... went to Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school for two years, where the previous Next One went.

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match: Esposito is another guy, like Logan Couture, whose stock has fallen but still has big offensive upside. But whereas Couture could fall to the late first or even early second round, I can't see Espo falling out of the top half of the first round. He could go as high as seventh to Columbus, but I see him being John Davidson's first pick as St. Louis's de facto GM at ninth. After all, Davidson did play six seasons with that other Esposito.