“I wouldn’t give my last draft choice in order to get him,” was the way the fellow put it to me.

“It’s not because he isn’t an honest, hard-working player, but because he has lost it. The many wars against much bigger and tougher fellows are telling on him. He is trying hard, but he can’t get there anymore.”

And that may be just fine with the veteran player. Tucker, who has a no-trade clause in his contract, says he would like to remain with the Maple Leafs.

With Hollywood mogul Oren Koules getting closer to purchasing the Tampa Bay Lightning, Erik Erlendsson of The Tampa Tribune reports that it’s becoming more likely the club will re-sign pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Dan Boyle.

As well, the chances of forwards Vincent Lecavalier, Brad Richards and Martin St. Louis sticking around have also increased.

Mark Everson of the New York Post reports that New Jersey Devils forward Brian Gionta’s name has been mentioned in trade rumors involving forwards Martin Havlat of the Chicago Blackhawks and Olli Jokinen of the Florida Panthers.

Gionta tells Everson he’s not aware of the speculation.

“I haven’t heard it,” he said.

Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland tells Detroit Free Press that he expects a number of significant deals leading up to the February 26 trade deadline.

“I think there’s probably going to be three or four high-profile trades,” Holland said. “There are names being bandied about. Some are going to be traded. Some aren’t. There’s going to be lots of third-line players, sixth or seventh defensemen (traded). They’re not going to change the nature of your team. They’re going to give you a little depth.”

As for the Red Wings in particular, Holland is said to be interested in acquiring a scoring forward. Holland also hints that he’ll be looking to make a big splash on the trade market rather than just adding marginal talent.

“Other than the high profile players, I don’t know how much better some of these players are than what we’ve got,” Holland said.

Panthers GM and Jacques Martin tells George Richards of the Miami Herald that he’s looking to bolster his injury-riddled roster prior to the trade deadline.

However, youngsters such as forwards Shawn Matthias and Michal Frolik are off limits.

“We’re always looking to add some players if we can,” Martin said. “The only drawback with that is, a lot of time they’re asking for guys like Matthias, Frolik. For the better of the organization, you don’t want to give up one of those young players that you’re going to count on for a lot of years. They’re going to be significant.”

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun reports that the Buffalo Sabres are not “confident a deal is going to get done” with pending UFA defenseman Brian Campbell.

Sabres GM Darcy Regier met with Larry Kelly, Campbell’s agent, Tuesday in Ottawa and were not able to reach a framework for a deal.