from Randy Sportak of the Calgary Sun,

The NHL free-agent courting period has done wonders in for creating dialog.

The problem is all the idle chatter has plugged the lines on trade talks.

"It stalls a lot of things," Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving said after completing the NHL Draft. "You look at the number of signings, the lack of signings, of players that are their own free agents. I would assume those teams that want players back have made offers, and now everybody's waiting. I don't necessarily know if the market is being driven by it, but it's slowing the market, without question."

The logjam will end Tuesday when the 30 teams open their chequebooks in the hopes of landing this year's crop of free agents.

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