Russo's Rants: NHL free-agency talk, a few days early

Russo's Rants: NHL free-agency talk, a few days early Free agency officially begins Thursday, although reportedly the Flyers have been given permission to talk with Evgeni Nabokov and Marty Turco. And obviously, Pittsburgh with Dan Hamhuis after his rights were shipped from Nashville to Philly to then-state rival Pittsburgh. I woke up to some e-mails about what it would take the Wild to acquire Ryan Potulny's rights from Edmonton. The Wild's not trading for Potulny's rights. I'm not saying the Wild wouldn't eventually one day have interest in Potulny if he became an unrestricted free agent, but I can assure you that the Wild's not going to give up an asset for Potulny's rights. Also got some e-mails asking why I didn't include free-agent center Matt Lombardi in my Insider. I wrote too long and needed to trim some things, and that paragraph on Lombardi didn't make it. What I wrote about Lombardi is I like him as a player, but the free-agent center crop is so weak right now, I think he will get a dramatically inflated contract and therefore I think he's too expensive for the Wild. I don't think the Wild should be giving Lombardi $4 million per.