It’s the dog days of summer folks and with the bulk of the top free agents now signed and the end of the salary arbitration period the lack of significant player movement means  tons of wild speculation revolving around the status of those few decent players still available.

This year’s main focus of course remains upon Dany Heatley, who requested a trade nearly two months ago but to date Sens management haven't found any takers.

That’s not surprising since Heatley, despite his obvious talent, carries an expensive contract with a no-movement clause significantly limiting where he could be dealt since the final say rests with him.

The Senators had a deal in place over a month ago with the Edmonton Oilers but because he doesn’t want to play there the deal fell finally fell through when the Oilers management wearied of trying to woo him into changing his mind.

Of the eight teams which were on Heatley’s wish list only one – the San Jose Sharks – appeared to have any interest but they don’t have much to offer up in terms of expendable talent.

Speculation which originated with the Ottawa Sun suggested a third team might have to get involved to make a deal happen. Not a bad idea as far as rumors go but it went off the rails suggesting the Canadiens could be that team.

Why the Canadiens? Because they’re still lacking a big offensive center and for the past two years any rumors linking the Canadiens and Sharks always involved San Jose captain Patrick Marleau.

But he’s got a big salary ($6.3 million for next season) and a no-trade clause and I doubt very much he’s keen to come to Montreal and live the fishbowl existence of a Hab.

Speaking of the Canadiens I also got sucked in (hey, nobody’s perfect) when a reader recently sent me a link from what I thought was a legit source claiming the Canadiens were talking to another California team, the LA Kings, and this time their target was Alex Frolov.

I dismissed the rationale behind that one since the Habs already have enough left wingers and this move wouldn’t address the need for a big scoring center but it turns out the rumor was a fabrication. I should’ve known better but even at this time of year even I’m not totally immune to the crazy.

Alex Tanguay remains the best player still available in the UFA market for two good reasons: he’s coming off shoulder surgery and he’s reportedly seeking $5 million per season.

The former could be overcome if he were willing to accept a lesser deal – say, one-year at $2.5 million – but the supposed extremes of the latter is apparently making that impossible at this time.

That’s not stopping some rather silly speculation linking him to  the Red Wings (too expensive), Rangers (they already have enough wingers) and even back to the Canadiens (don’t need him).

Heatley may or may not be dealt, Tanguay will in all likelihood be signed by the start of training camp and if Frolov is being shopped it won’t be to Montreal.

Until there’s real news to start filling the void of the off-season dog days expect the rumors, no matter how weird or crazy, to get more attention than usual.

Yes, I know, without these wacky rumors making it into the news I’d have little if anything to post to my trade rumor page which would result in a very slow month for me.

That doesn’t mean I can’t point out the absurdity of those rumors.