Whispers get louder in NHL's swap shop.(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

FORT LAUDERDALE _ Well, it's that time of year again. The trade deadline is fast approaching _ Tuesday at 3 p.m. The rumor mill is churning, but this deadline is not going to be like so many others.

Usually, this time of year, the most likely candidates to be traded are unrestricted-free-agent-to-bes who have no shot of getting an extension before the deadline. The thinking is, trade them so you can get something before probably losing them for nothing after July 1.

But here's the quandary: The most prominent of these Group III free agents play for teams who have a chance to go far in the playoffs. So Chicago says it will hang on to Tony Amonte, Boston will probably hang on to Bill Guerin, San Jose is expected to keep Teemu Selanne, St. Louis isn't expected to deal Scott Young and Bobby Holik will probably stay in New Jersey.

The scuttlebutt around the NHL was going wild heading into the weekend, something that drives new Lightning GM Jay Feaster crazy.

Feaster said he told his players, "Unless you see it in the paper in quotation marks, `said GM Jay Feaster,' it's only media speculation."

He was angry with rumors that Brad Richards was heading to Vancouver, Pavel Kubina to the Islanders and Dave Andreychuk to Montreal.

"I think it's unfortunate," he said. "I think it's bull_ that (reporters) suck this stuff out of their thumbs."

At the risk of ticking Feaster off, here's the buzz heading into …