Shoebox Memories: Rental Rexi

T-Minus 4 days and counting until the NHL trading deadline.

Brian Burke is sure to make a big splash in the next few days. Will Florida move Jay Bouwmeester? With the poor economy, will there be a lot of buyers, as in year's past? With so many teams still in playoff contention, will there be enough sellers?

The trade rumors are crazy. I'm not going to try to keep up on them all. Guys like Lyle Richardson do that very well, and I don't know how. Check out Spector's Hockey for full rumor analysis.

What I do know is there will be more than a few rental players moving around this week. Teams will try to salvage draft picks and prospects in exchange for unrestricted free agents to be. It makes sense when a team is unlikely to resign the player anyways. It's all about the business of hockey. Asset management as Brian Burke would say.

The term rental always brings up memories of Reijo Ruotsalainen. The Edmonton Oilers were so infatuated with this Paul Coffey clone that they brought him in late season twice, both times resulting in Stanley Cup championships.

After that type of success, the nickname "Rental Rexi" was firmly part of Ruotsalainen's image. So much so that even to this day when the Oilers need help on defense sports casters often joke that the team is inquiring about Ruotsalainen's availability.

You can read the full Reijo Ruotsalainen biography here. But be sure to come back tomorrow when Shoebox Memories looks at the player most often traded on NHL trade deadline day.