Selanne brushes off talk about trade to Red Wings

DETROIT -- The closer the calendar gets to the Feb. 27 trade deadline, the more Teemu Selanne's name is likely to be thrown out for public consumption.

There are already rumors swirling about the League-leading Detroit Red Wings having interest in adding the skilled 41-year old Selanne to their already-talented collection of forwards. Selanne is good friends with Finnish Wings forward Valtteri Filppula, so people are already starting to connect the dots and wonder if he'd waive the no-movement clause in his contract for a Stanley Cup chase in Motown.

However, Selanne on Friday morning at Joe Louis Arena warned not to get too caught up in trade talk concerning his name just yet.

"I'm trying to avoid that question," Selanne said, when asked whether he'd accept any potential deals before the trade deadline. "Obviously, everybody in this room believes that we can make the playoffs and that would be almost wrong to think about any other options. That's not in my mind right now. Let's see what happens. My main focus is right now and today."

The Ducks are 11-2-2 in their last 15 games and 10 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference going into Friday's action. They're also starting an eight-game road trip on Friday night against the Red Wings, which Selanne is real interested to see play out.

"This road trip is going to pretty much decide which direction we're going to go and everybody's looking ahead and up," he said. "Hopefully we can do it and let's see what happens after that. The way things went in the first half [of the season], it was really tough. That's why I think it's time to enjoy every moment and make sure that our way is going up in the standings, not going down. This is the time to push now and enjoy it."

As for fans in Detroit already having Selanne's name highlighted as a potential "perfect fit" with Filppula with the Wings, Selanne chuckled.

"We don't go that far," he said, smiling. "[This trip] is so important for everybody right now and we know the urgency, what we have to do. But that's the only focus we have right now. Everything else is stuff to put aside and forget from now on."