While I don't necessarily think that what Wawrow is saying is true, I would say there is a difference between reporting possible trades and something that happened in the past. If I say there are trade talks of X player for Y player, there is the reasonable excuse of well, one team wanted an additional 3rd, and the other didn't want to give that up. But with this, he is reporting something that has happened(Or didn't). If I were a sports reporter, this would be something I would be more cautious to report, as opposed to a trade rumor.
If TM were to fail, and then LaFontaine was average, we would be a lot happier with him than if LaFontaine was just average to start.