The Hockey News 2009 Trade Deadline Central

TO EDMONTON
Ales Kotalik, RW

ANALYSIS: Buffalo did very well with this deal. Kotalik, 30, is skilled, but has disappointed since his 25-goal, 62-point season coming out of the lockout, a trend that has continued this year. With 13 goals and 32 points in 56 games. If there is one good thing to say about the right winger, it’s that at 6-foot-1 and 227 pounds he has a big body and has been known to use it on occasion. If the Oilers can light a fire under him, Kotalik may just surprise. - JG

TO TORONTO
Olaf Kolzig, G; Jamie Heward, D; Andy Rogers, D; 2009 4th round pick

ANALYSIS: How much do you think a fourth round pick is worth in cash? Olaf Kolzig is out for the remainder of the year, so the Leafs are essentially agreeing to pay his salary for the rest of the season – though it won’t count against the cap – to add a late-round pick to their 2009 entry draft repertoire.

Andy Rogers is a first round bust from the 2004 draft and Jamie Heward is also out and will likely never put on the Blue and White this time – he played 25 games for them from 1995-97.

The money-maker that is the Toronto Maple Leafs have money to burn and are willing to bulk up on their selections this summer at any cost. After such a long and respectable career in Washington, though, it’s kind of sad to see Kolzig go out this way. - RB

TO HURRICANES
Erik Cole, RW; 2009 5th round pick

ANALYSIS: Patrick O'Sullivan might get better. What he won't get is bigger. The Oilers have some skilled players up front but none of them - from Ales Hemsky to Andrew Cogliano to Sam Gagner - are particularly big. O'Sullivan plays with some jam, but Edmonton could really use some size up front.

Erik Cole, meanwhile, takes his 6-foot-2 frame back to Carolina. Obviously his time in Edmonton didn't go according to plan, concluding with 16 goals and 27 points in 63 games.

Subtracting O'Sullivan for Cole doesn't really hugely impact Edmonton's playoff chances this year and, presumably, Cole was going to leave for nothing in the summer as a UFA.

As for Carolina, why not take a chance on a familiar face who helped you win a Stanley Cup just three years ago. - RD
.
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO HURRICANES
Patrick O'Sullivan, RW; 2009 2nd round pick

ANALYSIS: The first part of a three-way swap took place just prior to the deadline when the Carolina Hurricanes dealt winger Justin Williams to Los Angeles for Patrick O’Sullivan (who was subsequently traded to Edmonton for former Hurricane Erik Cole) and a second-round pick in 2009.

Williams has labored through a couple major injuries this season, including a broken hand in mid-Feburary that still has him on the sidelines. He’s signed through 2010-11, making him more attractive to a Kings team that will have cap challenges in the coming years.

O’Sullivan, meanwhile, was the bait that brought home a hockey legend in Carolina. That alone makes his acquisition worthwhile to ‘Canes fans, if not the on-ice product itself. - AP
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO SAN JOSE
Travis Moen, LW; Kent Huskins, D

ANALYSIS: The story in San Jose? Load of the Rings. Since the Sharks fell short in last year's playoffs for the 400th consecutive season, GM Doug Wilson has made getting players with championship pedigree a priority. Rob Blake, Dan Boyle, Claude Lemieux and even new coach Todd McLellan have all taken part in Stanley Cup parades.

Acquiring Travis Moen and Kent Huskins from Anaheim is further proof Wilson is trying to alter San Jose's future by adding people with winning pasts. Moen was a big part of Anaheim's shutdown line when it won the 2007 Cup, while Huskins was a useful member of the defense corps.

Meanwhile, Anaheim has committed to a rebuild without trading its big chips. Chances are that will happen in the draft, where Chris Pronger will almost certainly be moved out as the youth movement continues. - RD

TO PHILADELPHIA
Kyle McLaren, D

ANALYSIS: Strictly a depth move for the Flyers, who know that you can never have enough depth on defense in the playoffs. Kyle McLaren, who has played only 17 games in the minors this season and none in the NHL, certainly won’t usurp any of Kimmo Timonen, Ryan Parent, Braydon Coburn, Matt Carle, Randy Jones or Andrew Alberts, but he can fill in at the No. 6 spot if one of them goes down. - KC

TO CHICAGO
Sami Pahlsson, C; Logan Stephenson, D; 2009 conditional fourth round pick

ANALYSIS: This is one of those under-the-radar deals that oftentimes pays huge dividends, in this case for Chicago.

Pahlsson is an unsung-hero type. He doesn’t score much – 52 goals and 143 points in 544 career games – but he does the little things to help his teams win. The 31-year-old is an effective penalty killer and responsible center who was a key piece in Anaheim’s 2007 Stanley Cup victory.

Wisniewski, 25, was lost in Chicago’s blueline shuffle as the sixth or seventh defenseman, but has shown promise. And with Anaheim moving Kent Huskins, poised to move Chris Pronger in the off-season and waiting for Scott Niedermayer to decide if he’ll play another season, the Ducks can use all the blueline depth they can get. - JG
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO COLUMBUS
Kevin Lalande, G

ANALYSIS: A fifth round pick of Calgary’s in 2005, Kevin Lalande is a long shot to ever make it to the NHL. That said, his numbers since he turned pro in 2007 haven’t been too shabby.

After starting slow in the American League, Lalande was sent to the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers. He posted a .932 save percentage there last season and .925 SP this year before being brought back up to the AHL. He is 4-1-1 with a 1.29 GAA and .929 SP there.

The Jackets make a smart move, giving up only a late-round pick for a small tender with good numbers, no matter how remote his NHL chances are. With Steve Mason in net and Pascal Leclaire already shipped off, the Jackets are starting to re-stock a thin goalie pool that really only includes another NHL long shot in Dan LaCosta.- RB

TO FLORIDA
Steve Eminger, D

ANALYSIS: This is a deal of almost no consequence. Steve Eminger was the 12th overall pick in 2002, but has disappointed to date with just 68 points in 274 NHL games for three different teams. He has potential, but the 28-year-old, RFA-to-be is fast running out of time to fulfill it.

Tampa Bay wins this deal on the back of the third round pick. Welch is 26 years old and was chosen 54th in 2001. He’s seen action in just 56 NHL games during his career, scoring four goals and nine points. - JG
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO ANAHEIM
Eric Christensen, C/W

ANALYSIS: If the Ducks are trying to squeeze every point possible in order to make the playoffs this year, Christensen and his prowess in the shootout will help. He also provides a measure of depth down the middle. O’Dell is a late-bloomer prospect, playing for the Ontario League’s Sudbury Wolves, where he is the team’s second-leading scorer with 59 points in 59 games.- RK

TO BUFFALO
Dominic Moore, C

ANALYSIS: True to their word, the Toronto Maple Leafs dealt Domenic Moore after failing to come to terms with the 28-year-old on a contract extension prior to the trade deadline. Moore goes to Buffalo for a 2009 second-round draft pick that originally belonged to the Carolina Hurricanes. He fits in perfectly with the fast-moving, defensively sound attack favored by Buffalo’s management; as well, his contract expires this season, making him all the more attractive to the cash-conscious Sabres.

Meanwhile, the Leafs continue to re-stock their depleted draft reserves, while at the same time demonstrating they won’t overpay to keep any particular player – even a Toronto native like Moore. - AP

TO PHOENIX
Dmitri Kalinin, D; Nigel Dawes, LW; Peter Prucha, RW

ANALYSIS: After flaming out in his pursuit of defensemen in free agency last summer, New York Rangers GM Glen Sather is hoping to correct his blunders at the trade deadline.

It remains to be seen whether he did when he acquired Derek Morris from the Phoenix Coyotes fro defenseman Dmitri Kalinin and forwards Peter Prucha and Nigel Dawes.

Prucha and Dawes, both of whom were drafted by Coyotes GM Don Maloney when Maloney was working for the Rangers, are restricted free agents after this season and chances are Phoenix will be able to sign both of them, which makes the deal a good one for the Coyotes.

Morris is a player who could thrive in New York. He’s a good puck moving defenseman who will move into their top four. But he’s an unrestricted free agent after this season and this is a deal we could look back on years from now as one that was another blunder by Sather. - KC
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO RANGERS
Nik Antropov, LW

ANALYSIS: Everyone knew Toronto was moving Nik Antropov today, though the New York Rangers weren’t necessarily the destination expected. The big, lanky forward can play center or wing, meaning the Rangers can make another attempt at finding some chemistry up front. He can put the puck in the net, too. The Maple Leafs are starving for draft picks this summer thanks to several bad moves made in the recent past and this trade gives them the second round pick they were missing. The conditional pick is also a boon for the rebuilding squad. - RK
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO PHILADELPHIA
Daniel Carcillo, LW

ANALYSIS: Carcillo burst onto the scene in 2007-08 with 13 goals, 24 points and a league-leading 324 penalty minutes in just 57 games, a number that included 19 fighting majors. He’s been disappointing this season, however. The 24-year-old left winger has just three goals and 10 points so far, although he does have 18 fighting majors. Most importantly, for the Flyers, Carcillo is locked-up at less than $900,000 next season, a cheap price to pay for an NHLer winger.

Upshall, a restricted free agent July 1, is a work in progress who has never lived up to the expectations of being the sixth overall pick in the 2002 draft. He showed flashes with 14 goals and 30 points in 61 games last season, but has tallied just seven and 14 to date this year. The second round pick is what makes this deal tenable for the Coyotes. - JG
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO PITTSBURGH
Bill Guerin, RW

ANALYSIS: The Penguins’ search for leadership led them to the well-worn skates of now-former New York Islander Bill Guerin on trade deadline day. And the 2009 conditional draft pick Pens GM Ray Shero surrendered seems a small price to pay for the fair amount of gas left in the veteran center’s services.

(Here’s the breakdown of the conditional pick: if they fail to qualify for the playoffs this year, Pittsburgh will send the Isles a fifth-round pick; if the Pens do make the post-season, the Isles get a fourth-rounder; and if Pittsburgh moves on to the second round of the playoffs, they’ll send a third-rounder to Long Island.)

Guerin will be looked to as a calming, authoritative influence – who also has a Stanley Cup championship under his belt – in the Penguins’ dressing room. His pending unrestricted free agent status this summer also makes him worth the gamble.

It does make you wonder, though, why Isles GM Garth Snow held out on dealing Guerin this long. Smells to this correspondent like a distinct Plan B. - AP
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO BOSTON
Mark Recchi, RW; 2010 2nd round pick

ANALYSIS: Is GM Peter Chiarelli taking a page out of Stanley Cup-winning Jim Rutherford’s book? When the Carolina Hurricanes won the Cup in 2006, Rutherford scooped up veterans Mark Recchi and Doug Weight to add a little veteran spice to his fairly inexperienced lineup. Turns out the plan worked as Recchi and Weight each tallied 16 points in the post-season.

The rumors were that Boston was trying to add Erik Cole (who was also on that Hurricanes team) or Bill Guerin, but Recchi was a bit of a surprise acquisition. Especially for what Boston gave up.

Where the Canes didn’t give up anything of great value, the B’s shipped out two serviceable prospects. Matt Lashoff was ranked No. 4 on the Bruins’ prospect depth chart in Future Watch and the former first round pick has been up and down from the American League this season, but his position with the Bears was basically taken by Matt Hunwick. Lashoff, an offensive defenseman, has one point in 16 NHL games this season. Martins Karsums is a name likely no one knows – and was ranked No. 9 on the Bruins in Future Watch – but he was second in Team Latvia team scoring at the recent Olympic qualifier.

With the young lineup Boston has, the addition of Recchi can only increase their chances of taking last year’s first-round, seven-game playoff surprise to a whole new level. - RB
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO ANAHEIM
Petteri Nokelainen, LW

ANALYSIS: Nokelainen, the 16th overall pick in 2004, was unhappy in Boston after being told he wasn’t contributing enough offensively (three assists in 33 games), even though he was also told to play a checking role. Montador, 29, joins a deep Bruins defense corps as a sixth or seventh man. He had four goals and 20 points in 65 games with Anaheim this season and is a veteran of 355 NHL contests. The deal works for both sides; Nokelainen has upside and Montador fills a gap. - JG

TO CALGARY
Olli Jokinen, C; 2009 3rd round pick

ANALYSIS: Even if Matthew Lombardi ever gets directions to the net, Calgary has to feel terrific about landing Olli Jokinen for a fast guy, a tough guy and a guy who isn’t even guaranteed to play in the league.

How long has Calgary been looking for a No. 1 center? Craig Conroy, bless his heart, has been miscast in that role on two separate occasions in Cowtown. Daymond Langkow? Passable on the top line; fantastic on the second.

Jokinen is not Ryan Getzlaf or Henrik Zetterberg. But he’s a 6-foot-3, 214- pound pivot who wouldn’t look like a phony on anybody’s first line – especially if he’s flanked by guys who can play, as he will be in Calgary.

Forget this business about Jokinen never making the playoffs. Neither had Roberto Luongo until he played awesome in his first post-season appearance. It’s all about opportunity.

I understand Phoenix is basically unleashing a fire sale, but that’s no excuse for adding Brandon Prust to a team that already has Daniel Winnik and Todd Fedoruk in its midst. Are they looking for fighting depth?

Lombardi’s leaving will basically just allow Flames fans to get over their angst about why this guy can’t do anything with his speed besides blaze blueline to blueline.

And as for giving up its first pick (either this year or next at Calgary’s discretion), well a team that has Swedish prospect Mikael Backlund in its pipeline can probably do without a pick that will likely occur only after 20 to 25 teams have picked over the prospect class. - RD
VOTE FOR WINNER

TO BUFFALO
Mikael Tellqvist, G

ANALYSIS: In Tellqvist, 29, the Sabres get another version of Patrick Lalime – an NHL veteran who can handle starting duties for a period, but who is better suited to a back-up role at this point of his career. Hopefully, for Buffalo, one of the pair will get hot down the stretch while Ryan Miller recuperates. For Phoenix, it's a marginal salary dump (Tellqvist's cap hit this season is $800,000) for a player headed to unrestricted free agency. - JK

TO PITTSBURGH
Andy Wozniewski, D

ANALYSIS: Wow, quite the blockbuster here. Sarcasm aside, this amounts to little more than a swap of well-traveled defensemen for depth purposes. Richmond is four years younger than the 28-year-old Wozniewski, giving him a bit more leeway in which to prove himself. But make no mistake – there’s a reason both of these guys are considered journeymen. - AP

TO CALGARY
Jordan Leopold, D

ANALYSIS: The Calgary Flames welcome an old face back into the fold by acquiring Leopold, an oft-injured defenseman with some offensive skills who can move the puck up ice. Leopold has remained healthy for the Avs this season and give the Flames some more depth on their blueline, especially with the injury to the speedy Mark Giordano. In return, Colorado receives recent Calgary waiver pickup Lawrence Nycholat, who is a borderline NHLer on the blueline right now. The Avs also get a pick and prospect, which will help in the rebuilding process. - RK

TO COLUMBUS
Antoine Vermette, C

ANALYSIS: Considering the Senators couldn’t give Antoine Vermette away a couple of months ago, the fact they got a bona fide – if oft injured – goalie and a second-round pick for him, it’s a great deal for the Senators. Considering the Blue Jackets had a plethora of No. 1 goalies, it’s a great deal for Columbus. If, and it’s a big if, Leclaire can stay healthy, the Senators have solved their goaltending problems.

Columbus, meanwhile, clears up cap space (Vermette is a $2.763 million through 2009-10, Leclaire is at $3.8 million through 2011-12) and reduces its future payroll, since Leclaire is scheduled to make $4.8 million in real dollars in 2011-12. That’s a shrewd move for a budget team. - KC
VOTE FOR WINNER