There were some big trades at this year's deadline... it's not often you see guys like Luongo, St. Louis and Vanek moving around. Thoughts on each deal:
To Columbus: Dana Tyrell, Matt Taormina
To Tampa Bay: Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Dalton Smith
Tyrell was on Canada's WJC team a few years ago but the 24-year-old centre has bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL. Taormina is a veteran AHL d-man who gives the Jackets some depth as an injury callup, with Fedor Tyutin and Ryan Murray both out right now. Audy-Marchessault is an AHL star who might have some NHL upside and Smith is a former second round pick who has struggled in the AHL.
To Pittsburgh: Lee Stempniak
To Calgary: 3rd round pick
Decent return for a pending UFA who really doesn't do much for a rebuilding team.
To Anaheim: Andre Petersson
To Ottawa: Alex Grant
Petersson is a former fourth rounder who's playing well in the AHL and was considered a solid prospect for Ottawa. Grant is a 25-year-old d-man who made his NHL debut this year.
To Washington: Jaroslav Halak, 3rd round pick
To Buffalo: Rostislav Klesla, Michal Neuvirth
The Sabres manage to flip one of the veterans they got in the Miller deal, although I don't think the return is anything great. Klesla is a pending UFA. At 25, there's still time for Neuvirth to turn his career around, but you would think the 3rd rounder alone could have landed him.
To Minnesota: Matt Moulson, Cody McCormick
To Buffalo: Torrey Mitchell, two 2nd round picks
Two 2nds is a solid return for a pending UFA in Moulson. They also swap grinders, as Mitchell had asked for a trade. In the end, Buffalo gets a first rounder and THREE seconds for Thomas Vanek, which is an incredible return, especially when you look at how badly the Islanders botched the situation.
To Montreal: Thomas Vanek, conditional 5th round pick
To NY Islanders: Sebastien Collberg, 2nd round pick
Wow. Garth Snow... should be fired on the spot. Without question. This is not a terrible return, given the situation he was in leading up to the 2 p.m. deadline. But he put himself in that situation with the horrible Vanek-Moulson trade to begin with. In the end, it boils down to Moulson, a 1st and a 5th for Collberg. Collberg, a former second rounder himself, is a pretty good prospect, though he's struggled this year in Sweden.
To Detroit: David Legwand
To Nashville: Calle Jarnkrok, Patrick Eaves, 3rd round pick
The Preds got a really good return for their first-ever draft pick back in 1998. Legwand, a pending UFA, is a decent second line centre or maybe a high-end third liner. To get a really good prospect in Jarnkrok, a former second rounder, along with a third, is solid.
To Colorado: Reto Berra
To Calgary: 2nd round pick
A bit of a head scratcher for the Avs. I guess their plan is to let Giguere walk in the summer (or maybe he retires). After a long career in Switzerland, Berra finally came to the NHL this year and has been OK behind a terrible Flames team. A 2nd seems like a bit of an overpayment, but we'll see how he does with the Avs. It's worth pointing out their defence is also pretty bad.
To NY Rangers: Raphael Diaz
To Vancouver: 5th round pick
The Rangers certainly bought low on Diaz. He didn't get as much ice time in Montreal this year as he did in the past, and evidently wasn't in the Canucks' plans either. Pretty good value here.
To Boston: Andrej Meszaros
To Philly: 3rd round pick
Meszaros has been a dynamic offensive defenceman in his career, but injuries have limited his effectiveness in recent years. He's a pending UFA and the price is right. Boston needed some help on the back end with Seidenberg done for the year.
To Columbus: Nick Schultz
To Edmonton: 5th round pick
I'm surprised Columbus got him that cheap. With their injuries on the back end, he gives them a steady third-pairing guy as they push for a playoff spot.
To Dallas: Tim Thomas
To Florida: Dan Ellis
Aw, it would've been nice to see Luongo and Thomas on the same team. The tire pumping jokes are endless. Anyway, Thomas may have asked for a trade to give him more playing time after the Luongo deal, but he won't get it in Dallas with Kari Lehtonen occupying the starting job. Thomas has had a decent year in Florida, so I'm surprised all they got was a straight up deal for Ellis, who is barely an NHL goalie these days.
To New Jersey: Tuomo Ruutu
To Carolina: Andrei Loktionov, 3rd round pick
This is a salary dump for the Canes. Ruutu has two years left on his contract at $4.75 mil per and it's been a few years since he had a good season. He brings some grit too though and might be able to help the Devils squeak into the playoffs. Loktionov is on his third NHL team. The 23-year-old had decent numbers in 28 games last year but has struggled this year.
To Pittsburgh: Marcel Goc
To Florida: 3rd round pick, 5th round pick
Goc is probably one of the league's most underrated players, as a solid checking centre who can chip in some offence. Picking up a player like that going into the playoffs is never a bad idea. The return is good.
To LA: Marian Gaborik
To Columbus: Matt Frattin, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick
Gaborik came to Columbus last year to a lot of fanfare, but it just wasn't a fit. He missed more than half the team's games with injuries during his tenure and didn't seem to fit with the identity of the team. When you read about Dubinsky pushing him out of the way to chase a loose puck the other night... yikes. This is a pretty solid return, especially if Frattin gets some ice time and finds his goal scoring ability from early last year in Toronto. LA essentially traded Bernier for Gaborik. I have my doubts whether he can flourish under Sutter.
To Montreal: Devan Dubnyk
To Nashville: nothing
With Price going on the IR with a minor injury, the Habs add some insurance and the price was right. They're only on the hook for 25% of his remaining salary this year, which is peanuts.
To LA: Brayden McNabb, Jonathan Parker and two 2nd round picks
To Buffalo: Hudson Fasching, Nicolas Deslauriers
I really don't understand what Buffalo is doing with this. McNabb will most likely be the best player in the deal. The former Notre Dame midget Hound is a big, strong defenceman with some offensive upside, and he's just about ready for the NHL. Parker is an ECHLer included to balance out the contracts. Fasching is a former fourth rounder who's having a really good freshman year at the U of Minnesota. Deslauriers is a 23-year-old AHL defenceman. I don't know if he's got NHL upside, but you would certainly hope so for the Sabres' sake. Maybe they're not happy with McNabb's development. Maybe their scouts think Fasching is a diamond in the rough. I'm still baffled as to how Fasching and Deslauriers are worth two 2nds and McNabb.
To Ottawa: Ales Hemsky
To Edmonton: 3rd round pick, 5th round pick
First, good on the Oilers for finally trading away Hemsky, although the return seems a bit low. Ottawa is sitting outside the playoffs right now (though not by much) and they would have to leapfrog three or four teams to get in. Unless Hemsky, at age 30, can rediscover his form from three or four years ago, I don't think he's enough to push the Sens in. It seems like a waste of picks on a rental. It would have made more sense for a team like Pittsburgh or Anaheim to make this deal.
To NY Rangers: Martin St. Louis
To Tampa Bay: Ryan Callahan, 1st round pick, 2nd round pick
The biggest deal of the day. This is not a good deal for the Rangers. It may have made sense for a legitimate contender, or a team poised to become one in the next year or two, but does anyone really believe the Rangers can win a Cup in the year or two St. Louis has left? Callahan was leaving either way, but to give up a 1st and a 2nd (which becomes another 1st if Callahan re-signs in Tampa) is crazy. As for the Lightning, Yzerman was caught between a rock and a hard place and came out of it with a great deal after St. Louis pouted and demanded a trade to one team. Callahan will be a great player to have in the playoffs, and Stamkos is about to return. Tampa will be fine.
