Always a fun day. It is expected the Leafs will be trading Moore and Antropov - both who did not dress for last night's game against the Devils. Here are the deals so far.

- the Calgary Flames acquired center Olli Jokinen from the Phoenix Coyotes for forwards Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust and a future first-round draft pick.

- the Anaheim Ducks acquired forward Petteri Nokelainen from the Boston Bruins for defenseman/winger Steve Montador.

- The Buffalo Sabres acquired goaltender Mikael Tellqvist from the Phoenix Coyotes for a future fourth-round draft pick.

- the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Andy Wozniewski from the St. Louis Blues for defenseman Danny Richmond.

- the Calgary Flames acquired defenseman Jordan Leopold from the Colorado Avalanche for defensemen Lawrence Nycholat and Ryan Wilson and a future second-round draft pick.

- the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired forward Antoine Vermette from the Ottawa Senators for goaltender Pascal Leclaire and a second-round draft pick in 2009.

Nothing from my Leafs yet.


Leafs finally do something

- Toronto gets goalie Martin Gerber and defenceman Erik Reitz on waivers from Ottawa
- Dallas picks up Brendan Morris - D from Anaheim on waivers

It looks like Penguins' GM Ray Shero isn't giving up on the team this year. Pittsburgh acquired RW Bill Guerin from the Islanders for a conditional draft pick. If the Pens fail to make the playoffs, the Islanders will receive a fifth-round pick. If the Pens make the playoffs, but fail to advance past the first round, then they give up a fourth-round pick. If the Pens make it to the second round and beyond, then they will give up a third-round pick.

This gives the Pens some additional scoring help (Guerin has 16 G and 20 A) from the wing plus a player with "grit" (63 PIM this year). Guerin will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, so he is essentially a "rental" player, but the Pens didn't have to give up a player to get him.

In other Penguins news, they acquired RW Craig Adams off waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks. Adams has 2 goals in 36 games and will join the team in Florida tonight.

They are coming in fast and furious now. Although my Leafs don't seem to have gotten much for Antropov from the Rangers or Moore from the Sabres. Here are some of the other deals in the last hour or so.

- the Buffalo Sabres acquired center Dominic Moore from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2nd round draft pick.
- the Anaheim Ducks acquired forward Erik Christensen from the Atlanta Thrashers for forward Eric O'Dell.
- the New York Rangers acquired defenseman Derek Morris from the Phoenix Coyotes for defenseman Dmitri Kalinin, forwards Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.
- the New York Rangers acquired forward Nik Antropov from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a future second-round draft pick and a conditional draft pick.
- the Philadelphia Flyers acquired winger Daniel Carcillo from the Phoenix Coyotes for winger Scott Upshall and a future second-round draft pick.
- the Boston Bruins acquired forward Mark Recchi and a second-round draft pick in 2010 from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Matt Lashoff and winger Martins Karsums.

And the Leafs announced that they have put vesa Toskala on Injured Reserve for the rest of the year. So let's see - no Antropov or Moore, no
Toskala - maybe we can bgo in free fall and have a better shot aqt Tavares. LOL

It was a slow start. A lot of these deals have only been announced in the last 90 minutes or so. It seems the majority of them are minor. The biggest name, Florida's Jay Bouwmeester, didn't move. This is a risk for Florida. They just about have to make the playoffs, and Bouwmeester is likely to leave in July as an unrestricted free agent, and the Panthers will get nothing in return.

The Flyers' trade of Upshall seems to be little more than a minor salary dump. Supposedly it gives them a little more flexibility if someone else gets hurt they won't have to put others on waivers or send someone to the minors.

I think the salary cap issues played a role. It just seems like less of a blockbuster day than some in the past.

Edit to add: Another Flyers trade. They get defenseman Kyle McLaren from San Jose for a sixth-round draft choice. He hasn't been in the NHL all year and has played 17 games in the AHL. (Why only 17? Was he hurt?)

Paperwork still in progress past the 3:00PM trade deadline with more trades dribbling in - but Joe I agree with you. Most of these seem to be minor deals or are related to salary cap issues. At last count 22 trades involving 45 players and 19 draft picks. I think the most significant moves may be Calgary adding a solid defenceman in Leopold from colorado and a talented forward in Olli Jokinen from Phoenix. Those are excellent additions to an already strong lineup that puts them right up there with Detroit and san Jose as Western favourites now.

And for the Leafs it seems to be all about goalies today.
They have put Toskala on IR for the season and earlier today acquired Gerber from Ottawa. Now in the latest trade with Tampa Bay the Leafs have apparently acquired Olaf Kolzig, along with defencemen Jamie Heward and Andy Rogers + a 4th round pick for Richard Petiot - D.

Other deals - Edmonton get Ales Kotalik from Buffalo for a 2nd round pick.

The Oilers have also picked up Patrick O'Sullivan and a 2nd round pick from Carolina. In return the Hurricanes received EriK Cole. Patrick O'Sullivan was a Hurricane for all of two minutes has the Canes had just acquired him fom the Kings along with a second round pick - with the Kings receiving Justin Williams from Carolina.

- the Chicago Blackhawks acquired center Samuel Pahlsson from the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman James Wisniewski.

- the Columbus Blue Jackets acquired goaltender Kevin Lalande from the Calgary Flames for a future fourth-round draft pick. (See Details)

- the Florida Panthers acquired defenseman Steve Eminger from the Tampa Bay Lightning for defenseman Noah Welch and a future third-round draft pick.


Edited to add - It looks like my first impression about Calgary being the big winners is developing a the consensus opinion of the talking heads who get paid to analyze these things. I just went on to the TSN website for the first time today the headine is 'FLAMES LEAD THE TRADE PACK GETTING JOKINEN AND LEOPOLD' and the article going on to state 'The Stanley Cup won't be awarded until the late spring, but the Calgary Flames have already emerged as big winners in their own right after the NHL's trade deadline.'