Trade Deadline: Part One

February 12 was expected to be somewhat of a hectic day of NHL trades being the "deadline before the deadline". The Olympic trade freeze will end in just over weeks on February 28, giving NHL GM's just over two days to finalise their deals before March 3 "real" deadline at 3.00pm.

But while Friday's activity was for the most part, underwhelming, the preceding events certainly gave hockey fans plenty to discuss.

February 12, 2010
Minnesota acquires: (D) Cam Barker
Chicago acquires: (D) Kim Johnsson, (D) Nick Leddy

My hat goes off to Stan Bowman for this one. How he was able to trade a player he was in need of off-loading for a promising young talent in Leddy and experienced vet Kim Johnsson is beyond me. In all honesty, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, had all the leverage in this deal. How did he get so screwed??

New York acquires: (F) Jody Shelley
San Jose acquires: Conditional 6th-Round Draft Pick (5th if he Re-signs w/ NYR)

This trade will in all likelihood be of very little consequence to anyone.

Ottawa Acquires: (F) Matt Cullen
Carolina Acquires: (D) Alexandre Picard, 2nd-Round Pick

Sens' GM Bryan Murray, went straight to work after his contract extension. Matt Cullen is a good character addition to the Sens' lineup, he should also provide a good point-man for their powerplay. The Hurricanes may turn out to be the winner of this trade though; 24-year old D-man Alex Picard could develop into a very important part of the 'Canes blue-line and the 2nd-round pick is just icing on the cake. Nice deal for both teams really.

February 11, 2010
Montreal Acquires: (F) Dominic Moore
Florida Acquires: 2nd-Round Pick (2011)

My initial reaction to this deal was to laugh. I'm still kind of laughing to be honest. Once again, the siren-song sung by Dominic Moore has lured in another unaware sailor -- this time, it's the newly-promoted Pierre Gauthier. A second-rounder for this perennial let-down will almost certainly prove to be a mistake on Gauthier's part. And I thought Bob Gainey had been a bad GM in the past few years.

Pittsburgh Acquires: (D) Steve Wagner
St. Louis Acquires: (D) Nate Guenin

There's not a great deal to say about this.... uh, deal. Two young minor-leaguers that probably won't play very much NHL in their lives.

February 9, 2010
Dallas Acquires: (G) Kari Lehtonen
Atlanta Acquires: (D) Ivan Vishnevskiy, 4th-Round Pick (2010)

Nieuwendyk really wanted a new #1 goalie in Dallas, apparently. To move Ivan Vishnevskiy alone, let alone add a fourth-rounder is pretty bold. Vishnevskiy was an excellent defensive prospect for Dallas. Having said that, Kari Lehtonen certainly has the potential to be a great goalie for them. I still have that fading memory of his AHL performance in Chicago during the lockout.

February 7, 2010
San Jose Acquires: (D) Niclas Wallin, 5th-Round Pick (2010)
Carolina Acquires: 2nd-Round Pick (2010)

San Jose is not really in a position to acquire a big-ticket player at the deadline. With Thornton, Marleau, Heatley, Boyle, Blake, etc. -- do they really need one? Wallin is a big guy at 6'3", 220lbs and has a moderate cap-hit of $1.725m. Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford, did pretty well to upgrade his 5th-round draft pick for the Sharks' second-rounder for a guy that wasn't in their future plans anyway. Expect much more from Rutherford after the Olympics. Everything must go!!

February 6, 2010
Detroit Acquires: (D) Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, 5th-Round Pick (2011)
Philadelphia Acquires: (F) Ville Leino

After losing Kyle Quiney for nothing in the 2008/09 season, Wings' fans were probably expecting the same to happen with Ville Leino. Wings' GM, Ken Holland was in desperate need of shedding salary. Leino had been by far the biggest disappointment in Detroit this season and was an automatic choice to go. Getting Tollefsen and the Flyers' fifth-rounder isn't too bad of a return considering the tough position Holland was in.

Compared to the monumental swaps we'd seen earlier involving names like Giguere, Phaneuf, and Kovalchuk, these reports are somewhat anti-climactic. The good news is, Trade Deadline Part Deux, is still to come.