Some significant names were moved before the Olympic break. Three of them - Ilya Kovalchuk, Matt Cullen, and Kim Johnsson, will have the opportunity to make an impact in the playoffs this year, while others like Nik Hagman and Olli Jokinen are busy trying to get their new teams into the playoffs. The value of new Leafs' J.S. Giguere and Dion Phaneuf won't be fully calculable until well into the '10-'11 season.
Beyond the trades involving these players, I wasn't sure what to expect in the few days between the lifting of the roster freeze and the trade deadline. As it turns out, we have seen several moves, leading up to what could be the busiest trade deadline day of all-time. Here's a summary of what's gone on since the conclusion of the Olympic hockey tournament.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired D Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers for a second-round draft pick.
*Instant Analysis: Traded at the deadline yet again, though this time TSN revealed it before I did, Jordan Leopold will help solidify the Penguins defence down the stretch and into the playoffs. He's an upgrade on the departed Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill, and with Martin Skoula in the mix this year, the Penguins are arguably better on the back end then they were last Spring.
- The Nashville Predators acquired D Denis Grebeshkov from Edmonton for a second-round draft pick.
*Instant Analysis: While the Oilers would have rather moved Tom Gilbert (unfortunately there are no takers) they did well in getting something for a player who will not be returning to their team next year. Grebeshkov is an RFA seeking a raise. Short-term though, he can help the Preds.
- The Chicago Blackhawks acquired G Hannu Toivonen and D Danny Richmond for G Joe Fallon.
- Columbus traded D Dylan Reese to Long Island for forward prospect Greg Moore.
- Anaheim traded RW Evgeny Artyukhin to Atlanta for D Nathan Oystrick and a conditional draft pick.
- The Boston Bruins acquired D Steve Kampfer from the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional draft pick.
- The Ottawa Senators acquired D Andy Sutton from Long Island for a second-round draft pick.
*Instant Analysis: GM Bryan Murray isn't fooling around. He saw a weakness on his team, identified it, and dealt with it. Andy Sutton gives them all kinds of mean on defence and will be a nice supplement to the already adept shutdown play of Anton Volchenkov.
- Edmonton traded forward prospect Matt Marquardt to Boston for D Cody Wild.
- The Chicago Blackhawks acquired D Nick Boynton from Anaheim for future considerations.
*Instant Analysis: Chicago is clearly loading up for a long playoff run, but I'm not sure this was the right depth defenceman to target.
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