Done Deal

With the NHL (@NHL) trade deadline now come and gone, with little fanfare on the actual day, we can now focus on the winners and who looks good moving forward. I like the moves both Nashville and Vancouver made getting size and depth for what will likely be a solid cup run. Minor deals for defencemen in Canadian markets like Edmonton and Ottawa also impact the future of these clubs as does the Leafs acquisition of Carter Ashton from Tampa Bay for Keith Aulie, a trade of prospects, we'll see who pans out. This was a relatively quiet day with only 16 trades and no real big names being shipped. Carolina was quiet when many thought they would unload several players and not many others loaded up. Montreal made one trade sending Andrei Kostitsyn to Nashville to join his brother, former Hab Hall Gill and the newly acquired Paul Gaustad whom they got from the Sabres. Calgary stayed put and Winnipeg sent pending UFA Johnny Oduya to Chicago for a pair of draft picks. Detroit traded veteran Mike Commodore to Tampa perhaps to clear out a crowded blue line after acquiring Kyle Quincey last week. The Vancouver deal sending Cody Hodgson to Buffalo was perhaps the most surprising as Zack Kassian is a bigger body so perhaps they simply wanted an upgrade in that department and with the acquisition of Sammy Pahlsson from Columbus have too many up the middle. Columbus didn't pull the trigger on the Rick Nash trade but Scott Howson threw a little chin music his way revealing that he asked to be traded. Not sure to what end this serves, but we'll see how it plays out. The stretch drive is now in full effect and you have to live with what you've got. Not sure the Leafs are happy with their goaltending situation but they'd better hope it's enough for a playoff run. The defending champion Bruins added some depth much as they did last year acquiring Brian Rolston Mike Motteau and Greg Zanon. These are the knid of moves that seemed to have pay off the last number of years, bit we'll only know who really wins in June.