Thanks to Travis Hughes over at Broad Street Hockey for his great idea of how to run coverage of the trade deadline.
Here's the latest deal to go down:
New Jersey gets
D Niclas Havelid
Atlanta gets:
D Anssi Salmela
New Jersey reaction from In Lou We Trust. Atlanta reaction from Bird Watchers Anonymous.
This is a case of a struggling team getting value for a veteran defenseman who is going to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Havelid is a guy who will fit in with the Devils and their system and has put up decent numbers over his career. The fact he has a positive rating in Atlanta says a lot.
Anssi Salmela is a sort of like a young, fiery Trevor Daley. He's a guy who loves to put the puck on net yet plays a ramped up, physical style of hockey. He's young (24) and should be a good defenseman for the Atlanta Thrashers moving forward. He's only played 17 games in the NHL however, and he is going to be a RFA when the season is over. Overall, a good trade for both sides.
Follow the jump for a rundown of the deals that have already gone down.
Thursday, February 26.
Pittsburgh gets:
LW Chris Kunitz
Junior F Eric Tancredi
Anaheim gets:
D Ryan Whitney
Pittsburgh reaction from Pensburgh. Ducks reaction from Battle of California.
The Pens are hoping that Kunitz will fit in on a line with Sydney Crosby and help jumpstart the Penguins playoff hopes. Kunitz was an integral part of the Stanley Cup winning team from a few years ago but some thought he wasn't living up to his $3.7M salary. He should fit in well in Pittsburgh.
For the Ducks, this move helps to shore up a blue-line that was going to be a big question mark next season. Whitney is young and is a good puck-moving defenseman and is under contract for the next four years. This may spell the start of a Chris Pronger or Scott Neidermeyer trade as well. The good news is that in their 6-0 shellacking by Boston last night, Whitney was far from the worst player on the ice.
Dallas gets
LW Steve Begin
Montreal gets:
D Doug Janik
Montreal reaction from Eyes on the Prize. From my analysis of the trade:
While Begin certainly won't become the finishing scorer the Stars desperately need, he does fill a hole that was left open wide with the injuries to Brad Richards and Toby Petersen. He will also be another classy, team-oriented player that could breathe some life into a locker that seems to be gasping for air right now. This is an important time in the Stars' season and they will need all the help they can get down the stretch. Once again, Les Jackson and Brett Hull have pulled off a subtle but very important move. It should also be noted that Doug Janik was immediately assigned to the AHL upon his arrival in Montreal.
Explanation of our trade coverage:
The trade deadline is less than a week away now, and there have been two trades already to kick off the fun. With several trades bound to happen as the deadline approaches, we will be kicking off our official trade coverage here at Defending Big D.
This will be the one thread for out of town deals up until deadline day. It will be updated and thrown to the top of the site when a deal is made, so you don't have to go digging.
The general jist of our coverage will be simple. The posting of the deal, followed by some basic terms of the deal, and links to the SBN sites of the teams involved so you get can the home town flavor on the trades. If applicable, I will give analysis of how this affects the Dallas Stars.
On deadline day, which is next Wednesday (deadline is at 3 PM EST) if you're unaware, I'll be here all day updating this thread with all the deals and commenting from the Flyers perspective. Most bloggers here at SBN will be joining me, and you can catch all the details in one spot, at the SBN NHL Trade Deadline Hub.
If there is a another Stars deal made, it will obviously get its own thread here and it will, of course, be looked at with a lot more detail. This is where we'll focus on the other out-of-town deals though.
The trade deadline is one of the most exciting times of the season. While we most likely won't see a bunch of blockbuster trades, it will be fun to see what happens across the NHL.