So it was a less busy day this year, because of all the trades over the past week and a half. Here are my thoughts on them.

Atlanta gets Dvorak and a 5th rounder, Florida gets Bergfors and Rissmiller:

I can’t hate this enough for Atlanta. Bergfors was the key piece of the Kovalchuk deal last year. He has been hurt and hasn’t had a very good year, but he’s 23! They have given him less than a season (in terms of the games he has actually managed to play) to judge that they don’t want the main return on Kovalchuk. That is just bonkers. It reminds me of the Versteeg thing but it is much worse. Nobody understands long term thinking. It’s preposterous. You can’t possibly evaluate this young a guy on a bad team in this little time. Rissmiller is nothing obviously. Dvorak is a third liner now, maybe. So the Thrash give up the biggest chunk of the Kovalchuk deal – a franchise altering trade – and a 4th liner for a 5th round pick and a third liner? Ouch.

Washington gets Dennis Wideman, Florida gets Jake Hauswirth and a 3rd rounder:

Right away Florida replaces the pick in the Bergfors deal with a better one. Wideman has had a bad year which could either be attributed to playing without Chara or to playing for the fucking Panthers. He led the team in ice-time and +/-. Florida might count itself lucky to get two assets, despite how low the pick is. Hauswirth is an ECHL player. Now that I know that, the deal makes more sense. Wideman had a lot more cache when he was with Boston. I guess he has been exposed as what he is. It needed to be done, in Florida’s case. And it adds a puck mover to Washington, which I think they thought they needed so it looks to me like fairly fair to both sides.

Phoenix gets Klesla and Dane Byers, Columbus gets Upshall and Lepisto:

Klesla has been possibly the longest tenured Blue Jacket ever. Maybe not ever. But seemingly like that. I guess he lost his spot. He is a #4, I guess. But who really knows since he has always played for such a bad franchise? Byers is a minor leaguer. Upshall is nearly a bust, a Top 10 pick who has turned into a second / third liner. So the Jackets get a second or third liner and a #5 or 6 D for a #4 D and a minor leaguer. I’m thinking they win this, but I can’t be sure.

Colorado gets Belle, Edmonton gets Montgomery:

Belle hasn’t been able to find an NHL job anywhere. Neither has Montgomery but less was expected from him. An exchange of minor league D, essentially.

Ottawa gets Potulny and 2nd rounder, Chicago gets Campoli, a conditional 7th rounder:

Campoli is a young D who managed to be -3 on a bad team. Potulny has only managed to play regularly on one NHL team, last year’s Oilers (that tells you something). I don’t know why Ottawa wants someone like that, but I think the trade makes sense for Chicago if they make the playoffs. They don’t give up a lot and they get a depth defenseman.

Anaheim gets Winchester, St. Louis gets a third round pick:

What a steal for St. Louis. A third rounder for a guy who plays ten minutes a game, scored 9 goals and is -9? I’d take that.

Florida gets the oft-traded Samsonov, Carolina gets Bryan Allen:

Don’t know why Florida traded for Samsonov. I know why Carolina traded for Bryan Allen. It’s make sense for Florida to trade Allen but why ask for Samsonov in return? And Carolina gets rid of a guy who can hardly be counted on for consistency. Carolina wins.

L.A. gets Penner, Edmonton gets Teubert, a 1st rounder and a conditional 3rd rounder:

Yuck is all I can say. What is L.A. thinking? Penner was signed to a terrible contract back when Kevin Lowe was scared the only way people would play in Edmonton is if they were forced to. He achieved a career high last year of 63 points. 63. He is big but he doesn’t hit much. We all saw Teubert play. He looks pretty good. So that’s a pickup in itself. But then they get the King’s first rounder. Sure, that isn’t much if the Kings make the playoffs. But then that conditional bumps up one. And if the King’s don’t make the playoffs, then the first gets better. Oilers win, hands down.

Calgary gets Modin, Atlanta gets a 7th rounder:

I guess at this stage that’s all Modin is worth.

Washington gets Arnott, Jersey gets Steckel and a 2nd rounder:

Looks like Washington got robbed. I don’t get how Modin is worth a 7th rounder but Arnott is worth a 2nd rounder and a player. Arnott is better than Modin, obviously, but not that much better.

Vancouver gets Higgins, Florida gets Oberg and a 3rd rounder:

I was a big backer of Higgins on Montreal. He has declined offensively in the meantime. But he is evidently better defensively (and he was pretty good on Montreal). He commanded more than I would have thought, but I haven’t seen the Panthers play. Maybe he is a real shutdown forward. Given his +5 (second on the team) on a bad team, I think Vancouver makes a good pickup, though they give up a lot (if Oberg was considered a prospect…no idea). Florida gets younger. Fair.

Vancouver gets Lapierre and MacGregor Sharp, Anaheim gets Joel Perrault and a 3rd rounder:

Lapierre is waiver trash that somehow gets traded. Sharp is a minor leaguer. Parrault is also a minor leaguer. I guess Anaheim wins because they get a third rounder for basically waiver trash. Vancouver gets “gritty.”

Columbus gets Greg Moore and Chaput, Philly gets Sestito:

There are a lot of Greg Moores, don’t know who this one is. Chaput is a prospect. Philly gets a depth D in Sestito. Can’t really judge.

Montreal gets MacIntyre, Atlanta acquires Festerling:

I guess Festerling wasn’t the player Montreal wanted when they got rid of Lapierre. MacIntyre is my favourite failed NHLer ever, as I used to watch him back in the day in Sherbrooke, playing for the Castors, standing on his head on a regular basis. He has yet to get a chance in the NHL, despite a decent save percentage (not so much GAA) in the AHL. I wish him luck as Price’s backup. He should tout the Quebec connection, not that it will help him.

Minnesota gets Jeff Penner, Minno Lehtonen, Boston gets Khudobin:

Don’t get this. Does Boston need another goalie? What happened to Rask?