The Edmonton Oilers have traded defenceman Steve Staios to the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenceman Aaron Johnson and a third round pick.

The trade marks a rare switch between the Flames and Oilers and continues the Edmonton plan of offloading in the process of rebuilding.

Staios heads to the Flames with one year remaining on his contract worth $2.2 million.

The Flames have obviously been overhauled too and the Staios pick-up appears to be an attempt to snag some leadership and grit.

The Oilers receive Johnson, who’ll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Edmonton Oilers have moved a significant contract today in shifting Lubomir Visnovsky over to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan Whitney.

The deal unpacks some space from the Oilers roster and enables them to get a skilled defenceman in return. Both players in this deal were Olympians, too, and it stands at this point as the biggest trade of trade deadline day.

Whitney was selected as a replacement to the injured Mike Komisarek to play on the American men’s Olympic team, while Visnovsky suited up for the Slovaks and has quite a history of international play.

It’s a trade that gives the Ducks a puck-moving offensively-minded defenceman to work with their talent and it allows the Oilers to move in a nice direction with a skilled defenceman of their own.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Washington Capitals have acquired defenceman Joe Corvo from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Brian Pothier and prospect Oskar Osala.

In Corvo, the Caps get a puck-moving defenceman who can team up with Mike Green on the power play to generate some seriously dangerous offensive chances. Corvo is a solid player and has good defensive sense, too, so he’s far from a liability.

Pothier was also a pretty slick defenceman for Washington, but concussion problems kept him from realizing his full potential and he should appreciate a fresh start in Carolina.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Lee Stempniak to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for a pair of draft picks (fourth round and seventh round).

Stempniak never really quite fit in Toronto, so it’s not really surprising to see this deal come through for the Leafs.

If Phoenix can put Stempniak on the right line and give him the space to play around offensively, they could end up having a really talented player in the mix. If they can’t provide that for him, however, the Stempniak situation is bound to repeat itself.

At the very least, the Coyotes didn’t really give up much to get him.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded forward Raffi Torres to the Buffalo Sabres. In Torres, the Sabres get a gritty personality forward who’ll help boost their momentum.

Elliote Friedman is reporting that Nathan Paetsch and a second round pick went over to Columbus in exchange for Torres, so the deal does indeed look to benefit the Sabres more.

Considering Torres’ contributions in the past with the Oilers and on Columbus, he gives the Sabres a nice physical angle that they can use to hammer out space for their forwards.

It’s not a blockbuster deal by any extent, but it doesn’t look like many big names will be moving on this particular trade deadline day.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Anaheim Ducks have traded goalie Vesa Toskala to the Calgary Flames in exchange for goalie Curtis McElhinney.

With the recent moves made by Darryl Sutter in Calgary, the team is certainly starting to look like the Toronto of the Western Conference. This deal, together with a contract extension offered to Matt Stajan, may make the Red Mile look an awful lot like Yonge Street.

The Ducks were probably never all that serious about Toskala, what with Hiller doing well in goal, and this is a pretty routine move for the club.

In any event, this deal doesn’t really boost Calgary’s profile at all. Toskala will have to sit on the bench behind Kiprusoff an awful lot and it doesn’t seem like a smart move in regards to salary, but maybe Sutter has something up his sleeve here before the day is out.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Phoenix Coyotes have traded forward Peter Mueller to the Colorado Avalanche for Wojtek Wolski.

In Wolski, the Coyotes get a slight upgrade from Mueller. Much has been made about Mueller’s lack of heart in Phoenix, so the move may be what is necessary to get something out of the forward. Wolski is a quicker version of Mueller who can play in the high traffic areas, too, so that should help the Coyotes out considerably.

At one time, Mueller was considered to be one of the top prospects to watch. Unfortunately, he’s needed an awful lot of time and space in the NHL to generate offensive chances and he’s been unable to provide his own opportunities. Mueller’s an interesting fit on the Avs, that’s for sure, but maybe Colorado can make something work with him.

According to Elliote Freidman out of the CBC, Colorado wanted to move Wolski because they didn’t want to go to arbitration with the player. They felt he’d wind up being a more expensive player and wanted to cut him loose before the money got too large on him.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It may be the calm before the storm, but things have been pretty quiet thus far on trade deadline day.

We do have a trade regarding the Washington Capitals to report, however, as Scott Walker has been moved from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Capitals in exchange for what looks to be a 7th round draft pick.

The Capitals get grit in Walker and will have a nice hard-working forward to line up against their tough playoff opponents. The Capitals are looking to go deep into the post-season this year and a guy like Walker helps them do that.

The deal likely means that the rumours about Whitney moving out of Carolina are probably not going to work out to be true. There’s little chance that the Canes will move Whitney now unless an absolutely perfect deal comes around. Of course, anything can happen on trade deadline day but a Whitney move looks unlikely.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

As we reported here earlier, Ilya Kovalchuk is now a member of the New Jersey Devils. This sets into motion a series of compelling storylines and, suitably, closes a pile of other storylines.

Working on what we know, Kovalchuk wanted out of Atlanta. The first overall selection in the 2001 NHL entry draft had no interest in remaining a Thrasher and had no interest in investing any more of himself to the city of Atlanta than was necessary. While he never came right out and demanded a trade, there was no question that Kovy wanted out.

A player who wants to remain with a team typically doesn’t turn down two lucrative deals to stay there, as Kovy did with Don Waddell’s obscene pair of offers last fall. Even after rejecting those deals, Waddell wanted to keep his superstar. That’s why he peppered up a deal worth another pile of money to keep his player. The deal, had Kovalchuk signed, would have made the Thrasher the highest paid player in the National Hockey League.

With battles in the management in Atlanta and inconsistency on the ice, Kovalchuk’s desire to leave could hardly be blamed. In looking at the Thrashers, he saw what the rest of us see on a nightly basis: a team going nowhere. His dedication to the squad was nonexistent, so Waddell’s desire to keep such a player really brings up a few questions.

Why take such a risk? Why pay a player so much money if it’s clear he doesn’t want to play there?

That, it seems, is where the Devils came in. Obviously looking for a roster shuffle of their own, New Jersey has gone on a disappointing slide as of late and have had to contend with the loss of Patrik Elias. It’s not an easy picture in Jersey, so Lou Lamoriello knew something had to be done. With the Kovalchuk sweepstakes heating up, it was time to make something happen.

Lamoriello gave up Swedish defenceman Johnny Oduya, rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, prospect Patrick Cormier, and a first-round pick for Kovalchuk and defenceman Anssi Salmela.

So who wins?

Kovalchuk is obviously an impact player, but how well he’ll mesh with Jersey’s style remains to be seen. Indeed, the style question is probably the biggest question mark regarding this whole convoluted matter. Considering how desperate the Devils were for a roster repositioning, it may be possible that they’re also desperate to try new things on the ice too. But is now the time for experimentation? Is now the time to shift things up ice from a defensive-minded perspective to a run-and-gun style?

This alteration in style would make sense if it appeared that Kovalchuk was more than just a rental, but few signs point to his desire to sign a long-term deal in New Jersey. The most likely option at this point remains that he’ll bolt for the KHL, so it’s hard to imagine the logic behind Lamoriello and Co. shifting things so drastically for a muted playoff run.

In the end, Atlanta comes out looking okay. Oduya is a capable defenceman who can crunch some minutes. Bergfors may turn out to be an unsung hero sort of player and Cormier’s reputation proceeds him.

The situation mirrors the one from two years ago when the Thrashers were “forced” to give up Marian Hossa for a pile of similar players. In the long run, deals like this may lead to an inevitable and much-needed reshuffling of management in Atlanta. Of course, the ownership has to have a reasonable interest in seeing on-ice success for that sort of thing to happen.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

At long last, the Ilya Kovalchuk saga is over.

Kovalchuk was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, the elbowing prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick.

The deal gives the Devils an unproven playoff talent (and a rather good sniper) and finally ends Don Waddell’s attempts at signing his player in Atlanta. Waddell offered Kovy a 12-year extension worth $101 million, reportedly, but his player turned it down.

Kovalchuk is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end and there’s a whole lot of speculation as to where he’ll end up. Many are suspecting that he’ll bolt to the KHL for a rather large chunk of change. There’s no word yet as to whether or not New Jersey is hoping he’ll re-sign at season’s end to a significant long-term deal or if they’re just planning on having him aboard as a rental.

How Kovalchuk will fit with New Jersey’s system is probably the biggest question mark of all. He’s not particularly known for being a defensive player, so it’ll be interesting to see how he meshes with the Devils. New Jersey is Martin Brodeur’s team, after all, and one has to wonder how the Devils will handle juggling two big name superstars.

We’ll have more analysis on this trade at a later time.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.