Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

NHL Trade News: James Neal and Matt Niskanen Traded To Pittsburgh For Alex Goligoski

Well since that Tomas Kaberle deal, the trades are coming in fast and furious now, aren't they.

Bob McKenzie is now reporting via Twitter that the deal we talked about earlier today between Dallas and Pittsburgh is done, with James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen heading to the Penguins in return for defenseman Alex Goligoski. 

For those of you wondering, the Sidney Crosby fighting jokes should be commencing any second now.

Matthew Barnaby's not a huge fan of the deal, at least from the Dallas side. And already, the Twitterverse has exploded with tweets ripping Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk for making the deal. And I can see the argument. Neal and Niskanen seems like a steep price to land Goligoski, a player Nieuwendyk likes.

He serves a need, and for all the injuries the Pens have dealt with this season, Goligoski is still having his best season in the pros and a plus-20 to boot. 

But Ray Shero does get the better end of this deal. Neal might not be a superstar, but he's a young power forward who has the skills to be very good and could be the winger Sidney Crosby's always needed. Meanwhile Shero also gets a steady defenseman in Niskanen, who also could help Crosby perfect that defenseman toss he was working on earlier in the season.

It's a trade Pittsburgh needed to make, and a player Dallas wanted. It works right now, but Shero schooled Nieuwendyk on this one.

For more NHL news: Brad Richards and the Top 25 Available Players

Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

NHL Trade Rumors: Will The Flyers Make Their Annual Push For A Goalie

Among the 10 names Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal named in his list of players to move at the trade deadline was Tomas Vokoun, the star Florida Panthers goaltender who'd only be a $1.5 million cap hit for the remainder of the season and an unrestricted free agent after it.

I've talked at length the last few weeks about the lack of a goaltending market at the trade deadline, but Matheson brought up the Flyers and Capitals might be interested in him.

Which brings up an interesting point. What will the Flyers do for the remainder of the season?

I bring this up as I watched Brian Boucher make 37 saves for the Flyers at MSG yesterday in a 4-2 win against the Rangers, but the Flyers have been balancing Boucher and Sergei Bobrovsky for most of the season. It's fine now, as the Flyers continue to roll.

But do they trust either one of them enough to be the goalie in the postseason?

In that case, Vokoun makes a lot of sense. He's relatively cheap and he has some playoff experience. But the Flyers also have a long history of going after goalies at the trade deadline (see Burke, Sean) and they haven't been able to get them to the promised land.

So there is a case to be made both for and against Vokoun. In the end, the Flyers will do the smart thing and dance with who brought them in the Playoffs. It still doesn't answer the question about Who's No. 1.

For more NHL news: Brad Richards and the Top 25 Available Players

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

NHL Trade Rumors: Six Teams Reportedly Interested In Nikolay Zherdev

The Flyers have pretty much made it clear they no longer want a part of Nikolay Zherdev. They haven't wanted a part of Zherdev for most of the season, but acquiring Kris Versteeg recently just made it that more clear.

But other team apparently want Zherdev. Yahoo's Dmitry Cheneskov reported via Twitter that six teams are interested in Zherdev, which is somewhat surprising.

You would think that at this point in his career, Zherdev's reputation precedes him. Extremely talented, yet extremely frustrating to play with, watch and coach. The Rangers and now the Flyers have tried to make it work after he was traded from Columbus. He only lasted one season in New York, and it doesn't look like he'll make it that long in Philadelphia. 

Yet despite being in Peter Laviolette's doghouse most of the season, Zherdev still has 15 goals to his name. So some team desperate for an offensive punch will come calling about Zherdev, because there's a lack of forwards in this year's trade market and because if it's between him and Alexei Kovalev, Zherdev's the lesser of two evils.

Still don't expect it to end well, wherever he ends up, because it never does. Rather, expect it to end with Zherdev being somewhere else where it can end badly.

It doesn't mean teams will stop trying to change him.

For more NHL news: Brad Richards and the Top 25 Available Players

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

NHL Trade Rumors: Could James Neal Be Heading To Pittsburgh

Darren Dreger made an interesting point in his daily Dreger Report on TSN.ca, that the Colorado-St. Louis trade popped the bubble that teams are afraid to trade big name players, at least some teams.

I don't think I would call James Neal and Alex Goligoski big names, but they're two very good young players who could be on the move in a rumored Dallas-Pittsburgh deal, according to Dreger. None of the specifics or even a deal have come out, but Dreger speculated the two could be interested.

From Dreger:

"It's believed the Pens are willing to move defenceman Alex Goligoski for the right forward, and a trade involving Stars winger James Neal has been discussed."

At first, it's a deal that doesn't make sense for the Stars. But the more I think about it, the more I like the deal for both sides. Neal is the forward the Penguins desperately need, and he'd be a heck of a better upgrade than Alex the Fickle (otherwise known as Alexei Kovalev). Meanwhile, the Stars could use an upgrade on the back end and Goligoski would be a young puck-moving defenseman who would make Stephane Robidas movable.

I doubt that would be the only part of the trade, but right now it's a trade I would consider on both sides. Whether it happens will be something determined during the next week as the Stars consider their position in the West.

The bigger question will be, if this trade goes through, what does that mean for Brad Richards?

For more NHL news: Brad Richards and the Top 25 Available Players

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

NHL Trade Rumors: Colorado Avalanche Making Major Changes

Gutsy, unexpected, something relating to the southern male anatomy that might not be suitable for print.

Okay, so maybe the hockey pundits didn't go that far in trying to explain the blockbuster trade that went down between the Avalanche and Blues over the weekend, but the deal that sent Erik Johnson and Jay McClement to Colorado and Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to St. Louis was definitely a courageous move on both sides.

Now it's looking like Colorado isn't done. Adrian Dater of the Denver Post had an article today that the Avalanche are looking to ship out a center, possibly Paul Stastny. He cited a rumor of Stastny being part of a package going to Los Angeles for Jack Johnson, Jonathan Bernier and Jarret Stoll, but also writes he doesn't put much faith in that rumor.

But regardless, the Avalanche are putting it out there they are for business, and all of a sudden could become one of the sellers of this trade market. That's a big step for a team who some thought would take a step back this year but had some young pieces that were expected to continue to develop.

Now the playoff hero is gone (Craig Anderson), as well as its top rookie (Shattenkirk) and its power forward (Stewart). All signs that while the Avalanche are still young, there's still a lot of growing left to do.

It's a big step, but in which direction?

For more NHL news: Brad Richards and the Top 25 Available Players

Brad Richards
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

NHL Trade Rumors: Brad Richards Trade Rumors Heating Up

Well if you're in the hockey world, some of you thought the Dallas Stars would eventually come back down to earth. 

After getting drubbed by the Canucks again Saturday night, those few are starting to say "we told you so."

The Stars continue to struggle, and with those struggles the Brad Richards trade rumors have started to circulate again. But with Richards currently out of the lineup with a concussion, it's definitely clouding the picture. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun wrote the Stars and Richards are talking, though no progress has been made yet. While others, namely Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, feel the Stars need to at least listen to the offers for Richards.

It's hard to say what the Stars will do, especially since concussions are such a tough injury to judge and very few teams are going to sell the farm to acquire a pending unrestricted free agent trying to come back from a concussion. Then again, Glen Sather's still out there so you never know.

But I've said before that as long as the Stars don't take a nosedive, the belief is that they will keep Richards and take their chances in free agency. But like Heika, it doesn't hurt to listen, especially if the Stars are serious about rebuilding.

Plus, the whole concussion thing might keep him around anyway.

For more NHL news: Brad Richards and the Top 25 Available Players