NHL GMs Nervous Nellies Were at Trade Deadline

Well the trade deadline in the NHL came and went yesterday, and if you were following it for sports on the web or on television you will be aware that there were not many trades of note.

Most of the General Managers were a little nervous about the uncertainty in the economy and what that will do to the salary cap limit for next year.

No one wanted to take on anymore guaranteed contracts beyond this year, so there were not quite as many transactions as previous years.

Darryl Sutter was about the busiest GM, because he feels that the flames are within striking distance of the cup.  The Flames made a deal with the Colorado Avalanche to acquire Jordan Leopold and then pulled off a blockbuster by acquiring Olli Jokinen, a No. 1 centre and perennial 30-40 goal scorer, from the Phoenix Coyotes.

Both players could be in the Flames' lineup as early as Thursday, when the Flames play in Philadelphia.

The Flames sent defencemen Lawrence Nycholat, acquired just a day earlier on waivers from Vancouver, and Ryan Wilson, along with a second-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (originally Montreal’s choice) to the Avs.

The Flames received Jokinen and a third round draft pick in 2009 in exchange for forwards Matthew Lombardi and Brandon Prust and a conditional first round draft pick in either 2009 or 2010.

Brian Burke in effect cleaned some house:

- Traded veteran winger Nik Antropov to the New York Rangers for a second-round and a conditional draft pick.

- Sent centre Dominic Moore to the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round pick.

- Claimed goaltender Martin Gerber off waivers from the Ottawa Senators.

- Picked up 26-year-old defenseman Erik Reitz off waivers from the Rangers.

- Traded Marlies defenseman Richard Petiot to the Tampa Bay Lightning for veteran goaltender Olaf Kolzig, defenseman Jamie Heward, AHL defenseman Andy Rogers and a fourth-round pick.

Both Moore and Antropov would have been free agents at season's end and Burke seemed to think they were asking more than their worth. Picking Gerber up off waivers means that now Toskala can have the surgery sooner and be ready for training camp in the fall. Ottawa pays half of his salary and he becomes a free agent after the season.

The trades with the Lightning are more or less a wash because the players are all injured. Burke gets a fourth-round pick for taking salary off the Lightning's cap. All of the players in the trade become free agents this summer, so the Leafs won’t owe them anything. Petiot was likely a career minor-league player and would never have cracked the lineup on the big club.

Burke likes Erik Reitz because he is big, and plays with grit and Burke feels he can add some sand paper to the lineup.

Heading into this year’s draft, the Leafs have a first-round selection, two second-rounders and picks in the next five rounds.That’s more picks than the Leafs have ever had in one draft year.

So, while on the outside it may appear that the Maple Leafs did not do much at the deadline, if you read between the lines you will see—they got the draft picks that were coveted and also will have a lot of cap space room to go into the summer with.  However, they also face an uncertain cap limit for next year.

“No Guts No Glory.”