The Calgary Flames stunned fans and analysts by making some big deals today before the 2009 NHL Trade Deadline which added Olli Jokinen (Phoenix Coyotes) and Jordan Leopold (Colorado Avalanche) to their roster.  They also sent the very speedy Matthew Lombardi to the Coyotes and I’m sad to see him go. 
There were a couple deals that left people scratching their heads.  Patrick O’Sullivan was actually traded TWICE while the Tampa Bay Lightning sent injured players, including goaltender Olaf Kolzig, to the Toronto Maple Leafs. 
Here’s a list of the trades today:

Flames Send LeLande to Blue Jackets
San Jose Trade …read more

In addition to their huge deals earlier in the day which brought them Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold, the Calgary Flames have traded goaltender Kevin LeLande to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a fourth-round pick at the 2009 Entry Draft.
The Blue Jackets immediately assigned the young netminder to the Syracuse Crunch, which is the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate which isn’t too big of a change for him.  He had spent time playing with both the Quad City Flames of the AHL and the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL this season.  With the Wranglers, he registered a 17-5-4 …read more

The San Jose Sharks traded defenceman Kyle McLaren to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
The 31-year-old was drafted by the Boston Bruins during the first round (9th overall) of the 1995 Entry Draft.
“In 719 games in the NHL, McLaren has amassed 46 goals and 161 assists with a plus- 27 rating.”

image: TSN

On TSN, Brian Burke refused to comment on a deal that saw goaltender, Olaf Kolzig, defencemen Jamie Heward and Andy Rogers AND a fourth-round draft pick traded from the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a prospect Richard Petiot.
Clearly, this is a salary cap deal that will need to be reviewed by the NHL since the 26-year-old Petiot is not worth all of those players.  He has three goals, 14 assists in 45 games with Toronto Marlies of the AHL so far this season.
Kolzig is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer …read more

In the most confusing move of the day, Patrick O’Sullivan was actually  traded twice in a pair of deals that involved four NHL teams.  O’Sullivan was originally traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward, Justin Williams. 
It was soon learned, however, that the 24-year-old would be on the move again when he was swiftly traded by the Hurricanes to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Erik Cole, who was part of the Canes organization when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006.  The Oilers then acquired forward Ales Kotalik from the Buffalo Sabres …read more

In a surprise last-minute move, the Anaheim Ducks have traded away three players in the final moments before the NHL’s Trade Deadline.  They have sent forward Samuel Pahlsson to the Chicago Blackhawks and then turned around and shipped Travis Moen and defenceman Kent Huskins to the San Jose Sharks. 
In exchange for Pahlsson (who has five goals and 10 assists in 52 games this season), the Ducks acquired James Wisniewski and a draft pick.
The Moen/Huskins deal sent forward Nick Bonino, goaltender Timo Pielmeier and a conditional draft pick to Anaheim.
image: TSN

Despite being the topic of so much speculation, Jay Bouwmeester is staying with the Florida Panthers.  I’m surprised, I thought the Panthers were going to deal him away in a big trade but I guess I was wrong…

The Tampa Bay Lightning have sent blue liner Steve Eminger to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenceman Noah Welch and a third round draft pick.

They seemed to trying to work on a deal all day but, in the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs did not re-sign center, Dominic Moore, and have sent him to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for a second round draft pick.
He joined the Leafs after they picked him up off waivers just last year and, so far, had been having his best NHL season with 12 goals and 29 assists in 63 games with Toronto.
The Maple Leafs have been hard at work updating their roster.  They claimed goaltender, Martin Gerber, off waivers from the Ottawa Senators and they shipped Nik …read more

The Anaheim Ducks have acquired Erik Christensen from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for prospect, Eric O’Dell.  
If you remember, Christensen was part of that blockbuster deal at last year’s trade deadline when he, along with Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito and a first round draft pick were traded by the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.
So far, Christensen has 15 goals and 14 assists in 47 games this season. 
image: TSN