Battle Of Hudson

Possible teams Detroit, Anaheim, San Jose.

Biron to Philly, Conklin to Buffalo.

Laraque waives his no-trade clause, headed to Pittsburgh.

Just a reminder, check out The Fourth Period for all the exclusive trade news and analysis.

They’re reporting Noah Welch to Florida for Roberts.

Also, the NY Post has a story today claiming Jagr is on the block.

Watch The NHL Network’s TradeCentre ’07 on NHL.com at 10:00 AM.

As deals happen, we’ll try to provide updates and continued analysis on what promises to be a busy day. Look for Anaheim and Buffalo to be buyers. It’s no secret the Ducks are after Bill Guerin. Maybe GM Brian Burke will dangle that number one pick he got back from Tampa Bay in the Shane O’Brien deal. The Sabres are banged up and definitely could use another gritty forward to help replace Paul Gaustad. They also are in need of another defenseman with Jaroslav Spacek out a few more weeks. Aaron Miller or Mattias Nortstrom might be the way to go here. If Buffalo doesn’t do much today, they could pay for it later this Spring.

The Islanders should move Jason Blake, who can’t reach a new deal with the club. He’s said to be at arms with management, which might’ve prompted GM Garth Snow to wheel a second round pick to Washington for Richard Zednik. Keep an eye on what happens with the Blake situation.

As for the Rangers, it looks like they won’t be sellers. The organization foolishly believes it can still qualify for the postseason. Six points out with 20 games left including a home match tonight against Montreal, they probably will try to add a gritty forward to replace Brendan Shanahan (concussion). Keep an eye on defenseman Aaron Ward to see if he’s moved. He wasn’t happy with his benching the other night.

The Devils right now could stand pat due to the chemistry they have and also their cap situation. But you never can tell what GM Lou Lamoriello has up his sleeve. If he makes any kind of move, it will be something off the radar.

Keep up with today’s wheelings and dealings here. We’ll see ya all later!

Well, it looks like Gary Roberts will be relocating. The 40 year-old veteran forward who helped Calgary win a Stanley Cup in 1989 agreed to waive his no-trade clause with Florida earlier tonight. And it appears he’ll be heading to Pittsburgh later today. The Panthers will be receiving defense prospect Noah Welch in return. It will become official when Roberts signs the no-trade waiver.

Analysis: This is a solid deal for the Pens which brings a much needed physical veteran presence up front. Add that to the young crop of Crosby, Malkin and Staal and it makes them even tougher if they get into the postseason. They still need to pickup another defenseman to be taken seriously this Spring.

Trades Continue: With the deadline a day away, a few more deals took place tonight. Let’s take a look at what happened:

1.Islanders acquire RW Richard Zednik from Washington for a 2007 2nd round pick.

Analysis: Isles get themselves a streaky forward who can add some offense. But is his acquisition to offset the potential loss of Jason Blake? The team’s leading scorer could be gone by tomorrow because he’s nothing but a greedy baby more concerned about his future than a playoff race. Caps sell off a part and get decent value.

2.Senators pickup D Lawrence Nycholat from Capitals for D Andy Hedlund and a 2007 sixth round pick.

Analysis: Sens add some blueline depth while Caps continue to plan ahead.

3.Canucks get D Brent Sopel from Los Angeles for 2008 second and fourth round picks.

Analysis: Canucks bring back a player familiar with their system who should fit in well for stretch. Meanwhile, Kings GM Dean Lombardi gets a nice return for someone that wasn’t in the club’s plans.

4.Canucks acquire C Bryan Smolinski from Blackhawks for a conditional second round pick.

Analysis: Vancouver picks up some much needed center depth. The versatile Smolinski can center a second or checking line and wins draws. Meanwhile, Chicago deals a player who wanted to stay. Hope that pick turns into something worthwhile. Does Smolinski return this summer as a rental?

5.Detroit trades RW Jason Williams to Chicago. Flyers trade C Kyle Calder to Hawks for D Lasse Kukkonen and a 2007 third round pick. Hawks then ship Calder to Detroit for Williams.

Analysis: The Wings hope Calder can play better out West while Flyers continue to revamp their blueline adding Kukkonen to Braydon Coburn, Ryan Parent and current Flyer Joni Pitkanen. We’re left wondering why the Hawks didn’t just keep Calder since he played well there and was a center. Williams isn’t a bad player but this doesn’t seem like a very good deal for the Hawks.

Thrashers beat Boston 3-2, MTL shuts down the Leafs 5-4.

*1.BUF – 87 PTS, 20 GR
*2.NJ – 84 PTS, 19 GR
*3.TB – 75 PTS, 18 GR
4.OTT – 76 PTS, 20 GR
5.PIT – 75 PTS, 21 GR
6.ATL – 74 PTS, 17 GR
7. MTL – 72 PTS, 17 GR
8. CAR – 71 PTS, 18 GR
——————————
9. NYI – 70 PTS, 20 GR
10. TOR – 69 PTS, 19 GR
11. BOS – 64 PTS, 20 GR
12. NYR – 64 PTS, 20 GR

Trades Since we last reported:

OTT Gets: D Lawrence Nicholat
WSH Gets: D Andy Hedlund, 2007 6th Rounder

VAN Gets: D Brent Sopel
LA Gets: 2008 2nd and 4th Rounders

VAN Gets: C Brian Smolinski
CHI Gets: 2007 Conditional 2nd Rounder

CHI Gets: C Jason Williams
DET Gets: C Kyle Calder
PHI Gets: D Lasse Kukkonen, 2007 3rd Rounder

In a crucial battle up north, the Canadiens held on for a 5-4 victory over the Maple Leafs. Big performances from Sheldon Souray (team leading 22nd), Saku Koivu (goal, assist) and returning enigma Alexei Kovalev (assist but played inspired) were enough for Montreal to vault over the Islanders and Hurricanes into seventh in the East with 72 points. Souray’s power play blast off a clean Koivu win put the Habs up three and forced Toronto to replace Andrew Raycroft with Jean-Sebastien Aubin. Jeremey Williams and Alex Steen tallied for the Leafs early in the third to make things interesting. But an undetected high stick by Montreal’s Garth Murray on Leafs captain Mats Sundin late in the contest proved to be too much for them to overcome. They remained in 10th with 69 points. Sundin was visibly upset and even spit out blood to prove a point. The Leafs couldn’t tie it with Aubin off for an extra attacker as the Canadiens withstood a mad scramble to post the big win.

In another pivotal playoff battle, the Thrashers defeated the Bruins 3-2. Marian Hossa scored his club-leading 36th with less than 13:00 left to boost Atlanta to 74 points, one behind Southeast leader Tampa Bay. Alexei Zhitnik registered an assist in his Thrasher debut and Atlanta posted a franchise best 18th road win this season.

In other action, it’s the Flames all over the Coyotes 5-1 up in Alberta while the Ducks on the strength of two goals from rookie Dustin Penner lead San Jose 2-0.

Garth and Wang aren’t done yet apparently. They get Richard Zednik from the Capitals for a 2nd Rounder. For more info, head here: http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/was070226.html

The Isles have some cap room, and Zednik’s a freebie at the end of the year, so getting some offensive depth at this price is OK for the orange and blue.

The big rumor going around is that Gary Roberts is headed to Pittsburgh. More to come.

Atlanta @ Boston at 7:00 PM on VERSUS and VERSUSHD. Doc Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Bob Harwood doing that one.

Anaheim @ San Jose at 10:00 PM on VERSUS and VERSUSHD (mmm…HD hockey double header). Joe Beninati, Andy Brickley and Chris Simpson are working that game.

People have been asking me lately, “Steve, where’s a good trade deadline source?”.

Well, I’m gonna have to direct you to http://www.thefourthperiod.com

Our friend Greg Wyshynski and David Pagnotta do stellar work over there, and they’ll have exclusive commentary, reactions, predictions, rumors and breaking news as it happens. Derek and I are certain to be tuned there, so you should be too.