The NHL trade deadline has come and gone with 25 deals done. It had big names like Bertuzzi, Guerin, and even Captain Canada, Ryan Smyth changing teams. We?ll be discussing each trade and declare who?s the winner of each trade. Trade #1: Pittsburgh Penguins trade Noah Welch Florida Panthers trade Gary Roberts Winner: Pittsburgh The Pittsburgh Penguins get tougher and more experienced with this trade. Gary Roberts knows how to win in the playoffs and can help the young guys like Crosby learn that lesson more quickly. However, the key to this deal for Pittsburgh is that they managed to keep the 40 year old away from the Ottawa Senators (Toronto and Ottawa were the teams that Roberts said he?d waive his no trade clause for) who is a prospective 1st round match up for them. In Welch the Panthers get a steady young defenseman who was an AHL allstar for the Penguin?s affiliate team, Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins, but didn?t play because the Pens called him up. He will most likely be on the big team in Florida and should be a serviceable defenseman, but nothing special. Trade #2: Buffalo Sabres trade Martin Biron Philadelphia Flyers trade 2007 2nd Round Draft Choice Winner: Philadelphia Considering some of the deals that went down before this, I don?t understand how the Sabres can only get a 2nd round draft choice for Biron. This is a guy who is a #1 goalie on most other teams and has the ability to steal a game for you. If Philadelphia managed to get their hands on Marty Biron before the lockout, they probably would have been the one?s lifting the Lord Stanely?s Mug that year and not Tampa Bay. Biron is still and unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason and will probably test the market. Biron?s stats may fall due to the fact that he?s been traded to the worst team in the league, but the Flyers as a whole might be a great spoiler down the stretch. Trade #3: Buffalo Sabres trade 2007 5th Round Draft Choice Columbus Blue Jackets trade Ty Conklin Winner: Columbus This deal isn?t that bad but the slight edge has to go to Columbus due to the trades that followed. Ty Conklin is most remembered for the muffed up play in the Stanley Cup Finals last season where he coughed up the puck in Game 1 which gave Carolina the empty net to score on which turned out to be the game winning goal. Since the 2004 season he?s been between the AHL and a backup in the NHL. In Columbus he was their 3rd string goaltender behind Fredrik Norrena and Pascal Leclaire. Look for the Sabres not to take many chances and have Ryan Miller start the majority of their games Trade #4: Phoenix Coyotes trade Georges Laraque Pittsburgh Penguins trade Danny Carcillo and 2008 3rd Round Draft Choice Winner: Pittsburgh The Penguins went out and got what they needed, someone who can protect Sydney Crosby. In the past teams were taking some liberties with the Penguins young stars like Crosby, Malkin and Staal where they have had to defend themselves against some bigger, tougher and less skilled players. With Laraque in the picture and with decent playing time, teams will think twice before messing with the kids. In Carcillo, the only way to describe him is a head case. In the OHL he?s been know to give out cheap shots to the face leading to large suspensions. His attitude could be a problem, which might not lead him to make the NHL. The 3rd round draft choice was probably the key to this deal for the Coyotes. Trade #7: New York Rangers trade Aaron Ward Boston Bruins trade Paul Mara Winner: Boston This trade talent wise is pretty even. They both are solid 3rd or 4th defensemen who are steady in their own end and have some offensive game and they are both have 1 year left on their contract. What makes Boston the winner is that Aaron Ward makes $25,000 less than Mara which gives them that little bit of cap room. It?s really a matter of preference, the Rangers like Mara more than they liked Ward, which is why they made the deal. Trade #8: Ottawa Senators trade 2007 2nd Round Draft Choice Phoenix Coyotes trade Oleg Saprykin and 2007 7th Round Draft Choice Winner: Ottawa The Senators this is a very small price for a young skilled forward like Oleg. Saprykin this year has 14 goals and 20 assists in 59 games with the Coyotes and is only 26 years old. This is a good gamble to take by only trading a 2nd round pick as his price. Getting a 7th round pick back doesn?t hurt either, they can take a flyer on someone late in the draft and you never know from there. Trade #9: Colorado Avalanche trade Brad May Anaheim Ducks trade Michael Wall Winner: Colorado This was a tough one to decide to be honest. It was more of a tie but in hockey ties don?t exist anymore. I give the edge to the team that got the young goalie back. Michael Wall had the misfortune of being stuck behind J.S. Guigere and Ilya Bryzgalov in the goalkeeper position. When he did play this season it was because both goalies were injured. When he played he was decent but while playing for this superb Ducks team, any goalie will be at least decent for them. In Brad May the Ducks get a little tougher, especially after trading tough young defenseman Shane O?Brien to the Lightning for goaltender Gerald Coleman and Tampa Bay?s 1st round choice (the acquisition of Coleman also means Wall was expendable). Trade #10: Toronto Maple Leafs trade Brenden Bell and 2008 2nd Round Draft Choice Phoenix Coyotes trade Yanic Perrault and 2008 5th Round Draft Choice Winner: Phoenix This was a foolish trade for the Leafs. The Toronto Maple Leaf?s budget is centred around a sellout every game this season and one playoff round, so they are trying to do everything they can to make sure they have that one playoff round. Yanic Perrault will not make this team a Stanley Cup contender, he also probably will not re-sign with the Leafs due to his terrific year so far with an allstar appearance, which means he?ll ask for more money. Also you have to think about it like this, Leafs could have had Perrault for free near the beginning of the year as a free agent who has not been signed going into the year. Nobody took a flyer on him until Phoenix did and he has done what he always has done, score goals and win faceoffs. Now they give up two very good assets for someone that they should have had for free. Brendan Bell is a player who is versatile enough to play forward and defence. He still has a lot of potential in him and has had a great junior career including Most Outstanding Defenceman in the OHL, the Dewalt Top Defenceman Award in the CHL, and a 1st team allstar in both the OHL and CHL (all of these in 2003). However, for the short term Yanic Perrault will provide some scoring and help on faceoffs which the Leafs desperately need. If they become fully healthy the Leafs will have four of the top faceoff men in the game being Mats Sundin, Yanic Perrault, Mike Peca, and Travis Greene. This is a valuable asset if they make the playoffs. Trade #11: Buffalo Sabres trade Juri Novotny and 2007 1st Round Draft Choice Washington Capitals trade Dainius Zubrus and Timo Helbling Winner: Buffalo Buffalo added more skill and speed heading into the playoffs by adding Zubrus. This year he has 20 goals and 32 assists in 60 games for the Captials and you can expect him to increase that total with the high flying Sabres who right now are decimated with injuries. By giving up their 1st round draft choice this year, they are giving up what probably will be in the 27-30th pick in the draft which is reasonable to trade off while they are getting another prospect back. For Washington they continue to get young prospects for their veteran players who are expiring and will continue to be a hard working young team. Next year they might be buyers in the trade deadline if they continue to improve the way they have. Trade #12: San Jose Sharks trade Nolan Schaefer Pittsburgh Penguins trade 2007 7th Round Draft Choice Winner: Pittsburgh This is the reason why I said earlier Buffalo lost the trade in regard to Conklin. Nolan Schafer comes from a long line of good goalies coming out of the San Jose system going from Miikka Kiprusoff to Evgeni Nabokov to Vessa Toskala all the way to Schafer. Due to the former 3, he was buried in the depth chart in San Jose for a large period of time without being given much of a chance. In Pittsburgh he will be behind Marc Andre Fleury and Jocelyn Thibault but is just another young asset on a young team. For Pittsburgh to only have to give up their pick in the last round of the 2007 draft is just a great move for them. Trade #13: Boston Bruins trade Brad Boyes St. Louis Blues trade Dennis Wideman Winner: St. Louis I guess Boston decided they needed a young defenseman rather than Boyes. Personally I think Boyes is the better talent. He?s had an off-season this year but eventually he will be the better player. Boyes is creative, has soft hands, and isn?t afraid to go to the net. This in will probably be looked at as a mistake by the Bruins 3 years from now. Now for the bigger stuff... Trade #14: Los Angeles Kings trade Mattias Norstrom, Konstatin Pushkarov, 2007 3rd Round Draft Choice, and 2007 4th Round Draft Choice Dallas Stars trade Jaroslav Modry, Johan Fransson, 2008 1st Round Draft Choice, 2007 2nd Round Draft choice, and 2007 3rd Round Draft Choice Winner: Los Angeles Mattias Norstrom will help the Dallas Stars go for the Stanley Cup this year. If they win then this trade will be worth it. But this trade helps the Kings more than it helps the Stars. The Kings get a sturdy defenseman in Modry to finish out the year in LA until he expires at the end of this year, while they shed their former captain?s $4.25 salary. On top of this they get 3 draft choices, the 1st rounder being next year in a much stronger draft, which makes it more valuble. In Fransson they get another defensive prospect who is still playing in Europe but has a decent amount of potential which could be good to take a flyer on. Trade #15: San Jose Sharks trade Ville Nieminen, Jay Barriball, and 2007 1st Round Draft Choice St. Louis Blues trade Bill Guerin Winner: San Jose While the Sharks lose some grit in losing Nieminen, but the acquisition of Bill Guerin makes my Stanley Cup prediction team that much stronger. Between they have surrounded the team with so many talented forwards with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Jonathan Cheechoo, Milan Michalek, and now Bill Guerin means this team will score goals at a fast pace. This while the team also shored up their blue line yesterday aquiring Craig Rivet from Montreal to go along with Scott Hannan, Christian Ehrhoff, Matt Carle, and Kyle McLaren plus the stellar goaltending from both Evgeni Nabokov and Vessa Toskala means they are going to really push hard at getting the Cup this year. Trade #16: Detroit Red Wings trade Shawn Matthias, a 2007 Conditional Draft Choice, and 2008 Conditional 2nd Round Draft Choice Florida Panthers trade Todd Bertuzzi Winner: Detroit No matter what happens with Bertuzzi the Red Wings win this trade. The reason is that due to the picks being conditional, even if Bertuzzi sucks with the Wings, what they gave up will not hurt them that much due to the fact that those picks are determined on how well Todd does for the Wings. This is a low-risk high reward deal because when Bertuzzi is on his game he is one of the most dominant power forwards in the game. He can probably win a game by himself if he is riled up enough. He fits in great along with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg because he adds size and grit to that line up. The main thing is he needs to get healthy in order to be of some assistance to the Wings. Trade #17: New York Islanders trade Robert Nilson, Ryan O?Marra, and 2007 1st Round Draft Choice Edmonton Oilers trade Ryan Smyth Winner: New York Islanders This was the biggest trade of the day by far. While I admire the Oilers ability to get something before they lose a player for nothing, I have to give the Islanders some congratulations. This is a team that was highly ridiculed at the beginning of the season due to the front office moves that were made but have managed to grab hold of the 8th and final playoff spot in the east and continue to improve upon it. Ryan Smyth was the heart and soul of the Edmonton Oilers and they will probably just completely fall out of the race in the West. Smyth will be, as usual, a force in front of the net, getting garbage goals and screening goalies. This is a player, to quote TSN ?A GM doesn?t like him, a GM LOVES him on their team?. He?s hard working, gritty, great attitude, the perfect power forward. Edmonton however gets what essentially is 3 first round picks for Smyth. Nilson has been up and down past couple of seasons between the AHL and NHL and is just on the verge of making it, while Ryan O?Marra was the Islanders 1st round pick in 2005 and has a ton of upside. The first round pick should be around the 15-20th pick if all things stay the way they are now which is fairly decent as well for a buying team. Look for Edmonton to try to re-sign Smyth when free agency starts, however, look for the other 29 teams to do the same.