Another year and another NHL trade deadline goes by. It seems like every year we have a lull before the last few days leading up until the deadline. This is met with worry from experts and pundits, suggesting that there will be a lack of movement. I guess we?ll never learn. The 2008 edition of the NHL trade deadline was one of the more exciting in recent memory, but before we get into the wrap-up of the day?s trades, let?s take a look at a couple of signings that impacted the action that took place today. - Peter Forsberg signs with the Avalanche Nobody saw this one coming. Last week, Forsberg?s agent Don Baizley suggested that a return to the NHL for ?Foppa? was unlikely at best. Rumors circulated that if Forsberg was to return, Philadelphia would be the former team he would suit up for. Instead, Forsberg goes to the city where he had his largest amount of success in Colorado. Now, the Avs currently sit in 10th place in the Western Conference, but with the return of Forsberg, and the recent returns off the injured reserve of Ryan Smyth, Paul Stastny and Joe Sakic, Colorado clearly believes they will be making a run. Only time will tell if the oft-injured Swede will be able to make a serious impact. - Darren McCarty?s comeback goes through Motown Darren McCarty?s comeback to the NHL is complete. The fan favorite signed a deal with the Red Wings for the remainder of the season, giving Detroit some much needed grit. The popular winger started his comeback in January with the Flint Generals of the IHL. Eventually, he signed a pro tryout contract with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the minor league affiliate of the Wings. Detroit GM Ken Holland saw enough to offer McCarty a contract. Good to see McCarty back in the league. - Dan Boyle signs for big money in the Sunshine State This was the big domino to fall late Monday night. When Boyle signed for six years and $40 million, it became evident that someone from the Lightning would be moving Tuesday. While some may cringe at the money, Boyle is more than worth the money that Jay Feaster gave him. Great move by the Lightning. - Comrie, Jackman re-up with Isles and Blues Two upcoming free agents were taken off the market on Monday night. Mike Comrie re-signed with the Islanders for one year and $4 million, while Barret Jackman signed with the Blues for four years, and $14.4 million. Good deals on both fronts, as Comrie has been a consistent performer on Long Island. Jackman provides a physical presence to the Blues blue line, and will continue to log heavy minutes in St. Louis. Let?s get to the trades - Tampa Bay trades Vaclav Prospal to Philadelphia for Alexandre Picard and a conditional 2nd round pick Usually I subscribe to the theory that, whoever gets the best player in the deal, wins the trade. This is one situation where I don?t think it applies. Prospal certainly is a talented player, but he has never been a playoff performer. If he can play up to his talent level, Philly got themselves a good second line player. Tampa gets back a depth defenseman in Picard and a 2nd round pick in a deep draft this year. WINNER: Tampa Bay - St. Louis trades Bryce Salvador to New Jersey for Cam Janssen This may be perceived as a minor deal, but don?t underestimate Salvador?s value here. Devils coach Brent Sutter is very familiar with Salvador from his days in the Western Hockey League. Salvador will add a physical dimension to the Devils, while Janssen returns to his hometown of St. Louis. He will fill the role of enforcer for the Blues. WINNER: New Jersey - Toronto trades Wade Belak to Florida for a 5th round pick, Chad Kilger to Florida for a 3rd round pick, and Hal Gill to Pittsburgh for 2nd and 5th round picks Even though they aren?t the moves Leaf fans had hoped for, GM Cliff Fletcher managed to do pretty well on deadline day. Considering all the players with no-trade clauses on the Leaf roster, there wasn?t much Fletcher could accomplish on Tuesday. With that said, Belak and Kilger will add depth to a young Florida team pushing for the playoffs. Pittsburgh getting Hal Gill is very important. Gill is the type of shutdown defender the Pens lack, and he will be able to handle Jaromir Jagr and other big players down the stretch and into the playoffs. Although, getting a 2nd round pick in a deep draft is good for the Leafs. WINNER: Toronto, for the simple fact of stockpiling picks, and moving some salary. - Buffalo trades Brian Campbell and a 7th round pick to San Jose for Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick This has got to be a bitter pill to swallow for Sabres fans. One year removed from losing Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, their number one defenseman is shipped out. Campbell didn?t want to leave Buffalo, but management could not let another elite player walk in free agency, without getting a return. In Bernier, the Sabres get a big, tough forward with some scoring touch. For a team that lacks size and grit up front, Bernier will be a huge help. They also get a late 1st round pick in a deep draft, which will hopefully turn out to be an impact player. WINNER: San Jose, barely - Tampa Bay trades Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist to Dallas for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern To say Dallas pulled off a steal would be an understatement. Mike Smith is a very good backup goalie, and may eventually blossom into a good starter, but that was the only player of serious consequence that the Lightning picked up for Brad Richards. Jussi Jokinen is a shootout master, but you can find guys like that all over the place, just ask the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jeff Halpern is a useful player, but there is no doubt that he is on the downside of his career. Holmqvist will be a serviceable backup to Marty Turco, and adding a superstar like Richards only enhances Dallas? Stanley Cup chances. WINNER: Dallas - Montreal trades Cristobal Huet to Washington for a 2009 2nd round pick The winner of most shocking trade on deadline day is right here. This came out of left field, and with all due respect to Montreal GM Bob Gainey, I really don?t know what he was thinking here. It is extremely difficult to find top-flight goaltending in the NHL, and while Huet may not be a long-term solution, the Habs don?t really have a better option. Gainey may have had other deals on the table that eventually fell through and needed to clear cap room, but that is just my guess. Montreal will now go into the playoffs with a rookie goalie in Carey Price, who has been inconsistent all season. Maybe Montreal is trying to recapture history with rookie goalies in the playoffs. Ken Dryden, Steve Penney and Patrick Roy all come to mind; we?ll have to see if Price can get to that level. WINNER: Washington - Florida trades Ruslan Salei to Colorado for Karlis Skrastins and a 3rd round pick Colorado?s playoff push continues with the acquisition of tough defenseman Ruslan Salei. He?ll add some size and physicality to the blue line, while Florida gets a useful defenseman back in Skrastins and a 3rd round pick. WINNER: Colorado - Carolina trades Andrew Ladd to Chicago for Tuomo Ruutu This trade essentially boils down to two players needing a change of scenery. Both were selected in the top-10 of their respective drafts, and due to injury and other factors, both have underachieved. Ruutu was supposed to be a better offensive player than he has turned out, but Ladd provides a lot of grit and a Stanley Cup victory. WINNER: Whoever plays more games - Chicago trades Martin Lapointe to Ottawa for a 6th round pick Plain and simple, a salary dump for the Blackhawks. Lapointe is a free agent after the season, and Chicago wasn?t going to re-sign him. Ottawa gets a playoff-tested veteran who provides grit and two Stanley Cup victories. WINNER: Ottawa - Columbus trades Adam Foote to Colorado for a conditional 1st round pick and another conditional pick if Foote re-signs in Colorado after the season Apparently everybody wants to go back to Colorado. After Peter Forsberg came back to join the Avs, Adam Foote comes back to Denver. The trade raised a lot of eyebrows as it was thought Colorado gave up too much. Foote has a lot left to give, but with Colorado not in the playoffs at the moment, GM Francois Giguere is taking a chance. Columbus did the right thing by starting to sell off parts, and they got a lot back in return. WINNER: Columbus, but Foote will be key for the Avs - Columbus trades Sergei Fedorov to Washington for Ted Ruth I was a little surprised to see Washington make this move, but it appears to be a good fit on paper. Fedorov is not the star he once was, but he can still be an effective player. He will fit in well with the rest of the Russian contingent in D.C., and will have valuable playoff experience, provided the Caps get there. Washington gives up a mid-level prospect in Ruth, a small price to pay to get a playoff vet like Fedorov. WINNER: Washington - Vancouver trades Matt Cooke to Washington for Matt Pettinger This trade may catch some fans off-guard, but in reality, it shouldn?t. Cooke, while still a useful pest, he has seemingly been replaced by Alex Burrows. Pettinger will come in and provide some energy to the third line, and if healthy, can chip in offensively. Cooke meanwhile, will get a fresh start under Bruce Boudreau, after clashes with Canucks bench boss Alain Vigneault. WINNER: Vancouver - St. Louis trades Christian Backman to the Rangers for a 4th round pick Great depth pick up by the Rangers here, for not that much in a 4th round pick. Marek Malik was thought to be on the move from New York, but evidently the Rangers decided otherwise. In any event, Backman will play in the top-6 and likely log decent minutes. WINNER: New York - Atlanta trades Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh for Angelo Esposito, Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen and a 1st round pick Atlanta GM Don Waddell had everyone guessing on this one. Pittsburgh snuck in just before the deadline and stole him from other potential suitors, reportedly Ottawa and Montreal. Pittsburgh gets an impact player in Hossa, but they give up a boatload in three highly regarded young players and a first-round pick. Hossa has never been a great playoff performer, and he?ll get another chance to dispel that notion with Sidney Crosby and the Pens. Esposito is a very talented offensive player, as is Christensen. Armstrong is a great third-line player, who can fill in when injuries hit. If Hossa re-signs with the Pens, this is a great deal for them, otherwise, they?ve given up way too much. WINNER: Pittsburgh for the moment - New York Islanders trade Chris Simon to Minnesota for a 6th round pick Simon recently came back from suspension, and while he was a useful player a few years back, Simon is not worth the risk. You cannot guarantee that he won?t do something stupid, and he isn?t as effective as he used to be anyway. Kudos to the Islanders for getting rid of a contract and a headache. WINNER: New York - Los Angeles trades Brad Stuart to Detroit for 2nd and 4th round picks I would?ve thought Stuart had more value on the open market, but I guess not. LA got a decent return on him, but ultimately Detroit wins this deal. They have been ravaged with injury over the past couple weeks and Stuart is the type of defenseman they need. Not to mention that Detroit?s scouting staff is so good, the picks are almost of no consequence. WINNER: Detroit - Phoenix trades Fredrik Sjostrom, David LeNeveu, Josh Gratton and a conditional draft pick to the Rangers for Al Montoya and Marcel Hossa I know the Rangers have King Henrik in net, but I would?ve thought they would?ve held out for more of a return on Montoya and Hossa. Sjostrom and Gratton have yet to prove themselves on an NHL level, but LeNeveu is a good prospect for the future. To me, Phoenix fleeced the Rangers on this one. WINNER: Phoenix - New York Islanders trade Marc-Andre Bergeron to Anaheim for a 3rd round pick Marc-Andre Bergeron is an interesting case. I know he isn?t the best guy defensively, but he is very good with the puck, yet Ted Nolan couldn?t find a spot for him. I don?t know how much playing time Bergeron will get with the Ducks, but there is no way that they lose this deal. I can?t believe the Islanders gave up on him this quickly. WINNER: Anaheim Well, those were the deals that I felt were worth mentioning in this space. Certainly the day could?ve been more productive, but overall, it was a pretty fun day, at least for me. Good luck to your teams on the playoff run, or the race to mediocrity and Steven Stamkos and the number one pick in the draft.