Now that spring is upon us, it means that the NHL season is heading for the homestretch and teams are making moves in order to better their chances for the playoffs and to hopefully bring Lord Stanley’s Cup to their city. Yesterday was the NHL trade deadline, which meant that big moves were surely going to happen (too bad the Maple Leafs weren’t amongst them). There were quite a few moves on Tuesday, but once the dust settled, there were some prominent players that were moved to other teams:

1) Marian Hossa traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins

Probably the biggest deal on Trade Deadline day as Marian Hossa had made it clear that he did want to stay with the Atlanta Thrashers. Pittsburgh looks to have traded some young talent in Angelo Esposito, Colby Armstrong and Erik Cristensen, but in return they get a premier scorer in Hossa who will most likely play in the the top line with either Crosby and/or Malkin. Even prior to this trade, the Penguins were an offensive force to be reckoned with…now with Hossa, it can only get better.

2) Brad Richards to the Dallas Stars

With the Tampa Bay Lightning having a disappointing season this year, it was inevitable that the team would have to make some changes and break up the all-star line of Richards/Lecavalier/St. Louis. Brad Richards had been considered to be a premiere player in the league, however it looks as though he’s been having an off-season ever since he signed the big contract. With Richards in the Dallas Stars lineup, hopefully he’ll regain the scoring touch he had when the Lightning won the Stanley Cup.

3) Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks get a great scoring defenseman in Brian Campbell and hopefully he’ll help improve the struggling Sharks powerplay. Since Brian Campbell would not sign a contract with the Sabres, Buffalo had to deal Campbell and get something in return, or else they’d get nothing when he went for free agency. Sabres management learnt a hard lesson last season when lost two key players in Daniel Briere and Chris Drury.

4) Cristobal Huet to the Washington Capitals

This deal was a big surprise in that many analysts didn’t think Huet was going to be traded, let alone for a draft pick. Cristobal Huet had been a strong goalie for the Montreal Canadiens this season, but has struggled as of late. With the move, it’ll mean that Montreal is going to rely on Carey Price as their number one goaltender. As for the Capitals, they finally get some solid, consistent goaltending as Olaf Kolzig has been struggling between the pipes.

Even the Toronto Maple Leafs participated in making deals during the deadline with trading away Hal Gill, Wade Belak and Chad Kilger for draft picks. Though it didn’t have the impact as say trading away Mats Sundin, Tomas Kaberle or Bryan McCabe, at least the Leafs organization is at least building for the future with picks. I still think Toronto should tank this season and the next so that we can be the frontrunner for the Steve Stamkos and John Tavares sweepstakes!

-Stephen