Trades

The trade deadline has come and gone and we're now left to wonder how the deals made will impact on their respective teams. With a trade count lower than it has been the past couple of years, it seems with fear the cap might go down in coming seasons, GM's are less inclined to move players around. You can also chalk it up to the fact that teams are now showing the parity the Cap was supposed to bring. With standings out West being as close as they are, it's understandable that some deals just weren't worth the risk.
The 'winner' of the deadline in my eyes are the Calgary Flames. Acquiring Olli Jokinen and reacquiring D-man Jordan Leopold gives them more depth and a lot more scoring power. Jokinen, on line with Cammalleri and Iginla will certainly be a line to reckon with. Once the Flames get the likes of Langkow, Bourque and Giordano back, you can be sure that they'll have no lack of secondary scoring to push them into the playoffs. I beleive now the Flames can be mentioned in the category as the Sharks and the Wings.
On the homefront, Ottawa made a potentialy lucrative deal. Granted, they lost a skilled and useful forward in Antoine Vermette but the acquisition of Pascal Leclaire should go far in finally solidifying Ottawa's goaltending needs. The drawback may be the fact that the often injured goalie may not be game ready when the important times arise. Despite this, this gives Ottawa a good chance to let Elliot develop slowly given his recent struggles. Gaining a second round drasft pick might also help to replenish Ottawa's dwindling farm.
Surprisingly the Montreal Canadiens made no moves at all. Seemingly happy with the acquisition of Mathieu Schneider, Bob Gainey made no changes to his roster. This seems surprising despite his team's recent strugles. We'll have to see if this decision will hurt the team or not. Given the recent play of Carey Price and the team's struggles after losing a clear scoring centre in Lang, the team might fall out of the playoffs.
The lack of big blockbuster deal and a lot of minor trades, it's really hard to comment on them all. Needless to say, with minor players going back and forth, it's truly hard to tell how well they will pan out. a team like Toronto will have to look at the draft and the next couple of years to truly know how their trades worked out.