Deadline Day Trade Roundup

Maple Leafs bring back ex-captain Gilmour at deadline

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) -- The Toronto Maple Leafs made two late additions at the NHL trading deadline on Tuesday, acquiring forward Doug Gilmour from the Montreal Canadiens and defenseman Phil Housley from the Chicago Blackhawks.

Gilmour, a popular captain of the Maple Leafs from 1992 to 1997, was acquired from the rival Canadiens for future considerations.

"It's a dream come true again," Gilmour told TSN. "Hopefully I can be a small piece of this puzzle. "This is probably my last go at [a Stanley Cup]. I'm really excited about it."

The Blackhawks got Toronto's fourth- and ninth-round draft picks for Housley.

The moves followed the Leafs acquisition of veteran defenseman Glen Wesley from Carolina on Sunday and right wing Owen Nolan on March 6 from San Jose.

Gilmour and Housley are both 39 and entering the option years on their contracts. Between them, they have 2,967 games of NHL experience.

The Canadiens, unlikely to make the playoffs, were shopping Gilmour, but some teams balked at the generous playoff bonuses in his contract. He will reportedly make $50,000 if his team gets past the first round and $100,000 for each round after that, with an additional $150,000 bonus for winning the Stanley Cup.

There is a club option at $3 million on Gilmour for next season and the team has to pay $500,000 if they elect not to pick up his option.

"We're just five points out of the playoffs here in Montreal," Gilmour said. "If I wasn't going to go to a specific place with a good shot at the Stanley Cup, I wanted to stay in Montreal and help them make a run at the playoffs."

Housley is earning $2.5 million this season with a team option at $2 million for 2003-04.

Gilmour, who has 11 goals and 19 assists in 61 games this season, passed Dale Hawerchuk this season for 13th place on the NHL scoring list. He has 1,414 career points.

Gilmour's NHL career began in 1983 with the St. Louis Blues. He moved to Calgary for the 1988-89 season and helped the Flames win a Stanley Cup that season. He moved to Toronto in a blockbuster deal in 1992.

The Ontario native later played in New Jersey, Chicago and Buffalo and signed as an unrestricted free agent with Montreal on Oct. 5, 2001.

"[Leafs coach and GM Pat Quinn] said I'd come in and play 10 to 14 minutes a game," Gilmour said. "It's a great hockey club, hopefully we can put it all together."

Housley is fifth in career scoring by NHL defensemen with 1,232 points.

His career began in 1982 with Buffalo. He moved to Winnipeg in 1990, then to Calgary, New Jersey, Washington and Calgary again before he was claimed off waivers by Chicago on Sept. 28, 2001.

Avs send promising Vrbata to 'Canes for bruising Battaglia

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes unloaded another veteran Tuesday, trading the slumping Bates Battaglia to the Colorado Avalanche for Radim Vrbata in an exchange of forwards.

The deal, hours before the NHL trade deadline, was made as Carolina is finishing a season in which it is almost certain to miss the playoffs a year after reaching the Stanley Cup finals.

Battaglia, a left wing, has only five goals and 14 assists in 70 games this season with the Hurricanes, who traded defenseman Glen Wesley to Toronto this past weekend for a 2004 draft pick. Carolina has 57 points and is fourth in the Southeast Division.

"I think if you look at Battaglia, he was part of a team that struggled as a team this year," Colorado general manager Pierre Lacroix said. "The picture we have of him is what he brought to the table until they got to the finals last year. That's the image we have of Bates Battaglia."

In addition to Battagia and Wesley, the defending Eastern Conference champions have traded forward Sami Kapanen and defenseman Marek Malik this season. The four played in a combined 1,868 games for the franchise.

"You've got to make sure we're getting quality people back, whether they have great skills or not," center Rod Brind'Amour said. "I know Bates is a quality guy and that's one quality guy leaving. Sometimes you can't replace that and you've got to be careful."

Battaglia was one of five Carolina players to appear in every game this season.

"He didn't get lazy, he was always working," Brind'Amour said of his former teammate that helped form the successful BBC line with Erik Cole in last year's playoffs. "He played every game, never complained. I think he was the consummate pro."

In 82 regular-season games last season, Battaglia had a career-high 21 goals and 25 assists. In the playoffs, he had another five goals and nine assists in 23 games.

"If I could narrow it down to one thing that I could have changed, maybe things would have been different. But I couldn't," said Battaglia, who hasn't scored in 31 games. "I've just been trying to come and work hard every day, but things just haven't turned around for me."

Carolina coach Paul Maurice said Battaglia, 27, may have changed his game for the worse this year.

"When you have a 20-goal season and had the type of year we had the next step is you want to have a 30-goal season," Maurice said. "In order to do that you feel you have to do more, change more. I felt he leaned down too much this summer and took too much weight off and tried to increase his speed. The foundation of his game is the physical game and I don't feel he was able to do that."

Battaglia, who was not at Tuesday's practice as he packed for the trip to Denver, said he hoped the trade would give him a chance to end the season on a higher note.

Avalanche officials said Battaglia was expected to join the team Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio.

"The time I spent here has been awesome and I can't say a bad thing about the city or the organization," Battaglia said. "But this is a good opportunity for me. Sometimes a change of scenery can spark things for people."

Vrbata, a 21-year-old right wing, in his second NHL season, had 11 goals and 19 assists in 66 games for Colorado this season. In his first season, he had 18 goals and 12 assists in 52 games.

Lacroix said it was difficult to part ways with the young Czech, but he felt the team needed more grit to go with skilled players like Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic and Milan Hejduk.

"We're a fortunate team to have all these skilled players, so in order to get a good gritty winger you have to give something that is really very good too," Lacroix said. "Because of the success of these guys on the offense, we felt that in order to do the right thing for our chemistry that was the piece of the puzzle we had to move."

Battaglia made $850,000 this season, and Vrbata earned $385,000. He is signed through next season, when he'll make $537,500.

"This deal was based on us feeling that we improved our team," general manager Jim Rutherford said.

Battaglia has played 402 career games, totaling 63 goals, 87 assists and 281 penalty minutes.

The Chicago native was drafted in 1994 by Anaheim and acquired by the Hurricanes in 1997. Vrbata, a native of the Czech Republic, was chosen by Colorado in the seventh round of the 1999 draft.

Blackhawks deal Housley, Thomas, Berezin

CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Winding down a disastrous season, the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday unloaded veterans Phil Housley, Steve Thomas and Sergei Berezin in separate trade deadline deals.

Housley, a 39-year-old defenseman, was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs for fourth- and ninth-round picks in the 2003 draft while Thomas, a 39-year-old winger, was shipped to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for a fifth-round pick.

Chicago also sent Berezin to the Washington Capitals for a 2004 fourth-round pick and got future considerations from the Philadelphia Flyers for center Peter White. White's father-in-law, Bob Clarke, is the Flyers' general manager.

Housley is a puck-carrying defenseman who will play the point on the Maple Leafs' power play. The all-time leading scorer among American-born players in NHL history, he has 338 goals and 894 assists in 1,494 games.

Ray Bourque, Paul Coffey and Al MacInnis are the only defensemen in NHL history with more points than Housley, who has six goals and 23 assists in 57 games this season. He has missed the last 11 games due to a broken foot.

Housley was the second veteran defenseman acquired by Toronto in three days. The Maple Leafs landed Glen Wesley from the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday for a 2004 second-round draft pick.

Thomas has just four goals and 13 assists in 69 games this season. But he scored his 400th career goal against Colorado's Patrick Roy on February 17 and brings much-needed postseason experience to the Ducks, who are closing in on the third playoff berth in team history.

Nicknamed "Stumpy," Thomas has 401 goals, 497 assists and 1,279 penalty minutes in 1,179 games with Toronto, Chicago, the New York Islanders and New Jersey. No one on the Anaheim roster has appeared in more playoff games than Thomas, who has 50 goals and 48 assists in 147 postseason contests.

Berezin, 31, led the Blackhawks with 171 shots and was tied for second with 18 goals. He also had 13 assists in 66 games in his first season with Chicago, which acquired him from Montreal last June 30.

A seven-year veteran, Berezin's best season was 1998-99, when he had 37 goals and 22 assists in 76 games for Toronto.

White returns to Philadelphia, where he had 10 goals and 21 assists in 101 games over three seasons. He also has played for Edmonton and Toronto but spent most of this season with Norfolk of the American Hockey League, picking up 17 goals and 26 assists in 47 games.

Mighty Ducks acquire Thomas, Niedermayer

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- The Anaheim Mighty Ducks acquired veteran forwards Steve Thomas and Rob Niedermayer in a pair of deals Tuesday before the NHL trade deadline.

Steve Thomas was sent to Anaheim from Chicago for a fifth-round pick in this year's draft. The Mighty Ducks got Niedermayer from Calgary for young defenseman Mike Commodore and prospect goalie J-F Damphousse shortly before the 3 p.m. EST deadline.

Thomas, 39, had four goals and 13 assists in 69 games for the Blackhawks this season. He can become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Niedermayer, 28, had only eight goals and 10 assists in 54 games with the Flames. He is signed through next season.

The Mighty Ducks are having the best season in their 10-year history and appear headed for their first playoff berth since 1999 and the third overall.

Colorado sends McAmmond back to Calgary

DENVER (AP) -- The Colorado Avalanche traded forward Dean McAmmond to Calgary for a future draft pick on Tuesday, just five months after acquiring him from the Flames in a five-player deal.

Colorado will receive a fifth-round draft choice from Calgary this year or in 2004.

The Avalanche obtained McAmmond, forward Jeff Shantz and defenseman Derek Morris on Oct. 1 in a deal that sent forwards Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle to the Flames.

McAmmond missed the first 23 games this season with a back injury and never really got into a rhythm with his new team. He had 10 goals and eight assists in 41 games, but was a healthy scratch in five of the past 15 games.

Colorado general manager Pierre Lacroix said the acquisition of forward Bates Battaglia from Carolina earlier in the day made McAmmond expendable.

"Being a good team guy and a good person, we felt that going back with his family was the right thing is at this stage now that we have the gritty player in Battaglia," Lacroix said.

Capitals gets Berezin for fourth-round pick

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Washington Capitals acquired left wing Sergei Berezin from the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday for a fourth-round draft pick.

Berezin, a four-time 20-goal scorer, has 18 goals this season with the Blackhawks, who signed him to a two-year contract last summer after getting him in a trade with Montreal.

Berezin has also played with Phoenix and Toronto. He made the all-rookie team with the Maple Leafs in 1997.

Bruins add McGillis, Moran to weak defense

BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Bruins shored up one of the NHL's worst defenses Tuesday by obtaining defensemen Dan McGillis from San Jose and Ian Moran from the Pittsburgh Penguins for draft picks.

Boston sent a third-round choice in 2003 to San Jose and a fourth-round choice in 2004 to Pittsburgh for the 30-year-old defensemen, who both played at colleges in Boston.

This season, McGillis has three goals, 16 assists and 50 penalty minutes in 61 games with Philadelphia and San Jose, while Moran has seven assists and 46 penalty minutes in 70 games.

The Bruins, struggling to hang on to a playoff spot, have allowed an average of 2.9 goals a game, the highest among the eight teams in the East and eight in the West who currently would qualify for the playoffs.

Bruins general manager Mike O'Connell praised both players, who are expected to be ready for Thursday night's home game against New Jersey.

"Ian is a veteran defenseman who is very good in his own end," he said. "He is a good penalty killer, he's got a good shot and we feel he will help stabilize our defense."

O'Connell said McGillis was versatile enough to be used in all situations.

"He can play on the power play, is a hard hitter and with his size, he can provide a physical presence in front of the net," O'Connell said.

The Bruins had one of their worst defensive games of the season last Sunday in an 8-5 loss at Chicago, leaving them seventh in the East with 73 points, six more than the ninth-place New York Rangers going into Boston's game Tuesday night at Ottawa

Boston had 42 points in its first 27 games but just 31 in the next 42.

The defensive problems began in the offseason when Kyle McLaren, the Bruins' hardest hitter, refused to return. They later traded him to San Jose for goalie Jeff Hackett, who has been inconsistent.

McGillis was Detroit's 10th pick out of Northeastern in 1992 and reached the NHL with Edmonton in 1996-97. In 517 NHL games, he has 51 goals, 152 assists and 459 penalty minutes.

At Northeastern, he had 30 goals in 141 games.

Moran was Hockey East rookie of the year the previous season and had been with the Penguins since the 1994-95 playoffs after they drafted him in the sixth round in 1990 out of Boston College.

In two college seasons he had 10 goals, 28 assists and 76 penalty minutes in 61 games. He played with the U.S. National Team but was the last player cut before the Winter Olympics in 1994.

In 433 NHL games, he has 19 goals, 44 assists and 281 penalty minutes.

Canucks acquire May from Coyotes

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- The Vancouver Canucks didn't get shut out at the trade deadline Tuesday, reacquiring hard-nosed forward Brad May from the Phoenix Coyotes for a future draft pick.

May, 31, had three goals, four assists and 32 penalty minutes in 20 games this season. He's earning $1.2 million this season and can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

May returns to Vancouver, where he played from 1997 to 2000.

Phoenix receives a third round pick that could become a second round pick if the Canucks either advance far enough in the playoffs or re-sign May.

"It adds a component of grit and character," said Brian Burke, Vancouver s president and general manager. "It's obviously a player we had before and are very comfortable with."

May has 115 goals, 140 assists and 1,790 penalty minutes in 731 NHL games. He also has three goals, eight assists and 11 penalty minutes in 412 playoff games.

Panthers deal Bure to Blues for Van Ryn

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Looking for scoring punch for the playoffs, the St. Louis Blues got forward Valeri Bure from the Florida Panthers for defenseman Mike Van Ryn on Tuesday.

The Blues also got a conditional draft pick in 2004 in the swap, completed shortly before the NHL deadline for trades.

The 28-year-old Bure has just five goals and 21 assists this season and has been out for about a month with a sprained knee. He resumed skating Saturday, and it is not clear when he'll be able to play.

"I don't know how close I am to coming back," Bure said. "The doctors haven't given me a time frame."

Bure's best season was with Calgary in 1999-00, when he had 35 goals and 40 assists. That season he and his brother, Pavel, set a league record for goals by siblings with 93.

Bure has 152 goals and 194 assists in 548 career games.

Van Ryn had three assists in 20 games with the Blues this season, where he spent a chunk of time in the minors. He had two goals and eight assists in 48 games last season.

"He is a first-round draft pick and a great skater with a huge upside," Panthers general manager Rick Dudley said. "He is another young defenseman with an inordinate amount of talent."

Dudley said the emergence of Matt Cullen, Jaroslav Bednar and Stephen Weiss made the trade possible.

"Giving up Valeri was tough because he is such a good man. I personally like him a lot, but this was ultimately in the best interest of the hockey club," Dudley said.

The Blues entered Tuesday fifth in the Western Conference with 84 points. The Panthers are 11th in the East.

Penguins deal Primeau to Sharks for Bradley

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins shed six more veteran players and their salaries in a dizzying series of trading deadline deals made Tuesday by general manager Craig Patrick to assure the team's short-term financial stability.

"We're in a survival mode," said Patrick, who only last month traded All-Star forward Alexei Kovalev in a salary-shedding move.

In the feature trade Tuesday, left wing Jan Hrdina went to Phoenix with defenseman Francois Leroux for forwards Ramzi Abid and Guillaume Lefebvre and defenseman Dan Focht. Hrdina once was a key component of the Penguins' now-depleted Czech collection that included Jaromir Jagr and Robert Lang.

Also dealt were center Wayne Primeau to San Jose for right wing Matt Bradley, defenseman Ian Moran to Boston for a fourth-round draft pick, defenseman Marc Bergevin to Tampa Bay for forward Brian Holzinger and right wing Shean Donovan to Calgary for defenseman Micki DuPont and center Mathias Johansson.

The moves are expected to leave Pittsburgh with one of the lowest payrolls in pro sports next season -- around $25 million, even less than it was 10 years ago.

With such a low salary base, the Penguins essentially are adopting their own salary cap as they await a new NHL collective bargaining agreement. The current deal expires in September 2004.

"It's all about cost certainty," said Patrick, adopting a favorite term of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. "We're primarily looking to the future. We can't afford to lose money."

Most of the new acquisitions are young and relatively low-paid -- Lefebvre is 21, Abid and DuPont are 22, Bradley is 24 and Focht is 25.

If the new CBA includes salary restraints, Patrick said the Penguins can compete on equal terms beginning in the 2004-05 season because "we'll have way more [young] depth -- in the 19-to-23-year old range" than any other NHL team.

But even if Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux returns -- and he hasn't said if he will -- the Penguins won't be a contender next season.

"We're definitely in a rebuilding mode," Patrick said. "We want to make it as smooth a transition as possible. We might have to suffer the rest of this year and next, but we'll have a grind-it-out, bang some people and go-to-the-net team. And it will be entertaining."

About the only high-priced player to escape the salary dumping was forward Martin Straka, injured much of the last two seasons. His $4 million salary is topped on the club only by Lemieux's $5.5 million.

The five NHL players dealt make a combined $3.8 million. None of those acquired makes more than $475,000, except Holzinger, and the Lightning apparently will pay part of his $1.25 million salary next season.

The Penguins began the season with seven players making $1 million or more, but have since dealt two -- Kovalev ($4.6 million) and Hrdina ($1.25 million). Primeau ($825,000), Moran ($750,000) and Donovan ($684,500) were also in the upper half of their payroll. Bergevin, one of Lemieux's closest friends, makes $400,000.

None of those traded was having a particularly good season for a team that has lost nine in a row and is about to miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1987-88.

Hrdina scored 24 goals last season, but has only 14 goals and 25 assists in 57 games. He has missed 11 of the last 13 games with an injured groin.

The 37-year-old Bergevin has two goals in 69 games. Donovan, 28, had four goals and five assists in 52 games. Primeau, 26, had nine goals in 131 games with Pittsburgh and hasn't scored a goal in 25 games.

Of the players acquired, Abid seems the most ready to contribute immediately. He has 10 goals and eight assists in 30 games.

Lefebvre, who has only 17 games of NHL experience, was traded for the second time in as many days. On Monday, the Coyotes acquired him and two draft picks from the Flyers for forward Tony Amonte.

The 6-foot-6, 234-pound Focht is a big defenseman, something the Penguins badly need.

Bradley is on the injured list with a broken bone in his wrist. He has two goals and three assists in 46 games after having an excellent rookie season a year ago.

All of the players acquired will join the Penguins, except DuPont, who was assigned to Wilkes-Barre of the AHL.

Predators acquire Riazantsev from Avs for draft pick

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The Nashville Predators acquired defenseman Alexander Riazantsev from the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday for a seventh-round draft pick.

Riazantsev, 22, had five goals and 10 assists in 57 games with the Hershey Bears of the AHL, Colorado's primary minor-league affiliate. Riazantsev will join the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL.

Earlier in the day, the Predators acquired forward Todd Warriner off waivers from Philadelphia.

The nine-year veteran had six goals and nine assists in 43 games this season with Vancouver and Philadelphia.

Lightning claim Laukkanen off waivers, add Bergevin

TAMPA, Fla. (Ticker) -- In a move general manager Jay Feaster called "ideal," the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday claimed veteran defenseman Janne Laukkanen off waivers from the New York Rangers.

The Lightning acquired a serviceable defenseman without making a deal before Tuesday's trade deadline, plucking Laukkanen from his second NHL team of the season.

Later in the day, Tampa Bay obtained 37-year-old defenseman Marc Bergevin from Pittsburgh for seldom-used center Brian Holzinger, reuniting Laukkanen with a former teammate. Bergevin begins his second stint with the Lightning.

Acquired last month in the deal that sent Alexei Kovalev from Pittsburgh to New York, Laukkanen never played a game for the Rangers. He was at Hartford of the American Hockey League on a rehabiliation stint due to a hip injury.

In 17 games for the Penguins this season, the 31-year-old Laukkanen had a goal and six assists. The 6-foot-1, 196-pound Finn has 21 goals and 99 assists in 405 NHL games, also playing with Ottawa and Colorado.

"We have scouted him numerous times over the past few weeks during his conditioning stint with Hartford and he has demonstrated to us in those viewings that he is capable of playing in the NHL," Feaster said. "The best part was we accomplished this without losing a single asset from our organization."

Laukkanen spent parts of five seasons in Ottawa, where he worked with Lightning associate coach Craig Ramsay.

Bergevin is in his 20th NHL season. He has appeared in 1,129 NHL games with Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Hartford, the New York Islanders and Chicago, totaling 35 goals and 135 assists with a minus-64 rating.

In 76 postseason games, Bergevin has three goals, nine assists and the experience necessary to help a young team headed to the playoffs.

"Once again, we have added a significant veteran presence to our club and we have not subtracted a player from our roster," Feaster said. "We believe his experience will be invaluable down the stretch." z

The Lightning are sixth in the Eastern Conference, nine points ahead of the Rangers. They are three behind first-place Washington in the Southeast Division.

Holzinger appeared in only four games for Tampa Bay this season. He goes to a team that has made a host of moves in recent weeks as it attempts to pare payroll.

Predators claim Warriner off waivers from Flyers

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Ticker) -- Relatively inactive with Tuesday's trade deadline looming, the Nashvile Predators added more speed to their lineup when they claimed left wing Todd Warriner off waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers.

It was the second move in eight days for the Predators, who are five points behind Edmonton for the final Western Conference playoff berth. They have not made the postseason since joining the NHL in 1998-99.

On March 3, Nashville acquired left wing Oleg Petrov from Montreal for a draft pick. The addition of Warriner gives even more speed to a roster filled with talented prospects.

Warriner, 29, joins his third team of the season after being traded from Vancouver to Philadelphia on February 5. He has six goals and nine assists in 43 games.

In 447 NHL contests, Warriner has 65 goals and 88 assists.

The move was an affordable one for the Predators, who will pick up the rest of Warriner's $500,000 salary. He is signed through 2003-04.

Warriner was expendable with the Flyers, who have made six acquisitions before the deadline, adding star winger Tony Amonte on Monday.

Thrashers acquire Aquino from Stars for draft pick

ATLANTA (AP) -- The Atlanta Thrashers acquired right wing Anthony Aquino from the Dallas Stars in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick Tuesday.

The Thrashers then signed Aquino, who was an unsigned draft pick, and assigned him to Chicago of the American Hockey League, said Thrashers general manager Don Waddell.

Aquino, 20, was a third-round draft pick in the 2001 NHL Draft.

He scored 10 goals and had nine assists in 14 games with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League.

 

Related information

Stories

2003 NHL Trade Deadline Deals

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video