Leafs Deal Belak And Kilger To Florida, Gill To Pittsburgh As NHL Trade Deadline Passes
Posted February 26, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
There’s an old song by Peggy Lee that may sum up what Leaf fans are feeling on Tuesday: Is That All There Is?
Cliff Fletcher had his hands tied as far as using any big bait to lure some real talent to the Leafs, as they look to improve for the future. With Mats Sundin, Bryan McCabe, Pavel Kubina, Darcy Tucker and Tomas Kaberle doing their best “Hell no, we won’t go” imitation, the interim GM didn’t have much to offer as the NHL trade deadline ticked down to a 3pm finish.
And in the end, the final bell rang with just a few weak moves. The first one came around 11am, when tough guy Wade Belak packed his goon gear and was shipped off to the Florida Panthers. The price for the defenceman/forward? A fifth round draft pick in 2008.
Belak (top left) and his $625,000 salary departs with just one goal and 66 penalty minutes this season – including six majors for fighting. He’ll be a free agent in July.
Hours later, just before the final deadline, Fletcher struck again with a familiar team. He shipped Chad Kilger to the same Panthers, this time for a 3rd round pick. Kilger has 17 points in 53 games and earned $800,000 this season.
Then Hal Gill departed for new parts, this time for Pitsburgh, the team that also acquired Marian Hossa. Gill’s hefty $2.075 million salary goes with him, along with the $2.1 million he’s due to make next year. Toronto gets a second and a fifth round selection for their trouble.
Many see Fletcher as holding the equivalent of a fire sale, dumping as much salary as possible so he can made a grab for some kind of affordable free agent over the summer.
Photo credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Anaheim traded Brian Bochenski, RW, to Nashville for future considerations.
Nashville acquired Jan Hlavac, LW, from Tampa Bay for a seventh-round selection in the 2008 NHL entry draft.
Atlanta traded Alex Giroux, C/LW, to Washington for Joe Motzko, RW.
N.Y. Islanders traded Marc-Andre Bergeron, G, to Anaheim for a third-round selection.
Phoenix traded Josh Gratton, LW, David Leneveu, G, and Fredrik Sjostrom, RW, to N.Y. Rangers in return for Marcel Hossa, LW, and Al Montoya, G.
Atlanta traded Marian Hossa, RW, and Pascal Dupuis, LW, to
Pittsburgh for Colby Armstrong, RW, Erik Christensen, C, and Angelo Esposito, C.
N.Y. Islanders traded Chris Simon, LW, to Minnesota for a sixth-round selection in 2008.
Detroit acquired Brad Stuart, D, from Los Angeles in exchange for a second-round pick in 2008 and a fourth-round selection in 2009.
Toronto traded Chad Kilger, LW, to Florida for a third-round selection.
N.Y. Rangers acquired Christian Backman, D, from St. Louis in return for a fourth-round selection.
San Jose traded Rob Davison, D, to N.Y. Islanders for a seventh-round selection.
Los Angeles traded Jean-Sebastien Aubin, G, to Anaheim for a seventh-round selection.
Toronto traded Hall Gill, D, to Pittsburgh in return for second and fifth-round selections.
Tampa Bay traded Brad Richards, C, and Johan Holmqvist, G, to
Dallas for Mike Smith, G, Jussi Jokinen, LW, and Jeff Halpern, C, and a fourth-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Buffalo traded Brian Campbell, D, and a seventh-round pick in 2008 to San Jose for Steve Bernier, RW, and a first-round pick in 2008.
Montreal traded Cristobal Huet, G, to Washington for a second-round draft pick in 2009.
Columbus traded Adam Foote, D, to Colorado for a conditional first-round pick in 2008 or 2009 and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2009.
Columbus traded Sergei Fedorov, C, to Washington for Theo Ruth, D.
Chicago traded Martin Lapointe, RW, to Ottawa for a sixth-round draft pick in 2008.
Vancouver traded Matt Cooke, LW, to Washington for Matt Pettinger, LW.
Toronto traded Wade Belak, RW, to Florida for a fifth-round draft pick in 2008.
Chicago traded Tuomo Ruutu, C, to Carolina for Andrew Ladd, LW.
Florida traded Ruslan Salei, D, to Colorado for Karlis Skrastins, D, and a third-round pick in 2008.
St. Louis traded Bryce Salvador, D, to New Jersey for Cam Janssen, RW.
Previous Trades This Month
Monday, Feb. 25
Tampa Bay traded Vaclav Prospal, C, to Philadelphia for Alexandre Picard, D, and a conditional pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Wednesday, Feb. 20
Philadelphia traded Jim Vandermeer, D, to Calgary for a third-round draft pick in the 2009 draft.
Tuesday, Feb. 19
Los Angeles traded Jaroslav Modry, D, to Philadelphia in return for a third-round draft pick in 2008.
Monday, Feb. 11
Ottawa traded Joe Corvo, D, and Patrick Eaves, RW, to Carolina in exchange for Cory Stillman, C, and Mike Commodore, D.
Friday, Feb. 8
Montreal traded Francis Lemieux, C, to Detroit for Brett Engelhart, RW.
Thursday, Feb. 7
Carolina traded J.D. Forest, D, to Carolina for future considerations.
Friday, Feb. 1
Edmonton traded Dick Tarnstrom, D, to Columbus for Curtis Glencross, C.
Do These Trades Ever Help?
A lot of teams and fans put a lot of stock in the trades that come before the deadline. But how much difference do they really make? Here’s a look at the list that did, with many crediting the deals as the difference in a Stanley Cup win.
March 10, 1980
N.Y. Islanders obtain Butch Goring, C, from Los Angeles for Billy Harris, RW, and Dave Lewis, D (trade completed one day before the deadline). With Goring in their lineup, the Islanders went undefeated in their last 12 regular-season games (8-0-4) and then on to capture their first-ever Stanley Cup championship (first of four straight titles).
March 4, 1991
Pittsburgh Penguins get Ron Francis, C, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson, both D, from Hartford in exchange for John Cullen, C, Jeff Parker, RW, and Zarley Zalapski, D (trade completed one day before the trading deadline). The Penguins won the 1991 Stanley Cup, the first championship in franchise history. Francis tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals and tied for fifth in scoring with 17 points (7-10–17) during the 1991 post-season.
March 21, 1994
N.Y. Rangers struck three deals that would help them capture the 1994 title — picked up Stephane Matteau, LW, and Brian Noonan, RW, from Chicago in exchange for Tony Amonte, RW, and rights to Matt Oates, LW; Glenn Anderson, RW, and rights to Scott Malone, D, from Toronto for Mike Gartner, RW; and received Craig MacTavish, C, from Edmonton for Todd Marchant, C. The Rangers earned the Presidents’ Trophy for the best regular-season record, then won their first Stanley Cup since 1940.
March 18, 1997
Detroit Red Wings acquire Larry Murphy, D, from Toronto for future considerations. Murphy appeared in all 20 playoff games for Detroit, recording 11 points (two goals, nine assists) and led the League in plus-minus (+16) as the Red Wings captured their first Stanley Cup since 1955.
March 14, 2000
New Jersey Devils obtained Alexander Mogilny, RW, from
Vancouver for Brendan Morrison and Denis Pederson, both centres. Mogilny was a welcome addition to a team which led the Eastern Conference with 251 goals. Although scoring just six points (3-3–6) in 12 regular-season games and seven (4-3–7) in the playoffs, his presence helped free other players en route to the team’s second Stanley Cup.
February 21, 2001
Colorado Avalanche bring in Rob Blake, D, and Steve Reinprecht, C, from Los Angeles for Adam Deadmarsh, RW, Aaron Miller, first-round draft pick David Steckel and a conditional pick (completed 20 days before the trade deadline). In their first Stanley Cup victory since 1996, Rob Blake made an immediate impact leading all defencemen in playoff scoring with 19 points (6-13–19). Blake joined a team full of leadership to win his first Stanley Cup along with veteran defenceman Ray Bourque.
January 27, 2004
Tampa Bay Lightning obtain Darryl Sydor, D, and a fourth-round draft choice in 2004 from Columbus for Alexander Svitov, C, and a third-round selection in 2004 (trade completed 40 days before deadline). The 31-year old veteran defenceman brought experience — having appeared in three Stanley Cup Finals, including playing with a championship team in Dallas in 1999 — which helped the Lightning to their first championship.
March 9, 2006
Carolina Hurricanes receive Mark Recchi, RW, from Pittsburgh for Niklas Nordgren, LW, Krys Kolanos, C, and the Hurricanes’ second-round choice in 2007. The 38-year-old veteran, who had won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 1991, had 16 points (7-9–16) during the 2006 playoffs, including six points in the final against Edmonton. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 4 that put Carolina up 3-1 in the series. The Hurricanes had also added a key piece to the puzzle on Jan. 30 when they acquired Doug Weight from St. Louis (along with Erkki Rajamaki) for Jesse Boulerice, Michael Zigomanis, Magnus Kahnberg and a first-round draft choice.
February 27, 2007
Anaheim Ducks gets Brad May, LW, from Colorado for Michael Wall, G. A veteran of 15 NHL seasons and 932 regular-season and Stanley Cup playoff games, May added plenty of experience to the Anaheim lineup for the stretch drive. The 35-year-old Toronto native appeared in 18 of the Ducks’ 21 post-season games as the franchise won its first Stanley Cup
