Trade Deadline Primer

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...work has been a little nuts

I will, however, be posting throughout the day tomorrow with news and rumours I hear concerning the NHL trade deadline.

Here's what's on the front burner right now:

The Leafs are holding Nik Antropov and Dominic Moore out of their game tonight versus the Devils. While they haven't been traded yet, they will be by 3pm tomorrow, count on it. The two of them and possibly two or three more Leafs will be gone by the deadline. Count Matt Stajan, Alex Ponikarovsky, Tomas Kaberle and Jamal Meyers in the maybe column. Kubina will stay.

Look for the Sens to dump at least two of Antoine Vermette, Christoph Schubert and/or Chris Neil.

Martin Gerber was placed on waivers today (again) by the Sens also. Look for either Detroit, or possibly Vancouver to pick him up for help in the playoff run. Detroit should be the front runner on this one as they were supposedly very interested in acquiring goaltender Niklas Backstrom from Minnesota before he was signed to a 4-year, $24 million extension this afternoon.

I have a feeling Jay Bouwmeester will be moved tomorrow, but only if the Panthers get the deal they're looking for. While Florida desperately need to make the playoffs, they can even less afford to allow J-Bo to walk out the door this summer as a UFA.

I don't think the Ducks need to, or should trade Chris Pronger. It has to do with cap space and the recent acquisition of Ryan Whitney. This is how it should play:
They wait till the off-season. If Scott Neidermeyer (who will be a UFA) decides to return, they trade Pronger on draft day. If Neidermeyer retires, they keep Pronger and use him on the top pairing with Whitney...seems simple to me.
There's very little chance whatever the Ducks might get in return for Pronger right now will help them make the playoffs more than Pronger himself would at this point, which is why I say they keep him and then use him as a bargaining chip in the offseason.

Tomorrow is gonna be exciting!!

Tune in early and often for updates