Central Division notebook:

The trade deadline has come and gone, and it wouldn't be out of the realm of reason to say that the balance of power in the Central Division hasn't shifted much, if at all.

There was much speculation leading up to Wednesday that big moves would be made within the division. Chicago was reported to be moving a goaltender, Detroit to be looking for a goaltender, Nashville to be moving defenseman Dan Hamhuis and goalie Dan Ellis, St. Louis to be moving Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk, and Columbus to be moving 80 percent of its roster.

None of this actually happened.

Chicago stood pat with the exception of trading for defenseman Nick Boynton, whom the Anaheim Ducks sent to the minors after he cleared waivers. Boynton immediately gives the Blackhawks a veteran presence on their blue line, a proven option should one of their top six defensemen go down with an injury. That's an important asset heading into what the ‘Hawks hope to be a long playoff run.

Detroit did nothing. Pressed against the cap, they made no move to improve in goal or at any other position and may be better for it. Nearly everyone on their roster is now returning from injury. Johan Franzen, Tomas Holmstrom and Niklas Kronwall are all healthy and ready for action – which is like receiving three game-breakers at the deadline without giving up anything.

The Predators were the team that was most active at the deadline as buyers, shipping off a second-round pick for Edmonton Oiler Denis Grebeshkov and picking up gritty forward Dustin Boyd from Calgary. Grebeshkov gives the Preds an additional scoring threat on the blueline, while Boyd provides a solid two-way game up front and might even be able to chip in offensively with more ice time than he was seeing in Calgary.

The St. Louis Blues, meanwhile, needed something to energize the team and the jury will be out for the rest of the season as to whether or not that something was adding Matt D'Agostini from Montreal. D'Agostini is inconsistent at best but may benefit from increased playing time, which is likely in St. Louis.

The Blue Jackets' fire sale didn't go exactly as planned, but they did manage to jettison some of the players they were looking to get rid of. Holding on to Raffi Torres for a tad too long ultimately drove his price down a touch, and got the Jackets defenseman Nathan Paetsch in return. They managed to get rid of Alex Picard and Milan Jurcina, while also saying goodbye to Fredrik Modin. While their deadline wasn't an unmitigated failure, they likely would have liked to see more.

CHICAGO

Blackhawk players Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Patrick Kane all returned from the Olympics with some hardware, while Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky each returned empty handed after Slovakia's fourth place finish. ... Chicago returned from the Olympic break with a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders, followed by a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. ... In four games since being traded from Minnesota, defenseman Kim Johnsson has one goal and has averaged just under 18 minutes of ice time.

COLUMBUS

Rick Nash returned from Vancouver with his gold medal and a fantastic tournament. Nash had five points (2-3=5) in seven games and a plus-1 rating. ... Columbus dropped its first game since the Olympics to the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 in overtime. Forward Antoine Vermette notched his 20^th goal of the season in the loss. ... Paetsch is expected to be in the lineup for Columbus's Saturday game against the San Jose Sharks.

DETROIT

Head coach Mike Babcock and vice president Steve Yzerman returned from Vancouver with gold medals, while defenseman Brian Rafalski and forward Valtteri Filppula returned with silver and bronze, respectively. ... Detroit is 1-1-0 since returning from the Olympic break, defeating the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Monday and losing to the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 on Wednesday. ... The Wings made a couple minor moves at the trade deadline, one for forward Riley Armstrong from Calgary and the other for forward Jordan Owens from the New York Rangers.

NASHVILLE

A handful of Predators returned with Olympic hardware. Shea Weber grabbed gold with Canada and Ryan Suter brought home the silver with the U.S. ... The Predators' arena has officially been re-named Bridgestone Arena after a contentious battle regarding naming rights. ... Nashville won its first game after the Olympic break Tuesday, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 4-3. ... D Denis Grebeshkov had a goal and an assist against his old team while playing over 17 minutes.

ST. LOUIS

Forward David Backes and defenseman Erik Johnson returned from Vancouver with silver medals. ... The Blues won their first game since returning from the Olympic break, defeating the Phoenix Coyotes 5-2. ... St. Louis traded for a couple minor leaguers in forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie and goaltender Joe Fallon.

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment