Having a day to reflect on the NHL Trade Deadline, I've come to the same conclusion many hockey analysts have: it was an insignificant day. Most NHL teams ended up trading depth players for mid-level draft picks or mid-level prospects.
Don't get me wrong, that's not to say that some of these deals won't have huge future implications as a prospect blooms or a draft pick pans out. Sometimes all it takes is a change of scenery for a player to break through.
The most significant deals came from the Boston Bruins who acquired Denis Seidenberg, the Ducks trading Ryan Whitney to the Edmonton Oilers for Lubomir Visnovsky, the Washington Capitals acquiring Joe Corvo, and the Phoenix Coyotes trading Peter Mueller for Wojtek Wolski from the Colorado Avalanche.
The names aren't huge, but the deals still added important depth for each team. For general managers, the toughest part about trade deadline day is the ability to add a player without greatly affecting team cohesion. Luckily, most of this year's trades won't hurt anyone's locker room.
The most compelling trade was Wojtek Wolski for Peter Mueller. Both players are young stars with potentially huge careers ahead. Either one could bust out for a 30 goal season or fade into oblivion. In my opinion, this is the key deal to watch down the road.
It may have been an insignificant NHL trade deadline at first glance, but only time will tell how unimportant the 2010 deadline will remain.
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