Trade Dud-Line

If you had Mikkel Boedker as the big name that would be moved on the Trade Deadline day, then step on up and claim your prize of absolutely nothing. The NHL Trade Deadline came and went, and the biggest names all moved before the actual deadline, with Dion Phaneuf in Ottawa, Andrew Ladd in Chicago (again), and Eric Staal playing with his other brother Marc on Broadway. Saying that, there were teams that immensely helped themselves one way or another while others failed to help themselves. First, the four teams that benefited the most:

FLORIDA PANTHERS: Clearly all in this year, they picked up Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell, and Jakub Kindl, effectively picking up two rental players that can play wing and shore up a weak spot with Jonathan Huberdeau injured, as well as a defender that adds depth, as well as a guard against Willie Mitchell being out with a concussion. They also moved Brandon Pirri, as they were dealing from a position of strength.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS: Andrew Ladd was the big pick-up, and it only cost them Marko Dano and a first round pick in this year's draft. It's not a bad deal, as Ladd returns to a team he's familiar with while the Blackhawks didn't have to give up a player from their roster (Dano was in the AHL) and the Blackhawks have done fairly well developing prospects. Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann were decent pick-ups, as well, as at worst, they will fill the bottom two lines, and although they did give up Phillipp Danault, Mark McNeill remains. Christian Ehrhoff is a nice reclamation project that should fit in with what Chicago wants to do.

CALGARY FLAMES: Traded both Jiri Hudler and Kris Russell, but got back a player with NHL experience in Jyrki Jokipakka, as well as a good prospect in Brett Pollock, plus three draft picks. The Flames may be out of the playoff picture this year, but they did well to shore up their prospect pool.

EDMONTON OILERS: They traded Teddy Purcell and Anders Nilsson for draft picks, and they showed that they were heading in the right direction by picking up Adam Cracknell and Adam Pardy off waivers on the deadline day, as well as trading for Patrick Maroon.The players they got signal that the team is doing its best to address their long-standing problem of lack of grit and size. Oh, and they found someone to take Justin Schultz off their hands.

Now, the four teams that did little to satiate their fan base:

VANCOUVER CANUCKS: Apart from essentially a minor-league trade involving Markus Granlund and Hunter Shinkaruk and a trade for the rights to Phillip Larsen, you have to think the lack of movement, namely the inability to move either Dan Hamhuis or Radim Vrbata, is sending a lot of Canucks fans over the ledge. I'm willing to wait out the season, but this off-season will definitely be a referendum on whether or not fans will be in a forgiving mood if the Canucks fail to make that "earth-shaking" move.

BOSTON BRUINS: They didn't trade Loui Eriksson, which isn't a bad move, but if he doesn't sign with them after the season, that assessment can change. They gave up far too much for John-Michael Liles and Lee Stempniak.

DALLAS STARS: While getting Kris Russell was good, the bounty they had to give away to get him would have been better served getting Dan Hamhuis. Also, getting a third or fourth liner would have been nice.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: All the wheeling and dealing of years past have caught up to the Penguins, as they were unable to do anything more than trade free-agent bust Sergei Plotnikov and pick up three minor-league players from Arizona.