Buyers and Sellers, start your engines

Fresh off the excitement of a two week festival of International Olympic hockey, the NHL resumed its schedule on Monday with one game easing into the final stretch of action before the playoffs, Tuesday night provided a few more games as once Olympians and their vacationing team mates got back into the rhythm of the NHL.

While the players renew their acquaintances after there two week break, NHL GM's are in the final stages of readjusting those friendships, with the the start of the NHL Trading deadline day coming up bright and early on Wednesday.

Some teams have been making their minor adjustments in the two days since the embargo on trades came to an end, though none thus far would qualify as block buster in nature. So far the list is one of subtle moves, more of a rearranging of chess pieces than of any wholesale change in direction.

There were two final trades before  the dawn of deadline day  With the Bruins sending Forward Matt Marquardt to Edmonton while the Oilers sent Defenseman Cody Wild across the continent to the Boston.


 Montreal  had  right winger Matt D'Agostini pack his suitcase and shift over to the St. Louis Blues, who in return moved  Right Winger Aaaron Palushaj to the Habs.


Since Monday the following players have moved to new locales:

Toronto moved one of the more frequently mentioned names from the rumour mill as Forward Alexei Ponikarovsky was sent to Pittsburgh in exchange for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula


Chicago added some depth on defense as they sent future considerations to the Ducks in exchange for Nick Boynton


The Senators added to their defense on Tuesday as they picked up Andy Sutton from the Islanders sending Long Island a 2nd-Round Pick (2010)


Atlanta adds to their roster with the arrival of F Evgeny Artyukhin from Anaheim, in return Nathan Oystrick and a Conditional draft pick in 2011 head for California


Columbus receives F Greg Moore in exchange with Edmonton who take Defenceman Dylan Reese


Nashville takes D Denis Grebeshkov off the hands of the Oilers for a 2nd round pick in 2010


St. Louis added Goaltender Joe Fallon to the roster, sending Goaltender Hannu Toivonen and Defenseman Danny Richmond off to Chicago


The first trade of the post Olympic sessions took place on Monday as Pittsburgh picked up Jordan Leopold from Florida for a 2nd round draft pick in the 2010 draft

With Canada's various sports broadcast outlets preparing for their traditional marathon coverage through the day until the 3 pm (ET) deadline, all no doubt are hoping for a hectic show to present, one filled with drama for the presenters to showcase, offering them the the opportunity to dissect each and every move, compare the pluses and minuses and discover which GM has best improved his team or secured a missing ingredient to lead them onto the Stanley Cup play-offs with confidence.

How the first half of Wednesday progresses could very well give us an idea as to which teams have decided that this is the year for their attempt at a Stanley Cup run and which teams have come to the conclusion that it's now time to build for tomorrow.

All  begins to become clear staring at 8 am Eastern, 5 am Pacific on Wednesday.