No Deal, No More Dominic Moore with the Leafs

TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Dominic Moore takes his speedy self to Buffalo.

With no contract doable in the final two days, the Leafs as expected dealt Dominic Moore today to the Buffalo Sabres for a second round draft pick.

Moore will fit in nicely with the swift-skating Sabres, who also signed Tim Connolly to a two-year, $9 million deal today.

For Moore and Nik Antropov, the Leafs netted two second round picks, improving a gutted draft pick cupboard for this June's entry draft.

By the way, word is there are apparently still another whack of trades to be announced, possibly 10 or more.

Panthers Don't Pull the Trigger

Jay Bouwmeester isn't going anywhere.

Check back with Damien's blog tomorrow at noon for a live Q&A on all the trades and what it means moving forward. Click here to submit a question now for tomorrow's discussion.

The Florida Panthers apparently didn't get the offer they wanted before today's 3 p.m., no surprise perhaps, on a day on which the final hours of NHL trading were much less productive than recent years.

At 3 p.m., only 12 deals had been consummated, compared to 25 each of the past three years. That said, there may be more for which trade conferences with the league have not yet been completed.

Bouwmeester is an unrestricted free agent in July who has turned down long-term, lucrative deals from the Panthers, and most believed Florida wouldn't want to lose him for nothing.

But it appears they will.

The Rangers, meanwhile, in addition to adding Nik Antropov have acquired defenceman Derek Morris from a very busy Phoenix team for Nigel Dawes, Dmitri Kalinin and Petr Prucha.

The Final Minutes, Antropov an ex-Leaf

With less than a half hour to go, and with Nik Antropov now confirmed as having been traded by the Maple Leafs to the New York Rangers for a second round pick and a conditional selection, speculation is heavy that Jay Bouwmeester is headed to Vancouver.

And wouldn't that make sense.

Dave Nonis, now with the Maple Leafs, was fired by the Canucks last spring largely because he was unwilling to sacrifice future assets to bring in a big name, principally Brad Richards.

Mike Gillis, then, was brought in as the guy who could pull the trigger on the big move. He added Mats Sundin, but that was a free agent signing that didn't cost the team anything.

Getting Bouwmeester would be a signature-type move that might, in some minds, vault the 'Nucks into the class of the Sharks and Red Wings.

For Antropov, it's clear that the Leafs could have fetched much more for the former first round pick if they'd been proactive and traded him last year. Once more, another case of where hanging on to a player too long cost the Leafs.

Deja Vu All Over Again

If you feel like this Bill Guerin story has been played once before, you're right.

Two years ago, Guerin was dealt at the trade deadline to San Jose from St. Louis, with the quaint notion being that the veteran winger would be a vital component to push the Sharks over the top in the Western Conference.

Well, not so much. Guerin did fine in the regular season, scoring eight times in 16 games, but in the playoffs he was a big nothing, scoring twice in 14 playoff games as San Jose again disappointed.

Today, it was Pittsburgh's turn to bet that Guerin, now 38, can be a difference maker after doing nothing to make the Islanders much better the last two seasons.

The Penguins picked up Guerin after the veteran winger had been waiting around for four days after being pulled from the Long Island lineup on Saturday. Neither quick nor particularly physical any more, he has 16 goals this season for the Isles, just one in his last 10.

An Impact player? Doubtful.

The First Biggie

It's not a blockbuster, but it's getting there.

The Calgary Flames have made the biggest splash on the final day of NHL trading so far by acquiring centre Olli Jokinen from Phoenix, a talented, 30-year-old player who has scored 30 goals or more on four occasions but has never played a single NHL playoff game.

To get Jokinen, the Flames surrendered a significant package, including speedy winger Matthew Lombardi, former London Knights forward Brandon Prust and a first round draft pick.

After adding defenceman Jordan Leopold from Colorado earlier, the Flames have made two key acquisitions to bolster their chances of competing with San Jose and Detroit in the Western Conference.

What's unclear is how Jokinen will fit with the Flames as a playoff performer, having never before been able to demonstrate his willingness to do battle in the toughest part of the NHL season. On a team filled with high-risk, high-reward players like Todd Bertuzzi and Dion Phaneuf, Jokinen has to be considered at least a question mark in terms of what he may be able to produce in the post-season.

Jokinen, who has 21 goals this season as a Coyote, has one more year left on his contract at $5.5 million per season and will be given a chance to play with Flames captain Jarome Iginla on his right side. Jokinen was traded to Phoenix at the entry draft last summer for rearguard Nick Boynton, defenceman Keith Ballard and a second round pick.

It gives the Flames a big centre to play head-to-head against the likes of Joe Thornton and Mats Sundin in the Western Conference.

Its the third major trade in which Jokinen has been involved since being drafted third overall by Los Angeles in 1997. The Kings dealt him to Long Island two years later along with Josh Green, Mathieu Biron and a first rounder to Ziggy Palffy, Bryan Smolinski, goalie Marcel Cousineau and a fourth rounder.

A year after that, Jokinen and Roberto Luongo were pedded by the Islanders to Florida for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha.

A Peculiar Pickup

Its intriguing that the Maple Leafs, of all teams, have chosen to improve their goaltending in the final hours before today's trade deadline.

STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR

Hockey fans will remember this Olympic moment from Martin Gerber.

Picking up veteran Martin Gerber from Ottawa off the waiver wire is a head-scratcher, although the Leafs have looked at any a number of veteran netminders in recent weeks, including kicking the tires on Mathieu Garon and Curtis Sanford.

So why Gerber now just hours after Vesa Toskala shone in an OT loss to New Jersey? Certainly the health of Toskala's hip is part of the issue, but certainly Curtis Joseph could have upped his share of the goaltending load down the stretch and Justin Pogge could be used for another handful of games.

If, however, Toskala is shut down for the rest of the season, there might be a need for a body. With all the cap room in the world, adding Gerber's $3.7 million ticket for the final few weeks of the season is easily digestible.

UPDATE: Toskala has announced just before  1 p.m. today that he will indeed shut it down for the rest of the season to get corrective surgery on his hip. Gerber will help fill the gap for the rest of the season.

The cynics, naturally, will suggest that Toskala was doing a little too well for the Leafs needs as they relate to getting a high pick in June's entry draft, and that Gerber might be more effective in that regard.

Either way, it's a short term, and Gerber isn't part of the long-term picture unless the Leafs can't figure out a better way to improve over the summer and can get the Swiss national at a bargain basement price.

Gerber has won four games in 14 appearances with the Sens this season, spending most of the season in the minors. His last appearance for Ottawa was Jan. 8 against Boston when he gave up five goals on 21 shots.

Canadians, of course, will never forget his spectacular performance in shutting out Team Canada at the Turin Olympics three years ago. Canadians, based on the picture above, are still, of course arguing that this photo proves Rick Nash's shot actually did cross the goal line in that game, but didn't count.

Doing the Math

There's some strange numbers bouncing around on trade deadline day.

Perhaps the strangest might be the two-year, $9 million contract signed today by Tim Connolly by the Buffalo Sabres.

First of all, Connolly is magnificently talented at the offensive end, and he was already making $3.5 million per season.

But how does a player who has never scored more than 16 goals in an NHL season, largely because of recurring health issues, rate a salary of $4.5 million in an NHL that is anticipating a costs crunch in the near future?

At least it was a short-term deal, and perhaps this is the delayed reverberations of the losses of stars like Chris Drury, Brian Campbell and Daniel Briere in recent seasons.

Still, strange numbers.

An Unbridgable Gap

As we wonder where Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov might land, it's worth wondering how close Moore and the Maple Leafs actually came to striking a deal that would have kept the Thornhill native with the club.

Not very.

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In the end, the Moore camp came down to about $2.3 million, and the Leafs came up to $1.7 million.

Not unreasonable, really, from other side's point of view. But the $600,000 gap was still enormous.

There will be those who will wonder if there ever was a number that was going to work in these negotiations giving the history between Burke and the Moore family.

But, based on these numbers, you can't say the Leafs lowballed Moore. Nor can you say Moore didn't put a logical number on the table.

At the end of the day, there was a difference of opinion on what Moore's upside is, and a considerable differerence of opinion.

And So It Starts

AP FILE PHOTO

Will Pascal Leclaire finally be Ottawa's answer in goal?

Bryan Murray and Scott Howson have started the ball rolling.

Murray, the embattled Ottawa GM, has peddled winger Antoine Vermette to offence-needy Columbus for talented but oft-injured goalie Pascal Leclaire and a second round pick.

Vermette is one of many underachieving Senators this season, having scored nine goals, and is basically the equivalent of Dominic Moore. Leclaire will be heralded as the solution in goal for the Sens, but at 26 he is still establishing himself and you have to be careful of goalies who look good playing for very tight defensive teams like the Blue Jackets.

So it's either problem for problem, or hope for hope. The Jackets can certainly use Vermette as they push for the post-season, while its all about next year for Ottawa, which has re-signed defenceman Filip Kuba to a deal worth $3.7 million per season. Brian Elliott briefly looked like he might be the future in goal for Ottawa, but of late has most assuredly not looked like a sure thing at all.

The departure of Vermette continues the breakup of the young gang of Senators that once included Ray Emery, Andrej Meszaros, Brian McGrattan and Joe Corvo. The disintegration of this club has been remarkable.

Just 25 trades to go to surpass last year's total. . .

A Lot Or a Little?

It's hard to say when the NHL trade deadline became the monster is has become.

Check back with Damien's blog tomorrow at noon for a live Q&A on all the trades and what it means moving forward. Click here to submit a question now for tomorrow's discussion.

I'm thinking it really began gathering steam about five years ago, but its worth nothing that it's been 16 years since the number of trades on the final day numbered in the single digits. That was the winter of '93 and the big deal on deadline day was Murray Craven to Vancouver from Hartford for a package that included winger Robert Kron and draft picks.

In recent years there have been some biggies - Marian Hossa last year - but it's the sheer number of transactions that has exploded. Since 1997, the number of deals on deadline day has dipped below 17 only once (12 in 2000). In the last five years, there have been 24, 20, 25, 25 and 25 trades on deadline day.

So there's an undeniable dynamic working here, and in most of those years there were warnings beforehand that there wasn't going to be much action. Then there was.

So stay tuned.

The Leafs will be active, although Dominic Moore surely got the message by being scratched last night that the club is serious about dealing him. There's still a contractual deal to be done, but Moore has to come to the Leafs, not the other way around.

Chris Pronger, Jay Bouwmeester, Martin St. Louis - there are some big names out there, plus lots of less significant ones more likely to be moved. There's some certainties - Bill Guerin, Derek Morris - and some players who will be stunned to find by 3 p.m. today they have a new address.

We'll be back with the deals when they happen.