Smid has one goal and one assist with a minus-6 rating in 17 games with the Oilers. This is simply a salary dump for the Oilers who are reportedly in talks with Ilya Bryzgalov.
The 29-year-old Talbot, was an eighth round pic in 2002 and has spent his nine year career with the Flyers and Penguins. He won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009. He has one goal and one assist in 11 games this season. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see where Talbot plays in Colorado.
Downie was the first round pick of the Flyers in 2005 (29th) overall and spent 2006-09 with the Flyers organization. Downie has had a strong start to the season with one goal and six assists in 11 games. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see where Downie slots into the Flyers lineup.
Moulson had six goals and three assists in 11 games. He is a three time 30-goal scorer alongside John Tavares, but he now moves to a rebuilding Buffalo team and will likely find himself on a line with Cody Hodgson.
Vanek has four goals and five assists in 13 games with Buffalo. He was tied for 13th in the NHL in goals (20) and led the Sabres with 41 points in 2012-13. The 29-year-old will likely skate with John Tavares on the Isles first line, something that should definitely boost his fantasy stock.
Brown has appeared in eight games for the Oilers this season, he has 25 hits and 19 PIMS while averaging 5:49 TOI.
Perreault recorded 17 points (6 goals, 11 assists) in 39 games with Washington last season.
Tochkin is not expected to be an NHL player.
Jeremy Welsh is a salary dump. The Hurricanes signed Welsh to a one-year contract to play one game after three impressive years in the NCAA — in his 2011-12 season, he was one of the top goal scorers in college hockey with 27 goals in 40 games — then re-signed him to a two-year contract worth an average of $850,000. Welsh disappointed in his first professional season, scoring 14 goals and 26 points in 69 games in the AHL. Still, there may be some potential to be a bottom-six forward in the NHL, considering he has decent size at 6’3? and clearly has some skill.
Dalpe was a second round pick in 2008 and was, at one point, a highly-touted prospect expected to play a large role in the future of the Hurricanes. Last year he appeared in just 10 NHL games, scoring three points. He had 21 goals and 42 points in 54 AHL games.
Colborne was originally drafted in the first round (16th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft by the Boston Bruins. Last season he scored 14 goals and added 28 assists for 42 points in 65 games for the Toronto Marlies in the American Hockey League in addition to playing five games with the Maple Leafs. Centre is an organizational weak link in Calgary, so the expectation is that Colborne will be in the starting line-up when the Flames open the season next Thursday.
Carcillo is not expected to have any fantasy relevance.
Paajarvi had 26 goals and 32 assists in 163 games with the Oilers. He was drafted 10th overall by Edmonton in 2009.
Perron, 25, was drafted by St. Louis in the 1st Round, 26th overall in the 2007 entry draft. The Sherbrooke, Quebec native had 25 points with the Blues last season, scoring 10 goals and 15 assists in 48 games. He had a career high 50 points in 2009. Perron has three more years left on his contract at a cap hit of just over $3.8 million.
Setoguchi's fantasy relevance may have sailed away a couple seasons ago.
Parros is being brought into Montreal because Brandon Prust was fighting out of his weight-class last season, now Parros can fight the heavy-weights.
Noesen was the 21st overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft. He had 82 points in 63 games in 2011-12 as a member of the Plymouth Whalers. This past season was not quite as successful, but he was still a point per game player with 53 points in 51 games.
Silfverberg netted 10 goals and added nine assists in 48 games in his first full NHL season. The 39th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft appears to be an NHL-ready forward who will have a chance to learn from Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
Ryan, 26, scored at least 30 goals from 2008-2012 but only managed 11 goals in the lockout shortened season. He is signed through 2014-15 with a cap-hit of $5.1 million per year. On a day where the Senators lost their long-time captain, Daniel Alfredsson they have made a splash by acquiring the 2005 #2 overall pick.
Russell played 33 games with St. Louis this season netting one goal and adding six assists for seven points along with nine penalty minutes. He has played 364 career NHL games scoring 23 goals and 72 assists for 95 points
NHL trades are decided between two or more team general managers. The front office’s job is building a winning team. Building a winning team means discussing trades with other general managers across the league.
During the NHL regular season, players can be traded up until the trade deadline. The deadline is the official cutoff point for when teams can no longer make moves between each other. Players can also be traded throughout the offseason.
Teams trade players in hockey for a variety of reasons, but generally, it is done to find success, whether that is in the short term or long term. Teams may trade their top players in search of draft picks if they are undergoing a rebuild, whereas contending teams may look to acquire talent to boost their playoff chances.
Trades are a common occurrence throughout the NHL and happen often. Some years feature less trades than others, it all depends on each teams needs and the availability of attractive talent.