Chirps from Center Ice

The NHL trade deadline came and went Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Here’s how things affect the AHL’s East Division:

Washington / Hershey

– D Garrett Stafford for LW Dane Byers. Byers comes over from Oklahoma City. It’s an AHL vet for an AHL vet, so the Bears will remain one over the legal limit to dress each game. Byers was 6-4-10 in 58 games with the Barons this season. Moving Stafford left a hole on the Bears back end but later in the day Washington sent back Dmitry Orlov and Tomas Kundratek.

– Matt Clackson for Joel Rechlicz. Rechlicz returns to Hershey, where he is immensely popular, Clackson goes to Portland, which is his second tour with the club.

– Prospect Filip Forsberg for Martin Erat and Michael Latta. Latta will report to Hershey. He comes over from Milwaukee, where he was second on the Admirals in points and first in assists. Latta is a non-vet and a physical, aggressive player. Latta was a fan favorite in Milwaukee, too.

Tampa Bay / Syracuse

– Prospect D Kirill Gorovets for LW Philippe Paradis. Paradis is just coming off of a concussion suffered February 20 and was just medically cleared to play.

– Cory Conacher for Ben Bishop. What this means for the Crunch is to expect G Cedrick Desjardins back to Syracuse in the forseeable future.

Anaheim / Norfolk

– Jay Rosehill for Harry Zolnierczyk. Zolnierczyk actually played for the Admirals against the Penguins yesterday.

– Jeff Deslauriers for future considerations to the Minnesota Wild. The one time WBS Penguin Deslauriers was buried in the Anaheim goaltending system. He’ll join AHL Houston.

Ottawa / Binghamton

– Ben Bishop for Cory Conacher. What this means for Binghamton is Robin Lehner stays up for good as Craig Anderson’s backup and the AHL nets belong to Nathan Lawson and Marc Chevrie.

Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre

– Conditional draft pick for Jussi Jokinen from the Carolina Hurricanes. This is strictly a Pittsburgh move and has no bearing on Wilkes-Barre. The indirect effect may be that Beau Bennett stays in Wilkes-Barre for the remainder of the season, although he could still hypothetically go back up at anytime. Here’s Jonathan Bombulie’s take on this and more.

– Patrick Killeen to Columbus for future considerations. Killeen fell off the radar way back in the beginning of the season when he wasn’t even invited to Pittsburgh’s prospect camp. He’ll likely join the Springfield Falcons as a Black Ace.

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Analysis

I don’t see a clear winner here. I also don’t see a huge loser either. Hershey got better, but nothing that makes you say, “wow.” Maybe you can say that Binghamton lost more in having Lehner graduating full time. You also would not be wrong in asserting that Syracuse is structurally stronger in getting their number one goalie back for the playoff run. Time tells all.

There were other, “paper” moves to get players assigned to the AHL for the purposes of playing in the postseason. A notable name not on that list was Simon Despres, which means that he is with Pittsburgh for the duration. (edit: Jonathan tweets that Despres indeed has been sent to WBS to make him eligible for AHL playoffs if by chance Wilkes-Barre lasts longer than Pittsburgh in the postseason)

Let’s Go Pens!