Two NHL teams heading in different directions made some moves at the league's Monday trade deadline.
Monday at 3 p.m. Eastern time was the time when any NHL club could make a trade, as the regular season heads into its final month.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did a little tweaking on deadline day. On Monday, the NHL confirmed that the Leafs picked up defenceman Calle Rosen in exchange for goalie Michael Hutchinson. The Leafs are currently two points out of the last playoff spot with 72 points under head coach Sheldon Keefe, who replaced the fired Mike Babcock earlier this season.
The Detroit Red Wings, on the other hand, are in rebuild mode under general manager Steve Yzerman in his first season on the job. The Wings made two deals with the Edmonton Oilers, whose general manager, ironically, is previous Wings' GM Ken Holland.
The Wings sent Andreas Athanasiou and Ryan Kuffner, plus defenceman Mike Green to the Oilers in a combination of two trade moves. In return, the Wings got in total forwards Sam Gagner and Kyle Brodziak, plus two second-round draft picks and a conditional fourth-round pick.
Detroit is in the midst of one of its worst seasons ever. They currently have the worst point total in the NHL with 34.
Contending teams use the trade deadline to bring in additional help in the final push for the playoffs while rebuilding clubs drop higher-priced talent to clear cap space and stockpile draft picks.
Complete, up to the minute trade deadline information is available at the official NHL website.
