Deadline Expectations

With the Trade Deadline about 24 hours away, you can bet teams will be hustling and bustling trying to get their teams set for the last part of the season and into the playoff run. Of course, some teams will be doing more than others; then the hindsight will set-in minutes after the deadline lapses. Here's some of the things I think may or may not happen as planned, as some are serious and some not. You can pick out which is which.

-Edmonton has already started to blow up their team with dealing Denis Grebeshkov to the Nashville Predators. While the Oilers have a lot to give up, the asking price may be a little too much for some teams. Plus, with all the injuries they've had, who knows how many teams will be chomping at the bit to deal with Edmonton and then realize they were sold a lemon.

-There's a lot of talk around the Toronto Maple Leafs and some of their players. While they shed some dead-weight in Vesa Toskala and Jason Blake, many wonder what Brian Burke did to con the Anaheim Ducks into that. Because of it, the GMs are unsure about dealing with Burke due to his Jedi mind-tricks or blackmailing photos he may possess.

-While there's not much to improve, the Washington Capitals could look for more help in the blueline, maybe a Steve Staios type player; mostly to help along the young guys. Some grit wouldn't hurt, but odds are they won't be able to get their dream acquisition, 1984 Rod Langway, mostly due to time travel and cloning not being readily available.

-Realizing they really don't have much after Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins loaded up on another defenseman in getting Jordan Leopold from the Florida Panthers. This way, they'll be able to dress 18 defensemen and hope the two forwards can come up big for them.

-The Florida Panthers started their fire sale with the Leopold move and you can almost assume that other big names will be moving before 3 PM Wednesday. With all the names being throwing out in terms of who's being moved out, it seems to be the first time the Panthers have been really relevant since the Jay Bouwmeester sweepstakes and before then-- the 1996 Stanley Cup Final.

-Figuring that they're okay with what they've got-- the Carolina Hurricanes will stand pat and not move anyone. Even though many players are begging to get out of Carolina, GM Jim Rutherford made his decision on whether to trade a player using Jo Dee Messina's "Heads Carolina, Tails California" and a two-headed coin.

The one thing that will be agreed upon is that there will probably be a lot of moves of role players and minor league deals-- and maybe some few bigger names thrown into the mix-- but it will be active with a lot of speculation of the sort. Also, plenty of mis-announce trades that are said to be done, but never happen.

As for me, we'll be doing a wrap-up on Face Off Hockey Show Wednesday night and I'll be on the panel of Hockey Independent's trade deadline live chat/blog going on over there. Be sure to check both out, because they'll be fantastic.