Hello all, this is hf101 with the fourth installment of the Trade Wars. As you see above we now have 4 of the 15 accepted trades. Please vote as to whether the East or West GM won the accepted trade.

The accepted trades are as follows.

The Vancouver Canucks trade

Robert Luongo

To the Florida Panthers for

Clemmenson, Rasmus Bengtsson, Nick Bjugstad and Florida's first round pick in 2012

The Buffalo Sabres trade:

Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta, Andrej Sekera and a 2012 2nd round pick

to the Chicago Blackhawks for

Brandon Pirri, Kyle Beach, Nick Leddy and Andrew Shaw

The Philadelphia Flyers trade

James Van Riemsdyke, Jody Shelley, Marc-Andre Bourdon and a 2012 2rd round draft pick

To the Los Angeles Kings for:

Jack Johnson, Trent Hunter and Thomas Hickey

To add a few comments about the accepted trades. Habs agreed to changing the draft pick in the Flyers - Kings trade from a third round pick to a second round pick when we agreed that the only value Shelley has is his locker room presence.

The Vancouver - Florida trade was explained in the previous blog.

I really like the deal habs offered the Blackhawks from Buffalo. This is truely a WIN WIN WIN trade. Even though the Hawks just made a trade for Morrison, I could not resist the opportunity to set this team up as the favorite for another Stanley Cup in June. There is still time to dump Morrison to another team needing some depth at center prior to the trade deadline. Gaustad will fit in perfectly as a 2-3 aggressive defensive center. Paul Kaleta will also toughen this team as a fourth line player especially since Carcillo is out for the year. Although we lose a great young defensemen in Leddy, I feel Andrej Sekera will fit in smoothly.

Now to go through through the other 7-10 trades proposed by habs.

First offer: NO DEAL

The Winnipeg Jets offer:

Eric Fehr, Tim Stapleton, and a 2012 4th round pick

To the Colorado Avalanche for

Shane O'Brien and Chuck Kobasew

This was an interesting and fair offer and I thought about it for a long time. But the more I looked at it I thought that Colorado would have probably wanted to improve its team defensively rather than adding with forwards. I think something else can be worked out to the advantages of both teams in the future.

Second Offer: Buffalo - Chicago was Accepted

Third Offer: NO DEAL

The Boston Bruins offer:

Benoit Pouliot, Zach Hamill, Steve Kampfer, Jordan Caron and a 2012 1st round pick

To the Columbus Blue Jackets for

Jeff Carter

Although there are some nice prospects in this deal, the Blue Jackets can’t wait a few more seasons before they get on a winning tract. In order to sell tickets Nash needs a center that he can play with now! The Blue Jackets have made a different trade offer to the Washington Capitals.

Fourth Offer: NO DEAL

The Pittsburgh Penguins offer:

Tyler Kennedy, Eric Tangradi, Craig Adams and a 2012 2nd round pick

To the Dallas Stars for

Brenden Morrow

The Stars are another team that desperately needs to make the playoffs from a financial aspect. At this time I’m not that ecstatic about trading away the captain of this team when they are currently in the mix of teams in playoff contention.

Fifth Offer: NO DEAL

The Montreal Canadiens offer:

Scott Gomez,, Andrei Kostitsyn, Yannick Webber, Hal Gill, Jarred Tinordi and a 2013 1st round pick

To the Anaheim Ducks for

Ryan Getzlaf, George Parros and J.F Jacques

Again there is no reason to dismantle the Ducks of their key players. Getzlaf isn’t available for trade.

Ok, so I'm not big on trading away core players of my Western teams.......so let me continue with the next 6-10 trades I'm offering to habsguy26.

First Offer:

The Nashville Predators offer:

Ryan Suter + Chet Pickard

To the Pittsburgh Penguins for

Paul Martin + Tyler Kennedy

Suter would make a very nice match with Letang as the top D-Pair. Financially this fairs well for both teams. Martin provides a stable and financially feasible 5M for the next 3 years while Pittsburgh sheds 7M to make space to sign Suter to a long term deal. In addition Tyler Kennedy could help sustain a playoff position for Nashville with a forward who can play in the top 6. What makes this trade ideal is that both teams remain strong for the playoffs. In addition Pittsburgh is in need of goaltender prospects while Nashville has an abundance.

Second Offer:

The Edmonton Oilers offer:

Sam Gagner and Andy Sutton and Ben Eager and a third round pick in the 2012 draft

To the Montreal Canadiens for

Scott Gomez and Nathan Beaulieu

So this is the trade for some players who could benefit from a change. Edmonton is one of those teams that really needs an experienced second / third line center. Gomez who hasn’t scored a goal in 49 games, but still has decent passing and skating skills would desirable in Edmonton for his veteran experience. Nathan Beaulieu is a talented young defensive prospect with good all around skills who still needs to grow physically to fit into the regular lineup in the NHL. Andy Sutton and Ben Eager would provide some toughness that has been vacant on the Canadiens roster for some time while Sam Gagner is a young nhl center and left winger with excellent shooting and passing skills He could easily provide some much needed offense on Montreal’s second line and on the power play.

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Third Offer

The San Jose Sharks offer:

Matt Neito and the Sharks third round pick in the 2012 draft

To the Carolina Hurricanes for

Tuomo Ruutu

The Sharks are in need of some depth at forward and Ruutu would make a nice fit on the second or third line. He plays with both skill and confidence in all aspects of the game.

Matt Nieto is a dynamic winger with an excellent offensive skill set and explosive speed that is really something to marvel at. He has great acceleration and a first gear that has gotten the attention of many in the scouting community. Nieto’s game-breaking speed allows him to create as well as open up space, and in turn, create offensive opportunities. Nieto is currently in his second season at Boston University and could find himself on the Canes starting roster this spring.

Fourth Offer:

The Columbus Blue Jackets offer:

Jeff Carter

To the Washington Capitals for

Brooks Laich, Jeff Schultz the acquired first round pick of the Colorado Avalanche.

Carter, a tad disgruntled in Columbus, with the Jackets seeming far more disgruntled, appears to be on his way out of Ohio, despite the tremendous costs that brought him there. It has been a tough season for the Blue Jackets and while they sit in the basement of the NHL standings, they are evidently becoming more and more anxious for some positive results. Flyers paid to acquire him (Voracuk, a former 8th overall pick, the Jackets 1st rounder (Sean Couturier) and a 3rd rounder(TJ Tynan) in 2011), anyone who is looking to acquire the 7 year vet with 181 career goals will surely have to pay a steep price. Fitting him under the Caps current cap wouldn't be a problem as they sit with $5.7 million in available cap space, including plenty of space to fit him in in the future.

Fifth Offer:

The Minnesota Wild offer:

Marek Zidlicky and Tyler Cuma

To the New York Islanders for

Brian Rolston and Brock Nelson

Well we all know the Wild need to trade away Zidlicky and as fast as possible. Zidlicky is still a good player, he just didn’t fit to Yeo’s system. Zidlicky needs to play on a team that focuses on a speedy offence which makes the Islanders a very nice trading partner. He still can be an offensive threat and has a wealth of top-level experience. Zidlikcy is a decent passer and packs a heavy shot from the point.Basically this trade is Zidlicky for the aging winger Brian Rolson who had some of his best playing days with the Wild. Nelson is from the small town of Warroad Minnesota and is currently attending the Univ of ND. Nelson has the potential for being a power forward someday and could fit in nicely with the Wild’s plans. At the same time the Islanders would recieve Tyler Cuma who is another of the strong defensive prospects in the Wild system.

Okay everyone that is it for the fourth installment of TRADE WARS, thanks for reading, looking forward to your comments and please vote above for the accepted trades.