Pens Trade Goligoski; Recieve Neal and Niskanen

Just minutes ago, Penguins GM Ray Shero pulled the trigger to acquire forward James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen in exchange for defenseman Alex Goligoski. This move helps out Pittsburgh who is in desperate need of help after losing roughly 10 players due to injury within the past month or so. "O" face.

The biggest player in the deal for the Penguins is left winger James Neal who has 21 goals and 18 assists in 59 games. Neal will provide a scoring punch to a team who hasn't been completely healthy in a long time.

In addition to Neal, the Penguins receive Matt Niskanen, who in my opinion is more solid defensively than Goligoski, but lacks the point production that Goligoski brings to the team.

Touch the stars kid.

As for Dallas, Goligoski is a solid puck moving defenseman with a bright future ahead of him, but I really feel like they overpaid on this one. He's having a career season for sure, and he has a good amount of skill, but I just have a bad feeling about the way this trade will pan out for Dallas.

Nonetheless, this is an interesting trade, and it'll be fun to see if the Pens or Stars are looking to make any more moves in the near future.

My instincts say they are.

Habs Acquire Mara

Yesterday, the Montreal Canadiens traded their 5th round pick to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Paul Mara.

Mara hasn't played for the Ducks since January 18th and he became even more expendable since Anaheim traded for Francois Beauchemin.

All in all this trade doesn't mean too much.  You can check all the other trades to go down here.  

Tonight's Other Two Trades

In the hours following today's Anaheim-Toronto trade, there were 2 additional deals announced, one relatively big one relatively small. Trades today involved players going from Chicago to Florida, and from the Islanders to the Phoenix Coyotes, with a grand total of six players and one draft pick moving today.

Read on for details...

First Trade of the Month!

Today the Toronto Maple Leafs and Anaheim Ducks broke the trade season ice with a solid deal for both clubs.

The Maple Leafs received right wing Joffrey Lupul, defensive prospect Jake Gardiner and a conditional 2013 draft pick, while the Ducks ended up with solid vet blueliner Francois Beauchemin.

Additional info on the jump...

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: The NHL Trade Deadline.

February. Possibly the most important month of the year in reference to the future of a hockey club. Teams fight to get themselves in the playoff picture before the final stretch into the playoffs, or they struggle to retain their dignity while letting the rest of the lost season play out... not pointing fingers but....

It's been a long year, better luck next 100 million dollar contracted superstar.

Regardless of standings, one of the highlights of the season is about to occur.

February 28th at 3 p.m. is the scheduled trade deadline for the NHL. Teams without hope will look forward to the draft, and teams on the edge of the playoffs will look into risky deals to give themselves a better shot at the cup, presenting interesting trade scenarios.

Make the jump..