Trade Deadline Early Reports

We're not even an hour after the deadline, so things can still come in (as they get processed by the league), but here's what I've learned, mainly from ESPN.com's live blog, starting with the minor stuff:

-Supposedly the Hawks are all set to sign Havlat. Details need to be worked out, so it's not imminent, but it's expected to happen eventually. I can't wait to hear officially that he's gonna be wearing the Indian Head for a while longer.

-Adams was picked up by the Penguins, which is no great loss. He worked hard and was serviceable on the 4th line, but I think Burrish, Eager, and Frasier all bring more to the table, and I think I'd rather see one of the kids get some ice time if another spot opens up.

-The biggie - supposedly the Hawks have traded Wisniewski (as well as a pick and a minor leaguer) for Pahlsson (C-ANA), whom I detailed in a previous blog. Honestly, while I hate to see a young talent like Wisniewski go, he did look pretty bad recently. I'd like to believe it's because he had no training camp and is still a few steps slow after missing the first 2-3 months, but he's been in 30+ games now, and that excuse is starting to wear off. I'd also like to believe it's his youth, but he's 25, and has almost 170 career NHL games - more than 2 seasons' worth.

Wis has got toughness and athleticism, but he just hasn't shown enough reliability on defense to be a future piece. And with Aaron Johnson being serviceable this year and some other young assets like Hendry and Hjalmarsson having showing flashes of good things in limited big league time, Wis probably was expendable. I hope he turns into a good pro player down the road, but like a lot of the other guys the Hawks have been forced to jettison, I think there's plenty of talent left over so he won't be missed.

And I'm very pleased that Pahlsson was the guy the Hawks got. We need an intangibles guy, and that's what Pahlsson is. As I posted previously:

• Despite only having one double-digit goal season (11 in 05-06) and never reaching 20 assists, the guy gets a ton of minutes and plays nearly every night (didn't miss a game for three straight seasons at one point).
  
  So if he's not bringing offense but is getting trusted with a lot of minutes (he currently is third among Ducks forwards, behind only their two leading scorers), he must be a heck of a defender and face-off guy. And to some extent, the numbers bear that out. He regularly is in the 53-55% face-off win range, and his plus-minus has hovered right around zero prior to this season. For a guy who obviously is out there checking the other team's top line, that's not a bad plus-minus at all (tho it's been ugly this year - probably cause the Ducks have struggled). He's also got 13 career short-handed points, which suggests he's a regular on the PK.

Now the Hawks skate out four strong defensive forwards - Toews, Bolland, Pahlsson, and Frasier. When you factor in that Sharp, Versteeg, Havlat, and Burish also are good defenders from the forward lines, the Hawks will be a tough team to score upon in the playoffs. And as we all know - defense wins championships.

On top of that, the Hawks now have two strong face-off guys to throw out in key situations, and neither will hurt you. Toews will be out there for the key offensive zone face-offs, while Pahlsson can take those in their own end.

The Hawks were rumored to be in on Moore (C-TOR), but I'm glad they got Pahlsson instead. Moore (as I noted in a previous post) has really developed an offensive game this year, but he's not too experienced and relatively unproven. I'd much rather have the veteran Pahlsson, who was a key piece of a Stanley Cup winner two seasons ago.