"In the three days leading into the NHL trade deadline last season, teams made 40 trades involving 68 players including a record 31 swaps and 51 players on March 3 alone. The move that made the biggest splash was made a month earlier when Ilya Kovalchuk was shipped from Atlanta to New Jersey. Chicago was quiet in acquiring Nick Boynton, Hannu Toivonen and Danny Richmond and promptly giving their three newcomers a bus ticket to AHL Rockford. Boynton surfaced for seven games during the season and three more in the playoffs, making a minor contribution during their run to the Stanley Cup. Kovalchuk was the biggest move, but it was hardly the best one. Two days later, Philadelphia acquired Ville Leino from Detroit for defenseman Ole-Kristian Tollefsen and a fifth-round pick. Leino, who had 16 points in 55 career games before the swap, had seven goals and 21 points in 19 playoff games en route to the finals. The best minds in the business will tap into every resource available, which basically includes knowledge, experience and old-fashioned gut instinct, in an effort to find a player or more in the next week who can put their teams, as they say, over the top. Some provide marginal help, some none at all." Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl/inside-the-nhl/article346781.ece
