Update Central

I will be using this post to analyze any trades that occur between now and Monday morning, so keep checking back for the latest updates!

Florida acquires D Alex Sulzer from NSH for 2012 7th-round pick. Neither side can really lose on this deal, Florida gets a still fairly young defenseman, who despite minimal playing time so far in the NHL could contribute to the rebuilding process for the Panthers, and in case he's a flop, they only gave up a 7th-round pick for him. Behind Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, Nashville's blue line isn't particularly impressive, and they will by looking in the next couple days to add a solid D-man for the postseason, which would leave Sulzer with less playing time. At age 26, Sulzer still has some potential, but is probably past the time where playing more in the minors would develop his game, so off he goes to Florida. Nashville got little in return for him, but you never know what surprising talent may be left in the 7th-round, though the chance of finding that in such a late round is very slim. There should be little significance to the acquisition of such a late round pick, but it is always fun to see the surprise finds that were passed up round after round by many teams. Notable 7th-round picks since 2000 include Jason Demers (SJS), Anders Lindback (NSH), Carl Gunnarsson (TOR), Derek Dorsett (CBJ), Benn Ferriero (SJS), Joe Vitale (PIT), Sergei Kostitsyn (MTL), Anton Stralman (TOR), Kyle Cumiskey (COL), Patric Hornqvist (NSH), Troy Brouwer (CHI), Matt Hunwick (BOS), Chris Campoli (NYI), Nathan Paetsch (BUF), Joe Pavelski (SJS), Kyle Brodziak (EDM), Jeremy Williams (TOR), Greg Mauldin (CBJ), Fredrik Norrena (TBL), Derek Meech (DET), Derek Boogaard (MIN), Cristobal Huet (LAK), David Moss (CGY), Johnny Oduya (WSH), Marek Svatos (COL), Henrik Lundqvist (NYR), Matt Lombardi (EDM), Paul Gaustad (BUF), and Antti Miettinen (DAL). Notable draftees since 2000 in rounds LATER than 7th when those rounds existed include Aaron Voros (8-NJD), Martin Gerber (8-ANA), Milan Jurcina (8-BOS), Max Talbot (8-PIT), Petr Prucha (8-NYR),Dennis Wideman (8-BUF), Tobias Enstrom (8-ATL), Dustin Byfiglien (8-CHI), Shane O'Brien (8-ANA), Brandon Yip (8-COL), Pekka Rinne (8-NSH), P.A. Parenteau (9-FLA), Adam Burish (9-CHI), Jonathan Ericsson (9-DET), Matt Moulson (9-PIT), Tanner Glass (9-FLA), Jaroslav Halak (9-MTL), David Jones (9-COL), Brian Elliott (9-OTT), Mark Streit (9-MTL), Daniel Winnik (9-PHX), and Jannik Hansen (9-VAN). Kudos to the Nashville scouts, in recent years in round 7 or later, they've picked up BOTH of the teams current goalies, Pekka Rinne and Anders Lindback, as well as talented goal-scorer Patric Hornqvist. We'll see in a few years if they pull of another pick like those at this year's draft.

Carolina acquires W Cory Stillman from Florida for C Ryan Carter and 2011 5th-round pick. After many years overflowing with veterans galore, the Canes have a fairly young team right now. The bringing back of Croy Stillman brings a familiar veteran presence to help guide the youngsters in their playoff push. He's up there now at 37, and is nowhere near the 25-goal scorer he used to be, but he is a solid player who won a Cup with them back in 2006 and should be welcomed back fondly by the few players still with the team from then. Carter brings little to the rebuilding panthers, but has a minimal cap hit and could be used as more potential trade bait for a team who is till looking to dump a lot of high-priced pending UFAs (like Stillman).

Atlanta acquires C Ben Maxwell and 2011 4th round pick from Montreal for D Brent Sopel and W Nigel Dawes. This should provide a little more oomf for the Habs. Nigel Dawes has played only nine NHL games this season, but has shown in the past that he can contribute a decent third or fourth line calibur offense, and franklly, the Canadiens offense has not been very impressive this season. They still need a big name goal-scorer if they want to make a Cup run, but Dawes provides some depth. Sopel has been tossed around the league for the past few years, but brings a solifd defensive game wherever he goes, and now can contribute some valuable experience, having won a Cup with Chicago last season. He should provide some help for a defense that has been derailed by injury this season, but now the Canadiens have some serious defensive depth adding Sopel to a solid existing group of Roman Hamrlik, Hal Gill, hard-hitting rookie sensation P.K. Subban, midseason acquisition James Wisniewski, Jaroslav Spacek, youngsters Yannick Weber and Alexandre Picard, and recent pickup Paul Mara. With this crew (and the return of Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges next season), the Canadiens have a wealth of defense that they may be able to use as bait to reel in that big scorer they're looking for up front. 22-year old Maxwell has 0 points in 20 NHL games over the past two years, but has solid AHL numbers, and has time to find his potential in the Thrashers organization. Atlanta also gives up very little for a prospect and a pick; Dawes played minimally this season and Sopel became expendable with the acquisition of Mark Stuart from Boston. Still, the Thrashers would like to add a veteran scorer to guide their struggling young team back into the playoffs, and some defensive help as well. Blueliners Johnny Oduya, Freddy Meyer, and Ron Hainsey could all be used as trade bait, as well as Zach Bogosian, whose youth and enormous potential could bring in a massive return.

Pittsburgh acquires W Alex Kovalev from Ottawa for 2011 conditional pick. Kovalev is old, has had a down couple of years since leaving Montreal for Ottawa, and only plays when he feels like it. But a return to his former team could be just what the doctor ordered. Still with some of the best hands in the league, Kovalev is a gifted goal-scorer when he is motivated enough, which he could be now that he leaves the worst team in the East for a potential contender. With their top players out for who knows how long, Kovalev could be a key cog for a rejuvinated offense that has also just added talented young scorer James Neal into the fold. Or he could be just as lazy as he has been in the past and the Penguins will continue to rely on their defense to scrape by. Either way the rissk is big but the price was minimal, and Ray Shero's aged veterans seem to pay off more than his huge scorers around the deadline. Just look how much more Bill Guerin did for them than did Marian Hossa.

Anaheim acquires G Dan Ellis from Tampa Bay for G Curtis McElhinney. Tampa Bay picked up Dan Ellis this offseason to round out a very questionable and streaky goaltending tandem with Mike Smith. Thanks to an extremely potent offense, Ellis's shaky numbers haven't been much of a problem for the Southeast leading Lightning, and with the mid-season steal of Dwayne Roloson, the Lightning seem set for a playoff push.  Roloson is questionable himself at this age, but continues to show flashes of brilliance and is a very experienced goaltender. Anaheim has been looking for a solution in net these days, as All-Star Jonas Hiller's health has kept him off the ice. Curtis McElhinney has not played well filling in, prompting Anaheim to swap him for Ellis, to round out another extremely unreliable duo in Anaheim with recent signee/call-up Ray Emery. Still, Dan Ellis could be a huge asset if he can manage to find his once impressive form, the form that helped him go 23-10-3 with a .924 save percentage and a 2.34 goals against average for the Predators as a rookie in 2007-08. But for now, the Ducks should just hope that Hiller overcomes his dizziniess and fatigue, and soon.