Rumors, moves, injuries and newsmakers...

Is Colorado a brand new team for the playoffs?; Olli is still in Florida; Does Hossa make the Pens truly great?; The Stars add a faded star in Richards; The Caps surround Ovie with veteran stars; Comrie re-ups with the Isles; The Leafs are handcuffed on deal day; and more...

AVS & AV-NOTS 
The much-anticipated, much-debated, and (for awhile yesterday) seemingly-unabated NHL trade deadline is in the books. And with two dozen deals happening on Tuesday alone, what have we learned? Plenty.

We have learned that a lot of teams still feel they have a shot at Lord Stanley's shining mug. We learned that seeming small-market squads like the Penguins are willing to step up (after they reeled in Marian Hossa from the Thrashers) and we learned that big-market concerns like Dallas are definitely also on the hunt (after they coaxed Brad Richards from the Lightning). We learned the Capitals are serious about spending to build a winner around Alexander Ovechkin (after they acquired Sergei Fedorov, Cristobal Huet and Matt Cooke). But most of all, we learned that the Colorado Avalanche still think like a powerhouse.

No team made as big a splash as Colorado. After signing Peter Forsberg this week, the Avs on Tuesday picked up former stalwart Adam Foote, and added solid veteran rearguard Ruslan Salei in a deal with the Panthers. Despite a season of adversity, the Avs have once again decided they are a 'have' team.

Meanwhile, other squads leave the deadline as seeming 'have nots'--or at least, 'could nots.' The Toronto Maple Leafs couldn't move five high-salaried veterans with no-trade clauses, and the once-mighty Lightning couldn't keep Brad Richards (despite him being still in his prime), as well as Johan Holmqvist, Vaclav Prospal and Jan Hlavac.

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AVALANCHE 
With 70 points, the Avalanche are far from a top contender in the West, especially considering they're ninth in the race for the conference's eight playoff spots. But almost overnight, Colorado may have helped themselves more than any other team. Fresh off the recent healthy returns of core guys Paul Stastny, Ryan Smyth and Joe Sakic, the Avs have loaded up for a deep playoff run. This week, they won the Peter Forsberg sweepstakes and, on Tuesday, Colorado followed that up by re-acquiring defenseman Adam Foote from the Blue Jackets (for a pair of conditional draft picks) and picking up gritty rearguard Ruslan Salei from Florida for Karlis Skrastins and a 2008 third-rounder. With Jose Theodore playing well lately, this looks like a whole new team for the stretch run

BRUINS 
One team that wasn't busy at all on trade deadline day Tuesday was the Bruins. But that doesn't mean they haven't been busy this season; they have made eight deals this year (many involving goalies) but entered Tuesday pretty content with their current squad. Maybe that helped them Tuesday night, as simply manhandled the Senators in a 4-0 shutout at home. Former Sen Zdeno Chara scored twice against his old team and Tim Thomas needed just 22 stops for the shutout.

CAPITALS 
Are the Caps serious about the playoffs? Absolutely, and they left no doubt of it Tuesday. On the final day to complete trades for this season, the Caps made a huge statement by acquiring veteran star Sergei Fedorov from the Blue Jackets and veteran goalie Cristobal Huet from the Canadiens. The price for Fedorov was defense prospect Ted Ruth, while Huet cost a 2009 second-round draft pick. Joining the two in Washington are scrappy forward Matt Cooke (dealt to Vancouver for young forward Matt Pettinger) and winger Alexandre Giroux (moved to Atlanta for forward Joe Motzko). So how does incumbent goalie Olaf Kolzig feel about his new competitor for starts in the nets? On Tuesday night Olie allowed just one goal in 35 shots against the Wild to win 4-1.

HURRICANES 
Through much of the 'Canes adversity this season Tim Gleason has been a dependable anchor on their defense. But Carolina might not be able to depend on him for an indefinite amount of time after the gritty defenseman was boarded by Jersey's Michael Rupp on Tuesday night. Gleason needed to be helped off the ice by teammates in the Hurricane's 2-1 O-T win Tuesday after a Rupp hit caused him to go face-first into the glass. The extent of his head injury is not yet known. In other Tuesday news, the 'Canes added some offensive creativity to the lineup by acquiring Tuomo Ruutu from the Blackhawks, straight up for fast-improving winger Andrew Ladd.

ISLANDERS 
It looks like the Isles like what they've seen in Mike Comrie. The feisty, fleet-footed pivot has been the team's top scorer this season (with 45 points). On Tuesday, they scuttled trade rumors swirling around the previously-pending free agent by re-signing him. The 27-year-old Comrie reportedly gets a 1-year, $4 Million pact to remain with the team. Of course, the Islanders didn't stay completely out of the trading frenzy, dealing oft-in-trouble enforcer Chris Simon to Minny for a sixth-round pick in 2008 and moving offense-first D-man Marc-Andre Bergeron to the Ducks for a 2008 third-rounder. They also picked up defenseman Rob Davison from the Sharks for a 7th-rounder in this year's draft.

LIGHTNING 
It sometimes seems like a long, long time ago that the Bolts won the Stanley Cup. But it was less than four years ago, and most of the team's young core is still young. That said, Tuesday marked a real turning point for the underachieving franchise, as they shook up that core in a significant way. One day after sending Vaclav Prospal to the Flyers, GM Jay Feaster packaged long-struggling center Brad Richards to the Dallas Stars (along with disappointing netminder Johan Holmqvist) in return for promising goalie Mike Smith, solid winger Jussi Jokinen and veteran forward Jeff Halpern. But it wasn't a total dismantling project for Tampa Bay; rather than trading cornerstone defenseman Dan Boyle, they inked him to a six-year extension.

MAPLE LEAFS 
While Chad Kilger, Hal Gill and Wade Belak all said goodbye to the Maple Leafs on deadline day, Toronto was more notable for the five veterans who stayed put on a seemingly sinking ship. Mats Sundin, Darcy Tucker, Bryan McCabe, Pavel Kubina and Tomas Kaberle all stuck around, mostly likely thanks to their no-trade clauses. On paper, the move seems an odd one for the quintet, since Toronto is six points out of a playoff spot in the East. Among the group, only the 29-year-old Kaberle is under 30, meaning Toronto is yet again without a great rebuilding situation in a season they may miss the playoffs yet again.

PANTHERS 
Several big names changed teams at Tuesday's trading deadline, but perhaps the biggest not to move (despite major rumors) was Olli Jokinen. The Panthers' captain was still the Panthers' captain when the 3 pm ET deadline passed. But the Cats didn't stand still Tuesday as they did make a few moves to beef up the team. The acquired two players from Toronto (two-way forward Chad Kilger and enforcer Wade Belak) in return for a third-rounder and a fifth-rounder in 2008, respectively. And they also swapped veteran defender Ruslan Salei to the Avalanche for another veteran defender in Karlis Skrastins plus a 2008 third-rounder. Ironically, the Cats host the Leafs on Wednesday.

PENGUINS 
There are sometimes specific moments when a team takes its big step toward greatness, and Tuesday may have been one of those moments for the Penguins. Already stacked with star power in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney, they acquired one of the NHL's truly elite scorers in Marian Hossa. The Pens pried him away from Atlanta in a trade deadline deal that sent prospects Angelo Esposito and Erik Christensen, along with solid winger Colby Armstrong and a 2008 first-round draft pick to the Thrashers. The Pens also received forward Pascal Dupuis in the deal.

STARS 
Looks like it's Finals or bust now for the Stars. After chipping away at the Western conference lead all season, they may have sealed the deal by landing star forward Brad Richards from the Lightning on Tuesday. Dallas also acquired backup goalie Johan Holmqvist in the bargain that sent promising young puckstopper Mike Smith to Tampa Bay, along with solid winger Jussi Jokinen and veteran forward Jeff Halpern. The Bolts also get a fourth-round pick in 2009. Will Richards be the final piece of a Finals puzzle for the Stars? He certainly has the talent, but just needs to show he can make his awful minus-25 rating a thing of the past.