Deadline Day: Montador to Boston, Morrison to Dallas. Update.
The Dallas Stars have claimed Brendan Morrison off waivers. Bob Murray announced he was "95 percent sure" he wouldn't trade Chris Pronger. And, in the Ducks' biggest move of the day, defenseman Steve Montador is going to the Boston Bruins for center Petteri Nokelainen.
When the Stars claimed Morrison, they relieved the Ducks of his $2.75 million contract for the remainder of the season. Nokelainen is owed $850,000 a year through 2010, according to nhlscap.com. That's a net savings of $1.9 million -- actually, a prorated portion until season's end -- which could come in handy for further deadline deals.
The trade of Montador brings the Ducks back to seven defensemen. They had been carrying eight since acquiring Ryan Whitney from the Pittsburgh Penguins last week for Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi. That includes Kent Huskins, who is recovering from a broken foot. Montador had exceeded expectations set by the Ducks as a versatile forward/defenseman with a willingness to fight. He had already set career highs for assists (16), penalty minutes (125) and was on pace for a career-high in plus-minus (+15, a team high).
Nokelainen was a former first-round draft pick (selected 16th overall by the Islanders in 2004) whose best skill as an NHL player has been winning faceoffs. The Finn has won 62.1 percent of his faceoffs (54 of 87), averaging 9:40 TOI per game in 33 games for the Bruins. He was the victim of a high stick to his eye by San Jose's Dan Boyle on Feb. 10. But according to this excerpt from enterprisenews.com, that injury has healed:
Petteri Nokelainen, accidentally high-sticked in the eye by San Jose's Dan Boyle on Feb. 10, said he was told after an exam on Tuesday that he's "good to go."
"I can't even tell the difference between the two eyes any more," said the utility forward. "I can see perfectly."
The Bruins announced Friday that they had placed Nokelainen on Injured Reserve. Unless they back-dated that designation, Nokelainen wouldn't be eligible to play until after Thursday's game against Phoenix.One more note on Morrison: In 12 games this season playing on three or more days' rest, he had three goals and seven points, a much better ratio than his 10 goals and 62 points overall.
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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