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If any trades occur today, I’ll have my fantasy analysis up later this afternoon.

Jordan Eberle is on pace for 38 goals and 86 points (he had two points last night against the Flyers). Word of warning – he is shooting close to 20%, a number that is very unsustainable for future seasons. It still doesn’t take away from what he is doing this year, though.

Jack Johnson on the trade:

“”This is going to be great,” Johnson said. “I'm a Midwestern boy at heart, and I see this as a great opportunity. I can't wait to get there and meet the guys.”

He’s either delusional or a liar. In all seriousness, I think he could excel in Columbus (once they get a goalie). His play has regressed a bit ever since Doughty became ‘the man’ for LA on defense. Johnson could benefit from playing that role for the Blue Jackets.

Richard Bachman got the rare start in Dallas (his first in over three weeks), and he played great.

Jamie Benn remains out with his cut, and Chicago was without Steve Montador and Jonathan Toews, as well. No word on Montador's return – he's a solid roto player, but I dropped him a few weeks ago – not worth holding on to with an unknown return date.

Mike Smith has won nine straight for the Coyotes.

Vermette had no points in 17 minutes in his Phoenix debut – no PK time, some PP time.

Justin Peters got the start again for Carolina, as Cam Ward remains out with a lower-body injury. Peters stopped 35 shots in a shootout loss against the Ducks.

Jiri Tlusty now has a nine game point streak for Carolina. Philippe Paradis, the prospect Tlusty was traded for, has two goals in 41 AHL games this season in Rockford (the Leafs flipped him to Chicago in the Kris Versteeg trade).

Pretty remarkable what Justin Faulk is doing at the age of 19 – he played over 25 minutes last night and could be considered Carolina's best defenseman at the moment.

Chris Stewart has goals in back-to-back games.

Sobotka had a goal, as he continues to see increased ice time (17 minutes) with Langenbrunner on the shelf. He's a solid short-term option right now.

Roman Josi had a goal and played over 20 minutes – more than Gill, Bouillon, and Klein.

Both Stamkos and Ladd had three point games yesterday. Stamkos scored his 43^rd and is doing everything except play goalie for the Lightning this season. Ladd has had a bit of an inconsistent offensive season (especially compared to last year), but he's coming on lately, with eight points in his last four games.

Teddy Purcell, who I mention below today, had three points for the Lightning as well.

Blake Wheeler continues his torrid streak with two more assists.

Watched the Detroit/Vancouver game – simply great hockey between two fantastic teams. Standout players:

Quincey scored a goal and looked really solid for the Wings. Played a chippy, physical game, too.

The Sedins are “back” from whatever slump they were suffering from. Daniel scored twice and Henrik was his usual wizardly self with the puck.

Kesler had a quiet game offensively – he’s looked a bit off lately after going on a goal-scoring streak a few weeks ago. David Booth was really good – skating hard, had several great chances.

Jimmy Howard and Roberto Luongo were both sensational – especially Howard. He stopped well over 40 shots, including several tough saves early in the first period.

Henrik Sedin on the game:

“This is what hockey should be. A lot of chances, a lot of hitting, no cheap shots, no chirping after whistles.””

My short take on the trade – a risk by LA more than Columbus. Johnson, for his faults, is a known asset. He's a good #2/3 defenseman signed to a decent contract.

Carter is a proven goal scorer, but he's a natural center, like Kopitar, Richards, Loktionov, and Stoll. He's also not the fastest skater on the planet, and both Kopitar and Richards are below-average to average skaters. The Kings don't have any speedsters in their forward group (Justin Williams used to be about two knee surgeries ago).

The Kings turned Schenn, Simmonds, Johnson, a 1^st round pick, and a 2^nd round pick into Carter and Richards. Thoughts?

Craig Anderson is out indefinitely after cutting his hand in a kitchen accident. Horrible break for the Senators.

Jonathan Toews was involved in a single-car accident on Thursday, but wasn't hurt.

I take a look at some potential deadline acquisitions that the Canucks may be interested in – right here.

Copper & Blue takes a look at the Vermette trade.

"His offense is also pretty good. He has scored at least forty points in each season from 2007-08 to 2010-11, and was among the NHL’s top 100 even strength scorers in three of those years. He’ll probably fall short of both those marks this season, but a very poor PDO number (95.2) and a career-low 7.5% shooting percentage are no doubt major contributors. I wouldn’t count on him to get back to his previous high of 65 points (he had a career-high 17.3% shooting percentage in that season), but he’s a guy that you can rely on to play against real competition and provide offense too."

As I wrote yesterday, he fills a huge need for the Coyotes. He's going to see significant minutes in all situations, and his versatility will allow him to earn the trust of Dave Tippett right away. He isn't the most consistent or talented player in the league, but Phoenix is a great situation for him to succeed, both this season and for the next three.

People that rip on the trade deadline coverage for being too extensive… it is what it is. As fans, the closest we can get to these GM's wheeling and dealing is watching TSN (or Sportsnet…). Sure, the coverage and the size of the panel is excessive, but it is one day of the year, and no one is forcing you to watch.

I don't understand what Dale Hunter has to gain from ripping Tomas Vokoun after the Ottawa loss. Sure, his play was brutal, but the team in front of him showed absolutely zilch until later on in the game. I never really understood ripping players in the media in any case, though. What does it accomplish? If you have an issue, bring it up with the player behind closed doors. Ron Wilson used to do this a lot, but lately he hasn't as much. It accomplishes nothing.

Ales Hemsky apparently wants four or five years on his new contract. Assuming the cap hit is around $4 million, would you give it to him? Why or why not? When healthy, he is a point-per-game winger who makes his linemates better.

A sleeper team to watch at the deadline is Dallas. They have a new owner willing to spend some money, they have lots of cap space, and they are apparently shopping and/or listening to offers for the likes of Ott, Morrow, and Ribeiro.

I scooped up Teddy Purcell off of the waiver wire yesterday. I won't win my league, but he is playing really well and I want to get a look at him as a potential keeper for the rest of the season. He doesn't deliver a lot in the way of peripherals, but he showed last season what kind of offensive he can bring. Tampa Bay will be an interesting team to watch this summer – lost of holes to fill, lots of cap space. Steve Yzerman is going to be a busy man.

Some interesting news from Russia, regarding both Kuznetsov and Alex Radulov:

"According to Sports.ru, Yevgeny Kuznetsov agents are in the talks with another KHL team Ufa “Salavat Yulaev”. In Ufa, Kuznetsov is seen as a possible replacement to Alexander Radulov, who is most likely to leave to the NHL this summer."

Roman Hamrlik had some very harsh words for his coach, Dale Hunter:

"”You should ask him about the penalties because when he played I think he make lots of penalties himself,” Hamrlik said.”He should know better. This is a game and guys (play with) emotion. I know I took a bad penalty, but if that’s the reason I didn’t play that’s his decision.”"

What a joy that Washington dressing room would be, right now.

More please – the top 10 Kronwall hits:

The Canucks have heavy, heavy interest in Steve Ott. He'd be a natural fit:

In case you missed it… the full highlights: