NHL roundup: 17 deals made at trade deadline

The trend of fewer players moving at the NHL trade deadline continued for the third year Wednesday, as only 30 players changed uniforms in 17 trades. That follows 16 deals made in the final trade date in each of the last two years, involving 35 players in 2011 and 32 players last year.

Those numbers are in stark contrast to preceding years. For example, from 2003 through 2010, 172 deals were consummated, involving 309 players, an average of 24.5 trades and 44 players per season. The biggest single-year numbers came in 2010, when 31 trades were made involving 55 players.

The trading period included a number of major deals prior to Wednesday's deadline, including Jarome Iginla being dealt from the Calgary Flames to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Jaromir Jagr being sent from the Dallas Stars to the Boston Bruins.

Here are the deals made Wednesday prior to the 3 p.m. ET deadline:

--Columbus traded G Steve Mason to the Flyers for G Michael Leighton and Philadelphia's third-round pick in the 2015 draft. The Blue Jackets also sent RW Derek Dorsett, C Derick Brassard, D John Moore and Columbus' sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft to the New York Rangers for RW Marian Gaborik, D Blake Parlett and D Steven Delisle.

Gaborik waived his no-trade clause to allow the transaction to take place. A three-time All-Star and five-time 30-goal scorer who had 41 last season, Gaborik has slumped this season, having just nine goals and 10 assists in 35 games. Gaborik, 31, has two years to go on a five-year, $37.5 million deal. The annual salary-cap hit is $7.5 million.

Vinny Prospal is the only Blue Jackets player to score 10 goals this season, so Columbus hopes Gaborik can provide an offensive lift.

--The Ottawa Senators traded G Ben Bishop to Tampa Bay for C Cory Conacher, a Rookie of the Year candidate, and Philadelphia's fourth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, which the Lightning previously acquired.

Conacher, 23, has 24 points in 35 games this season and is a candidate for the Calder Trophy, trailing only Florida's Jonathan Huberdeau among NHL rookies in scoring. He'll become the Senators' leading scorer when he joins the team.

--Anaheim traded C Brandon McMillan to the Phoenix Coyotes for C Matthew Lombardi, and the Ducks sent G Jeff Deslauriers to the Minnesota Wild for future considerations.

Lombardi is changing addresses for the second time this season, having started the season with the Toronto Maple Leafs before getting dealt to Phoenix. He played in 21 games for the Coyotes and had four goals and four assists. He'll be an unrestricted free agent after the season when his contract runs out. He is making $3.5 million this season.

--The Florida Panthers traded C Jerred Smithson to the Oilers for Edmonton's fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft.

Smithson, 34, has two goals and three assists and has won 54.8 percent of 363 faceoffs in 35 games this season. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. His salary counts $800,000 against the cap.

--Phoenix traded LW Raffi Torres to the San Jose Sharks for Florida's third-round pick in the 2013 draft (previously acquired). The Coyotes also sent LW Steve Sullivan to New Jersey for the Devils' seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft.

Torres, 31, has five goals, seven assists and 13 penalty minutes in 28 games this season for the Coyotes. He spent the early part of the season completing a 25-game suspension for his hit on the Chicago Blackhawks' Marian Hossa during the playoffs last year. Torres' two-year, $3.5 million contract expires at the end of the season.

--The Bruins traded C Maxime Sauve to the Chicago Blackhawks for C Rob Flick.

--The Sabres traded RW Jason Pominville and Buffalo's fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft to Minnesota for LW Johan Larsson, G Matt Hackett, Minnesota's first-round pick in 2013 and second-round pick in 2014.

--The Flames traded LW Blake Comeau to the Blue Jackets for Columbus' fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft.

--The Carolina Hurricanes traded LW Jussi Jokinen to Pittsburgh for a conditional pick in the 2013 draft.

--The Colorado Avalanche traded D Ryan O'Byrne to Toronto for a fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft.

--Nashville traded RW Martin Erat and C Michael Latta to the Washington Capitals for C Filip Forsberg, and the Predators dealt D Scott Hannan to San Jose for a conditional pick in the 2013 draft.

--Pittsburgh traded G Patrick Killeen to Columbus for future considerations.

--The St. Louis Blues traded D Wade Redden to Boston for a conditional pick in the 2014 draft.

There were also two waiver claims made Wednesday, as Philadelphia claimed RW Adam Hall from Tampa Bay, and the Winnipeg Jets claimed C Mike Santorelli from Florida.

In other NHL news:

--Carolina defenseman Joni Pitkanen will miss the remainder of the regular season with a heel injury, the team announced. Pitkanen sustained a broken bone in his left heel during the second period of the Hurricanes' loss to the Capitals on Tuesday night. The recovery time is expected to be 10 to 12 weeks.

--Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff squelched rumors of a trade with the deadline approaching Wednesday and decided to remain with the Flames, TSN reported. The 36-year-old Kiprusoff has one year left on his contract with the Flames that includes a no-trade clause. The Maple Leafs reportedly were interested in acquiring the veteran netminder as a backup to James Reimer.

TSN also reported that Kiprusoff is considering retirement at the end of the season and forgoing the final year of a six-year, $35 million contract that will be worth $1.5 million in 2013-14. In 18 starts this season, he has posted a 6-10 record with a 3.64 GAA and a .868 save percentage -- well off his career 2.48 GAA and .912 save percentage.

--The Blackhawks recalled forward Brandon Bollig from the Rockford Ice Hogs of the American Hockey League. The 26-year-old has recorded 47 penalty minutes in 17 games with the Blackhawks this season. He has earned 105 penalty minutes in 35 career regular-season games.

--The Predators announced they signed 2009 second-round pick Zach Budish to a two-year, entry-level contract. The 6-foot-3, 219-pound right wing will join the Predators' top minor league team, the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, for the rest of the season. Budish amassed 94 points (35 goals, 59 assists) in 129 games during four seasons at the University of Minnesota, helping the school earn three trips to the NCAA Tournament and advance to the 2012 Frozen Four.

--The Tampa Bay Lightning recalled forwards Dana Tyrell and Brett Connolly from the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. In turn, the team reassigned forwards Mike Angelidis and Ondrej Palat, along with defenseman Andrej Sustr and goaltender Cedrick Desjardins to the Crunch.