NASHVILLE: MIKE SILLINGER was acquired Sunday in a nifty move by GM David Poile. The tenacious Sillinger has bounced to a few clubs in his career. Sillinger, a center, will give the Preds nice depth at the center position.

DAVE LEGWAND, YANIC PERRAULT, VERNON FIDDLER and GREG JOHNSON comprise the remainder Nashville's center ice guys.

Sillinger, who has tallied 41 points in 48 games on a woeful Blues club, will compliment wings STEVE SULLIVAN and PAUL KARIYA nicely. Poile beat many GM’s to the trade-deadline punch on this move.

"Mike Sillinger is a battle-tested veteran who will help us both offensively and defensively," said Poile.

"He is an all-purpose forward who can play in any situation and can play centre or on the wing. He also gives us a top right-handed face-off man to complement Yanic Perreault."

Also: Sullivan got his 200th career goal and has a goal in three of the last four games.

CAROLINA: Quite simply, a great move picking up DOUG WEIGHT, no matter the cost.  GM Jim Rutherford scores big points by beating others to punch. 

MONTREAL: Your bust or mine? Los Angeles might say that to the Frenchmen, who have turned G CRISTOBAL HUET into a contender for the number one goaltending job.  Currently winning more often than JOSE THEODORE. 

EDMONTON: Funny how after all of this talk about free agency, the development guys are the ones you depend on most often, as evidenced by the Oilers.

23 year-old sophomore JARRETT STOLL surpassed his rookie total of 21 points and leads the Oilers in scoring along with RYAN SMYTH and ALES HEMSKY, a 22 year-old in his third year, who surpassed his 2003-04 total of 34. The Oilers are seven games over .500 and these three were all drafted by the club.

As of Sunday, January 29, 2006, look at the top dogs in Oiltown:

SHAWN HORCOFF (Drafted 1998--49GP/16-38-54PTS)

ALES HEMSKY (Drafted 2001--52GP/15-35-50PTS)

RYAN SMYTH (Drafted 1994—48GP-21-21-42PTS)

Gotta dance with who brung ya, and these Edmonton draftees prove that for every free agent, like Chris Pronger, there are three or four other guys who claw their way to the top of an NHL roster.  Those are the guys who really have to come through.  GM Kevin Lowe is looking awfully good right now, with a good mix of acquisitions and development guys.

ANAHEIM: Are COREY PERRY and RYAN GETZLAF getting the "Sedin" treatment?  Well, it is Brian Burke's team...hmmm...

The Duck Rookies have been on the same line all season, were demoted together on November 22 and came back from the AHL in the same callup January 9. 

FLORIDA:  ROBERTO LUONGO is making a hard push to cash in big.

Just a few days after MARTIN BRODEUR of the New Jersey Devils settled for 31.2 million dollars for six years, Florida’s Luongo nixed the idea of his playing for six million per for five years. 

''I thought it was a very fair and generous offer,'' Panthers GM Mike Keenan told The Canadian Press on Saturday.

''We've said no to the offer,'' Lupien told the Palm Beach Post. ''We're going to wait until the season is over, and then we are going to talk. We want to wait until at least April.''

The 26-year-old Luongo is earning $3.2 million this season and will be a restricted free agent July 1. He doesn't qualify for unrestricted free agency until July 2007.

COLUMBUS:  Hey, didn't I tell you so?  Don't look now, but the Jackets have won 8 of their last 11 games.  DAVID VYBORNY is player of the week for the week ending Sunday, January 29.  Victorious recently in Colorado, and at home against Vancouver, but the good times are in short supply in Ohio.  NIK ZHERDEV (49GP/15-18-33) has shown some signs of taking defensive play more seriously lately. 

CHICAGO: “He’s our best defenseman,” Hawk scout Marc Bergevin told Hockeytalk recently regarding DUNCAN KEITH.  A rookie pulling down 22:42 TOI is very useful, and another sign that the answers to Chicago’s troubles will come from the development ranks, not from a trading and free agent bonanza, akin to last summer.  GM Dale Tallon should be applauded for being bold, but the big moves have not panned out.  

BLUES: The 2005-06 Blues: They blew in Saint Louis, they blew in New York, they blew everywhere they played!

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