Perhaps the biggest swap of the 2008 trade deadline took place between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Dallas Stars.

The Lightning shipped forward Brad Richards and goaltender Johan Holmqvist to the Dallas Stars in exchange for goaltender Mike Smith and forwards Jussi Jokinen and Jeff Halpern.

This move was made by the Lightning due to a change in ownership, a need to free up cap space as well as both improve between the pipes and add depth elsewhere in the lineup.

For the Stars, they wanted to make a splash heading into the deadline and by acquiring Richards they’ve certainly done that.

Richards won the Conn Smythe trophy in 2004 helping the Lightning win the Stanley Cup, and it was because of his playmaking efforts and smart play that garnered him a whopping $7.8 million per season contract.

Unfortunately his large contract combined with those of Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis tied up too much of the Lightning’s money in three players, giving them little room to bring in much-needed depth.

As a result Richards play suffered this season as he lacked quality linemates to receive his slick passes.

That’ll change on a much deeper team in Dallas, which were looking not only for more scoring but also have an eye on eventually replacing long time Stars center Mike Modano when he retires in a couple of years.  Richards certainly has the talent to step in and replace him down the road.

Holmqvist also gives the Stars a seasoned backup for Marty Turco.

In Smith, the Lightning are gambling that this time they’ve landed that promising starting goaltender they’ve lacked since Nikolai Khabibulin left town three years ago. He played well over the last two years in Dallas, and earlier this season split the duties fairly evenly with Turco when the latter got off to a slow start.

 He’s also a very affordable acquisition salary-wise so if he doesn’t work out his salary can be easily moved to the minors.

Jokinen is a slick playmaker and shootout specialist and should be a good addition to the Lightning, and could end up seeing playing time on the Lecavalier line. Halpern meanwhile is an experience veteran forward who should be a good fit on the Lightning’s checking lines.  Halpern is signed through to next season, Jokinen is an RFA this summer and should be an affordable re-signing for the Lightning.

Bolts management probably didn’t want to make this trade, but they get back some affordable assets that could provide the depth they’ve lacked this season.  

While the Stanley Cup playoffs have been rolling along, three NHL teams have prevent some key players from testing this summer’s unrestricted free agent market.

- The most significant was the Montreal Canadiens re-signing defenseman Andrei Markov to a four-year, $23 million contract.

Markov, 27, has been the Canadiens best all-round defenseman over the past four seasons, playing so well that the Habs have a losing record whenever he missed games to injury or illness.

Last season was Markov’s best to date, with career highs in assists (43) and points (49) and with a plus-minus of +2 was one of a handful of Canadiens to finish the season on the positive side of that ledger.

Markov’s salary works out to be a whopping $5.75 million per season against the Canadiens cap, considerably high but a price the team obviously felt was worth paying. Given the lack of quality depth on their blueline, they simply couldn’t afford to lose Markov to the UFA market, where a rival team would’ve happily paid him that much, perhaps more.

Perhaps the best news for the Canadiens was that Markov didn’t want to test the market but instead wanted to remain with the only NHL team he’s ever played for. Despite the insinuations from disgruntled Habs like Alex Kovalev and Sergei Samsonov of the team’s coaching discriminating against Russians, Markov’s desire to remain in Montreal punches holes in that theory.

Evidently, if you work hard and play well for the Canadiens, they’ll reward you regardless of nationality.

The one major drawback to the Markov signing is it casts significant doubt onto the Canadiens ability to retain Sheldon Souray, their other key UFA blueliner.

Souray led all NHL defensemen this season in goals with 26 and powerplay goals with 19, the latter stat also setting a Canadiens franchise record for defensemen.

Unfortunately, Souray also had the worst plus-minus of all NHL defensemen this season with –28, which reflects poorly on his defensive game, which is average at best.

It’s doubtful the Habs will give him as much as Markov, and while they have made him a contract offer his agent appeared to indicate that Souray could test the market, where his gaudy offensive numbers could land him close to $6 million per season.

- The Chicago Blackhawks meanwhile bolstered their goaltending depth by re-signing impending UFA netminder Patrick Lalime to a one-year extension.

Lalime’s had a trying time in recent years, as a back injury severely hampered his performance, and off-season surgery kept him out of the first half of this past season. Once he returned to action, however, he appeared in 12 games, with a 4-6-1 record, a 3.07 GAA, an .896 save percentage and 1 shutout.

Hardly gaudy numbers until one considers Lalime was playing for one of the worst teams in the NHL last season. His performance was actually considerably better than the previous season with the St. Louis Blues, a team every bit as bad.

Considering the struggles of starting goalie Nikolai Khabibulin over the past two seasons it only made sense for the Blackhawks to ensure a quality backup capable of stepping into the starter role if Khabibulin should struggle again next season.

- The Tampa Bay Lightning were the busiest over the past six weeks, locking up three impending UFAs in goalie Johan Holmqvist and forwards Andreas Karlsson and Jason Ward.
Of these three, Holmqvist was the most valuable, as he took over the starter’s role from Marc Denis late in the season and proved himself capable of playing well under the pressure of the playoffs.  He’ll go into training camp this fall as the club’s de facto starter unless Denis can rebound.

Ward and Karlsson provided energetic depth and experience to the Lightning’s checking lines. Best of all, they were affordable as their combined salaries for next season is nearly $1.3 million.

Combined with Holmqvist’s $1 million, these re-signings fit comfortably into a tight Lightning budget.