Keyboard Quarterbacks

12:05 a.m. OK, it's after midnight here, and I've got to be fresh for a long day tomorrow. I'll be back online tomorrow around 8 a.m. with more updates. See ya then!

11:49 p.m. Check out Steve Zipay's story for tomorrow's editions of Newsday. Steve suggests that the Rangers might try to land two defenseman if they can get rid of Marek Malik and/or Paul Mara. Interesting notion...

Steve also has some other new food for thought in his blog. Matt Carle? Brad Stuart? Nick Boynton? Ruslan Salei? I hope Rangers fans aren't getting their hopes up over names like these.

11:42 p.m. Newsday's Greg Logan reports the Islanders have offered Miroslav Satan a contract extension. We don't know what the terms of the offer were, but if Satan accepted them, it would remove perhaps the Islanders' most valuable asset from the trading blog.

Greg also tells us that Ruslan Fedotenko and Mike Comrie have expressed a desire to remain with the Islanders, although in Fedotenko's case, the Islanders have not offered a contract extension so far.

Expect both players to be dangled at the deadline tomorrow. If Snow can find a taker for Fedotenko, he'll almost certainly move him. If he doesn't get an offer to his liking for Comrie, my guess is he'll hold onto him and try to re-sign him. As I said earlier, Comrie brings something to the table for the Islanders that they lost when Jason Blake... speed and grit.

11:33 p.m. Just some tidbits I've now read in multiple places, so I feel pretty safe passing them on...

-- Montreal, Ottawa and Detroit are among the front-runners for Atlanta free-agent-to-be Marian Hossa.

-- No one's sure if Panthers center Olli Jokinen will really get traded, but if he does, don't be surprised if he ends up in Vancouver.

-- Flames GM Darryl Sutter says winger Alex Tanguay's not going anywhere, which is kind of funny since I think Tanguay has been rumored to be traded to just about every team in the league since he landed in Calgary.

-- Things are getting dicey up in Ottawa, where the Sens have won just seven of their last 20 games, falling out of first in the East and sparking rumors they may go after Hossa or Tampa Bay's Brad Richards.

11:10 p.m. Who's left for the Rangers? As Steve Zipay notes in a helpful blog tidbit, it looks like Brian Campbell will be available after all.

Steve correctly points out that Campbell has been struggling lately. He has just two points in his last seven games. He didn't look very good against the Rangers on Saturday night.

Steve also notes that Kings defenseman Rob Blake has apparently agreed to waive his no-trade clause. Blake, 38, has 26 points in 53 games this season.

Wish I could have watched more of the Flyers-Sabres game on Versus tonight, but I only have digital cable in my living room and my computer is in the bedroom, so instead I was stuck listening to it from afar.

Please do check Steve's blog. It's a must-read for Rangers fans at the deadline.

10:39 p.m. While Rangers fans will be disappointed to hear that Dan Boyle won't be going anywhere, they'll be glad to hear this:

The Buffalo News is reporting that defenseman Brian Campbell's agent expects his client to be traded, which is big news now that Boyle is off the market. However, there are conflicting reports which state that the Sabres still haven't made a decision about trading him. We'll see...

10:37 p.m. Scratch that idea about Tampa Bay preparing for life without Dan Boyle. TSN is now reporting Boyle and the Lightning have agreed to a six-year, $40 million extension. Good signing for Tampa. Bad news for Rangers fans.

10:34 p.m. Well, that didn't take long. No sooner did we launch the deadline blog than the Lightning and Flyers are reported to make the first big deadline deal.

TSN.ca is reporting that the Flyers have obtained forward Vaclav Prospal from Tampa for defenseman Alexandre Picard and a conditional second or third round pick.

Analysis: The Flyers have been falling like a stone in the Eastern Conference, losing 10 in a row before a dramatic and critical shootout win over Buffalo tonight. They got devastating news Sunday when they learned that Mike Richards, who has been their best player this season, will be out for the year with a torn left hamstring. Simon Gagne's already out for the rest of the regular season, Joffrey Lupul's out indefinitely with a bum ankle, and they failed to sign Peter Forsberg. Obviously they felt something had to be done at forward.

Prospal's a tricky, gifted offensive player who has played well in Tampa but struggled everywhere else he's ever been. He's got impressive numbers (29 goals, 28 assists), the Flyers are counting him to help fill the considerable void left by Gagne and Richards. They gave up a decent young defenseman in Picard, who has good offensive skills. Could the Lightning be preparing themselves for life with out Dan Boyle? More analysis on that shortly...

9:52 p.m.
ISLANDERS AT THE DEADLINE

Note: Don't forget to check Greg Logan's blog for more Isles updates.

Just 2 1/2 weeks ago, all seemed lost for the heroes of Uniondale. The Islanders had just dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Wild -- their seventh consecutive loss -- and looked like they would be sellers by tomorrow's 3 p.m. deadline.

Not so fast.

The Isles have turned things around, winning six out of seven to climb back into the playoff hunt. They're now sitting just two points out of a playoff spot, trailing the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers, who have 69 points and are tied for eighth in the East. In his web-only Islanders Insider last week, Newsday's Greg Logan reported that general manager Garth Snow considered himself not a buyer nor a seller, but rather a "builder."

Huh?

Well, Snow later confessed that was just his way of saying he wasn't really sure what was going to happen before the deadline. An analysis of the Islanders' roster would tell you why:

The Islanders have plenty of pending unrestricted free agents, who are always the most marketable commodities at this time of year. If they decided to go into sell mode, Mike Comrie, Miro Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Josef Vasicek could bring back a draft pick or a decent prospect. They could also try to deal power-play quarterback Marc-Andre Bergeron, who has only an option year left on his contract (I'll try to find out whether it's a team or player option).

They were also burned last year when they unloaded two top prospects and a first round pick for Ryan Smyth, who delivered a grand total of one playoff win before leaving via unrestricted free agency last summer.

All of these factors are arguments against the Islanders being big-time buyers. But there are plenty of reasons to believe the Islanders might add rather than subtract.

First of all, the Islanders are under the salary cap by around $6 million. If they could find a taker for Fedotenko's $2.9 million, which I'm guessing they will, that would put them under the cap by roughly $9 million, not including any salary they might have to take on in return for Fedotenko.

Second, while the Islanders probably wouldn't mind unloading Satan, he has a no-trade clause. Greg Logan reported last week that Dallas (2nd place, Western Conference) is one team who might gamble on Satan's goal-scoring pedigree, but whether or not a deal like that would even take place would depend on Satan's willingness to pack up and move. I'd say it's only 50-50 a deal gets done.

Finally, the Islanders suffered a big blow this weekend when they learned that Mike Sillinger would miss the rest of the year with a torn hamstring. They're now desperately in need of help at forward, and there are some interesting players available, including Tampa Bay's Brad Richards and Atlanta's Marian Hossa.

While I wouldn't expect a major move along the lines of the Smyth acquisition, I do expect the Islanders to play a significant role in tomorrow's activity, one way or the other. Because it's so easy to see them either buying or selling, it will be interesting for fans to watch how Snow handles the situation. If we hear any reliable rumors, we'll let you know.

RANGERS AT THE DEADLINE

Note: Don't forget to check Steve Zipay's Blue Notes blog for more Rangers updates.

Why is that every year at this time I have to start my blog by saying loud and clear: Jaromir Jagr is not going anywhere.

I know fans are upset by his lack of production. He's been criticized for being pouty and for displaying poor leadership (no one -- no player, nor coach, nor informed media member has ever substantiated those claims). His contract situation for next year is up in the air. But his huge salary would make him very tough to trade, and the Rangers didn't build this team only to remove its centerpiece with 19 games to go. So let's close the book on that one. Jagr's staying put.

The same goes for Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, Sean Avery and Michal Roszival, the team's other big impending UFAs. The Rangers have a win-now roster, and they are not going to subtract any key places this late in the season -- especially with the team playing well of late (12 points out of a possible 14 in their last seven games).

The Rangers are in buy mode, and most of the speculation has centered around their defense. They have two glaring needs: 1) A power-play quarterback. 2) A tough, crease-clearing defenseman.

Speculation has intensified in the last 48 hours that the Rangers will try to land slick power play quarterback Dan Boyle from Tampa Bay. The problem is that Boyle has a no-trade clause, and the Lightning are apparently trying hard to re-sign him before the deadline. If they don't, the Lightning will reportedly ask him for a list of teams to which he'd accept a trade. If the Rangers are on that list, expect fireworks.

There's also an outside chance the Buffalo Sabres decide to part with free-agent-to-be defenseman Brian Campbell, who is only 28 and is a better player defensively than Boyle. But unlke the Lightning, the Sabres are in playoff contention and will want something of substance back for him. I'm not sure what the Rangers have to offer other than a goaltending prospect the Sabres don't need (Al Montoya) and a collection of third-line players (Ryan Callahan, Nigel Dawes, Petr Prucha) who aren't ready for a big role in the NHL.

Other defensemen the Rangers have been rumored to covet are: Columbus' Ron Hainsey and Adam Foote, Chicago's Cam Barger, Colorado's John-Michael Liles and Los Angeles' Brad Stuart. Hard-hitting defenseman Barrett Jackman won't be going anywhere; he signed a four-extension with St. Louis today.

Another factor in all the speculation about the Rangers' defense is the fact that they have two impending free agents who are earning more than they're worth.

Paul Mara might be the most likely player to go if the Rangers make a move for Boyle, given his $3 million price tag. His value took a hit when he suffered a facial injury on Saturday that will keep him out for the next two weeks -- but that won't matter to a Tampa Bay team that is going nowhere fast.

'Fan favorite' Marek Malik will be on the trade block as well. He's played his best hockey of the season in recent weeks, but makes $2.5 million and provides no tangible benefit to a playoff team. The Rangers might be happy to just unload him as part of a package for Boyle or Campbell or a lesser-value blueliner.

The Rangers have been relatively quiet the past two years at the deadline, but this year more than any in the past, they have the chips to make something really interesting happen. And if does, it will probably happen on the blueline. Stay tuned.