WBS Penguins Trade Deadline RECAP

The Penguins have not made any trades today, the first time since 1989 according to WBS beat writer Jonathan Bombulie. So Eric Tangradi and Brad Thiessen stay in the organization but will they play for the WBS Penguins again this season? The answer is yes! Both were on the WBS Roster at the 3 p.m. deadline so both are eligible for the rest of the AHL season and playoffs.

The rule is that players on the NHL roster after 3 p.m. today are not eligible to play during the AHL playoffs. Here's what the AHL said earlier today on one of their Twitter accounts:

#AHL Clear Day deadline is March 5 at 3 pm ET. Players in the NHL must be on an #AHL roster today at 3 ET to be eligible for inclusion.

Now the next big day is next Monday when the AHL Clear Day Rosters are due. Players not on the Clear Day cannot play unless injury, recall or suspension occurs to someone on the roster.



Trades in the AHL's Eastern Conference that affect WBS

• The biggest traders in the division today were the Norfolk Admirals.  Tampa Bay  traded Norfolk's big forward Carter Ashton to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Keith Aulie. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman says the intention is to bring Aulie to Tampa Bay. Norfolk loses a big time point getter in Ashton, but they might get a shutdown defensive prospect in Aulie. WBS Penguins beat writer Jonathan Bombulie compares Aulie's style of play to that of Robert Bortuzzo. So definitely a good add defensively for the Norfolk Admirals if that's the case, but you have to give up something to get something back in return. 

UPDATE: Norfolk gets reinforcements and all the following players are eligible for playoffs. Mike Angelidis, Trevor Smith and Evan Oberg on their way down, while Brandon Segal is on his way up. 

• Also, the Binghamton Senators are getting former Peoria standout goalie Ben Bishop at least for now. Bishop was traded from St. Louis to Ottawa for a 2nd round pick yesterday. The AHL Senators are last in the East Division and last in the Eastern Conference, but if Bishop stays as the netminder in Binghamton they could make a push to get into the playoff race. They are currently 14 points out of 8th place - the final playoff spot. Binghamton beat writer Joy Lindsay tweeted that Sens GM Murray expects Bishop to play in NHL sometime next week.

• Former Hershey Bears forward Andrew Gordon, who was on the Syracuse Crunch, has been traded to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for defenseman Sebastien Erixon.  The Crunch also added forward Dale Mitchell.

• The Worcester Sharks take a hit today, losing one of their top scorers in Mike Connolly (10G-20A in 40 games) to Colorado.

• Bridgeport also got help at the deadline, as forwards Casey Cizikas and David Ullstrom were re-assigned to ensure their availability for the AHL Clear Day roster. The Sound Tigers also added two ECHL prospects, most notably forward Yannick Riendeau, who in his final QMJHL season with Drummondville posted outrageous offensive numbers to finish the year (regular season and playoffs) with 87 goals and 91 assists in 83 games!

• Former WBS Penguins defenseman Tom Gilbert was traded from Edmonton to Minnesota in exchange for defenseman Nick Schultz.  Tom Gilbert will be the fifth former WBS Penguin to play for MIN this season. (Johnson, Brodziak, Taffe, Christensen). Heads up to WBS beat writer for that stat. The familiarity of these players with coach Mike Yeo and GM Chuck Fletcher (both formerly a part of Penguins organization) has to be part of why they are going after these players.  

The Penguins are off until Wednesday, so the next update will probably come then. February Grades and the player of the month will post tomorrow afternoon.