George McPhee stars in "The Dealer"

Wow, what a day, right Cap fans? It's 9:55pm and the smoke has cleared on Trade Deadline Day and for the first time in over 5 years the Caps weren't selling, they were most definitely buying! Okay, in case you live in Alabama or something, here's what transpired today:

--The Caps acquired veteran Goalie Cristobal Huet from the Canadians for the second round pick in the 2009 they had acquired when they traded Brian Sutherby to the Ducks last fall.

--They traded Ted Ruth, a 19 year old D-man drafted in the second round in 07 (currently playing for Notre Dame) to Columbus for center Sergei Federov.

--They traded winger Matt Pettinger to Vancouver in return for winger Matt Cooke, a feisty "agitator" according to all of the experts I read and heard today.

--The Caps finished their day by trading career minor leaguer Joe Motzko to Atlanta for Alex Giroux.

This is where I planned on complaining about how George McPhee never makes a significant trade unless he is unloading players, like during the '04, 06' and 07' seasons. However, "The Undertaker" scored some serious points with not only myself but with the majority of the hockey world today by adding to a young, exciting and up-and-coming hockey club without subtracting much of anything. He still didn't pull off a blockbuster, but he didn't need to.

So what does this all mean? Huet becomes one of three goalies on the roster, a rarity in hockey. I fully expected to hear that Olie Kolzig or back-up Brent Johnson had been traded, but that is not the case. It is a weird and perhaps risky situation, but with less than stellar netminding in the last month or so, getting Huet not only gets a younger, virtual #1 goalie in the building, but might be the motivation required to get the other goalies to tighten up and show the young guys on the team that its time to go for the playoffs. Plus, Huet comes very cheap, for the afore-mentioned 2nd rounder, and is an unrestricted free agent after the season, as is Kolzig. Godzilla is 38 in April. The Caps have some young goalie studs in their system that need a few years to be ready and Huet might very well be the guy to bridge the gap until Simeon Varlamov or Michel Neuvirth (both 19 and playing in Europe) are ready for the big time.

As for Federov, 15 years ago it would have been unheard of that Federov would come here. But here he is, with his 1,133 career points and three Stanley Cup rings. The Caps were in desperate need of a play making center once they lost Michal Nylander early this year. They lacked depth and skill and even though Federov is 38, he still has upside and is a UFA after this year. The power play needs his help, and he would allow Viktor Kozlov to go back to the 1st line with Ovie and Backstrom, creating balance.

The Caps beat the Wild Tuesday night 4-1. Brooks Laich scored a career high 4 points, Eric Fehr had a goal and an assist and Tomas Fleichman had two assists. That line of Laich, Fehr and Flash dominated from the opening face off. Laich seems like he may be breaking thru from gritty forward with scoring touch to a true scoring center. He had already scored a career high in goals and points this year before Tuesday night. Fehr is rounding into shape and Flash...well, I say the jury is still out. He is inconsistent, mostly, but is showing "flashes" of being more than a guy always a step behind the play, ala Todd Krygier.

Now, the swapping of Matt's seems like a good trade to me and its my favorite out of all the trades in the whole league. The loss of Pettinger is a shame, I always like Petty, but he's a goal scorer. However he had only two goals this year and has played terribly. He is from Vancouver, so maybe the change of scenery will rejuvenate him. I keep hearing what a pest and what an "Agitator" Matt Cooke is and this is why I like this trade. Ever since Dale Hunter retired, the Caps haven't had that guy who gets under the skin of the other team, gets them off their game and makes them take dumb penalties since Hunts reired. Cooke apparently will fill the void, and I think in order to win, you need a guy like that.

The other trade was Joe Motzko for Alex Giroux. Giroux is a career AHLer that scores a ton. He played for the Caps farm system a few years ago and this deal was strictly for minor league depth.

All in all a pretty cool day. Thanks for following along, if anyone did. The Caps kept most of their draft picks, all of their core players, all of their prospects and have three capable goaltenders. After they whipped the Wild into submission following all of the trades and without any of the guys they traded for, it puts a little bounce in your step to think that the rebuilding is probably over and this season may end with the Caps in the playoffs. Imagine how good Ovie will be under that spotlight!