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NHL trade deadline live: Kings add scorer Live

The NHL trade deadline has passed.

This was an active period as expected. Not every player put up for sale went home with a new owner, but most of players we expected to move did, in fact, move.

Right before the deadline, former Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak escaped limbo. The Sabres sent him to the Capitals and gave him another shot at building his value for free agency.

Here is what else happened:

The Kings added some badly needed scoring punch by sending forward Matt Frattin, a second-round draft pick and a conditional third-round pick to Columbus for Marian Gaborik. The Kings hoped Frattin would earn a secondary scoring role in LA this season but he did not blossom.

Meanwhile the injury-prone Gaborik didn’t exactly come flying off of the injured list after the Olympic break. The Blue Jackets were not going to re-sign him, so adding a young forward and at least one draft pick was a solid return.

As for Gaborik, he will have interesting stretch run playing for Darryl Sutter.

The Wild also muscled up at the deadline, prying offensive winger Matt Moulson and Cody McCormick away from Buffalo. Minnesota sent Torrey Mitchell and picks to Buffalo.

The winner of the Thomas Vanek sweepstakes: Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin got him for a song: Prospect Sebastien Collberg and a conditional second-round pick. That is a classic rental price, so Bergevin doesn't feel any pressure to re-sign Vanek.

It’s a rare that teams swap captains, but the Martin St. Louis/Ryan Callahan trade made sense for both the Lightning and Rangers. St. Louis held a grudge with Lighting general manager Steve Yzerman for not putting him on the Olympic team. He wouldn’t let go of the issue, putting his ego ahead of the team.

So he got his wish to play for the Rangers, who shipped out Callahan after failing to sign him to a contract extension. Callahan is a hard-core competitor and an excellent team guy, but he was demanding superstar dollars as he reached the twilight of his career.

The Blues showed some interest in Callahan before acquiring Steve Ott in the Ryan Miller trade.

As expected the Bruins added some veteran depth on defense. They settled on Andrej Meszaros of the Flyers, who became expendable when Philadelphia added Andrew McDonald from the Islanders. The Flyers got a third-round pick in return.

The rebuilding Predators sent franchise mainstay David Legwand to the injury-depleted Red Wings. Nashville GM David Poile is waving the white flag on this season.

The Devils tried to add some grit by acquiring forward Tuomo Ruutu to the from the Hurricanes for forward Andrei Loktionov, a perpetual prospect who never became a scorer in New Jersey.

The Oilers finally dumped finesse forward Ales Hemsky, sending him to Ottawa for a 2015 third-round draft pick and a 2014 fifth-rounder. The Oilers had to eat some of Hemsky’s salary for this season to complete the deal.

Edmonton also shipped defenseman Nick Schultz to the Blue Jackets, who lost defensemen Ryan Murray and Fedor Tyutin in injuries.

The rebuilding Panthers trade Marcel Goc to Penguins for a third-round pick in 2015 and a fifth-round pick in 2014. Florida also sent goaltender Tim Thomas to the Stars, freeing him from the shadows of the newly acquired Roberto Luongo. Florida took back Dan Ellis to make that trade work.

Ryan Kesler will finish the season in Vancouver, despite sending strong "trade me" signals. Many teams, especially the Penguins, took a run at inquiring him. Ultimately nobody met the Canucks' asking price. Vancouver did send depth defenseman Rafael Diaz to the Rangers for a fifth-round pick.

Various reports indicated Martin Brodeur wanted a trade out of New Jersey. But he, too, stayed put at the deadline.

The Flames offered Mike Cammalleri around, but ultimately did not find a taker. He is playing out his expiring contract in Calgary. But the Flames did get a third-round pick from Pittsburgh for former Blues winger Lee Stempniak.

Goaltender Reto Berra, a Blues draft pick whose rights went to Calgary in the Jay Bouwmeester deal, is on the move again. Colorado acquired him to provide some long-term depth.

As for Halak, landing in Washington was a great outcome after a few days of uncertainty. Coach Adam Oates is looking for a goaltender and Jaro ought to get a chance to prove his worth as he heads toward unrestricted free agency.

That sure beats spending the rest of the season trapped in limbo. The Sabres got back goaltender Michal Neuvirth, who fell out of favor with Oates.