Detroit Makes Moves As Bevy Of Trades Made

The Detroit Red Wings found the veteran defensemen they sought when they acquired Dmitri Mironov and Jamie Macoun as the NHL trade deadline approached Tuesday.

The Red Wings will begin defending their Stanley Cup with a reshaped blue line after obtaining Mironov from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Macoun from the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Red Wings parted with Jamie Pushor and a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft for Mironov before sending a fourth-round pick to Toronto for Macoun.

The Dallas Stars, who lead Detroit by five points in the Central Division, countered by acquiring center Brian Skrudland and right wing Mike Keane from the New York Rangers for injured right wing Todd Harvey and left wing Bob Errey.

Ninteen trades involving 39 players and 14 draft picks were made around the league on Tuesday.

Philadelphia also picked up two defensemen, Edmonton’s Dan McGillis and Vancouver veteran David Babych, but parted with talented defenseman Janne Niinimaa, who was sent to the Oilers.

In another move for a possible contender, Pittsburgh acquired center Sean Pronger from Anaheim in exchange for the rights to goaltender Patrick Lalime.

The Ducks also traded veteran left wing Warren Rychel and a conditional 1999 entry draft pick to Colorado for center Josef Marha.

Toronto dealt veteran defenseman Jeff Brown to Washington for another longtime NHL defender, Sylvain Cote.

Moves some expected were not made. Petr Nedved remained unsigned and untraded by the Penguins. Defensemen Al McInnis and Gary Suter stayed with St. Louis and Chicago, respectively, even though they are expected to become free agents. Goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who requested a trade, stayed with Florida and probably will become a free agent.

The Blues sent right wing Joe Murphy to San Jose for defenseman Todd Gill, then dealt young center Harry York to the Rangers for veteran center Mike Eastwood.

Carolina acquired forward Ray Sheppard from the Panthers for goaltender Kirk McLean as the Hurricanes attempt to improve their power play down the stretch. McLean figures to eventually fill Vanbiesbrouck’s spot.

Tampa Bay, with the worst record in the league, unloaded center Jason Wiemer to Calgary for bruising right wing Sandy McCarthy and a third- and fifth-round draft pick. The Lightning also traded defensemen Bryan Marchment and David Shaw to the Sharks for right wing Andrei Nazarov, future considerations and a conditional exchange of first-round draft picks.

The Buffalo Sabres traded forward Jason Dawe to the New York Islanders, but were unable to unload disgruntled forward Matthew Barnaby.