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SPORTS ZONE 1: NHL Trades Heat Up

The NHL trading deadline is not until March 9, but already there have been a few trades that have dramatically altered the makeup of many teams' lineups.

The New York Rangers have made a complete turn around. On January 23, 2004, they traded forward Anson Carter to Washington for high scoring forward Jaromir Jagr in hopes that he could provide the spark that would propel the Rangers towards a playoff run.

Just four weeks after the Jagr deal, the Rangers are headed in the opposite direction. On Wednesday night the Rangers traded their best defensemen in franchise history, Brain Leetch, to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for two young defensemen, a first round pick in this year's draft and a second round pick in next year's draft. The Rangers are currently 15 points back of the eighth place New York Islanders.

The departure of Leetch signals the end of an era in New York. The Rangers have been long known for bolstering a lineup with high priced veterans. The team has finally figured out that having all veterans and no young prospects does not gain you a playoff spot.

Leetch was rumored to be headed to the Boston Bruins, but those rumors were squashed earlier that day when Boston acquired Sergei Gonchar from the Washington Capitals. In the deal the Capitals received defensemen Shaone Morrisonn and a first and second round draft choice in this year's draft.

Both Leetch, 36 years old, and Gonchar, 29 years old, will make a positive difference on their new teams. Both players are offensive minded defensemen. Gonchar has played in 56 games this season scoring 7 goals to go with 42 assists. Leetch, in 57 games played has 13 goals and 23 assists.

The Bruins and Maple Leafs each have 15 games remaining in their regular seasons. Toronto is currently in third place overall in the Eastern Conference, just two points back of the first place Tampa Bay Lightening. The Bruins are in fifth place overall in the conference, just two points back of the Maple Leafs.

--Written by Cris Sigovitch

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