NHL trade tracker: Petry, Wisniewski in deadline flurry

Editor's note: The NHL trade deadline was at 3 p.m. today. Here's a roundup of moves across the league:

A slow NHL trade-deadline day for the Columbus Blue Jackets gained some major momentum near the end.

The club dealt top defenseman James Wisniewski (Canton) and a third-round pick in 2015 to the Anaheim Ducks today for left wing Rene Bourque, center William Karlsson and a second-round pick this summer.

Earlier, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen dealt seldom-used defenseman Jordan Leopold for a younger blue-liner and a draft pick and also signed forward Cam Atkinson to a three-year deal.

Wisniewski, who just turned 31, is an offensive-minded blue liner with 8 goals and 21 assists this season. Over his NHL career with Chicago, Anaheim, the New York Islanders, Montreal and Columbus, he has 53 goals and 216 assists in 538 games.

Bourque, a 33-year-old, had been placed on waivers by the Ducks. He was acquired from Montreal in November.

The 22-year-old Karlsson played 18 games with the Ducks in his rookie season this year, totaling two goals and an assist. He was Anaheim's second-round pick in 2011, the 53rd pick overall.

Wisniewski had fallen into disfavor recently with the Blue Jackets. He was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career last week.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, locked up Atkinson, one of their most energetic forwards. Atkinson's agent, George Bazos at Edge Sports Management, confirmed his client had signed a new contract worth $2.5 million next year, $3.5 million in 2016-17 and $4.5 million in 2017-18.

Atkinson, 25, has 13 goals and 12 assists in 58 games this season, including three power-play and five game-winning goals. In 199 NHL games, all with Columbus, he has 50 goals and 47 assists.

Earlier in the day, the Blue Jackets united a family by sending Leopold home. Leopold went to his home state Minnesota Wild for defenseman Justin Falk and a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft.

The 34-year-old Leopold, an unrestricted free agent this summer, has been separated from his family since he was acquired on Nov. 15 from the St. Louis Blues for a fifth-round pick in 2016. His 10-year-old daughter Jordyn sent a plaintive letter to the Wild's coaches asking that they help swing a deal to bring her father home.

Leopold has played 13 years in the NHL for Calgary, Colorado, Florida, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, St. Louis and Columbus.

Falk, 26, who requested a trade, is a restricted free agent this summer. He was scoreless in 13 games with the Wild this season and has a goal and 16 assists in 142 NHL games. He was a fourth-round pick in the 2007 draft by Minnesota.

MSU's Petry goes to Montreal

The Montreal Canadiens made the first major move on the morning of trade deadline day by acquiring Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers for draft picks.

The former Michigan State defenseman was considered one of the most likely players to be dealt before the deadline. Petry can become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

In exchange for the 27-year-old player, Montreal sent a 2015 second-round draft choice and a conditional fifth-round pick to Edmonton.

Petry had been the subject of trade talk for several weeks. He said in an interview in Toronto last month that he's playing for a "contract moving forward" and wants to show he's a "guy that's going to bring intensity and bring my game day in and day out."

Ex-Whaler Neuvirth dealt

The New York Islanders have acquired goalie Michal Neuvirth from the Buffalo Sabres for goaltender Chad Johnson and a 2016 third-round pick.

The Sabres have now traded two goalies this season, after sending Jhonas Enroth to Dallas last month.

The Islanders also acquired forward Tyler Kennedy from San Jose on Monday for a conditional 2016 third-round pick, and swapped minor league forwards with Vancouver, exchanging Cory Conacher for Dustin Jeffrey.

The 27-year-old Neuvirth, a former Plymouth Whalers star, will back up Jaroslav Halak in New York. The goalies were traded for each other at last year's deadline when Buffalo sent Halak and a third-round pick to Washington for Neuvirth and defenseman Rostislav Klesla.

Neuvirth has a 6-17-3 record and a 2.99 goals-against average in 27 appearances.

Busy Ducks bolster blue line in 4 deadline trades

Although the Anaheim Ducks have been near the top of the NHL standings for most of the past three seasons, general manager Bob Murray still didn't believe they could consistently beat hockey's top teams.

After a flurry of trades over the past week, Murray believes they're better equipped to beat anybody in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Anaheim acquired defensemen James Wisniewski, Simon Despres and Korbinian Holzer and center Michael Sgarbossa in four separate deadline deals Monday, dramatically revamping the Pacific Division leaders' defense just 18 games before the postseason.

The Ducks traded defensemen Ben Lovejoy, Eric Brewer and Mat Clark, young center William Karlsson and veteran wing Rene Bourque to swing the deals, which also involved a few draft picks.

Canadiens also get Flynn, Mitchell from Sabres

The Montreal Canadiens acquired center Torrey Mitchell in a trade today with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres received a prospect and a draft pick from the Canadiens. The teams are still waiting for the league to approve the trade.

The Canadiens also received forward Matt Flynn for a 2016 fifth-round pick in a separate trade with the Sabres.

Buffalo also traded forward Chris Stewart to Minnesota for a 2017 second-round pick and goalie Michal Neuvirth to the New York Islanders for goalie Chad Johnson and a 2016 third-round pick.

The 30-year-old Mitchell has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 51 games this season. The Montreal native will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end. His future in Buffalo was uncertain with the Sabres rebuilding through youth.

Sharks trade Desjardins to Blackhawks for Smith

The San Jose Sharks have traded forward Andrew Desjardins to the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Ben Smith in a swap of fourth-line players.

The Sharks also get a 2017 conditional pick.

Desjardins had five goals and three assists in 58 games for San Jose this season. He also is used as a penalty killer. He is eligible to be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Smith had five goals and four assists in 61 games. He is under contract for one more season.

The Sharks also acquired defenseman Karl Stollery from Colorado for forward Freddie Hamilton in a deal of minor leaguers.

Penguins add veteran defensemen in Lovejoy and Cole

The Pittsburgh Penguins gave their defense an experienced upgrade on Monday, acquiring veteran defensemen Ben Lovejoy from Anaheim and Ian Cole (Ann Arbor) from St. Louis.

The 31-year-old Lovejoy returns to Pittsburgh after spending two-plus seasons with the Ducks. Pittsburgh sent former first-round pick Simon Despres to Anaheim. The 23-year-old Despres led the Penguins in hits but struggled with consistency. Lovejoy had one goal and 10 assists in 40 games with Anaheim.

Pittsburgh sent Robert Bortuzzo and a seventh-round pick in the 2016 draft to the Blues in exchange for Cole. The 26-year-old Cole has four goals and five assists in 54 games for St. Louis this season. Cole's plus-16 plus/minus ratio ranked third on the team at the time of the trade.

Bruins get Connolly from Lightning, Talbot from Avs

The Boston Bruins acquired forwards Maxime Talbot and Paul Carey from Colorado at the NHL trading deadline, a few hours after picking up forward Brett Connolly from Tampa Bay.

The Bruins also got forward Zack Phillips from the Minnesota Wild for forward Jared Knight.

Boston sent forward Jordan Caron and the Bruins' sixth-round pick next year to the Avalanche. The Lightning will get the Bruins' second-round picks this year and next.

Connolly has 12 goals, three assists and 38 penalty minutes in 50 games for the Lightning this season. Talbot has five goals and 10 assists for the Avalanche. Philips is in the AHL.

The Bruins enter the final stretch in eighth place in the East, two points ahead of Florida in the pursuit of the conference's final playoff spot.

Blues acquire D Zbynek Michalek, F Olli Jokinen

The St. Louis Blues bolstered a defense that's been without All-Star Kevin Shattenkirk for a month, acquiring veteran Zbynek Michalek and a conditional third-round draft pick from the Arizona Coyotes for prospect Maxim Letunov.

The St. Louis Blues also acquired forward Olli Jokinen from the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Joakim Lindstrom and a conditional sixth-round draft pick in 2016.

The 36-year-old Jokinen is making his third stop this season after 48 games with Nashville and six with Toronto. The Blues are his 10th team in 17 seasons. He has three goals, four assists and 28 penalty minutes.

Lindstrom had three goals and three assists in 34 games with St. Louis.

Earlier Tuesday, the Blues acquired defensemen Robert Bortuzzo from Pittsburgh.

Jokinen is eighth among active players with 1,223 career regular-season games and his 747 points is 20th-best. He's appeared in six postseason games.

Jokinen was the third overall pick of the 1997 draft by the Kings.

The 32-year-old Michalek is out, however, missing two weeks with a concussion. In 53 games, he has two goals and six assists and is among the top shot blockers with 130.

The 19-year-old Letunov was a second-round draft pick last year, the 52nd overall pick.

Shattenkirk is coming off abdominal surgery. He has been skating but not with the team.

The Coyotes have been rebuilding for some time, also trading Devan Dubnyk, Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle. They picked up two forwards on waivers, Tye McGinn from the Sharks and Craig Cunningham from the Bruins.

Flyers D Coburn dealt to Tampa Bay

The Philadelphia Flyers traded defenseman Braydon Coburn to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for defenseman Radko Gudas and draft picks.

The Flyers also will acquire first- and third-round picks in the 2015 draft.

Coburn had one goal and nine points in 39 games this season for the Flyers. Coburn has 37 goals and 129 assists over his 10-year career with the Flyers and Atlanta Thrashers. He was drafted eighth overall by Atlanta in 2003 and traded to the Flyers in 2007.

Gudas has two goals and five points in 31 games.

Sharks trade Sheppard to Rangers for draft pick

The San Jose Sharks have traded forward James Sheppard to the New York Rangers for a fourth-round draft pick in 2016.

The 26-year-old Sheppard had five goals and 11 assists in 57 games with San Jose this season. He played mostly as a third-line center for the Sharks but also has played wing in the past.

San Jose has lost 10 of 13 games to fall into 10th place in the Western Conference and put its streak of 10 straight playoff berths in jeopardy.

General manager Doug Wilson is looking to acquire assets for pending free agents like Sheppard as part of a rebuilding in San Jose that began after last season's playoff collapse.

Flames trade Glencross to Capitals, claim Schlemko

The Calgary Flames traded Curtis Glencross to the Washington Capitals on Sunday for second- and third-round picks this year.

The 32-year-old forward is in position to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He had nine goals and 19 assists in 53 games this season for the Flames.

"As tough as it is to say good bye to everyone in Calgary and the fans — I've had such great support over the years — I'm excited for a new start," Glencross said.

The Flames also claimed defenseman David Schlemko off waivers from the Dallas Stars and placed captain Mark Giordano on the injured list with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

Giordano, a front-runner for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman, was listed as out indefinitely several days ago. Giordano has 11 goals and 37 assists for 48 points. He is tied with P.K. Subban of the Canadiens for the league lead in points among defensemen.

Arizona sends Keith Yandle to Rangers for 2 players, picks

The New York Rangers have acquired All-Star defenseman Keith Yandle from the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman John Moore, a top prospect and two draft picks.

Arizona also sent defenseman Chris Summers (Michigan) and a fourth-round draft pick to the Rangers, who gave up prospect Anthony Duclair, a conditional first-round draft pick in 2016 and a second-rounder this year.

The 28-year-old Yandle is Arizona's leading scorer this season with 41 points and is a four-time All-Star. He has been a core member of the Coyotes since they drafted him in the fourth round of the 2005 draft.

Yandle has one year remaining on a five-year, $26 million contract signed in 2011.

Moore has a goal and five assists in 38 games this season.

Duclair had seven points in 18 games.