Kevin Lowe was conspicuous by his absence from the Mark Messier number retirement tonight which took place not long after the Edmonton Oilers general manager admitted being very concerned about how it would look to trade Ryan Smyth.

That's probably a good thing since Smyth was extremely popular in Edmonton and the night was supposed to be about celebration with many of the old Oilers including Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey, Jari Kurri, Grant Fuhr and Glen Sather in the house. Lowe, of course, was a key part of that 80s dynasty as a player, but after his stunning deadline deal sending Smyth to the New York Islanders, he wasn't on the ice and likely avoided some serious booing as a result.

This deal is not going down well in Edmonton. Lowe said at his press conference that trading Smyth was the toughest thing he's done as Oilers GM, and something he thought would never happen. But it did because he and Smyth couldn't agree on a contract extension.

"He was a big fan favorite and that made it more difficult because we're not insensitive to our fans," Lowe said. "But we have to make decisions that bolster the team and eventually help it win. We're not a better team with Ryan gone, but in the near future we will be."

If the young players and draft picks pan out, that is. If not, the Oilers lost their most important player for very little. Then again, the kind of money and term Smyth wanted didn't make sense for Edmonton either. Smyth is 31 and was looking to get five years at $5.5 million per season. He's worth that kind of money now, but his skills may decline over the life of a long deal and prevent Edmonton from having resources in might need.

"It's never easy to move a player of his ability and caliber, especially considering how much he was liked and respected in the community," Gretzky told the NHL network. "But you learn you can never put your heart before what's best for the organization, for the hockey team. That's what Kevin has always done."

Probably because Lowe has spent his three NHL decades almost entirely with the Oilers organization. He understand the thinking and the way it does things. Salary cap or not, budget is an issue when it comes to players and many great ones have left as a result. They come back for things like Messier's night though, because there is a special bond for those great teams, but the dollars and sense issues are often ruthless.

"That's a business decision," Calgary Flames GM Darryl Sutter said. "Whatever was offered, Ryan decided not to engage. So really, you make business decisions, not popular decisions or emotional decisions. You make decisions for the long term of your team."

One that might include Ryan Smyth again by the way. Lowe and Smyth's agent left that door open.

The trade deadline will arrive a few hours before the Edmonton Oilers honor Mark Messier tonight, which could make for a bittersweet time in the NHL's chilly northern-most precinct.

Messier's No. 11 will be retired by the organization before the Oilers game against Wayne Gretzky's Phoenix Coyotes, a fitting tribute to a native son who is still revered back home despite having left in the prime of his career for greater riches on Broadway. The "captain" has felt some bitterness in Edmonton over the years because of his decision, but all seems to have been forgotten over the last fews days during the love fest that has taken place in the city in his name.

The bigger concern in Edmonton as the most most hectic day of the season begins is the future of Ryan Smyth, who in his 11th season with the team and is universally considered its heart-and-soul player. Of course he wants to be paid like it, and therein lies the rub. Smyth can become a free agent this summer and is looking for a multi-year deal worth about $5 million annually. But Smyth is 31, the Oilers aren't going anywhere this season, and a retooling effort might be greatly assisted by a premium return a player of his caliber might fetch.

The two sides are still negotiating a new deal, but if they don't come to terms, Smyth will be moved. That's something fans in Edmonton don't want to think about as they wake up this morning, especially when a little nostalgic celebrating is on the agenda. But that's what you get for scheduling a big event on trade deadline line. And Smyth's future is one of the top storylines to follow over the next few hours.

It could be in Pittsburgh if Gary Roberts wants it to be, but the veteran is still holding out hope for Toronto. Problem is the Maple Leafs aren't offering the Florida Panthers what they want for the gritty 40-year-old, who has a no-trade clause and is trying to force his way back to Southern Ontario.

So everyone is going to sleep on it and see if things can be working in the morning. Or at least by the afternoon deadline. The Panthers accepted a tentative deal from the Penguins which would net them a young defenseman named Noah Welch, but Roberts hasn't agreed to go, so the team left him behind while it headed to Washington for a date with the Caps.

Roberts has been flexing his muscules on this. He's been on the wish list of several teams, but let it be known that he'd only waive the no-trade if he got a one-year extension. That demand was dropped, but now that Roberts knows Toronto has made an offer, he's going to make the Panthers sweat it seems.

Florida wants to get something for its pending free agent, but second- and fourth-round draft picks and a middling prospect from Toronto isn't going to cut it. The other presumed frontrunner - - Ottawa -- seems to have also backed away because of Florida's asking price.

Maybe it will all work out for Roberts, who has a daughter in boarding school near Toronto, but he could overplay his hand too if he doesn't let the Panthers move him. Despite his age, Roberts should get some interest as a free agent next summer, but there's no guarantee any of it will come from the Leafs once the playoffs are done. This is when Roberts' value is at its peak and a good playoff run will only help him get another contract. If he remains stubborn, he might hurt the Panthers in the short term, but he'll hurt himself in the long run.

During the NHL GMs meeting this week, Thrashers GM Don Waddell told Canadian reporter Eric Duhatschek "he would have mortgaged my house, my wife and just about everything else to get a trade done."

Now Waddell may have mortgaged his future, but then again, he probably won't have one with the Thrashers if he doesn't at least make the playoffs this season. Waddell has run the show since the team joined the NHL, and has yet to see post-season action. He made an ill-advised guarantee that would happen last year, but the team fell short because of the problems in had in goal.

Those have been settled this season and the Thrashers have been a much improved team, but they have faded a lot since New Year's. Waddell actually made the above comment before his struggling team temporarily reversed its fortunes with a win and admitted he felt differently in the aftermath, which is why he didn't want to deal based on his emotions. But since then, Atlanta has lost twice and with the teams once seemingly-secure hold on a division title fading, he moved quickly to shore up two major holes on the club by acquiring a pair of veterans - - center Keith Tkachuk and defenseman Alexei Zhitnik.

Atlanta paid a lot for the two players, especially Tkachuk who will likely be only a rental from the Blues. The Thrashers gave St. Louis first- and third-round picks in this June's draft, a second-round pick next year and journeyman center Glen Metropolit, who has had some productive streaks this season in Atlanta. And if Tkachuk does stay in Atlanta after this season, the Blues get the Thrashers first-round pick next year.

Zhitnik, who is signed for two more seasons at $3.5 million each, didn't cost quite as much, but Braydon Coburn, the young defenseman who went to Philadelphia in exchange, was a first-round pick in 2003, chosen ahead of Dion Phaneuf as a matter of fact. He hasn't fit in yet in Atlanta, but he's young enough to have a lot of upside for the rebuilding Flyers.

In other words, Waddell paid a heavy price to salvage his team's season, and more likely his job with the organization. Whether it works remains to be seen, but you have to give the guy credit for trying.

The Carolina Hurricanes might have found a partial solution to alleviate their injury problems at forward, but even if they didn't, Anson Carter essentially doesn't cost them anything. So he's worth a shot, even though his market value makes you wonder.

Carolina picked up the veteran right winger from Columbus for a fifth-round pick in next year's draft. Fifth round? That's called a "just take him off my hands please deal," but at least it provides the Blue Jackets some closure to what was an unsatisfying relationship this season with Carter.

Columbus signed Carter to a one-year contractc as a free agent last summer after he had a great season with Vancouver, but wouldn't accept the money the Canucks were offering him. He was something of an insurance policy for the Blue Jackets, who were not sure if they could come to terms with Nikolai Zherdev, one of their better young players who threatened to spend the season in Russia.

Zherdev eventually did re-sign in Columbus and Carter never got things going on his end. So Columbus really wasn't sorry to see him go, although it's a little surprising to see how cheap he went.

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero seemed almost embarrassed to use the old "If something makes sense, we'll look at it" line when asked about the potential for making a trade before Tuesday's deadline, but he was using the same tone he did about six weeks ago when his team last played in South Florida.

The Penguins were just above .500 at the time, a good place for the young team that was expected to go through many growing pains this season. But they were inconsistent and even back then, Shero was hedging on whether he would make a deal to enhance Pittsburgh's playoff hopes. The rookie general manager said he was against trading away young players, prospects or draft picks for short-term gain, and was more interested in seeing "how far this group can take us over the next 40 games."

Possibly a long way, judging by the way things have gone since we last spoke. Pittsburgh has gone 15-1-2 in that time frame, but needs some help along the blue line.. Shero, though, still doesn't seem ready to make any changes.

"What I've prepared our coaches for is that come Wednesday, we could have the same team," Shero said.

And that doesn't surprise Sidney Crosby.

"I'm sure when any GM makes a deal, they take chemistry into account," Crosby said. "A lot of people overlook that, but we have an unbelievable, tight group of guys in here and a lot who are experiencing things for the first time and there's great chemistry here.

"I'm sure that's something that's crossed (Shero's) mind when he sees our team and how close we are. I'm sure he doesn't want to affect that."

Nashville general manager David Poile was talking about how tense negotiations were in the Peter Forsberg trade, saying he was in touch with Flyers counterpart Paul Holmgren a couple of times every day for more than two weeks.

But he won the bidding and there's a lesson to be learned from his victory. You gotta stockpile.

Young players and draft choices that is, the ultimate currency when it comes to trading these days. Nashville is better suited than most thanks to a series of extremely successful drafts since joining the league in 1998 that gave Poile the kind of poker chips other rival bidders couldn't match. The Predators have done particularly well with its first choices, and the one from a couple years ago, Ryan Parent, was part of the package for Forsberg. And so was Scottie Upshall, the guy they took in 2002.

But five of the others taken the nine-year-old franchise took in its first seven years are still in the first-place team's current lineup.

In other words, Nashville's depth made it affordable, something Poile made note of during a conference call to discuss the trade.

"Our scouts have done a terrific job for us, drafting really well to give us the depth to participate in a trade like this today," he said. "It's one of the things that allowed us to be in this position as a competitive team and to make the deal is as an organization."

And now maybe to win a Stanley Cup.

Can't say I'm surprised Shane Doan decided to stay in Phoenix. The Coyotes never seem to be getting anywhere, but players obviously like the area, and several have settled there after their careers ended.

Still, I didn't realize how much of a selling point the desert is until Doan re-upped. It made me think of something Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovonovski said during All-Star week in Dallas when I asked about how the trade rumors surrounding the team affected players. Jovo said they'd have to step it up "if they like living in Phoenix."

That struck me because Jovonovski signed as a free agent with the Coyotes last summer after leaving Vancouver, despite being widely expected to return to the Florida Panthers. Jovonovski was drafted first overall by Florida in 1994, married a local girl and still has a home in Boca Raton.

But he decided to sign with Phoenix. And now Doan has done the same, after saying something quite similar to Jovonovski. Following the Coyotes loss to Florida last Saturday, I asked the captain about potentially being part of a sell-off at the deadline. He replied that thinking about it was "no fun when you enjoy playing in Phoenix."

And now Doan has agreed to a new deal (it will be announced Thursday) that includes a no-trade clause and is reportedly worth nearly $24 million over five years. Doan, who has been with the organization since it drafted him 12 years ago, is one of the league's top power forwards and might have gotten more had he hit the free agent market after the season. The Coyotes would have gotten a very good return too had they moved him at the deadline because the two sides couldn't come to terms.

But they did, because Phoenix must be what players mean when they say "there's no place like home."

Folks, the good times are starting.

The days leading up the NHL trade deadline are among the best of the season, and teams in the Western Conference are getting a head start on the festivities with the Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes being the most recent to get in on the action.

Ladislav Nagy wasn't going to re-sign with the Coyotes anyway, and considering the way he's been sleepwalking through games recently, that wasn't a bad thing for the desert dogs. Of course, getting a first-round draft pick and a decent checking forward named Mathias Tjarnqvist for a pending free agent doesn't hurt either.

Still, the Stars come out ahead in this deal, at least in the short term because Nagy can produce offense when the mood strikes him, and Phoenix, which needs a minor miracle to get to the playoffs, has not shown much of a knack for drafting well in recent years. The Stars have been playing some pretty good hockey since Mike Modano returned to the lineup, but they needed to add some punch to stay competitve in the West, where some of the big boys are to shift their lineups into playoff mode.

Calgary got the ball rollling a couple of weeks when they picked up center Craig Conroy from Los Angeles, and the Flames made another impressive move by getting defenseman Brad Stuart and forward Wayne Primeau from Boston. Both ex-Bruins can become free agents this summer, so you can argue the Flames paid dearly by sending Chuck Kobasew, a former first-round draft pick and minute-munching blue liner Andrew Ference to rebuilding Boston, but Stuart was among the most coveted rentals available and will make a significant and immediate impact.

Sean Avery already has for the Rangers. He came from Los Angeles for Jason Ward and a couple of prospects and the shift disturber has injected some much-needed energy into the New York lineup. If Pascal Dupuis, who came from Minnesota for Adam Hall does similar things, the Rangers will make a real run at the playoffs.

In the meantime, l hard-hitting Vitaly Vishneski, the defenseman Nashville acquired from Atlanta for Eric Belanger, will add some experience to the Predators solid, but youthful back end. Belanger came over earlier in the week from Carolina for Josef Vasicek and didn't figure in the Predators plans other than to give them what they needed to shore up the blue line, but the Thrashers are a little thin these days down the middle, so he'll fit in nicely with them.

Peter Forsberg would have as well, but he's not going anywhere. Yet. If and when the Flyers decide to move him, the real fun will begin. Stay tuned.

Hopefully, Eric Belanger has learned that sometimes it's better to rent than buy.

Belanger was traded again today, for the second time this week, and will play for his third team this season when he suits up for the Atlanta Thrashers. He spent training camp with the Los Angeles Kings, began the regular season with the Carolina Hurricanes and now joins Atlanta after belonging to the Nashville Predators for almost three whole days.

Nashville sent underwhelming center Josef Vasicek to Carolina on Wednesday for Belanger, before shuffling him to the Thrashers for hard-hitting defenseman Vitali Vishnevski. It's a good move for both teams because Belanger's strengths as a center -- he's good on faceoffs, has some scoring touch and makes plays - - gives Atlanta some much-needed options on the second or third lines, while Vishnevski is strong, pounding type of defenseman with more NHL experience than anyone on the Predators back end.

Nashville's defense is the one minor question mark at this point for a great overall team that should contend strongly for the Stanley Cup. The Thrashers might be in the mix too, although Belanger should be more about depth than impact.

As long as he sticks around that is. Belanger is an unrestricted free agent in July, so chances are he could be packing his bags again. Maybe a hotel might be the best solution for the short term.

Those are the doughnut holes that come from the stores that bear his name, but what Tim Horton was really famous for was the "Horton Hug" he used to neutralize opponents during a standout 24-year NHL career. Horton was all about strength during his playing days -- most of them with the Toronto Maple Leafs -- and his reputation was known around the league which had six teams for most of his career.

Horton was a muscular five-foot-10 defenseman who could rush and shoot the puck, but earned his keep by policing Toronto's through intimidation. He was a clean player who took more than 100 penalty minutes in a season once in his career, and admitted he didn't like to fight. But he never back down from anyone either, usually keeping foes in check simply by applying his trademark bear hug. Derek Sanderson of the Boston Bruins remembers hearing his ribs "crack one by one" when he tried to challenge Horton to a fight.

Horton, a Hall of Famer, is being remembered this week because Colorado's Karlis Skrastins broke his record for consecutive games played by a defenseman, and it's nice for someone who met a tragic end. Horton died at age 44 in a 1974 car crash, after playing in a game the night before for the Buffalo Sabres. The doughnut company that bears his name when on to become one of the largest in Canada and is now growing in the United States, but Horton's family is reaping the benefits. His widow sold the rights to a Hamilton businessman more than 30 years ago.

Mark Messier as the next Rangers GM?

Could be, even though Messier and the current GM Glen Sather go back a long way. Still, the former Rangers captain not-always-affectionately called the "Moose" probably figured he wasn't stabbing his old buddy in the back when he said Sather's wanted that job.

Eventually. Messier told veteran Edmonton Sun columnist Terry Jones that's how he wants to return to hockey, although he's not trying to pushing Sather out the door.

"I don't know how long Glen is going to continue doing it - - maybe five to 10 more years," Messier said. "I'm going to have discussions with Glen."

Messier, of course, can effectively call his own shots for the rest of his life, having made multi millions during his quarter-century in the NHL. He's taken a couple of years off since retiring, looked after numerous business interests including a hotel he owns in the Caribbean, and has spent time with his young children. But Messier made no secret of his desire to get back in the game soon when he spoke to reporters in Dallas during the All-Star break.

But he didn't say in what capacity until he spoke to Jones, who began covering the Oilers, Messier and Sather back in Edmonton's dynasty days more than two decades ago, in what comes across as a calculated effort to speed up the process.

Messier might actually make a good GM, but he does have a few things to learn as Sather said.

"There are necessary steps to take," Sather said. "Most guys who step in as GM have worked to get a little background, either in coaching or working under others in the organization."

Chances are Messier will get that mentoring from Sather. Messier has moved back to New York and don't be surprised if he's seen spending a lot more time around Madison Square Garden.

I'm not sure how much Sean Avery will actually help the New York Rangers, but he could a little flavor to the NHL from his new perch on Broadway. If his muzzle is removed, that is.

Don't count on it, even if Avery is more fun that way. During his time with the Kings, Avery used to say things without necessarily thinking, and often got fined by the league because his comments were generally offensive to someone or another. It gained him and the league some notoriety though, and Avery turned into a decent two -way role player along the way.

This season in Los Angeles wasn't bad for him, even if the Kings made sure Avery didn't create any attention-grabbing headlines. Of course that wouldn't be a bad thing in New York, but the Rangers are really looking for Avery to do his agitating on the ice. Avery has gotten pretty good in that regard and he's the most penalized player in the NHL since the lockout ended as a result, but he's not a bad in a defensive role and he chips in offensively from time to time.

His energy could be a positive force for a Rangers team in need of serious jolt, he just isn't the top six forward New York really needs.