The Buffalo Sabres dropped out of the Brad Richards sweepstakes and instead jumped on the opportunity to sign Philadelphia Flyers UFA forward Ville Leino, inking him to a six-year, $27 million deal.

Although Richards is considered by many to be the prize catch of the 2011 NHL free agent market, the Sabres GM Darcy Regier felt he needed to make some sort of major move. Not wanting to be left empty-handed, he snagged Leino.

Leino is coming off his best season in the NHL, finishing with 19 goals and 53 points, both career highs. Also proven to be a factor in the playoffs, Leino scored seven goals and added 14 assists for 21 points in the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Leino, a Finland native, is a reliable forward who was discovered by the Detroit Red Wings after originally going undrafted. He is known as a versatile player who can step into any of the forward positions, including the center spot where the Sabres appear to have some holes to fill.

Several other players left the Flyers over the past week including fan favorites Jeff Cater and Mike Richards who were shipped out by GM Paul Holmgren and Danny Carillo who was allowed to test the free agent market and signed with the Blackhawks.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Now that the shock of the Vancouver riots of 2011 has settled down, it’s time for a few NHL trades involving some very unlikely players to send tremors down the backs of the league.

Not to be outdone by their rivals in Philly this past week, the Chicago Blackhawks continued dumping key players from their 2010 Stanley Cup championship team. The latest players to fall victim to the Stan Bowman salary cap ax are defenseman Brian Campbell and forward Troy Brouwer.

One thing for sure, anyone who hasn’t attended a game at the United Center since that Stanley Cup team took the ice, better buy a game program to see who’s occupying the roster.

Since hoisting the NHL Holy Grail, GM Stan Bowman sent fan favorite Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Kris Versteeg and a slew of other players packing last offseason but after last night, it appears the house-cleaning isn’t quite done.

Campbell agreed to waive his no trade clause in his contract and will pack his bathing suit and head to LeBron country in South Beach to skate with the Florida Panthers. Trading his beachwear for a snow shovel is LW Rostislav Olesz.

In the other trade, Brouwer went to Washington in exchange for the Capitals first-round pick. The Blackhawks who had already traded away a large portion of their offense since that cup win will have another void to fill with Brouwer leaving. The 25-year-old scored 17 goals and added 19 assists in 79 games for Chicago last season after tallying a career-high 22 goals and 40 points in 69 games the year before.

These moves by Chicago came shortly after Philadelphia Flyers GM Paul Holmgren shocked the NHL by shipping out two of his top players to make room to sign goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a nine-year deal worth $51 million.

In those deals, center Jeff Carter will play alongside All-Star Rick Nash in Columbus while team captain Mike Richards will land on the West Coast in L.A. to play for the Kings.

Going to the Flyers was Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek, the eighth overall draft pick in the 2011 NHL Draft and a third rounder tossed in for good measure. Voracek was expected to excel under the Blue Jackets’ new offensive scheme this past season but didn’t meet the expectations, finishing with 14 goals and 32 assists.

In the Richards deal, the Flyers picked up a top prospect from the Kings, Brayden Schenn and forward Wayne Simmonds.

Carter, a fan favorite had 36 goals and 30 assists for 66 points in 80 regular-season games in Philly last season.

You can almost feel the tremors created by the fans starting to rumble in the Windy City and City of Brotherly Love since these deals were announced but hey, it’s the NHL…the league where any player is subject to move (Google Wayne Gretzky or Dominic Hasek).

Originally from Detroit, Tom is an Atlanta-based sportswriter whose work has been published in the New York Daily News, Washington Times, Detroit Free Press and national hockey mags including The Hockey News (Canada) and USA Hockey Magazine. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomFerda

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC