Habs and Thrashers Make a Swap

			2011 Season				2011	Remaining
To Montreal	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Nigel Dawes	Forward	26	9	0	1	1	$600,000	0	RFA
Brent Sopel	Defense	34	59	2	5	7	$2.3 million	0	UFA
--------------------------
To Atlanta	Position	Age	GP	G	A	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Ben Maxwell	Forward	22	0	0	0	0	$850,000	0	RFA
2011 4th Round Draft Pick

It's hard to imagine a day in this era when a guy like Brent Sopel becomes the centerpiece of a deal close to the deadline, but with the injury problems on the Canadiens' blueline, the pick-up of a veteran defenseman on the cheap looks pretty good.

The Thrashers ended up trading their number five or six defenseman to the Canadiens today, along with minor-league forward Nigel Dawes for another minor-league forward and a mid-round draft pick.

By the sounds of the things of what I've read on Thursday, it does sound like the Thrashers are high on Ben Maxwell and they figure he might be a player in their line-up for next season, but that's some incredible foresight, if that so happens to be the case.