McElhinney for Ellis

			2011 Season				2011	Remaining
To Anaheim	Position	Age	MIN	W	SO	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Dan Ellis	Goalie	30	1,678	13	2	31	$1.5 million	1	Same
--------------------------
To Tampa Bay	Position	Age	MIN	W	SO	P	Cap Hit	Years	Cap Hit
Curtis McElhinney	Goalie	27	995	6	2	17	$535,000	0	UFA

A goalie trade was the highlight of the early part of Thursday, as the Ducks and Lightning traded back-up goalies.  The Ducks get a little bit more of a veteran presence in Dan Ellis, who has struggled to find a place in Tampa this season, while the Lightning get a little bit younger with the addition of Curtis McElhinney, who might end up being demoted to the AHL with the impending return of Mike Smith.

In Ellis, the Ducks will receive a little extra depth, which is likely a little more reliable than what they had just traded away.  With the addition of Ray Emery to the line-up this week, the Ducks will now have an interesting (to say the least) tandem in place of the injured Jonas Hiller.  Ellis will also be able to give Anaheim an extra year's worth of service with his contract, which may make him into the immediate back-up for Hiller at the beginning of the 2012 season.

McElhinney will now go from one goaltending puzzle to another, but this time, he will likely find himself on the outside looking in, providing AHL relief to the Lightning, who will see the return of Mike Smith from the AHL, who has been getting in regular starts after a long-term injury.  If Smith doesn't clear re-entry waivers on Friday, then McElhinney should be able to assume the back-up role right away.

Both the Ducks and the Lightning are in very preferable spots, in terms of the salary cap situations, according to CapGeek.com, so this trade, as lop-sided as it may look at the moment, the repercussions are limited to the overall scheme of things.

For the 2012 season, the addition of Ellis' extra year brings the team up to 14 players signed and one buyout $45.9 million, which leaves them ample space to fill in a lot of depth positions, especially since a lot of their core is already taken care of.

In the pools, this is just a swap of unpopular goalies in the selection sheet, which should have little to no impact on the pool itself, unless you get some kind of urge to take either one of them on as one of your goalies.  Hopefully in this post, I have done enough to sway you against doing so.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I really think the Anaheim Ducks are no-so-quietly hiding the fact that Jonas Hiller is in really, really rough shape.  Bringing in both Ray Emery and Dan Ellis to work on this does not appear very well in front of those who are watching it unfold.  This weekend could prove to be very vital for Anaheim's playoff hopes.

The Lightning, well, they had depth to burn and it looks as though they want to give Mike Smith the shot he was promised again, since his trade from Dallas.