from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

No, the NHL's trade deadline was not pushed up to Wednesday.

It just felt that way with two big trades and one very noteworthy signing.

When the dust settled, Stanley Cup contenders the Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals added veteran, character depth, and the Nashville Predators hoped they joined them as a legitimate contender with a whopper of an acquisition.

Not sure what the Feb. 29 trade deadline will bring, but it's going to be hard to beat the sizzle of a Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen trade.

This is a trade we are going to chew on, analyze and debate for more than a decade.

Most interesting to me was that both Predators general manager David Poile and Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen used the exact same word in their very first comment to me over the phone Wednesday night in separate conversations: "Reluctant."

As in, each GM described how reluctant he was in dealing away their young star.

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from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,