TODAY'S HEADLINES

No Poni for Pens: A mess of red tape is going to delay Alexei Ponikarovsky's debut with the Penguins, enough that he's not going to play tonight against the New York Rangers. The PG's Shelly Anderson notes that "Poni" is shifting from a Canadian employer to a United States employer, and will require a P-1 work visa. [PG]

Friars invade The Pete: It's Providence (12-16, 4-12 Big East) at No. 17 Pitt (22-7, 11-5) tonight in Pittsburgh, with a national ESPN2 audience and a 9 PM start. A Panther win locks in a double-bye at the Big East tournament, so I'm counting on a good effort from the home team.

Pitt will have to contend with Providence sophomore Jamine Peterson, who is averaging a team-high 19.3 points and 9.9 rebounds this season; but the Friars hasve lost eight in a row, so he can't be that spectacular. [Trib]

Pirates lose, Pirates lose: The Buccos fell to 0-1 with a 6-3 loss against the Yankees yesterday, but Paul Maholm did look pretty sharp against some legitimate bats, as long as you consider Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, and Mark Teixeira "legitimate". Ross "Mr. Wonderful" Ohlendorf struck out A-Rod in the second, which should put a smile on anyone's face. But the Pirates had just three hits on the day, and that usually doesn't beat the New York Yankees. That might be a familiar scenario this season.

The Buccos are back at it today at 1:05 against Atlanta, with Charlie Morton and Brad Lincoln scheduled to get some work. [PBC Blog]

Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects...were recently unveiled, and the Pirates have a grand total of two: Pedro Alvarez (#8) and Tony Sanchez (#79). In totally unrelated news, the Pirates have had top-10 picks in 11 of the past 15 drafts, including two of the first overall picks. Again, that's totally unrelated news. [SI.com]

No, this is not my truck: But someone in South Dakota sure does love the Steelers [You Drive What?]

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TRADER RAY CALLS IT A DAY

Well, that's it for another Deadline Day for the Penguins, and early returns are mostly positive on Ray Shero's new class of imports, aside from Poni's visa problems which might cause him to miss tomorrow's game against the Rangers.

The final deal Shero pulled the trigger on was a very minor one, sending D Chris Peluso to Toronto for a sixth-round pick in the upcoming draft. Peluso was a seventh-round pick by the Pens in 2004 and is currently playing for Bemjidi State in Minnesota.

Former Penguin D Ryan Whitney was also dealt late today, going from Anaheim (along with a sixth-round pick in 2010) to Edmonton in exchange for D Lubomir Visnovsky, a pricier and older model who has 10 goals, 22 assists, and a minus-four in 57 games so far this season.

Washington was active on Deadline Day, acquiring Milan Jurcina, Joe Corvo, Eric Belanger and Scott Walker, but surprisingly did not make a move for a goaltender. Among other teams ahead of the Pens in the conference standings, Ottawa made no moves, while New Jersey picked up only Martin Skoula. Buffalo ended up with Raffi Torres, who was a hot candidate to get traded to Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia stood pat, apparently content that their team is capable of winning a Cup as-is.

The full rundown of deals, as per TSN:

- Boston traded Derek Morris to Phoenix a fourth round pick in 2011.

- Toronto traded Martin Skoula to New Jersey for a fifth round pick in 2010.

- Florida traded Dennis Seidenberg and Matthew Bartkowski to Boston for Craig Weller, Byron Bitz and a second-round pick in 2010.

- Carolina traded Aaron Ward to Anaheim for goaltender Justin Pogge and a fourth-round draft pick.

- Carolina traded Scott Walker to Washington for seventh-round pick.

- Vancouver traded Pierre-Cedric Labrie to the St. Louis Blues for Yan Stastny.

- Colorado traded Wojtek Wolski to Phoenix for Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter.

- Detroit traded Kris Newbury to the New York Rangers for Jordan Owens (minor league trade).

- Vancouver traded Mathieu Schneider (from the Manitoba Moose) to Phoenix for Sean Zimmerman and a conditional sixth-round draft pick.

- Tampa Bay traded Jeff Halpern to Los Angeles for Ted Purcell and a third-round draft pick.

- Minnesota trades Eric Belanger to Washington for second round pick.

- Calgary trades Curtis McElhinney to Anaheim for Vesa Toskala.

- Buffalo trades Nathan Paetsch and a second round draft pick to Columbus for Raffi Torres.

- Buffalo trades Clarke MacArthur to Atlanta for third round pick and fourth round pick.

- Washington acquires Milan Jurcina from Columbus for a sixth round pick.

- Maple Leafs trade Lee Stempniak to Phoenix for a fourth round pick and a seventh round pick.

- Washington trades Brian Pothier, Oskar Osala and a second round draft pick to Carolina for Joe Corvo.

- Toronto trades Joey MacDonald to Anaheim for a seventh-round pick in 2011.

- Carolina trades Andrew Alberts to Vancouver for a third round pick.

- Columbus trades Mathieu Roy to Florida for Matt Rust.

- Columbus trades Fredrik Modin to Los Angeles for a conditional draft pick.

- Edmonton trades Lubomir Visnovsky to Anaheim for Ryan Whitney.

- Calgary trades Dustin Boyd to Nashville for fourth round pick.

- Pittsburgh trades Chris Peluso to Toronto for sixth round draft pick.

- Edmonton trades Steve Staios to Calgary for Aaron Johnson and a third round pick.

- Hurricanes trade Stephane Yelle and Harrison Reed to Colorado for Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll and a sixth-round pick.

- Phoenix sends Chad Kolarik to Columbus for Alex Picard

- The New York Rangers traded goalie Miika Wiikman and a seventh rounder in 2011 to Phoenix for veteran defenceman Anders Eriksson.

- Anaheim trades Petteri Nokelainen to Phoenix for a draft pick.

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PENS TRADE FORTHCOMING: CAPUTI, SKOULA FOR PONIKAROVSKY

According to TSN.ca, the Pens are close to consummating a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs that would bring LW Alexei Ponikarovsky to Pittsburgh in exchange for 21-year-old LW Luca Caputi and defenseman Martin Skoula.

The 29-year-old Ponikarovsky goes 6'4", 220, and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He has amassed 19 goals and 22 assists for the Maple Leafs thus far in 2009-10; his career bests in both categories came last year, with 23 goals and 38 assists.

Ponikarovsky originally entered the NHL in 2000-01 with the Leafs after being drafted 87th overall in 1998. Prior to his NHL debut, he was helping Moscow Dynamo to the Russian Superleague title in 1999. He has appeared in 23 career playoff games in the NHL with Toronto, but it's been a while; he last saw the postseason in 2003-04, with a goal and three assists.

Caputi was a highly-regarded prospect in the Penguin organization but has played just nine regular season contests in the NHL to this point, with two goals and one assist. A fourth-round pick of the Pens in 2007, he flashed his potential in 2007-08 with 51 goals and 111 points in just 66 games as a member of the OHL's Niagara IceDogs, but has been unable to make a splash in limited NHL action thus far.

The 30-year-old Skoula joined the Pens this season and has three goals and five assists in 33 games. A first-round pick of Colorado in 1998, Skoula will be joining his sixth NHL organization, as he has also spent time with Anaheim, Dallas, and Minnesota in addition to the Pens and Avs. He was a fan favorite only as a candidate to get dealt at the deadline, so I guess he met expectations on that front.

Staying true to his form, GM Ray Shero is making a play to bolster his roster for another postseason run by trading a potential piece of the future. But considering the relative lack of success enjoyed by former Pens dealt at this time of year in the past (Angelo Esposito, Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Noah Welch, etc), I'm nodding my head yes in agreement with this deal. Basically, Shero has dealt for two proven commodities and the only piece he sacrificed from his big-league roster was Skoula. I'm on board with that.

Update:

Looks like it's a done deal, according to the PG's Dave Molinari

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