Alan Diaz
The Florida Panthers' fire sale rages on.
The Panthers sent defenceman Dennis Wideman to the Washington Capitals, rearguard Bryan Allen to the Carolina Hurricanes and forward Radek Dvorak to the Atlanta Thrashers in a flurry of deals ahead of the NHL trade deadline on Monday.
Florida general manager Dale Tallon had dealt away veterans Bryan McCabe, Cory Stillman and Michael Frolik earlier this month.
Wideman went to the Capitals for forward prospect Jake Hauswirth and a third-round draft pick. He sent Dvorak and a fifth rounder to Atlanta for 23-year-old Niclas Bergfors and 32-year-old journeyman Patrick Rissmiller. Allen went to the Hurricanes for veteran winger Sergei Samsonov.
The deals have left the rebuilding Panthers with 10 picks in the 2011 draft, including seven in the first three rounds.
"We continue to set ourselves up to have another franchise-building draft this summer," Tallon said in a statement. "Our confidence in our current corps of defencemen - both in the NHL and throughout our organization - allowed us to make this (Wideman) trade and acquire another high pick in the 2011 draft."
Teams have until 3 p.m. ET Monday to make trades.
Another deal saw the Columbus trade away defenceman Rostislav Klesla, the last original Blue Jacket, to the Phoenix Coyotes for physical forward Scottie Upshall and defenceman Sami Lepisto. Klesla was the Jackets' first draft pick in their first season in 2000.
The 27-year-old Upshall has 16 goals this season while 26-year-old Lepisto has four goals and seven assists.
Another three players were claimed off waivers, including goalie Curtis McElhinney by the Ottawa Senators from the Tampa Bay Lightning, forward Rob Schremp by Atlanta from the New York Islanders and defenceman Brett Carson by the Calgary Flames from Carolina.
McElhinney had been traded to Tampa Bay by Anaheim on Feb. 24 but didn't play for the Lightning. he was 6-9-1 with a 3.43 goals-against average in 21 games this season.
Carson has played 72 games over the last three seasons for the Hurricanes. His acquisition gets Calgary back to eight healthy defencemen after losing Adam Pardy to injury.
"We believe we have filled out our depth on the blueline," Flames GM Jay Feaster said of the move.