The St Louis Blues have reacquired 97-year old forward Keith Tkachuk from the Atlanta Thrashers. Oops, this just in...looks like Tkachuk is officially listed as 35. Sorry.
At first blush, this trade looks similar to the oh-so-close-to-collusion between the Predators and Flyers. The Blues traded Tkachuk to the Thrashers at the deadline, and now the Thrashers were sending him back to St Louis just days before he was to become a free agent. Unlike the Hartnell deal, though, in this case it doesn't look like Tkachuk is going to sign with the Blues. As part of the deadline trade, if the Thrashers re-sign Tkachuk this summer, the Blues get a first round pick. By dealing him to the Blues, that pick now becomes either a 3rd rounder in 2009 or a 4th in 2008. So, the Thrashers are trading him away in order to try to re-sign him. Or something. Welcome to the new NHL.