Reports from Newsday's Arthur Staple and from voices at TSN say that New York Islanders winger Thomas Vanek has indeed been traded to the Montreal Canadiens, though the compensation was not yet known (second-round pick and a prospect?) and the formal approval not yet done.
If approved, it would be part of a flurry of late trades as the 3 p.m. EST deadline hit with several big names still on the market -- and their destination not even known.
Vanek was part of a group of wingers for sale, which seemed to both clog and slow the market on Wednesday afternoon, including:
Matt Moulson (to the Wild with Cody McCormick for undisclosed picks and Torrey Mitchell), Mike Cammalleri (not traded), Marian Gaborik (to the Kings for Matt Frattin, a 2nd-round pick and conditional 3rd), Ales Hemsky (dealt to the Senators for 3rd- and 5th-round picks) were all on the market, but only Gaborik was shipped before the dying minutes and Cammalleri was surprisingly not traded at all.