This year's National Hockey League (NHL) trade deadline proved to be eventful with teams moving big names as the Wednesday 3 p.m. passed by, and franchises decided whether to make a push for the playoffs, get compensation for potential free agents, or clear up cap space for next season.

The action got rolling on Tuesday when the Minnesota Wild traded a fourth-round draft pick to the Edmonton Oilers for G Ilya Bryzgalov, after shutting down injured G Niklas Backstrom. With the Wild looking to get into the postseason, Minnesota felt they needed to bolster their goaltender position despite rookie Darcy Kuemper doing a solid job between the pipes.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us to get where we want to get to, but clearly having two quality goaltenders was very important," said Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher.

The Oilers, last in the Pacific division, also sent RW Ales Hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for two draft picks—a fifth-rounder in the 2014 NHL Draft and a third-rounder in the 2015 NHL Draft—while giving the Senators much-needed offense as they contend for a postseason wild-card spot.

The Vancouver Canucks finally shed G Roberto Luongo's contract, sending him and F Steven Anthony to the Florida Panthers for G Jacob Markstrom and F Shawn Mattias. Luongo (19-16-6 for the season), who was surprised by the trade, returns to Florida where he spent five seasons with the team earlier in his career.

"I thought my contract was immovable. I would never thought I would be traded before the deadline," said Luongo, who has a 12-year, $64 million deal that runs through 2022, with the Canucks retaining 15 percent of Luongo's contract as part of the deal with Florida.

Florida was not done shuffling their lineup, trading G Tim Thomas to the Dallas Stars, with terms of the deal undisclosed, while sending C Marcel Goc, who has 11 goals and 12 assists for the season, on Wednesday prior to the deadline in exchange for two draft picks.

While the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning made a big splash on Wednesday, swapping team captains, trading F Ryan Callahan and two draft picks to Tampa Bay in exchange for Martin St. Louis and a conditional draft pick, the Los Angeles Kings acquired three-time All-Star RW Marian Gaborik, coming back from a collarbone injury, from the Columbus Blue Jackets for WR Matt Frattin and two draft picks.

The Rangers' crosstown rivals, the New York Islanders, also made moves prior to the deadline sending D Andrew MacDonald to the Philadelphia Flyers for two draft picks—a 2014 third-round pick and a 2015 second-round pick—as well as low-level prospect Matt Mangene, while sending LW Thomas Vanek and a 2014 conditional fifth-round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Montreal's 2014 conditional second-round draft pick and Swedish prospect Sebastien Collberg. Vanek has 21 goals and 32 assists for the year, and the Canadiens are hoping that he could help the team catch up to the Boston Bruins, who are eight points ahead of Montreal in the Atlantic Division standings.

The New Jersey Devils and Carolina Hurricanes came to terms on a deal, with the Devils sending C Andrei Loktionov and a conditional draft pick for Carolina F Tuomo Ruutu. The surprise move by the Devils, or rather the move not made, was failing to trade G Martin Brodeur, who will remain with the team despite the goaltender waiving his no-trade clause.

The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer, who has three Stanley Cups and four Vezina Trophies to go with his NHL all-time best 124 shut-outs and 682 wins in 21 seasons on his resume, was put on the trade block, with Brodeur's contract ending once the season concludes.