Phone lines across North America took a beating on Tuesday as NHL general managers tried frantically to buy or sell assets (depending on their particular situation) to help their teams before Tuesday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.

In Pittsburgh, for example, there's no telling how many calls went in and out of Craig Patrick's office from teams inquiring about defenseman Darius Kasparaitis (eventually traded to Colorado) or center Robert Lang (who wasn't traded anywhere).

Now that ice has frozen the rosters for the rest of the season, let's take a look at this year's deadline day winners and losers.

Winners
New York Rangers: Kudos to Glen Sather for playing a cool game of trade-me poker with much less experienced Florida GM Chuck Fletcher. Without including Mike York in his offer, Sather was able to cull Pavel Bure from the Panthers for a prospect and a mid-first round pick (a.k.a. almost nothing). The Panthers had to get rid of Bure and Sather knew it. Once Dallas dropped out of the bidding, Fletcher had no where else to turn. Yeah, Regina Pats defenseman Filip Novak is a nice prospect, but the Rangers still have a better one in the Guelph Storm's Fedor Tutin, who was selected with the 40th overall pick in last year's draft. Fletcher should have demanded Tutin, rather than Novak.

Then, having kept Mike York out of the Bure trade, Sather was able to offer him to Edmonton for highly-coveted defenseman Tom Poti and rugged forward Rem Murray. Not only does Sather get Poti, but he keeps him away from the Bruins and Islanders.

If the Rangers make the playoffs, they could win the Conference. Yeah, I know, that does sound strange.

Colorado Avalanche: If you're an Avs fan, ya gotta love Pierre Lacroix, who juggles his assets better than any GM in the game.

The acquisition of the rugged Kasparaitis for third line left winger Ville Nieminen and defenseman Rick Berry makes the Avs even tougher in their own end. Believe me, with Rob Blake, Adam Foote and Kasparaitis on the blue line, opposing forwards won't be spending too much time near Patrick Roy. At least, not too much pain-free time.

Also, by getting Kasparaitis, they keep him out of Detroit, which could have used a physical defender to help Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Pens GM Craig Patrick ain't bad, either. He had no leverage in moving Kasparaitis, who would've left via free agency on July 1. Still, he managed to get Nieminen, who will fit nicely on a third line with ex-Flyer Kent Manderville (acquired on Sunday). Nieminen is an irritating player who'll probably be more effective in the Eastern Conference.

Atlanta Thrashers: Well done, Mr. Waddell! The Atlanta GM may have pulled a heist by getting high-end prospects Kiril Safronov, a defenseman, and Ruslan Zainullin, a right winger, and a fourth-round pick from Phoenix for left winger Darcy Hordichuk and a fourth- and fifth-round pick.

Safronov was a top 20 pick (19th overall) in 1999, while Zainullin was the 34th pick in the 2000 draft. You might remember, Zainullin, originally selected by the Lightning, was a key prospect included in last year's Nikolai Khabibulin to Tampa Bay deal.

Also, the Thrashers added center Yuri Butsayev and a third-round pick from Detroit for future unrestricted free agent defenseman Jiri Slegr, a fourth-rounder from St. Louis for center Ray Ferraro (who'll likely retire at the end of the season) and a fifth-rounder from Buffalo for veteran center Bob Corkum.

Someday, this team is gonna be real good ... I think.

Jiri Slegr: Congratulations, Jiri! Anybody who goes from the worst team in the league to the best team in the league is a winner.

Losers
New York Islanders: It's hard to knock the Isles, but they made a lot of noise about getting either Poti or Kasparaitis. They came away with neither. Not only that, but Poti ended up in Manhattan with the Rangers.

They did get Darren Van Impe (Florida) and Dave Roche (Anaheim), though.

Enough said.

Boston Bruins: Like the Isles, the B's couldn't pull the trigger on a deal for Poti. Instead, they end up with retread Jeff Norton (Florida) and raw Sean Brown (Edmonton), their own 1995 draft pick who they traded to Edmonton in 1995.

Bottom line, they needed a quality puck mover and they didn't get one. They'll pay for that in the playoffs.

Montreal Canadiens: They aren't on this side of the ledger because anything they failed to do. Rather, they get a loser tag because the Rangers were able to do so much. In less than 24 hours, their chief rival for the final playoff spot in the East is a lot stronger. That's not good news for Les Habitants, who are desperate to end their playoff drought.

If backup goalie Jeff Hackett had stayed healthy, they might have been able to move him. Instead, they needed to deal for Stephane Fiset, who'll work behind top stopper Jose Theodore.

Florida Panthers: How desperate where they to unload Bure's $10 million per season deal? Very desperate. How else do you explain their deal with the Rangers. They got overpriced, mistake-prone defenseman Igor Ulanov, the Rangers' second-best junior defenseman prospect (Novak) and a mid-first round pick. If the Rangers weren't going to add York, the Panthers should've pushed harder for another prospect. Maybe Jamie Lundmark?

With the money the Panthers saved, they'll try to make a big splash in free agency. But, despite the nice winter weather, it'll be hard to attract top players to a losing team.

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.