With the Vncouver 2010 Olympics less than a year away, most fans will be cheering for Canada to take home the gold, but their will also be some fans rooting for their "hometown" boys. With the tournament being held in thier backyard, there is a handfull of Canucks who are hoping to make an impact for thier respective countries while playing in front of many fans who cheer them night in and night out as Vancouver Canucks.

With the Canucks having a top tier goaltender in Roberto Luongo, it is basically a sure thing that we will have atleast one Canuck on Team Canada. But the rest of our team will be dispersed throughout the tournament, and obviously most of our talent will be with Team Sweden. Here is how each player breaks down for his country.

With the Canucks relying so heavily on this dynamic duo during the regular season, the team will look for them to be the  heart and soul of the team during the playoffs as well. With both of the forwards being very versatile, wach of them have seen time on all three forward lines, power play and on the penalty kill as well. Early on in the season they were both apart of one of the better checking lines in the Western Conference, and now they have both been split across the top two lines. Although they still have great chemistry together, which can be seen on the penalty kill, seperatley they still have been able to contribute with different linemates. No one would have predicted that both players would be 20+ goal scorers and not be playing together on a full time basis.

With both Kesler and Burrows playing so well in the regular season, most expect them to play equally as well during the playoffs. There playing styles are a perfect fit for the playoffs, they can bang, agitate, score, check and are very gritty players. But how much can a team rely on two players who only have a combined 12 games of playoff experience?

With Mike Gillis not willing to give up draft picks or prospects at this years trade deadline, most Canuck fans attribute this to the team having no depth in thier organization, outside of a couple of players. The team has notoriously been very bad at drafting, and fails every year to draft big impact players.

The team has not suited up a player for a regular season game that has been drafted by the team after the 2005 draft (Mayson Raymond and Luc Bourdon). And only Ryan Kesler, who was drafted in 2003, has made a major impact on the team. Yes players such as Raymond, Edler and Hansen have made contirbutions, but none of those players have been impact players on this team.

With the deadline over and teams having built their team for either a playoff run or a high draft pick, its a good time to assess how all of those coveted off season acquisitions panned out for the teams. Heres a link to my previous blog I wrote after free agency.

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With the deadline over, and all the dust settled heres a look how each team faired at the NHL trade deadline.

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With the trade deadline day being the most active day for player movement, many teams are looking to either make the playoffs, be serious contenders or rebuild for next year.

Heres a break down of the big deals that went on today, and how each team is effected:

With all the trade rumours swirling around that Alex Burrows was on the trade block, those rumours can now be put to rest as the Canucks signed the winger to a four year extension. The extension will keep Burrows in a Canucks uniform through the 2012-13 season, although he did not get a no trade clause within his contract. With 18 goals and 17 assists in 63 games this season, Burrows has exceeded expectations and has even been given first line minutes along the Sedin twins.

Alex BurrowsIn his fourth NHL season, Burrows was a steal of a deal making under $500,000 and contributing in all aspects for the team. Now with him locked up for four more years at $2 million a piece this may take a bit more pressure of the winger, although many would argue the "big" contract will add more. Generally known for his checking and agitator style, Burrows is on pace to destroy his personal record for points as he has already passed his 31 point total from last year, and if he stays hot has a (long) shot at getting 50 points by the end of the season.

With the deadline only being about 48 hours away, many are looking at the Canucks to make a couple of moves to put this team over the top and make them a legitimate cup contender. But with Mike Gillis's refusal to give up high draft picks and young prospects for a rental player, don't look for the Canucks to land a big name, unless they have some contract left, or if they make a hockey move for a player that will stay on with the team past this season.

So with Gillis unwilling to part with prospects or high picks, here is a list of potential roster players that may be moved on their own or in a package come the March 4 deadline:

After being placed on waivers by the Philidelphia Flyers, the Canucks picked up Finnish defencemen Ossi Vaananen on Feb 27/09. Vaananen who spent most of this year in the Swedish Elite League is not known for his offensive upside as his carrer high in points was a measely 16 which was back in 2000-01, with the Pheonix Coyotes. With the deadline less than a week away, many speculate this may be a precursor to another move, however I cant see Vaananen being anyhing more than a depth guy in case of injury down the stretch.

With Rob Davidson and Lawrence Nycholat in the press box for the Canucks, the team now has a ton of depth on the Mattias Ohlund - How long will he be a Canuck?backend, and it only makes sense that one of the Canucks top 4 defencemen may be available at the trade deadline. The name that comes to mind right away is Mattias Ohlund. Ohlund being the longest serving Canuck to date, will 11 season under his belt, losing his leadership in the room and play on the ice would be a huge blow to the Canucks.

  With the Pittsburgh Penguins trading Ryan Whitney to the Anaheim Ducks for Chris Kunitz and a draft pick on Thursday, this opens the floor for both teams to make a couple more drastic moves before next Wednesday's NHL trade deadline. With the deal making sense for both teams, Pens getting a winger to put along side Crosby, and the Ducks getting a young defencemen with an offensive upside, this may be the first domino to fall before we see alot of action for all the NHL teams across the NHL.

Most importantly this opens up a few options for the GM's of both teams to make another deal before the deadline, and most likely to involve some big name impact players. The only difference is that the Pens will most likely be buyers and the Ducks will be sellers. Which is very odd since the Ducks are tied for 8th (10th due to tie break) and the Pens are 3 points out of a playoff spot, most would think the other way around. But with Sid the Kid the Pens need to make a big push to make the playoffs and the Ducks are falling apart very quickly and all the teams tied and ahead of them all have multiple games in hand on the Ducks