Realizing the team wasn't going to be able to fill their roster up via UFA, LA went out and acquired another piece to the puzzle last night, winger Martin Erat.  Erat had a career season last year and should see more playing time in Nashville with the departures of Hartnell and Kariya.  Erat can play either wing and his position will depend on any pending UFA acquisitions.  The team still has 23 million available to help sign free agents and are expecting to use up most of that to get the deals they want done.  Erat's very attractive salary was also a big plus for the team.  If he continues his production, 3 years @ 2 million is an absolute steal. 

Going the other way was young defenseman Niklas Kronvall and LA's 1st, which the team was heavily against moving, however, with the recent acquisitions and likely some UFA signings, the team felt their 1st was expendable as there wasn't too much of a risk of it being top 5.  Kronvall has all the tools to be a stud but can never stay healthy, time will tell if that trend continues.

The 2 million dollars LA acquired with Erat will help pay for a UFA and the 3rd round pick will provide another asset when the next draft rolls around.

The team now has 3 of their top 6 forward positions settled with Erat, Ryder and Ponikarovsky, although the team believes Bill Thomas could pot 20 if needed in that role.  The team has zeroed in on 3 UFA's to fill those positions though and are actively pursuing them.

On the back end, the loss of Kronvall creates a hole in the bottom pairing on defense, however, with Timonen, Jovanovski and Daley, the team has 3 defenseman of the top 4 they are looking for.