Just a few hours left, NHL shoppers!

Attention, NHL General Managers; just in time for all you last minute-shoppers, I've got your Penalty Plus/Minus* update through the games of February 24, 2008. With Sidney Crosby out of the lineup for so long, Dustin Brown of the Los Angeles Kings is now your league leader with a +35 rating, followed by Sid the Kid and Alexander Ovechkin at +31.

UPDATE: I just saw that the Colorado Avalanche have acquired Ruslan Salei from Florida. Congratulations, you just snagged the very worst Penalty Plus/Minus player in the entire NHL, at -30! I wonder if they plan on playing Forsberg on the penalty kill...



Remember to consult this list before making that final pitch for that player you're seeking to obtain, so as to adjust your offer accordingly. You can go with something like this:

"Yeah, I can see why you're offering up Bobby Holik, but how's he going to help me defensively when he's got a -17 Penalty Plus/Minus? I'm going to have to pick up an extra penalty killer just to make up for the time he'll spend sitting in the box! The best I can give you is a 3rd rounder..."

Yes, don't miss this valuable opportunity to properly calibrate your Trade Deadline Day strategy by missing out on this critical information! Are you jealous of the Philadelphia Flyers for picking up veteran defenseman Jaroslav Modry? You wouldn't be if you saw that him down near the bottom of this list at -19.

As to some of the big names being tossed around as trade possibilities today, we have Atlanta's Marian Hossa at +15 (he doesn't just score, he gets your team power plays as well), Tampa Bay's Brad Richards at +11, and Los Angeles' Rob Blake at -21.

By the way, break out the kazoos and ballooons, as this post marks #500 here at On the Forecheck. I was going to take a look back and pick out some prime bits to share with you, but today's a pretty busy one for all of us (gotta hit refresh over at TSN again), so I'll save that for later this week.

*Penalty Plus/Minus is derived from Penalties Drawn from opposing teams by an individual player, minus the penalties committed by that player. 10-minute and game misconducts aren't counted, since they don't affect the on-ice strength of the teams.