"I think what happens is a lot of teams when they're trading away players they're always trying to create the most value they can for their players. They look to see if that value will be there as the trade deadline gets closer and they also look to see if the value of their player increases. I think that's why you always see these deals that go down until the 11th hour."

"The deals you see before [the deadline] -- if you go back and look at the LA deal [in Feb. 2001] with [Rob] Blake involved -- that was a trade that was going to help both teams. It was a big deal. New Jersey made a big trade last year with Dallas, that was also a case of trading players to help each team. The deals where you're trading for prospects and draft picks, those are the deals that usually come down to the wire."

Another belief the two GMs share is that character and personality is just as important, if not above, skill when making a trade.

"I think character may be above [talent] at times," Waddell said. "I've said from Day 1 we knew we were going to have some battles and struggles [in Atlanta], but give me good character guys and the end result will go further than if we had skilled players.

"Don't get me wrong, we need to have skilled players, but I think strong character players, particularly your leaders, can take you further and lead you down some of those tough roads on some of those rough nights [more] than just skill by itself."

Character is key, Pleau says, but the make up of a team is important as well.

"I think character and personality [are] important in most cases, but again that depends on where you're at with your team," Pleau said. "You might be in a situation where you have to get some skill. You might be in a situation where getting skill or any asset is very important.

"How it's going to fit into your team and how it's going to affect your team right now and how it will affect you in the future depending where you're at in the standings and whether you're a legitimate Stanley Cup contender or if you're just trying to build for three years from now? I think all those factors weigh in to how important the chemistry is as opposed to just getting the skill or just getting the asset of a tough guy or whatever it may be."

But no matter what type of player they're acquiring, the GMs know that the onus is on them once the transaction is completed. Even though they have no control over whether or not a player scores a goal or stops the puck, the GMs are under the media and fans' microscopes after they make a deal.

"You bring a lot of people into the decision process -- the scouts and coaches and all that -- but the end result is that you have to make the final decision," Waddell said. "You're the person who's going to have to answer for it.

"I can remember two years ago at the deadline trying to trade Donald Audette and I had all the advice from everybody and the deadline was 3 o'clock and at 2:30 I walked out of my office and disappeared for five minutes and everybody was like 'where the heck did this guy go?' But I needed the five minutes to collect myself because I knew what was going to be the end result.

"This was going to be a very unpopular decision for us, so I wanted to make sure that I didn't get caught up in the emotion of everybody else. I had made the decision based upon what was best for our future -- not just for that day, but for the years to come. So I always say that you take the advice of your scouts and coaches and everyone else involved who did some preparation, but the end result is that you're the one that has to make that final decision. You're the one that's going to have to answer for it, good or bad."

In the case of Audette, Waddell's instincts turned out to be correct. Audette has bounced around with three teams since being dealt from Atlanta and spent time in the minors this season.

Talent aside, there are also other tough factors that come into making a trade in the NHL.

Not a marquee name yet, Kamil Piros was still a sound acquisition obtained by Waddell in a late-season deal during the 2000-01 campaign.

"The hardest part of making a trade is finding the right partner," Pleau said. "From there I think the size of the dollar for each contract you take on and trying to fit that into your payroll.

"Another tough part is trading away somebody you've had for a while and has done a great job for you. It's difficult, but that's a huge part of your job. You have to [be able to] sit there and face them and tell them; 'Hey, you're moving on.'"

Unlike stockbrokers, GM's aren't trading paper. They're trading people.

"Like I said before, trades are very emotional," Waddell said. "You've got to make decisions not based on your feelings for an individual player, but what's good for the team. I'll go back to the Audette trade. That was the toughest one I had to make early on because he was a very popular player, not only on our team but also in the community.

"He was also one of our best players, but I just knew that at the end of the day that we weren't going to be able to sign him and it would be foolish for us not to pick up some assets for him. I also knew we could pick up some pretty good assets if we moved him."

Fans and the media don't always look at the big picture. The biggest mistake made by the public involves the quick judgment of which team won or lost in a deal. Sometimes, the outcome of a deal isn't determined for several years and GM's have to be willing to take the heat. The question is, will fans, and more importantly upper management, remember if the deal pans out down the road?

"At the end of the day, I knew I was going to get blasted both by the media and by the fans, but long term I also knew that it was going to be the best thing for the organization," said Waddell. "When you make those types of decisions you also want to make sure you have support from up above and I've always felt I've had great support from the person I report to, [team president] Stan Kasten. That enables me to make some of those decisions that maybe if you're trying to protect your job you wouldn't necessarily make."

"Part of our jobs as general managers is to communicate and try to make your team better and one of the ways is via the trade route and to do that you have to create some kind of needs for yourself and something that you're going to give that somebody else wants," Pleau said.

One of the many tricks of the GM trade.