Even Yzerman said Desjardins did great, and reaffirmed what Boucher had said about him. But that being said, it was never the short-term plan for Desjardins to stay up here. He wasn't even supposed to play (at least, until G Mike Smith got hurt), rather work with goalie coach Frantz Jean during Norfolk's break.

Yzerman said they see Desjardins as part of their future, but just not their present.

"Our plan was to bring Cedrick up while Smitty was hurt and send him back down when Smitty was healthy," Yzerman said. "He got a chance to play in two games. We had hoped to see him at the NHL level and assess him. It's mostly for the future."

"We're very pleased with how Cedric played. "Having said that, he's played two games in the NHL. We're not going to rush anybody into something. And this opportunity (trade) might not have been there had we waited longer. SO we feel like we have the best of both worlds. We still have Cedric Desjardins in our organization and available to us. And we have Dwayne Roloson."