"The deal is done, for real this time.

The trade was finalized roughly an hour after the Flames' 3-0 loss to the Flyers at the Saddledome, a game in which Jokinen played 15:08 amid swirling questions of whether his time in Calgary was through. The Finnish centerman (11-24-35) is expected to be at the Staples Center tonight to suit up for the Blueshirts, who complete their three-game Western swing against the Kings.

The swap ultimately came to pass following two days of false starts and hand-wringing. The Rangers sent Kotalik home to New York on Sunday, telling him he would be traded, and Glen Sather thought he had a deal in the bag that night, only to have "complications" arise to put the parties in a holding pattern.

But late last night, Kotalik agreed to waive his limited no-movement clause to accept the deal, and Flames GM Darryl Sutter - who has remade his team over the past two days, beginning Sunday when he dealt building-block defenseman Dion Phaneuf for a handful of Maple Leaf spare parts - signed off on the trade to make it official.

So ends the shotgun marriage between Kotalik and the Rangers that was happy only during the honeymoon phase. Kotalik signed a three-year, $9 million deal in July with both sides expecting a top-six forward and power-play specialist. He scored six times in the season's first 17 games, but only twice since, and he quickly fell out of favor with John Tortorella. The coach relegated the winger to fourth-line status, and then to a regular seat in the rafters. Kotalik was a healthy scratch for eight of his last nine games as a Ranger."