Could Barnaby be final item on check list?

If the Bruins are still shopping -- and Makeover Mike O'Connell contends he is still fielding calls -- the last piece of the puzzle is an action forward, a leather-palmed, face-washing agitator. It's an element the Boston general manager has sought since first taking up residence in the front office 10 years ago this summer.

P.J. Stock came close to filling the bill, but as much as a mini-cult figure as he became, Stock almost fought too much. A little too small, a little too bold, coulda used a few pounds. Good agitators are accomplished in the fine art of hitting first with stinging checks, then following up with a lot of lip that goads opponents into stupid penalties. Hit. Yap. Duck-and-cover.

In case it slipped anyone's mind, the NHL trade deadline is Tuesday, 3 p.m., by which time the Capitals and Rangers will have just under a month left to fit their empty sweaters with Kevlar vests for Fan Appreciation Night. That's going to be one epic lesson in tough love in those hockey-forsaken cities.

The tattered rags known as the Rangers, seen here Thursday night, have perhaps the best available agitator in Matthew Barnaby. The former Sabre, who will be 31 in May, isn't the 335-penalty-minute cruiserweight that he was in his earlier days hard by Lake Erie. He's far more, uh, refined, heading into last night with only 120 PIMs added to his previous career total of 2,100. Barnaby has gall, and legs, and just enough offensive touch to make him attractive to a team that suddenly has a lot of interesting pieces. To wit: Depleted though they may be, the Rangers at one point Thursday night rolled out Barnaby on their No. 1 power-play unit. He's good, but not quite that good.

Doug Doull has done an admirable job filling the heavyweight role here in Boston, but the heavy bag gets put away come the playoffs. Barnaby is not Ken "The Rat" Linseman, because he doesn't have that high-end offensive potential, but his speed and vocabulary make him a prime pickup for the yapper's role. There is also only chump change remaining on his salary of about $1.6 million.

Come July 1, Barnaby walks as a free agent, but so what? No one would be looking to hire him here long-term, the way the Bruins certainly hope to tie up Sergei Gonchar. But given the Boston audience's thirst for guys with an edge and some 'tude, it would be no surprise to see Barnaby be embraced here, and possibly parlay that into a two- or three-year extension if he helped the Bruins talk their way into a third or fourth playoff round.

Meanwhile, there is no telling how the next 48 hours or so will shake out around the league. The deadline always brings surprising moves, but this year, in part because of the fait accompli that is a September lockout, GMs are offloading big names as never before. Thanks to the Capitals, the Red Wings landed prime center Robert Lang and the Bruins picked up Gonchar, this year's top-scoring defenseman. Brian Leetch was the No. 1 star Thursday night in Toronto, as a Leaf, shipped there by the Rangers hours after the Bruins won the Gonchar sweepstakes. To which old Ranger Mark Messier opined: "The Ranger franchise bottomed out by trading Brian."

Lead question around the Original 30 this weekend: What happens if Buffalo, Florida, St. Louis, and Edmonton, the four clubs still challenging for a playoff spot, all figure they've bottomed out, too? It could make for fast and furious times tomorrow night/Tuesday morning -- provided the conference favorites don't already feel sated.

Sabres forward Miro Satan, due $5.25 million next year, somewhat casually told the Buffalo media Friday that he "most likely" will be traded. That was particularly grating to the ears of Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff, who is still trying to nudge the Sabres ahead of the Islanders for the No. 8 seed in the East. If they do get around to trading Satan, it's a good bet veteran backliner Alexei Zhitnik also would be sent packing.

The Leafs still want a blue liner, and Zhitnik's nastiness, alongside Leetch's finesse, could make the aged Leafs tough to upend in the East. All the more reason Makeover Mike might want to find that agitator.

Getting in deep The Predators, who really spiced up their lineup with the late February acquisition of Steve Sullivan, picked up more depth Friday in ex-Bruin forward Sergei Zholtok and former Devil Brad Bombardir from Minnesota. Meanwhile, another ex-Bruin in St. Paul, Wes Walz, apparently will remain with the Wild after recently signing a contract extension. Rumors began to perk in recent weeks that Walz, now a defensive specialist, would be dished to a contender . . . Hard to believe the Avalanche have remained out of the flea-market flurry. That could change if GM Pierre Lacroix takes on Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig, but that would necessitate the Capitals getting creative with the $12 million-plus Kolzig is due to earn over the next two years. The Avalanche also could use some Adam Deadmarsh-like grit up front to build the confidence of some of their skilled but soft wingers . . . Let's imagine there is no NHL in 2004-05, the whole shooting match lost to the CBA mess. Now let's imagine they settle a new deal prior to the summer draft in '05. Anyone care to figure how the Lords of the Boards will sort out the order of selection for that? Just another facet attached to the Impending Doom Theory. And that's the draft that includes superstar-to-be Sidney Crosby . . . Both Sergei Samsonov and Bruins newcomer Michael Nylander politely stickhandled around commenting much on what it would be like to be paired on a No. 2 line -- clearly what management had in mind when acquiring Nylander. Based on Nylander's impressive debut Thursday night, it has the potential to be a truly dynamic pairing. When (not if) that comes to fruition, the trick will be finding the best fit at right wing. A healthy Patrice Bergeron would be the best skill fit, but Marty Lapointe's grit may provide the best overall fit. Such worries, huh? . . . Gotta say, with less than a month to go before balloting, ex-UVMer Martin St. Louis is a very strong MVP candidate. The key standard, of course, is to ask where a player's team would be without him. It's that same standard that also has Bruins netminder Andrew Raycroft in the thick of the Hart Trophy running. Save yourself the research. No one has won the Calder Trophy for top rookie and the Hart in the same season . . . How soon, do you suppose, before Gonchar and Ray Bourque sit down to discuss strategies in salary arbitration?

Immediate help Outstanding debut for Leetch with Toronto, with three assists against the Islanders. Pat Quinn has the ex-BC Olympian paired with Bryan McCabe. "I expect 4-5 points out of him every night," said a deadpan Quinn. Islanders center Michael Peca on the pickup: "I agree with a lot of people here. I think Leetch was a better pickup than [Gonchar]." That should be interesting if the Bruins cross paths with the Islanders in the postseason . . . Devils defenseman Scott Stevens, still out with lingering concussion symptoms, is feeling well enough to attempt a workout in the New Jersey weight room before the weekend is out . . . Tampa Bay GM Jay Feaster hasn't been pleased with attendance in Tampa, and the Lightning run virtually every promo under the sun. "The only thing we aren't saying is, `If you buy a ticket in the next 30 minutes, the GM will wash your car!' " said Feaster . . . The Islanders, by the way, last week offered free playoff tickets to all games in Rounds 1 and 2 to anyone who commits to purchasing season tickets for the 2004-05 season. That's about as aggressive as it gets, without Mike Milbury washing your car . . . The Daily Herald in Chicago reported Friday that ex-Bruins coach Brian Sutter, now rounding out his third season behind the Chicago bench, roughed up Hawks forward Tyler Arnason Sunday night at a Nashville bar called Tootsies Orchid Lounge (we don't make this stuff up). According to the report, Sutter was in the bar when he spotted Arnason and a few teammates passing by, and he invited them inside. Sutter then allegedly got in Arnason's face, and got a little carried away while imploring Arnason to be a better player and a better teammate. Sounds like the way the Sutter brothers used to settle things back on the farm in Viking, Alberta, doesn't it? "Probably the same as any altercation I've had with Arnie," Sutter described it days later. Meanwhile, recyclable GM Bob Pulford downplayed the tete-a-tete, promising a thorough corporate investigation. Yeow. Once among the proudest of NHL franchises, the Hawks have turned into a failed Fox sitcom . . . Meanwhile, the NHL, trying to sort out the leaguewide image nightmare the Hawks created upon firing GM Mike Smith and his staff early this season, has encouraged Smith and the Hawks to try mediation rather than toss it all on commissioner Gary Bettman's desk for resolution. Surely the fact that Pulford and Dale Tallon have blown the whole thing to bits in Chicago should make the case of Smith et al very easy pickin's.

Stumped Makeover Mike had to search his memory Thursday, almost to the point of being comical, when he tried to summon the name of Boston's second-line center last season, Jozef Stumpel. "He was pretty good," said O'Connell. "The media was tough on him, but he was pretty good." It wasn't the media, however, that shipped Stumpel to the Kings for a couple of draft picks last June. More than anything it was Stumpel's salary, approaching $3 million, that led to management's decision to ditch him . . . If that 1970s autograph book of yours has a void, ex-Bruin pivot Gregg Sheppard will be at Sportsworld in Everett (617-387-7220) on March 28, noon to 2 p.m. Sheppard, flipped to Atlanta in the spring of '78 for Dick Redmond, now lives in Saskatoon and will turn 55 next month . . . A comment last week from Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, regarding the need to find a way to strike competitive balance in the league, drew this from Ted Saskins, lead negotiator for the Players Association: "I think we've already got a resolution to that issue in our sport -- just watch the playoffs unfold." . . . If the Bruins manage to gain home ice for the playoffs, their first two games on FleetStreet will be April 7 and 9 . . . Faithful reader Dirty Frank -- honest, that's what he calls himself -- was feeling a serious case of anagram deprivation when Shaone Morrisonn (Sh, No One Man is Orr) left the building. But, ah, Sergei Gonchar provided Frank immediate inspiration. To wit: Gee, Chasing Orr? Sure wish I'd thought of that, seeing now that I'll claim it as my own.

Kevin Paul Dupont's e-mail address is dupont@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.