Wings get Cory Cross from Pittsburgh

For a fourth rounder in 2007, according to TSN's trade tracker. Definitely not going to be involved in the offense. Big though (6'5", 225lbs) and making just $874,000. That's about all I know about the guy. Update (3:35 ET): James has more:

The Detroit Red Wings acquires Cory Cross I’m not sure how much of an upgrade Cross is over Jamie Rivers. He obviously offers a much bigger presence and a different element, but both are, obviously, depth players on a team like the Red Wings. That said, Detroit has played so well this season and gotten such great contributions from players like Andreas Lilja and Niklas Kronwall on the backend that they don’t really need any parts for an extended playoff run. You can’t lead the Western Conference this season and not be a Stanley Cup contending team. (So much for the dire predictions made at the start of the season for the Red Wings.)

The Wings need size but they haven't had a lot of luck with big defensemen in the past (Hatcher, Ulfie, Maxim, etc., with the exception of Jiri Fischer) so I'm not so sure about this one. At least he has some experience. Rivers was valuble for his versatility (sort of a poor man's Dandenault) but the Wings must not see any need for a forward/defenseman at the moment. Cross has to be praising the hockey gods (offering up incense, sacrificing his new pair of hockey skates or whatever those guys do) he's no longer in the lower ring of hockey hell and has moved to a legitimate and serious contender for the Cup. "Aww," you say. "He won't be able to play with Syd the Kid any more!" No, he'll just get to play with Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Nicklas Lidstrom Mathieu Schneider, Chris Chelios..... you get the point. I think he can find a way to be happy, despite no longer being on the same roster as hockey's Annointed One. He was only there for six games, anyway, having only recently arrived there from Edmonton. I hope he didn't buy a house in Pennsylvania.... Also, Kukla reports Cross'll be a depth player (obviously) and that he'll join the team Saturday. (above via. A2y) The Detroit papers are all over this one, as of 3:30 ET. Not. Don't bother checking until tomorrow morning . Update (3:55 ET): For those of us who are questioning this move, IwoCPO has a few words worth reading. When I saw Witt had gone to Nashville, my first thought was that Kenny's move to clear up roster space had backfired and that he'd traded away Rivers only to end up empty-handed. Maybe Cross was picked up in order to make up for that. I don't know. This won't go down as one of Holland's best but it doesn't negate great decisions he's made in the past. The team certainly had less leverage in trade negotiations than they have had in the past, due to the cap, so maybe it shouldn't be such a surprise that they came up so empty handed.