The Chicago Blackhawks made a blockbuster trade with the Thrashers on Wednesday, the Stanley Cup champions moving Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and a prospect to Atlanta for a first-round pick, a second-round pick, forwards Marty Reasoner and Joey Crabb and prospect Jeremy Morin.

The first- and second-round picks that Chicago gets in the deal were acquired by Atlanta in the trade that sent Ilya Kovalchuk to New Jersey last February.

The prospect Atlanta is getting from Chicago is Akim Aliu.

Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman admitted that the deal was "simply a salary cap move."

"It's exactly what we set out to accomplish," he added. "To get some draft choices. ... There were a lot of other considerations and we're satisfied where we ended up."

Rick Dudley, who in April was promoted to general manager in Atlanta, said the deal made the Thrashers

"significantly better, immediately."

"I think what we saw in the playoffs is the Dustin Byfuglien

we've seen evolving for some time now," Dudley said in a conference call early Thursday morning. "As a forward he's

probably one of the premier power forwards in the league."

The trade was delayed a while on Wednesday night because it would have moved the Thrashers above the accepted limit of 50 player contracts, a league source told ESPN.com. But Atlanta then made a "minor transaction" with San Jose, sending a seventh-round selection (188th overall) in the 2010 draft, defenseman Michael Vernace and left wing Brett Sterling to the Sharks for future considerations.

"It is what it is," Byfuglien said on "The Afternoon Saloon" on ESPN 1000. "It's part of the job. You're not going to stick in one spot the whole time so I've got to go."

After winning their first Stanley Cup since 1961, the Blackhawks were in dire need of shedding salary as new contract extensions for Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane (five years, $31.5 million each) and Duncan Keith (13 years, $72 million) next season put them in a major salary-cap crunch.