HALIFAX — The Halifax Chaos made it clear this week that they weren’t afraid to make significant changes to a roster they believe can still take another step forward.

In a busy stretch of transactions, Halifax moved on from two prominent forwards, added a new top-six centre, strengthened its depth on both the wing and blue line, and created additional salary-cap flexibility for the moves still to come.

The biggest deal saw the Chaos send superstar left winger Fox Ocallahan and goaltender Thatcher Goodyear to the New York Knights in exchange for centre Cameron Lodewyks, goaltender Pierre-Anthony Back, and the Twisters first-round pick next year.

For Ocallahan, the trade brings an end to a Halifax tenure that simply never developed the way either side envisioned.

There was plenty of excitement when Ocallahan originally arrived in Halifax in a trade with the Mighty Moose, but for whatever reason, the fit never quite materialized. The production, role and overall chemistry never consistently matched the expectations that came with acquiring a player of his calibre.

Rather than continuing to try to force the fit, the Chaos elected to turn the page.

New York now gives Ocallahan something that may ultimately benefit everyone involved: a fresh start.

For Halifax, the key piece coming back is Lodewyks who is having a terrific season with 37 points in 44 games.

The talented centre is expected to step immediately into the Chaos top six, giving Halifax another legitimate option down the middle and changing the makeup of the forward group almost overnight.

The trade also provided Halifax with an opportunity to address its goaltending and salary structure.

Moving Goodyear's contract gives the Chaos additional cap flexibility. Although Back came to Halifax as part of the return, the expectation is that the Chaos will buy out Back’s contract, opening the door for either Visa-Antti Reimavuo or Rylee Hak to claim the backup role.

It would be a considerably less expensive solution behind the Chaos starter and would free additional money for management to use elsewhere on the roster.

And Halifax wasn’t finished.

With Lodewyks immediately occupying a top-six centre position, the Chaos quickly found themselves with a surplus down the middle.

That led to a second deal.

Halifax sent centre Willem Halward to the Bandits in exchange for left winger Ivan Rutgersson and defenceman Jonatan Klingvall.

The move accomplishes several things for the Chaos.

Most importantly, it removes Halward’s salary from the books at a time when his role was likely to shrink considerably following the acquisition of Lodewyks.

Rather than keeping an expensive centre further down the lineup, Halifax turned him into two pieces that potentially address greater organizational needs.

Rutgersson gives the Chaos another option on the left side following Ocallahan’s departure, while Klingvall adds another defenceman to the organization and provides additional flexibility on the back end.

It is the type of move that makes considerably more sense when viewed as part of the larger picture.

Halifax essentially replaced Halward's top-six opportunity with Lodewyks, redistributed Halward's salary, and added two players in return.

The departure of Halward did leave Halifax with another hole further down the depth chart, but management wasted little time addressing it.

The Chaos signed free-agent centre Colman Crabb, who is expected to step into the fourth-line centre role vacated by Halward.

Crabb won't be asked to replace Halward's offensive contribution.

He doesn't need to.

With Lodewyks now taking those important top-six minutes, Halifax can use Crabb in a more traditional depth role while allocating significantly less cap space to the position.

That appears to be the theme connecting virtually every move Halifax made this week.

Put money where it matters.

Taken individually, each move carries some risk.

Ocallahan remains a superstar-calibre talent capable of thriving in New York. Halward was an established member of the Chaos lineup. Goodyear provided experience in goal.

But Halifax appears to be looking beyond individual names and toward the overall construction of the roster.

When the dust settles, Halifax has potentially upgraded its top-six centre position, added a future first-round pick, strengthened its organizational depth at wing and defence, opened a competition for a cheaper backup goaltender, and created considerably more flexibility under the salary cap.

That's a substantial amount of roster surgery in a very short period of time.

The headline will understandably be Ocallahan.

Star players don't leave Halifax quietly, and there will always be questions about what might have been had the relationship worked differently.

But sometimes the best move for both the player and the organization is acknowledging when something hasn't worked.

Ocallahan gets his new beginning in New York.

Halifax gets a chance to reshape the roster around a different core.

And after one of the busiest weeks in recent Chaos history, Cameron Lodewyks now finds himself right in the middle of what comes next.

Congratulations to the Western Conference for defeating the East 10 - 8 in the 6th Annual All Star Game.  This years game was hosted by Halifax.   Your ASG MVP is Sergey Krivulya of the St Louis Voodoo.    You can see the full results right here. 

In a matinee game today the American Conference defeated the Canadian Conference 15 - 10 in the annual All Star Game.  You can see the full box score here.   

Congratulations to Carmine Sommervill for winning the game MVP.  

Congratulations to the Season 6 Western Conference All Stars 

Name                                                                                  Team                                         Pos

Sergey Krivulya                                                            St Louis                                    C 

Jaiden Moar                                                                   Los Angeles                           C

Cliff Deruelle                                                                 Las Vegas                                C

Elie Van Der Male                                                       Tucson                                      C

Wes Pushka                                                                   St Paul                                      LW

Josef Dolnicek                                                             Los Angeles                          LW

Israel Swenson                                                            Seattle                                      LW

Donavon Sorley                                                         Tucson                                      LW

Duma Dodrescu                                                         Memphis                                 RW

Keegan Ramkema                                                    San Francisco                         RW

Konstantin Pastushenko                                      Portland                                   RW

Vladimir Zayev                                                           Los Angeles                           RW

Eric Picklyk                                                                    Minnesota                              D

Kodi Lapalme                                                             Memphis                                   D

Anton Rozhkov                                                         Calgary                                      D

Lukasz Pomfret                                                         Denver                                      D

Luke Vanni                                                                   Tucson                                       D

Frederic Marini                                                        Edmonton                               D

Lars Bjorn Sundholm                                             Tucson                                      G

Bryce Buha                                                                  Memphis                                G

Andrew Dumont                                                    Edmonton                               G

Congratulations to the Season 6 Eastern Conference All Star Selections

NAME.                                                           TEAM                                       POS

Isiah Bruton                                                  Harfang                                           C

Jarred Kennelly                                         Trident                                              C

Orlando Wey                                              North Stars                                    C

Tom Folke                                                      Red Tails                                         C

Coltyn Bergevin                                        Red Tails                                         D

Darrel Bax                                                    Knights                                            D

Elijah Sanner                                               Harfang                                           D

Mikhail Pervago                                         Knights                                          D

Roman Mishuyev                                      Stingrays                                       D

Spencer Lafortune                                    Privateers                                    D

Emilio Istad                                                     North Stars                               G

Leon Campaner                                          Harfang                                        G

Vladislav Stasenko                                   Militia                                            G

Anton Vekselberg                                     Royals                                            LW

B.J. Keogan                                                   Stingrays                                      LW

Steve Munslow                                         Maulers                                        LW

Terry Vasey                                                 Militia                                            LW

Brooks Goupil                                            Mighty Moose                         RW

Donavon Linlithgow                              Redbull                                        RW

Kerby Daviault                                         Privateers                                  RW

Reinhold Lahdo                                        Chaos                                           RW