Bryan Allen finally made it. The defenseman, traded to the Canes on Monday afternoon, had his flight delayed by thunderstorms in the Raleigh area but said he arrived at his hotel at 4:30 a.m.

Six hours later, he was on the ice at the RBC Center for the morning skate. Wearing No. 5, he will be paired with Jay Harrison tonight against his former team, the Florida Panthers. Derek Joslin will be a scratch.

Allen needed to only look across the locker room to see a familiar face: Cory Stillman, traded to the Canes by the Panthers last week. Allen, with a smile, noted they called Stillman "Gramps" in Florida. Stillman, in turn, said Allen should be a good addition for a team fighting to make the playoffs.

"He's going to give us a physical presence, that's for sure," Stillman said. "He's a big man, he plays the body, he plays hard."

For Bryan Allen, the toughest part of coming to the Carolina Hurricanes may have been trying to get to Raleigh on Monday night.

Traded by Florida to the Canes on Monday for Sergei Samsonov, the defenseman hoped to hop on a 9 p.m. plane to RDU. But thunderstorms in the Raleigh area caused delays.

Not to worry, though. Allen said he would make it eventually and would be ready for his first game with the Canes — against the Panthers, of course, on Tuesday night.

"It's really weird when you sit down and think about it," Allen said. "I'm practicing with (the Panthers) one day and then will be playing against them the next day. I'm not sure there was a scenario quite like that one today."

RALEIGH -- There hasn’t ever been a trade deadline that had the kind of implications for the future of the Carolina Hurricanes the way it did today. There was only one trade made, but its reverberations and ramifications will be felt for a long time.

The deal to acquire Bryan Allen from the Florida Panthers meant that the Hurricanes lost Brett Carson on waivers for nothing. It means that the odds of losing Joni Pitkanen for nothing this summer substantially increased. But Allen’s arrival also significantly upgraded the Carolina blue line from a defensive standpoint, and by deciding not to cash in on Pitkanen and trade him now, the Hurricanes’ chances of making the playoffs weren’t harmed, either.

The Hurricanes are in better shape to make the playoffs today than they were yesterday, but not without some collateral damage.