Twenty-six games into Season 3 of the EURO League and unhappy with his team’s place in the standings, Oslo General Manager Chris Lee has made a major trade with an Ahearne Division rival.

Thinking more long-term, Lee shipped marquee players Pavel Datsyuk and Shea Weber to London today in exchange for promising youngsters Tyler Seguin and Luca Sbisa. Outlaw fans in Frogner Park, who had gathered for the start of an outdoor winter festival, reacted in different ways. Some cried and had their tears frozen to their faces in the -8 Celsius temperatures, while others yelled and threw objects. Officials said three of Gustav Vigeland’s 212 statues of nudes in the park were chipped or dented. One man was arrested for beating another man after he heard him say, “They were overrated anyway,” to his son.

The trade immediately changes the direction of both teams. Oslo had been known as a veteran team and London as a team of kids built for the future. Both clubs have 25 points and are straddling the cutoff point for teams to make the playoffs in the Northern Conference. Logic says the trade will move London ahead of Oslo in the standings.

Datsyuk, 35, and Weber, 28, have combined for 6 goals and 30 points for Oslo this season. Last year, Datsyuk produced 66 points and Weber 53.  Seguin, 21, has 12 points this season and Sbisa, 23, has 11. Seguin shot the puck nearly 200 times in each of his first two seasons, scoring 61 and 53 points.

The infusion of veteran star talent to the heretofore young London lineup shakes up both the forward lines and the defense pairings. Obviously, both Datsyuk and Weber will see major minutes for the Dons. London coach Ken Hitchcock, who has been shuffling young superstar forwards during his entire tenure, will likely have to decide on Taylor Hall or Brandon Saad to be Datsyuk’s left wing, with Michael Grabner the leading candidate to man the right side. Tyler Bozek remains the team’s second center.

On defense, Weber will likely be paired with either Jake Gardiner or Zach Bogosian. Both are 23 but they play different styles and offer different ingredients to the formula. Weber, due to his experience and the respect he has commanded around the league, may slide into an assistant captain role in London. Brenden Morrow is the current captain of the team.

Oslo has already announced that Seguin will take Datsyuk’s place on the first line with Daniel Sedin and Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy scored 4 goals in his last game, but he has P-A Parenteau right on his heels, ready to take his spot if he falters.

Sbisa, meanwhile, will get a look on the first defense pairing with Ryan Suter. The 23-year-old Sbisa has scored 4 goals in every season so far and is on a pace to score a few points more than his personal best season of 30 with London. David Petrasek, a 31-year-old Swede who also has 4 goals this season may team with Suter if Sbisa doesn’t do an adequate job.

Rumors of the trade leaked out last week, but Eklund of hockeybuzz.com had Weber and Kennedy going to Copenhagen for Alexander Overchkin and Mark Giordano.   Copenhagen officials have acknowledged they were in talks with the Outlaws for two players.