What A Weekend It Was

It was quite a week in the NHL as the awards ceremony took place in Las Vegas, the two-day draft was held in Pittsburgh, and the wheeling and dealing before July 1st free agency began. For me, it's the start of the NHL summer where we will have a few fun weeks before it dies down again in mid-July. We will then have a six to seven week break before training camps open in September and it heats up again leading into the season. 

The Draft: 

It's always hard to tell who will be the winners and losers of the draft mainly because most of these players will not be seen for years. Only time will tell what prospects become intricate parts of the team that drafted them. The real work for the prospects begins now as their teams begin to develop them from within their system. Here are the draft winners, at least for now:

Winners:

Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins ended up with two first round picks after they traded Jordan Staal to his brother's team, the Carolina Hurricanes. Although it was a great move for the Canes to get back on the map in the Southeast, the Penguins getting pesky center Brandon Sutter is huge. They also were able to get the Canes eighth pick in which they chose blueliner Derrick Pouliot, another solid choice. With their own pick they may have ended up even better off, getting Olli Matta, who slipped from a top ten pick to 22. These two blueliners will be very highly touted for years to come in Pittsburgh. 

Buffalo Sabres: With the 12th overall pick, the Sabres got a real steal. After eight of the first ten picks were defensemen, the Sabres were able to snag Mikhail Grigorenko. He is an unbelievable mix of size and skill that will shine in the NHL for years. The one hanging question is will he shake off some of the inconsistency that has plagued him in years prior? The Sabres were also able to move up to the 14th spot after a trade with Calgary to grab Latvian center Zemgus Girgensons. He is a 200 foot type of player that competes with maximal effort. Meshing him with Cody Hodson as two of the Sabres top centers will be interesting to see.

New York Islanders: The Isles made a great move by picking up Lubomir Visnovsky from the Ducks. Yes, they definitely traded a pick way to high for a guy that's over 35, however, he is a stellar defenseman. For the Isles, he will eat up over 20 minutes a night of solid hockey alongside Captain Mark Streit. He will also be a big powerplay man for them. With the fourth pick, they grabbed Griffin Reinhart. Reinhart is a highly touted defensive prospect who was called possibly the best player at the draft when he matures. After drafting offense the past nine first rounds, the Isles went very right with this pick.

Edmonton Oilers: For the third year in the row the Oilers had the top pick at the draft. However, this year was a little different, as the top player available was not a consensus number one. Ryan Murray, who ended up going number two, was just as highly rated as Nail Yakupov. The Oilers in the end took Yakupov, who will be very good alongside other number one picks Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor Hall. Yes, they still do need to find some defensemen to fit into their future, but for now, the offense looks great in Edmonton.

The Trades: 

It was surely an interesting Friday night as nobody figured Jordan Staal would be moved just a day after he rejected a 10 year, 60 million dollar contract from the Penguins. The Hurricanes, however, were worried they would lose their shot to another team and therefore sent one of their top young guns in Brandon Sutter, as well as the eighth overall pick, to the Penguins in return for Staal. There is no clear cut winner in this trade as both sides got major pieces for their teams. For now, the Hurricanes got a current player who will be great in the NHL for years to come. The Penguins got a pesky center to fill in the void for Staal's departure as well as two high, very well off defensemen to fit into their future. 

The other trade took place on Saturday, after the draft was declared over. The Flyers traded James van Riemsdyk to the Toronto Maple Leafs for defenseman Luke Schenn. Again, no clear cut winner as this pure hockey trade left both teams with what they wanted. The Leafs got JVR, a kid with amazing offensive upside that will fit well into the Canadian-based team. The Flyers got defense, bringing in Luke to play with brother Braydon, who is a center for the team. This move may also clear up some space to bring in other players for both teams as they Flyers continue to chase Bobby Ryan and Rick Nash while the Leafs look at a little bit of everything as we never know what GM Brian Burke is thinking. 

Rick Nash, Bobby Ryan, Justin Schultz, and Roberto Luongo:

As of now, nothing but dead has come out of these three names being on the trade block. Rick Nash and company continue to push for a trade, however, GM Scott Howsen is still on another planet asking for way too much. It's unlikely any team will put out what they are asking for. Still, look for the Rangers, Flyers, Sharks, and Leafs to continue to call and see where Howsen is at. Another dark house to keep an eye on is the Senators, but Nash is unlikely to waive his no trade to go there. As for Bobby Ryan, he has publicly stated that he is not happy with the Ducks shopping him around constantly. He seems to want to be traded at this point and his father wants him to be a Flyer. However, don't count out some of the same teams interested in Nash to take a run at him hoping the price to be cheaper. Justin Schultz will start fielding offers this week as he will choose his team come next week when free agency opens. Nobody really knows but Justin where he will end up. Rumors have swirled from everywhere, including Edmonton where he would make a clear top line defenseman to New York, where he could join Wisconsin teammates Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan. Other landing spots could be Toronto or even back in Anaheim, where he was drafted. The other big name out there is Roberto Luongo. As of this morning though, it seems it will be tough to move him. Using his no trade clause as leverage, he has stated he will not go to Chicago or Toronto. The only place he is willing to go it seems is Florida, who is interested but has Jose Theodore and up and coming Jacob Markstrom in net. Florida is unlikely to trade the major pieces needed to acquire Luongo.

That's all for now. Things will once again heat up this week as free agency opens Sunday at midnight. I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens. My thinking is that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will end up in the Western Conference, most likely Detroit or Minnesota. When that happens, Nash and Ryan will go to the Rangers and Flyers, depending upon who stretches out first to get one or the other. Schultz is a mystery as only he knows where he wants to play. He will get a max rookie offer wherever he goes so that is not the issue. Luongo will not go anywhere for a while, possibly even until training camp when he realizes he won't be starting in Vancouver because Cory Schneider is taking the reins.