Draft Day Updates, Wheelings and Dealings already in the works?

tharock098 writes "Heading into Nashville this Saturday and Sunday, the television sets of many die hard fans of the NHL will be glued to watch who will hold the 1st pick overall, and who that team will pick.

Lets first address who will hold the 1st overall pick come Saturday. Florida's GM Rick Dudley openly admits that he is more than willing to ship the pick off to a team who entices him the most. It is known that Carolina, who holds the 2nd overall pick, would love to get thier hands on Canadian Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury because of thier very weak goaltending. They are not too sure that if they keep thier 2nd overall pick, the team who winds up with the 1st wont pick Fleury above them. The rumored players being offered is Jeff O'Neill and a swap of picks. Other teams being interested are Pittsburgh, Boston, Philidelphia and now Toronto. Damian Cox of canoe.ca is reporting that Toronto would love to have thier hands on the 1st overall pick, to more than likely pick Eric Staal. Now dont take this article as another Leaf rumor that is made up, or that there is no chance of the Leafs getting the 1st overall, but im sure the Leafs would like to put on a new image and get thier 1st overall pick since 1985 when they selected a Leaf favourite Wendel Clark.

Lets now address who would more than likely be the first to put on the brand new jersey and hat. Eric Staal is definately this years best prospect, weighing in at a 6 foot 3, 182 pounder, he is not going to be knocked around. Many predict that this 19 year old will eventually become at his lowest as great as Ron Francis or at his highest as great as Steve Yzerman. He is this years best blue chip prospect, who can guarantee cracking any small market teams lineup for next year. Florida will more likely than not ship the pick off to the team who makes the best offer. Suppose Caronina gets the 1st overall, Marc Andre Fleury is going to North Carolina, then depending on if Carolina keeps thier 2nd overall, Eric Staal will go #2. Imagine if the Hurricanes can manage to retain thier #2 pick, while trading roster players for the #1 overall? Its a scenario which could play out, but thats only if Carolina does offer a better deal than anyone else.

Pittsburgh has admitted that they would want Marc-Andre Fleury, and they have been willing to trade up. Martin Straka is the only feasable trade which Pittsburgh could offer (Martin straka for a swap of 2003 picks). Fleury would be a welcome addition to a more than struggling team, but at the price of Martin Straka and possibly the loss of Mario Lemieux, the Pittsburgh offence would be zero.

Philidelphia's goaltending as of now is not very good. Robert Esche is not the kind of goaltender which Philidelphia would like to see as thier #1 for next year. Rumors flying are that Philly would like to sign Jeff Hackett if nothing pans out on draft day or before July 1. They would like to trade up for Florida's #1 pick in order to solidify thier goaltending for a few years down the road. Justin Williams and Simon Gagne are the most wanted, and most likely to be trade bait for florida to try and snag. Gagne would provide depth along the left wing, and at $2,100,000 a season, he would be the same salary as Viktor Kozlov. I could see a deal going through that would send the #1 overall to Philly for Williams/Gagne and a swap of 1st round picks.

Boston has traded away thier backup, John Grahame to Tampa and may loose thier mid season aquisition, Jeff Hackett, to free agency or retirement. Relying on the services of Steve Shields, the Bruins organization could use either Staal or Fleury alot. Sergei Samsonov has been offered along with thier 1st rounder in exchange for the #1 overall. Samsonov's salary at $2,200,000/season is just along the same route as Simon Gagne, and Samsonov could provide the Panthers with depth along the wing.

Finally, Damian Cox reported that the Leafs would like to get thier hands on the 1st overall, why?, because of the new direction the team is heading. Hopefully before June 21, the Leafs will have hired a new General Manager, rumored to be Steve Tambelini from the Vancouver Canucks. With the impending firing of Bill Watters and Ken Dryden, the Leafs are mixing up thier management, which could have enough force to change thier 57th overall pick into 1st overall. The main trade bait could be Travis Green and Darcy Tucker both making $1,500,000/season. These players offered nothing more to the leafs than depth, so the Leafs could use them to pick Eric Staal. The leafs would not pick Marc-Andre Fleury because of thier already stellar goaltending prospects in Michael Tellqvist and Sebastian Centomo. Eric Staal would make a great addition to the St. Johns team and would more than likely crack the lineup in the 2004-2005 season. This trade isnt as likely to happen, as more desperate teams would be willing to offer much more than Green or Tucker.

All in all, this pick has a great chance of being traded at the last minuite to a desperate team wanting to get either a blue chip prospect in Eric Staal, or a goaltending legend in the works in Marc-Andre Fleury. My prediction is this pick will go to Carolina, who is much more desperate than any other team to select Marc-Andre Fleury. "


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