Everything But The Draft On Draft Day

Unfortunately for all hockey fans, lately, talk hasn’t been as much about the playoffs and more about the upcoming draft in Montreal.

A “sniper” who doesn’t know the name of any defenseman or goaltender he has ever played with, a defenseman who despite only playing hockey for about 12 years somehow deserves being compared to a Chris Pronger or Nik Lidstrom. As well as a Brampton Battalion second line forward who only scored 18 points this year when on the road and opposing coaches got their matchups.

You didn’t know that about Matt Duchene did you?

However, despite the intense, nail biting, seat friendly series that is happening—we are talking about these three.

Now before I go too far, I do believe that these three guys are going to be dynamite—either blowing up the league or blowing up the heads of scouting agencies.

However, they are not what this slide show is about.

Instead, it is about everything and anything else that is going to happen on Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

Stay tuned and find out the most likely trades to take place on that hockey friendly Friday in late June and the few weeks before and after.

Jay “get me the heck out of this place” Bouwmeester is granted his wish

Please throw your computer against your wall and jump on it until it stops making sounds it you truly believed that Jay Bouwmeester ever considered staying with the Florida Panthers.

To explain myself as to why him leaving is so obvious you just have to look at where he grew up.

For most people in Florida you can make a case that they truly enjoy the great weather year round, they enjoy showing off their chromed out cars, showing off their new “swag” and tuning their golf games.

Jay Bouwmeester grew up in Edmonton where -2 Celsius calls for beach day in local schools, isn’t a huge fan of golf and drives an old pickup truck, didn’t know what “swag” was at the beginning of the year.

Still think he desperately wants to stay in the furthest place from, what he knows as home?

Look for Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal to make a run at his draft rights. I’m willing to bet my favourite pair of socks that he signs somewhere in Canada.

Brent Sutter changes the routine and asks to leave instead of being told too.

Ever think about why the search for a new coach in Edmonton has become quieter then Blake Wheeler over the past month? Only reason I can think of is they have already found their guy.

Brent Sutter is not the New Jersey type coach. He doesn’t enjoy the style, the city, three lines who didn’t know there was another net on the ice until this year or the fact that his family has to stay up till 1am to watch the end of his games.

Look for Brent Sutter to leave even if it means threatening all of New Jersey with mad cow.

…There isn’t much more to say—he’ leaving.

Brian Burke shows everyone why he is the closest thing to Chuck Norris

Brian Burke is not the type of guy to sit and wait for five or six years until all his draft picks have developed.

He doesn’t like utilizing kids who in top line roles who are younger then his kids and more importantly he wants to make his mark so that he doesn’t have to take another “shot in the groin.”

Every team he has ever managed he has made a move that puts that team over the top or makes them into an elite, top 5 franchise.

In Vancouver he drafted the Sedins and Kesler as well as sign Willie Mitchell. Those four players were critical in their success this year.

In Anaheim he created the best defensive unit that we have seen in recent years by trading for Pronger, Neidermayer and the Fedorov trade that brought in Beauchemin.

Since he already made the statement that he is going for the playoffs next season that means in Brian Burke terms… We’re going for the cup.

As a realist I’d love to say that he’s dreaming – but this is Brian Burke, the most comparable person to Chuck Norris and Jack Bauer.

I’ve already bet my favourite socks, so let’s throw my favourite boxers in their that he does something huge, any takers?

Joe Thornton is definitely on the market, Jay Bouwmeesters’ rights are up for grabs as are Marian Gaboriks’ and Rick Nash is entering the final year of his contract so he can definitely be bought for the right price.

Unfortunately for Matt Duchene, he isn’t going to his favourite team

The other day in an interview before the Memorial Cup opener, Matt Duchene said that as a kid his favourite team was the Colorado Avalanche and he loved watching Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg work their magic.

Unfortunately for the second best player in this years draft he won’t be living in the Denver area for years to come.

Colorado does not have a need for forwards, they have a great young core in their top 9 and have a much greater need for defenseman and an upgrade in net, which pretty much means anyone willing to let the puck hit them.

Personally I believe that Colorado is going to be working the phones extremely hard to try and acquire a different pick in the top 12 as well as a solid prospect.

Toronto, Dallas and Edmonton are definitely teams who will hear from the Colorado management team. Acquiring the 7th, 8th or 10th pick puts them in contention to pick Ryan Ellis, Jared Cowan who Colorado is very high on or Oliver Ekman Larsson who I believe is going to be the biggest steal coming out of this draft.

All three of these teams have some players who they could send Colorado’s way and all three need a second line center man for the future.

Vinny Struck By Lightning and Thunders out of Tampa

The chances of this not happening are about as great as Phoenix/Hamilton/Winnipeg becoming a profitable franchise next year. Ok, ok nothing is that certain, but this definitely isn’t the last you hear about him.

Tell me this, Tampa knows that they are not going anywhere within the next three years. They know that they are about to form one of the scariest forward and defense combinations in the league with Stamkos and Hedman and they know that they have a much greater chance of success in the long run with what Vinny brings back rather then gives them.

They could easily get a top 10 pick in this years draft, an all star defense man as well as a legit prospect as well as anymore that a team is willing to sacrifice.

Lets face the facts, the day that Tampa drafted Steven Stamkos and traded Dan Boyle was the day that Vinny was guaranteed to be on his way out.

He comes with an 8.5 million dollar cap hit each year and Tampa is not about to get stuck in another situation where all their money is locked up with three or four guys.

During the 11 year contract, Stamkos will want significant money as will Hedman. Malone is already signed with a 4.5 million dollar hit for another six years and money doesn’t just grow on trees… especially in Tampa.

Likely, Unlikely? Well it's one of the two...

So you think this is extremely far fetched? Well so do I. Imagine if this all happened!

Nash, Bouwmeester, Lecavalier all traded on one day!

However, if anything is going to happen that is worth noting, it will be something that I have mentioned, I hope. I don’t see anything else of major consequence having the chance to take place

However, until then let’s just not worry about June 29th and marvel at the fact that Americans are starting to appreciate what us Canadians have been in love with for 100 years.

The spectacular game that we live and die for, that we write articles about that probably won’t come true and the same game that on June 29th hundreds of thousands of us will forget about the incredibly warm weather that is around us and hide away inside and remember the times that we experienced throughout this year

So in closing, good luck to all your teams! If you are one of the four teams fans left then congrats and all the best! At this point I never really have a favourite team but I just want great hockey.

Once it’s all over… See you on the golf course! As a Leafs fan, I’m sure ill be far better!