Welcome to the NHL 2013 Draft: Players Selected and Trades Made

Newark, New Jersey-the National Hockey League drafted its newest members yesterday at the Prudential Center. There were interesting themes of legacies and intrigue spread throughout the 3pm-10pm event.

 Intrigue seems to be the more interesting place to start. The youth additions are important, but some would not be in their draft ranking were it not for these deals. The host team gained a “post-Martin Brodeur Era goalie” in Vancouver’s Cory Schneider at the expense of their 1^st round pick…Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks dealt Dave Bolland to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Michael Frolik to the Winnipeg Jets to make up salary cap room to promptly re-sign Bryan Bickell for 4 more years…Jamie McBain of the Carolina Hurricanes was shipped to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Andrej Sekera and a 2^ND round draft pick…New York Islander Nino Niederreiter and his soon expiring entry level contract were traded to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Cal Clutterbuck and a 3^rd round pick…various picks were bartered as well as GMs were willing to deal in order to get their desired players.

Legacies were honored during the draft as well, some even from different sports. A few examples: Seth Jones -drafted #4 by the Nashville Predators is the son of NBA player Popeye Jones…Carolina Hurricanes’  #5 selection Elias Lindholm’s lineage traces back to father Mikael Lindholm…Edmonton Oilers’ #7 pick Darnell Nurse has NFL player Donovan McNabb for an uncle…#12  first rounder Max Domi may call Phoenix his new hockey home, but his skills came from father Tie Domi...Tyler Bertuzzi is the nephew of NHL veteran Todd Bertuzzi…Eric Comrie is the half-brother of NHL player Mike Comrie…Anthony Brodeur joins his father Martin in the New Jersey Devils organization

Overall consensus: Every team coming into the 2013-2014 season has to cut cap space as a result of the new CBA. This draft class could be the key to keeping teams under the stricter cap. The selections on this day included familiar names that suggest greatness or come from systems that do such as the Halifax Mooseheads and the London Knights.

As for the team hosting the draft, the cap limitations are not the only problem. The New Jersey Devils have issues with ownership as their owner cannot handle the monetary investment required to keep the team. Their tactics to front-load an extended deal for Ilya Kovalchuk will result in a mandatory forfeited first round draft pick next year.

I wish the NHL picks best of luck. Welcome to the newly realigned National Hockey League.

*Sources used for this blog: http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre  for the draft picks from rounds 3-7; www.nhl.com for the article on the Chicago Blackhawks maneuvering to keep Bryan Bickell as well as the 1^st and 2^nd round draft selections.