Silver Nuggets: Merits of Trading Up or Down on D-Day

Hey folks! After a brief hiatus I have returned to provide Nuggets of hockey goodness to you each day!

Now that the season has finally come to a close and we have "Crowned" new NHL champions, the hot topic for the next ten days is the NHL draft. Since the league became a cap league, the NHL draft has become even more of an event, and even more of a defining day for many franchises in the league. Teams in the cap world are often made or broken through the draft. In addition, it has become a booming day for NHL trades, with teams looking to bring something new to the coming season and with salary flexibility in the summer.

This year, as many of you know, the Senators will start the draft with the 15th overall selection. While you can be pretty sure a player like Nail Yakupov will not be available at the 15th spot, the Sens brass believe they can get themselves a good player at 15, and I'm inclined to believe them. They got themselves Erik Karlsson in 2008, the last time they picked at 15.

In 2008 however, the Sens did not start with the day with the 15th pick, they instead had the 18th overall pick. They traded up to acquire 15 when they saw that Karlsson was still available. So this year, it would not be out of the question to see Bryan Murray dealing the 15th pick to move up or down. Perhaps a player like Cody Ceci is still available at 11 or 12, or perhaps he will trade down, and go for a player that other teams are not as high on, while recouping other assets (like a second round pick).

One thing is certain, that June 22-23 will be two of the more exciting days on the NHL calendar this season, and here's hoping Bryan Murray gets involved with the action.

Senators Links

• In a story that makes me sad that I'm in Kingston this summer instead of Ottawa, Wayne Scanlan talks to Chris Phillips about his new bar in Ottawa, Big Rig Brew Pub. Readers, check it out for us and let us know what it is like! [SensExtra]
• The ever thought-provoking Mark Parisi asks us all how we would feel about trading 35 goal scorer Milan Michalek. [SSS]
• Alan Panzeri feels like the Senators enter the draft in a position of strength considering the very deep prospect pool in the organization (boosted substantially in last years big draft). [SensExtra]
• And here is Panzeri again, this time talking with Pierre Dorian and listing some players who could be on the radar of the Senators brass [SensExtra]
• Finally, one more draft story, our wonderful Bobby Kelly takes a look at a player the Senators might be intrigued by, Swedish winger Sebastian Collberg. Certain fans will salivate to know that Collberg comes from the Alfie-Karlsson factory Frolunda. [SSS]

League Links