Day 1 of the draft started according to script, but went off the rails fairly quickly into exciting and uncharted territory.
First, there were the rumors that Brian Campbell might have been in play to be traded to Columbus. Rumors spread on Twitter before Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos said that Campbell was in play, but had refused to waive his NTC to go to Columbus, a report the Blue Jackets denied vigorously, even going on Twitter to use their official account to deny it, before Campbell was eventually dealt to Florida.
On the side of the actual draft, the first five picks went fairly to script (though Ottawa surprised several by picking Mika Zibanejad at #6), and we began to see Sean Couturier, Ryan Murphy, and Dougie Hamilton drop on the board. In the end, Couturier went to Philly, completing the Carter trade, Murphy went to Carolina, and Dougie Hamilton went to the Bruins, the last piece of the Phil Kessel trade.
It was a fanastic day for Ohio hockey programs, as J.T. Miller, Connor Murphy, and Tyler Biggs, all Ohio born or raised players, went in the first round to the Rangers, the Coyotes, and the Leafs. (Yes, the Dispatch says Biggs went to Anaheim – they had a bit of a brian fart. Anaheim traded back to 30 while Toronto took the 22nd pick to get Biggs.)
The trade front continued to show activity all night, though Columbus has not closed any more deals at this point. Troy Brouwer was sent from the Blackhawks to Washington for their first round pick, rumors continue to swirl that Ryan Smyth is going back to Edmonton in exchange for Gilbert Brule going to the Kings (though that trade has NOT been finalized), talk of a deal sending Robin Regehr to Buffalo continues to circulate, and in what might be the biggest blockbuster of the draft so far (as opposed to the Philly deals leading up to it), Minnesota sent Brent Burns to San Jose for Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, and San Jose’s 2011 first round pick. I was really hoping Scott Howson could grab Burns for our blue line, but with that hefty of a price tag, I’m not surprised that he held off. For a CBJ Centric look at the day and the deals, take a look at Martini Hockey’s recap.
Meanwhile, Columbus still waits to hear from Jeff Carter. According to his agent, it’s not a problem with Columbus, it’s anger at what he sees as a betrayal by Philly. Betcha we see some very….spirited performance from Carter when Columbus visits the Wachovia Center next season. Jeff at TMM has similar thoughts and some more post-deal reaction, as does Martini.
I didn’t make it down to the draft party, but by all accounts it was pretty bangin’ for a team with no first round pick. Bob Hunter talked to some fans, and the Carter deal has them “re-energized.” Would you agree?
Oh, and if you somehow missed it? Yes, they are now the Winnipeg Jets. They then followed the Atlanta tradition with a wee bit of a stretch, though Mark Scheifle is certainly enthusiastic about being the “new” club’s first selection. Now we just need Reebok and the NHL to get on the stick with approving their logo and colors, because having to give their draft picks a blank black NHL jersey and hat is just sad.
Finally, it seems Derek Dorsett is on Twitter now, too. His account is not “officially” verified, but it was reported by the Other Paper’s Steph Greegor, and his first post was a tribute to Jake Voracek. Then he also posted a picture of…well…it’s either some kind of isometric training, or Dorse is learning how to speak Krogan.
Are you more excited about the Blue Jackets with Jeff Carter than you were at the beginning of June?
| Yes | 25 |
| No | 3 |