NHL Draft Day Brings Not Only Picks but Trades

Draft day is always exciting. We get to see the new faces of the NHL as youngsters see their childhood dreams come true. For many, the excitement of the draft is enough, but this year brought added excitement as team made trades during the draft to ensure their teams success next season. As a result of these trades, the already stacked Eastern Conference got a little tougher to compete in once more. With the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leafs both trading for starting goalies. This years crop of youngsters won't be able to make much of a splash next season. There isn't a Sydney Crosby or an Alex Ovechkin in this years draft. Don't expect any of these young players to be playing next season, so the teams that made the best moves on draft day were the ones who made great trades.

The Leafs and the Panthers happened to be the teams who made the best deals. The Leafs made a move that would bring San Jose Sharks goaltender Vesa Toskala to Toronto. Toronto just missed out on the playoffs last season and fans hope that Toskala can help them make a jump in the standings. Andrew Raycroft was the Leafs goaltender last season, and he simply just didn't get the job done. Not that Raycroft played poorly, but his performance left much to be desired. The Leafs found it hard to escape close game with a win as Raycroft often let in a soft goal or couldn't quite steal the game for them. A goaltenders job is to stop the puck and provide support for the back end. Raycroft's play just didn't inspire. Among the Leafs, the Florida Panthers also made a deal to get a number one goaltender. Last season saw Ed Belfour take the number one spot for Florida after star Roberto Luongo was traded to the Vancouver Canucks last season. Florida made a deal which will see Nashville Predators goalie Tomas Vokoun head for Florida. The situation isn't as simple as it is in Toronto for the Panthers. Vokoun is definitely an upgrade for the Panthers, but with the rest of the team still lacking skill, they need a lot more than goaltending to get them going. Also, there are concerns that Vokoun needs to remain healthy to help the Panthers pull themselves out of their slump. Even though these trades were the big news on draft day, many teams were happy with their choices of draft picks. The Chicago Blackhawks chose American born Patrick Kane first overall and were very happy with this pick. Also the Rangers lucked out when Russian Alexei Cherepanov's stock dropped on draft day and it allowed them to grab him halfway through the first round. Draft days are exciting, and the 2007 draft was no exception.