Rangers, Islanders might be 'taking' not 'trading' during draft

The NHL draft weekend questions normally revolve around the question, "Who's your team taking?"

With the way this past week has gone, the question now is, "Who's your team trading?"

There have been an inordinate amount of deals leading up to today's first round in Los Angeles, capped on Wednesday night by the newly crowned Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks sending Dustin Byfuglien, who garnered some votes for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, along with veteran defenseman Brent Sopel to the Thrashers for first- and second-round picks plus junior prospect Jeremy Morin.

There will be other deals, to be sure, with all the general managers in L.A. now. Leafs GM Brian Burke sounded determined to deal defenseman Tomas Kaberle, whose no-trade clause expires tonight, at the start of the draft. He told reporters on Wednesday that he has "four concrete offers on the table" for Kaberle.

The Bruins, who picked up disgruntled Panthers forward Nathan Horton earlier this week in exchange for defenseman Dennis Wideman and the Bruins' No. 15 overall pick, are shopping Marc Savard as well. The Senators are eager to move Jason Spezza.

The Rangers and Islanders don't seem to be involved in the trading frenzy, at least not where the big names are concerned. Isles GM Garth Snow has entertained offers for the fifth overall pick, according to sources, but nothing that has enticed him to consider trading away another prospective piece of the Islanders' puzzle.

The Rangers, who pick 10th, are being asked only for their prized collection of young players in trade offers - Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto, Artem Anisimov, Evgeny Grachev, Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh. Those are still non-starters for Glen Sather.

Instead, expect the Rangers to try for a smaller draft-day deal, as they did in acquiring Brian Boyle from the Kings and Chad Johnson from the Penguins last year.

Both local teams have top-10 picks and are fairly focused on adding to their stash of prospects. If the Islanders can pick up one of the top-rated defensemen - Erik Gudbranson or Cam Fowler of the Ontario League or Brandon Gormley of the Quebec League - Snow and his staff will come away pleased to have another defenseman alongside Calvin de Haan, the 12th pick last year, Travis Hamonic and steady contributor Andrew MacDonald.

The Rangers are trying to do the same at No. 10. There are a glut of forwards in the mix, from Russians Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Burmistrov to Finn Mikael Granlund to Swiss Nino Niederreiter to North Americans Ryan Johansen and Brett Connolly.

American defenseman Derek Forbort and American goaltender Jack Campbell are longer shots, but under consideration.

At the top of the draft, the choice for the Oilers and "new" coach Tom Renney - he was associate coach to Pat Quinn last season, but Quinn was reluctantly kicked out to a senior adviser spot and Renney, the successful former Rangers coach, gets a young, unfocused team to himself - is between Taylor and Tyler.

That's Taylor Hall, a John Tavares-like scorer in juniors, and Tyler Seguin, a talented, two-way center more in the Matt Duchene mold. The Bruins will end up with whoever's not picked No. 1.

Those top picks are pretty much the only ones safe from being dealt. After that, every team is open to a deal, it seems.