The Big Day - Early Trades

Been a busy day so far. Pre-draft synopsis and analysis, as I can, will follow.

Calgary and Chicago - taking on salary for potential upside

Aucoin
FOR
Zyuzin

Zyuzin is a known quantity on the books for 1 more year at $1.475 mill ($1.400 Cap). Chicago just saved themselves $2.6 (2007/08) + 4.0 (2008/09) in Cap space and $6.525 in salary. Easy to see why they did the trade.

Calgary gets a guy who knows Keenan's system and, if healthy, is a top-10 d-man in the league. He can be THAT good on the power play. Question is: his health. If he continues to have the health issues Calgary lost this trade in a big, big way.

Overall - big gamble for Calgary.

Toronto and San Jose - draft picks for a UFA to be and a salary dump

13th overall pick (2007), 2nd round pick (2007) & 4th round pick (2009)
FOR
Toskala & Bell

Toronto shores up their goaltending picture and gets a LW who proved he can play the game in Chicago... but not so well in San Jose. Toskala alone makes this a good pick-up, Bell gets his game back and it is a big win all around.

San Jose gets something back for Toskala, who would never have re-signed there and who was keeping other prospects back, and dumps salary on a guy who just never worked out for them. Without a dime coming back in salary they can now make a big UFA play, and I think they will.

Great trade for Toronto but iffy for San Jose as it comes down to what they do with the money.

Nashville and Florida - predators declawed

Vokoun
FOR
1st round pick (2008), 2nd round pick (2007) and conditional 2nd rounder

2008 is a deeper draft but with Vokoun in net Florida is a MUCH better team so it is a bit of a saw-off for Nashville. Vokoun is a legit top-10 goalie so Nashville had better hope that Mason's performance from last year wasn't a fluke. Bad trade for them imo. Great for Balsillie though.

As noted, Vokoun is a legit top-10 goalie. Florida needed a goalie. With the core of that team (Horton Bouwmeister, etc) a year older Florida will be MUCH improved next year. The team also gets to keep their top-10 pick THIS year. What a nice trade for them.