Rookie Draft day is always a chance for GMs to come together and make some big moves. This year featured the usual assortment of pick-for-pick trades, mostly teams going all in on the 2017 draft at the expense of ’18. But several big-name players (and some less big) changed teams, too.
The biggest of the day was undoubtedly star defenseman Erik Karlsson, whose tenure with South Side proved to be short-lived. He headed to Denver, along with centre Mike Fisher and a 4th round pick for defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, young forward Curtis Lazar, and Denver’s 1st and 2nd round picks in 2018.
Salem and Portland made a swap to solve specific depth problems, with the Sabercats sending centre David Krejci and a 3rd in 2017 to the Winterhawks for winger Ondrej Palat and a 3rd and 4th in 2018. With Portland, Krejci can expect to line up next to newly acquired Phil Kessel and one of the team’s high-flying left wingers.
Meanwhile, Charleston got a little younger when it shipped winger Justin Williams off to Boston in exchange for Marcus Foligno and a 4th in 2018. And Parry Sound continued to shore up its once-shaky D with the acquisition of Andy Greene, who became redundant on Pittsburgh when young Ivan Provorov surprisingly fell to the Hornets’ pick. In return, Pittsburgh gets a 2nd rounder in 2018.
Gump Worsley Memorial Hockey League 