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.

The slow, hazy days of summer got a shot of icewater this week with a sudden series of trades featuring some marquee names.

First, the Denver Spurs made a big play for goaltender Braden Holtby, but it came at a steep price: forwards Zach Parise, Max Domi, and Joel Armia, defenseman Olli Maatta, goaltender Al Montoya, and a first round pick all went to the Boston Banshees. The Spurs also picked up ageless Jaromir Jagr (the all-time GWMHL scoring leader) and defender Zach Bogosian. The Spurs and Banshees followed that up with another, more minor trade, which saw winger Colin Wilson and Boston’s first round Free Agent pick head to Denver for a third round rookie pick.

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The Winnipeg Falcons have swung another big move — and yet another high-profile defenseman is involved. Wait, make that two.

Going to Winnipeg from the Great Lakes Pilots is veteran Ryan Suter. The price for his acquisition was steep, as the Pilots acquire blueliner Jacob Trouba, winger Nail Yakupov, and Winnipeg’s 3rd round pick in 2017.

Andrei Markov, the Vancouver Night Train‘s longest-tenured player, all-time assists leader, and first decent draft pick, is packing his bags for Winnipeg. Markov will solidify the Falcons’ blueline, alongside fellow vet Tobias Enstrom and youngsters Ben Hutton and Jacob Trouba.

In return, the Falcons send a 2nd round pick to the Night Train.

The Mid-Season Claim Period is upon us — an annual opportunity for teams to pick up cast-offs and also-rans, and maybe score a gem of a prospect or gear up for a playoff run.

The top two teams — that is, the worst two teams so far this season — went for goalies, as Parry Sound claimed Anders Nilsson and San Jose picked up Mike Condon. At 3rd, El Dorado drafted versatile bottom-sixer Torrey Mitchell, Ice Harbor took a flier on defenseman Griffin Reinhart, and Adirondack acquired Patrick Eaves.

See the complete results here.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Parry Sound Orrsmen made Connor McDavid the top selection of the 2016 GWMHL Rookie Draft, but it was a trade by the West Virginia River Rats that sent ripples through the league.

The Rats, entering a sudden and bold rebuild mode, had already dealt Brent Burns and Henrik Lundqvist leading up to the draft, parted ways with the face of its franchise (and 39th leading scorer in league history), Sidney Crosby. Crosby gets a fresh start with the intriguing Great Lakes Pilots — while the River Rats get a pair of 1st rounders and a 3rd.

The draft would also see Max Pacioretty (Boston to El Dorado), Eric Staal (West Virginia to Delta), and Jimmy Howard (San Jose to Great Lakes) find new homes.

The draft itself offered one of the finest talent pools in recent memory. After McDavid, the San Jose Hosers selected Jack Eichel and the Portland Winterhawks took Artemi Panarin. The top defenseman chosen was Noah Hanifin (6th, Pittsburgh) and top goaltender was Matt Murray (11th, Boston).

See the complete 2016 draft results here.