Leafs Take Czech Centre With First Pick, Trade For Goalie/NHL Draft

In every sport, in any league, draft day is always a busy one. But even by those standards the 2006 NHL entry draft was particularly hectic.

Saturday night’s action in Vancouver got started as expected, with the St. Louis Blues making American defenceman Erik Johnson the first overall selection. Johnson, 18, became the first blue liner in a decade to go number one and led a record class of 10 U.S. players taken in the first round.

Up next the Pittsburgh Penguins took 17-year-old Jordan Staal, a 6’4″ centre for the Peterborough Petes who will likely form a formidable tandem with Sidney Crosby in years to come. Staal is the younger brother of Carolina Hurricanes sensation Eric and has another brother Marc currently playing in the New York Rangers organization.

University of Minnesota centre Phil Kessel, once considered a potential number one selection, fell to the Boston Bruins at fifth. Unfortunately, he didn’t fall as far as 13, meaning the Toronto Maple Leafs needed to look elsewhere for some future scoring.

And so they looked to Jiri Tlusty, a left-winger who captained the Czech Republic’s under-18 squad.

The 6’1″ 185-pound slasher is considered a project, but scouts say he has an upside that could turn him into a very effective NHL playmaker. He had seven goals and three assists for the Kladno pro team last season.

Other notable first round selections included Chris Stewart, brother of Anthony who was a first round pick by Florida three years ago. The young Kingston Frontenacs forward went 18 ^th overall to the Colorado Avalanche, a spot at which many consider him a steal.

Also, the Los Angeles Kings made 5’11”, 177-pounder Jonathan Bernier from Laval, Que. the first goalie taken, and he’s considered a blue-chip prospect at that all-important position, one where the Kings definitely have a need.

And speaking of needs, teams weren’t relegated to filling theirs through the draft Saturday night.

Several trades went down including one in which the Maple Leafs sent Finnish goalie prospect and last year’s first round pick Tuukka Rask to Boston for goalie and former Calder Trophy winner Andrew Raycroft. The Leafs are expected to cut loose Ed Belfour in coming weeks, meaning Raycroft will likely be the number one come fall.

It was rumoured the Buds were trying to pry Evgeni Nabokov from the San Jose Sharks, but couldn’t get the deal done.

“We had a chance to acquire a 26-year-old goaltender who has already proven himself to be a No. 1 goalie, he’s a former rookie of the year and it really fits in well to our group and what we’re trying to do going forward,” said Leafs GM John Ferguson.

Elsewhere, the Calgary Flames acquired winger Alex Tanguay from the Avalanche in exchange for defenceman Jordan Leopold while the Minnesota Wild grabbed Pavol Demitra from the Kings for their 17 ^th overall pick. The plan is to put Demitra on a line with fellow Slovak Marian Gaborik.

In the day’s other notable deal, the Dallas Stars acquired 1999’s first overall pick Patrick Stefan from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Niko Kapanen.

Here’s a complete list of the first round selections in the 2006 NHL entry draft:

1. St. Louis, Erik Johnson, D, U.S. National Under-18 (U.S. developmental team)

2. Pittsburgh, Jordan Staal, C, Peterborough (OHL)

3. Chicago, Jonathan Toews, C, Univ. of North Dakota (WCHA)

4. Washington, Nicklas Backstrom, C, Brynas (Sweden)

5. Boston, Phil Kessel, C, Univ. of Minnesota (WCHA)

6. Columbus, Derick Brassard, C, Drummondville (QMJHL)

7. N.Y. Islanders, Kyle Okposo, RW, Des Moines (USHL)

8. Phoenix, Peter Mueller, C, Everett (WHL)

9. Minnesota, James Sheppard, C, Cape Breton (QMJHL)

10. Florida, Michael Frolik, C, Kladno (Czech Republic)

11. Los Angeles, Jonathan Bernier, G, Lewiston (QMJHL)

12. Atlanta, Bryan Little, C, Barrie (OHL)

13. Toronto, Jiri Tlusty, LW, Kladno (Czech Republic)

14. Vancouver, Michael Grabner, RW, Spokane (WHL)

15. Tampa Bay, Riku Helenius, Ilves (Finland Jr.)

16. San Jose (from Montreal), Ty Wishart, D, Prince George (WHL)

17. Los Angeles (from Edmonton@ via Minnesota), Trevor Lewis, C, Des Moines (USHL)

18. Colorado, Chris Stewart, RW, Kingston (OHL)

19. Anaheim, Mark Mitera, D, Univ. of Michigan (CCHA)

20. Montreal (from San Jose), David Fischer, D, Apple Valley H.S., Minn. (U.S. high school)@

21. N.Y. Rangers, Bobby Sanguinetti, D, Owen Sound (OHL)

22. Philadelphia, Claude Giroux, RW, Gatineau (QMJHL)

23. Washington (from Nashville), Semen Varlamov, Yaroslavl 2 (Russia second tier)

24. Buffalo, Dennis Persson, D, Vasteras (Sweden Jr.)

25. St. Louis (from New Jersey), Patrik Berglund, C, Vasteras (Sweden Jr.)

26. Calgary, Leland Irving, G, Everett (WHL)

27. Dallas, Ivan Vishnevski, D, Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)

28. Ottawa, Nick Foligno, LW, Sudbury (OHL)

29. Phoenix (from Detroit), Chris Summers, D, U.S. National Under-18

30. New Jersey (from Carolina via St. Louis), Matthew Corrente, D, Saginaw (OHL)