HockeyCanucks, Oilers, Habs and Senators get busy at draft

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LOS ANGELES -- Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis began his off-season aim of beefing up his defence by acquiring Keith Ballard on Friday.

In what was the biggest trade in the first round of the 2010 NHL entry draft, the Canucks acquired Ballard, along with the six-foot-three, 215-pound right wing Victor Oreskovich from the Florida Panthers, in exchange for forwards Steve Bernier and Michael Grabner and the Canucks first-round selection (25th overall).

The Canucks could have delayed the first-round pick they gave up to the Panthers until next year. But when prospects Beau Bennett (20th) and Jarred Tinordi (22nd) were snatched up by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Montreal Canadiens, respectively, Vancouver surrendered its pick.

"Defence is an area we feel we have to address," Gillis said. "We feel we need more depth. Our Achilles Heel seemed to be the fact that we had some defence get hurt and we didn't have enough depth to compete at the level we wanted to. If we're going to get past the second round and advance to the conference final we need to have more defencemen.

"We're trying to address two needs: size and puck moving defencemen."

Gillis also stated that he's not done trying to improve his roster. He still has interest in re-signing soon-to-be unrestricted free agent Willie Mitchell, who is recovering from a concussion, and the Canucks also are attracted to pending unrestricted free agent Dan Hamhuis.

The 27-year-old Hamhuis is from Smithers, B.C. His rights were traded for a second time this week, when the San Jose Sharks acquired Hamhuis from the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2011 third-round pick on Friday. The Flyers surrendered Ryan Parent and a conditional pick for the rights to Hamhuis from the Nashville Predators earlier in the week.

The Sharks also have interest in Tomas Kaberle, whom the Toronto Maple Leafs are trying to peddle.

Gillis revealed that talks with the Panthers had been ongoing for some time, but heated up in the past few days. Of course, the Canucks were familiar with Ballard. Associate coach Rick Bowness had him in Phoenix.

"He's brings a real edge," Gillis said. "He is a puck moving defenceman who plays hard. He can play on the power plays and kill penalties."

The Canadiens made a deal with the Coyotes to move up five spots to take the six-foot-five, 205-pound Tinordi of the United States developmental program at No. 22. Of course, Canadiens senior advisor Bob Gainey knows all about the Tinordi pedigree. The kid's father, Mark, played for Gainey in Minnesota and Dallas in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The only other Canadian club to make a first-round selection was the Edmonton Oilers with the first overall selection, Taylor Hall. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames did not have first-round picks entering the day and the Ottawa Senators gave up the 16th overall selection to the St. Louis Blues for Swedish defenceman David Runblad, whom the Blues drafted 17th last year.

Why did Senators GM Bryan Murray make the move? Because the forward they wanted was snapped up in the draft prior to the Senators turn.

Runblad was highly regarded by Senators scout Anders Forsberg. Runblad will remain in Sweden for another year, but should be ready for the NHL in 2011-12, which Murray stated would be a faster rate than another junior they would have drafted at No. 16 on Friday.

Oilers GM Steve Tambellini tried desperately to acquire another pick in the first-half of the first round, but couldn't seal another deal to go along with Hall of the back-to-back Memorial Cup winning Windsor Spitfires.

The Oilers tried hard to acquire the Boston Bruins second-round pick, but Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli wanted to keep the choice to take centre Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers. Edmonton also offered up Andrew Cogliano to the Florida Panthers for the 15th overall selection, but Panthers GM Dale Tallon turned down the offer.

"It was worth trying," said Tambellini, commenting on his attempt to acquire another first-round pick. The Oilers GM, however, would not confirm that he offered Cogliano to the Panthers. "I would have loved to have them both [Hall and Seguin] ... They're both going to be good players."

Hall remarked that he was nervous in the moments leading up to the Oilers big announcement. Now he returns to Alberta. He was born in Calgary before his family moved to Kingston, Ont.

"Yeah, that is something that shows my career has come full circle," Hall said. "I played in my backyard in Calgary, now I'm playing in the big rink. There's been such a transformation, and it's a tremendous journey that I've been on.

Now he goes to Edmonton as the franchise's saviour.

"I thought about that," he said. "There are always expectations no matter what you do.

"Obviously being a number one pick, I have to go in there and have a job to do, and I think I have the tools to do it. I know I have the confidence and the drive, so that's what's going to push me every day to be a better player and help the team out."

It's this sort of attitude that has Tambellini excited.

"He's an impressive young man," the Oilers GM said. "He has a compete level that is untouchable.

"I know he played on a good team, but he was the best player on that team. He is a winner."
 

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