Draft wheeling, dealing often ends up as just talk

MONTREAL - When it comes to blockbuster trades and making a splash, Chuck Fletcher worked for one of the best in the business in Bryan Murray.

Murray, now the Ottawa Senators general manager, has a knack for making headlines, whether it was trading for the Russian Rocket, Pavel Bure, or committing the fleece of the century by snatching Roberto Luongo and Olli Jokinen from the Islanders.

Thursday night, with the anticipation for tonight's opening round of the entry draft growing fast, Murray was up to his old tricks by shopping two-time 50-goal scorer Dany Heatley.

Sources say it was down to seven teams, including the Wild, with the Los Angeles Kings offering a package that included the talented Alexander Frolov and the fifth overall pick.

So far, Fletcher -- now the Wild's GM after being Murray's protégé in Florida and Anaheim -- was finding it more difficult than he expected at executing his first Minnesota trade. None of the 30 teams was yet willing to get the domino started, and "fits" were difficult, Fletcher says, because so many teams are trying to unload money without taking any back -- an impracticality in this salary-cap world and unstable economic climate.

Thrill of a big move

Fletcher again planned to meet with his staff Thursday night to bounce around ideas. That's what happened before the 2000 draft when, Murray and the Panthers traded youngsters Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha for Luongo and Jokinen.

"We showed up at the draft, and there was nothing imminent," Fletcher said. "We all went back to Bryan Murray's room and he would have been on the phone all day speaking with managers. He said, 'Mike Milbury called again and he's looking for some forwards and Luongo's available.'

"We sat around for two or three hours in the GM's suite bantering and saying, 'What if we did this and what if we did this?' Generally when you do this, 90 percent of the things you talk about don't materialize, but to me, that process is the best part of being in hockey.

"You're sitting around role playing and saying, 'Do we want to give up the first-round pick or do we want a prospect or should we trade this guy instead of that guy?'"

It was around 11 p.m. Friday night when Milbury agreed to the Luongo/Jokinen deal. The draft was Saturday morning, so the meeting with the league to approve the trade couldn't occur until 10 hours later.

"I couldn't sleep," Fletcher said, laughing. "I just wanted to get the meeting done with. I just kept tossing and turning, thinking, 'Something bad's going to happen. Another team's going to get involved. The deal's going to fall apart.' I just remember the anxiety and the excitement.

"And once it officially got done, oh my, the adrenaline. But that was a long night."

When Commissioner Gary Bettman stepped to that mike and announced the trade to the Calgary crowd, the "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh" shook the Saddledome. Remember, Jokinen was the third pick in the 1997 draft, Luongo the fourth. And Parrish scored a combined 50 goals in his first two years in Florida.

"I think it just stunned everybody," Fletcher said. "Generally, you don't see so many young, talented players moving team to team anymore."

Trying to find a 'fit'

Fletcher has been a part of several big draft trades as an assistant GM. In 1999, the Panthers traded for Trevor Kidd, and in 2001, sent Rob Niedermayer to Calgary for Valeri Bure. In Anaheim, Murray traded two second-round picks to draft Corey Perry 28th overall, this after already drafting Ryan Getzlaf 19th. And Brian Burke set up the Chris Pronger blockbuster at the 2006 draft.

Will Fletcher be able to make similar noise today? He honestly didn't know as of late Thursday.

Fletcher estimated he has inquired about 40 different players, but he's having trouble finding those "fits" because so many teams want to trade exorbitant contracts for only prospects and picks, quite the problem when you're a franchise with few prospects or picks.

With the 12th overall pick, Fletcher doesn't even have the ability to move up because the Wild is without a second- and third-round pick. If there's still a handful of players the Wild is excited about when its pick comes, Fletcher might roll the dice, move back, accumulate extra picks and pray one of those players remain when the Wild next picks.

"I might be doing a lot of shuffling," Fletcher said.

So right now, all throughout the NHL, there has been a lot of talk and very little action.

"There's a lot of buildup and what actually happens is often much less than what you talk about," Fletcher said.

Or, as often is the case, too, GMs wait as long as they can for the best deal and the balloon bursts right at 6 p.m. when the draft starts.