NHL GMs have to stick to their plans and then hope for the best at the draft.
MINNEAPOLIS - Brian Burke hates it when he's not at the big kids' table.
But he didn't have enough assets to engineer a trade for Mike Richards on Thursday, and he knows he can't compete with Ottawa GM Bryan Murray's No. 6 overall selection when it comes to moving up in the draft either.
"He's in the card game at six. We're not in the card game at 25," lamented Burke, who won't be able match the magic he had in '93, when he moved around to land Chris Pronger in Hartford. Or '99, when he made a series of deals to cash both of the Sedin twins, when Burke was running the Vancouver Canucks.
"I'd say the move-up scenario looks unlikely, at this point."
Burke said Thursday that he would trade a package of his best three picks in this draft - 25th, 30th and 39th overall - for an established player who could help the Leafs immediately. Down Marquette Ave., at a different Minneapolis hotel, the Edmonton Oilers - another Canadian team on the rebuild - were going in the exact opposite direction.
Edmonton picks first overall, has the 19th selection from Los Angeles in the Dustin Penner trade, and has the 31st overall pick as well. They plan to use them all this weekend, and then close the book on Phase 1 of their rebuild.
"After this weekend, we won't be as protective with our draft picks. To this point, we've cherished them," said Oilers president of hockey operations Kevin Lowe.
It is the second straight year that the Oilers have had the first pick overall, and the top selection in Round 2. This time they've sandwiched a third pick in between at 19, so after this second, fruitful draft is completed, it will be time to move to the next phase of the rebuild.
Theoretically, there shouldn't be another first overall pick for a long, long time in Edmonton - if ever. In fact, the time will come when they'll use draft picks as trade bait, something the Oilers have steadfastly
"At some point, when we see the team maturing, then in all likelihood we'd do a deal like (Columbus GM) Scott Howson did, to bring in a key player to add to what you have," Lowe said.
After years of futile building through the draft in Columbus, Howson traded away draft picks and a prospect (Jakub Voracek) to the Flyers to finally land the centreman (Jeff Carter) that big Blue Jackets winger Rick Nash has longed for. It was a timely process that Howson worked on for most of two years before he finally found the right player at the right moment to make a deal happen.
In Winnipeg, a third Canadian team that is trying to build from the rubble of playoff misses into a contender, the concept of taking one's time seems foreign to assistant GM Craig Heisinger.
The Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg was made official only a few days ago by the National Hockey League's Board of Governors, and today Heisinger finds himself at the NHL draft with a farm system that someone else stocked, with needs he's not entirely aware of.
"I don't know how we don't be rushed at this time," he admitted. "But, if we're careful and (meticulous), stop, think and make sound decisions, hopefully we'll make fewer mistakes than more."
Burke has built several NHL teams during stops as general manager in Hartford, Anaheim, Vancouver and Toronto. Lowe ran the Oilers before passing the torch to current GM Steve Tambellini.
As for Heisinger, and brand new Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff, this is something completely new. And they've been given very little lead time.
"As much as you're trying to get ahead of the game," Heisinger said, "you hope when those days run out at the end of September that the light at the end of the tunnel isn't the train."
That train flattened the Oilers organization, and after two straight years as the league's worst team they hope to begin the slow crawl back up the ladder. And Lowe will admit: There are days when that little voice in his ear is telling him that Edmonton should trade a pick or a prospect - anything to speed up the process a bit.
"I'm sure the fans are the same way, and Tamby, Tom (head coach Renney), and Daryl (owner Katz). We all hate to lose," Lowe said. "We want to reward the fans for their patience, for hanging in there."
So while Burke tries to move those picks if possible, and Winnipeg hangs on to its' No. 7 overall because it's the safe thing to do for now, Lowe and the Oilers will stick with the traditional rebuild they started two-plus years ago.
They've suffered this long. It is no time to change course now.
"We can go on our gut," Lowe said. "What The Hockey News says we have. What other general managers say, when they say 'Stick to it, you guys. You've got so many good players…'
"That helps to give you the confidence. And then you see a player like a Taylor Hall, and you know."
You're doing the right thing.
They all hope they are.
