The NHL entry draft didn’t offer that many surprises or moves, but it did remain a showcase of where certain teams were planning on taking their teams in the upcoming season. And for the Vancouver Canucks, defence was the order of the day.

After snagging veteran defenceman Keith Ballard on Friday, the Canucks continued on their merry way by picking defencemen with three out of their five remaining picks. They picked Patrick McNally in the fourth round, Adam Polasek in the fifth round, and Sawyer Hanney in the seventh round.

The focus for the Canucks was long-term and the stockpiling of defencemen plays into the team’s vision well. Vancouver GM Mike Gillis was adamant in taking a unique angle to the selection process this year. “We had done very, very well the last couple of years with our selections, I think,” he said. “So we have a little room to try to approach the draft a little differently this year.”

McNally led Milton Academy in Massachusetts in scoring last season. He’s locked up with Havard for the upcoming season or two, so he won’t be lacing the skates in the 2010-2011 NHL season. At 6′2 and 180 pounds, he’s an offensive-minded blueliner who could wind up as a key powerplay quarterback some day in Vancouver.

“With Chris Tanev, Kevin Connauton and now McNally, we’ve got three (defencemen) who are offensive guys in development,” Gillis said. “We’ll see which ones emerge.”

A lot of Canucks fans are still buzzing about giving up Michael Grabner to get Ballard on Friday. It may have actually come down to a matter of space and timing, however, and Ballard is a pretty decent upgrade for the club on the back end. Grabner, while popular, was still a player who needed to develop smoother edges. And Steve Bernier, who also went in the trade with the Florida Panthers, filled a role that many other Canucks can step into.

As mentioned, the vision of Mike Gillis is clear for this team. In acquiring key defenders with puck-moving abilities, it’s clear where Vancouver’s attack will largely come from in the 2010-2011 season. And it’s clear, too, that Gillis is a general manager with a vision for the future.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

It’s been a busy few days in the National Hockey League, to say the least. Teams are preparing for the upcoming season by stripping away valuable roster parts in last-minute bids to prepare for the draft. Awards are being handed out, with Henrik Sedin picking up the Hart and Ryan Miller winning the Vezina. And the Stanley Cup champs are beginning to get their squad in line for next season.

The Blackhawks started the process by sending Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel, Ben Eager, and prospect Akim Aliu to the Atlanta Thrashers for Marty Reasoner, Jeremy Morin, and the 24th and 54th overall picks in Friday’s draft.

The deal came just hours before the NHL Awards were handed out in Las Vegas, so the news was tough to take for Norris Trophy winner Duncan Keith.

“Well, it really does sadden me,” Keith said. “You know things are going to change when you win the Cup, the way our cap situation was. It’s too bad it had to be like this, but at the same time we’ve got to start looking forward. When these things do happen, I’m sure there might be some more, and it’s not going to be fun.”

The trade is obviously designed for salary dumping purposes and should free up capital for the Blackhawks to sign key players, although one has to wonder about the dealing of a quality player like Byfuglien. He was a key component to just about every Blackhawks playoff win and his presence in front of the net disturbed an array of big time NHLers.

The salary shipped out by the Hawks’ Stan Bowman rings up to $5.33 million, all things considered, and will have little trouble in handling Reasoner’s $1.5 million.

Whether this deal will help or hurt the Blackhawks on the ice is a matter of debate, of course, but it does appear that this is largely about saving money for Bowman and Co. Byfuglien is a loss that the Blackhawks will have to make up for, as their physical presence was mainly headed by his ability to get under the skin of the opposition.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Montreal Canadiens have traded goalie Jaroslav Halak to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for centre Lars Eller and Canadian junior right-winger Ian Schultz.

The move certainly settles the goaltending question in Montreal, as it’s clear that Pierre Gauthier has elected to stand by Carey Price. But it also seems somewhat strange, especially considering the goaltending performance Halak offered in the post-season. He was the key reason to the success the Canadiens were able to enjoy in the playoffs.

It is essentially a deal that puts long-term potential in front of rewards, though, and from that perspective it makes perfect sense. Gauthier went with the younger Price and sent Halak off to a club on which he’d see a lot of ice time, solving the problem of splitting the position in Montreal.

“I think they did the best thing they could do — keep one goalie and give the other one a chance to play most of the season,” Halak said. “It’s best for everyone that I was dealt and can start on a new beginning.”

St. Louis locked down Halak after telling goalie Chris Mason that he wouldn’t be signed to a new deal. GM Doug Armstrong was happy with the trade and wanted to ensure Habs fans that he didn’t get Halak for a mere song.

“When you look at the young defencemen and forwards we have, we feel we dealt for a young goalie who can fit in and grow with this team,” he said. “I think he’s excited to go to a team that will use him as a clear-cut number one. I think we gave up great value to get Jaro. It’s difficult for fans in Montreal because they haven’t seen Lars, but I think they’ll like him.”

The trade doesn’t change the fact that Halak is up for free agency on July 1 and that he has the right to arbitration if the Blues can’t sign him to a deal that works. Having earned $800,000 in the 2009-2010 season, it’s fair to say that Halak will probably earn a bit of a pay raise. The whole controversial offer sheet scenario could also technically come into play, so Halak’s future with the Blues isn’t set in stone just yet.

As for Price, he’s set to become a restricted free agent in the summer but he won’t be eligible for salary arbitration yet. He’s the top dog in Montreal now, whether fans like it or not, and Gauthier made no bones about his faith in the goalie by trading Halak. The only thing to settle now is who’ll back up the youngster. Gauthier has hinted towards scouring the free agent market for that position.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Edmonton Oilers have traded defenceman Steve Staios to the Calgary Flames in exchange for defenceman Aaron Johnson and a third round pick.

The trade marks a rare switch between the Flames and Oilers and continues the Edmonton plan of offloading in the process of rebuilding.

Staios heads to the Flames with one year remaining on his contract worth $2.2 million.

The Flames have obviously been overhauled too and the Staios pick-up appears to be an attempt to snag some leadership and grit.

The Oilers receive Johnson, who’ll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Edmonton Oilers have moved a significant contract today in shifting Lubomir Visnovsky over to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ryan Whitney.

The deal unpacks some space from the Oilers roster and enables them to get a skilled defenceman in return. Both players in this deal were Olympians, too, and it stands at this point as the biggest trade of trade deadline day.

Whitney was selected as a replacement to the injured Mike Komisarek to play on the American men’s Olympic team, while Visnovsky suited up for the Slovaks and has quite a history of international play.

It’s a trade that gives the Ducks a puck-moving offensively-minded defenceman to work with their talent and it allows the Oilers to move in a nice direction with a skilled defenceman of their own.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Washington Capitals have acquired defenceman Joe Corvo from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Brian Pothier and prospect Oskar Osala.

In Corvo, the Caps get a puck-moving defenceman who can team up with Mike Green on the power play to generate some seriously dangerous offensive chances. Corvo is a solid player and has good defensive sense, too, so he’s far from a liability.

Pothier was also a pretty slick defenceman for Washington, but concussion problems kept him from realizing his full potential and he should appreciate a fresh start in Carolina.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded Lee Stempniak to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for a pair of draft picks (fourth round and seventh round).

Stempniak never really quite fit in Toronto, so it’s not really surprising to see this deal come through for the Leafs.

If Phoenix can put Stempniak on the right line and give him the space to play around offensively, they could end up having a really talented player in the mix. If they can’t provide that for him, however, the Stempniak situation is bound to repeat itself.

At the very least, the Coyotes didn’t really give up much to get him.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded forward Raffi Torres to the Buffalo Sabres. In Torres, the Sabres get a gritty personality forward who’ll help boost their momentum.

Elliote Friedman is reporting that Nathan Paetsch and a second round pick went over to Columbus in exchange for Torres, so the deal does indeed look to benefit the Sabres more.

Considering Torres’ contributions in the past with the Oilers and on Columbus, he gives the Sabres a nice physical angle that they can use to hammer out space for their forwards.

It’s not a blockbuster deal by any extent, but it doesn’t look like many big names will be moving on this particular trade deadline day.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Anaheim Ducks have traded goalie Vesa Toskala to the Calgary Flames in exchange for goalie Curtis McElhinney.

With the recent moves made by Darryl Sutter in Calgary, the team is certainly starting to look like the Toronto of the Western Conference. This deal, together with a contract extension offered to Matt Stajan, may make the Red Mile look an awful lot like Yonge Street.

The Ducks were probably never all that serious about Toskala, what with Hiller doing well in goal, and this is a pretty routine move for the club.

In any event, this deal doesn’t really boost Calgary’s profile at all. Toskala will have to sit on the bench behind Kiprusoff an awful lot and it doesn’t seem like a smart move in regards to salary, but maybe Sutter has something up his sleeve here before the day is out.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.

The Phoenix Coyotes have traded forward Peter Mueller to the Colorado Avalanche for Wojtek Wolski.

In Wolski, the Coyotes get a slight upgrade from Mueller. Much has been made about Mueller’s lack of heart in Phoenix, so the move may be what is necessary to get something out of the forward. Wolski is a quicker version of Mueller who can play in the high traffic areas, too, so that should help the Coyotes out considerably.

At one time, Mueller was considered to be one of the top prospects to watch. Unfortunately, he’s needed an awful lot of time and space in the NHL to generate offensive chances and he’s been unable to provide his own opportunities. Mueller’s an interesting fit on the Avs, that’s for sure, but maybe Colorado can make something work with him.

According to Elliote Freidman out of the CBC, Colorado wanted to move Wolski because they didn’t want to go to arbitration with the player. They felt he’d wind up being a more expensive player and wanted to cut him loose before the money got too large on him.

Posted by Jordan Richardson.