Good Gawd…can Friday just get here already?!?! I don’t know about you, but it just seems like this week is dragging along slower than the days just before Christmas does for a 6-year old.

To me, draft day signals the beginning of the new season…the time were teams begin to start forming their rosters for the upcoming NHL campaign, either by who they pick or the player deals that lead up to the event.

And it just can’t get here soon enough!

I remember last summer’s draft night…a healthy number of us gathered at Philips Arena to enjoy the draft being held in Ottawa. The buzz, of course, surrounded the anticipated selection of Zach Bogosian. Just after Tampa Bay and Los Angeles too there turns, a hush gathered throughout the crowd as Gary Bettman took to the podium.

“Ladies and Gentleman”, he said, “We have a trade to announce”.

Our eyes got as big as dinner plates and there was an audible gasp that came from the assembled masses. It’s been rumored a few even lost their lunch…but I’ve yet to confirm that story.

Surely Don Waddell hadn’t just traded away the right to draft such a promising blueliner for what was probably a 38-year old player with three years left on a $5.7 million contract…had he???

HAD HE???

Turns out…it was only Olli Jokinen being dealt to Phoenix by the Florida Panthers.

whewwwwwwwwwwwww……

And…moments later…Bogey was sporting a Thrashers uniform.

As for this Friday, I fully expect that the Thrashers will be the team making a selection with the number 4 pick, turning a deaf ear to any GM seeking to trade for it. That will be the first good decision made by Waddell/Dudley on the night.

Now, for who’ll they’ll pick.

I think it’ll be one of the following three…Evander Kane, Brayden Schenn or Magnus Svensson-Paajarvi. Tavares, Hedman and Duchene will be busy performing interviews with the local press from New York, Tampa and Denver. If any of them aren’t and still available…then Atlanta should swoop in and accept the gift.

Of the three realistic possibilities mentioned above, each would be a solid pick and be the second good decision made by Atlanta. And of those three, I strongly suspect it’ll be Kane who will become a citizen of Thrasherville.

After that…things could get interesting as the Thrashers look to make it three good decisions on the night. The Thrashers own a pair of picks in the second round…the 4th/34th overall as well as the 15th/45th overall. These could be used to package up with certain players to bring in help on the blueline for Atlanta or a top-six forward.

Players that could be tied up with one of those second-rounders? Well, keeping with the theme of three…I would say goalkeeper Ondrej Pavelec, centerman Todd White or defenseman Garnet Exelby.

I think Opie is the keeper that’s most likely to be dealt given the fact that having Johan Hedberg as a backup is a benefit the team doesn’t want to give up and Kari Lehtonen is the starter you want to go with next season if given the choice between he and Pavs. The only way Kari is traded, IMHO, is if the team is convinced they can replace him with a free agent next month or via another trade.

Todd White’s value is probably at it’s highest value given the fact that he’s coming off a career-type year last season and his $2.375 million salary could be appealing to a team looking to replace a forward they had to cast off due to cap concerns.

If Atlanta is able to bring in a D-man that can round out the top-four with Bogosian, Hainsey and Enstrom…then Exelby could be the odd man out in the lineup and becomes expendable. He’s a serviceable player that can play a role in an already established defensive corps.

But we’ll know more as this unfolds over the weekend. And like I said at the beginning…it just can’t get here fast enough!

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