"Whether it was Dustin Byfuglien last year or big names such as Chris Pronger and Roberto Luongo in previous years, the NHL entry draft is often about the size of the splash.
Thursday was more like a tidal wave.
The Philadelphia Flyers got the trade ball rolling by sending 30-goal scorer Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets and captain Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings on the eve of Friday's entry draft at Xcel Energy Center.
The trades were precursors to the Flyers signing goalie Ilya Bryzgalov to a reported nine-year, $51.5 million contract, but they were also reminders to NHL players everywhere that they need to keep their heads up and their ringers on when draft day comes around.
Wild defenseman Brent Burns, the subject of many trade rumors, isn't fretting. But you also know he won't keep his cell phone too far from his hip pocket Friday.
"I don't have any reason to be on pins and needles," said Burns, 26, who scored a career-high 17 goals and 46 points and made the All-Star Game for the first time last season. "I've been here a long time, I love it here, I feel comfortable here, but I also feel very comfortable in my game and what I can bring and I know I'm going to get better and better every year.
"I think I made a lot of steps last year and I know I'm going to make a lot more steps next year. Wherever that may be -- I hope it's in Minnesota -- but I know I'm going to be a big part of any team that I'm a part of."
Burns can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. So like captain Mikko Koivu last year, this is the summer the Wild must decide whether to sign Burns long-term or potentially trade him.
Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher was expected to talk again with Burns' agent Thursday. Burns can't sign an extension until July 1, but Fletcher needs to know now whether or not Burns' contract demands are something the Wild's willing to entertain.
While Fletcher is under no time constraint to trade Burns, it's also harder to trade a player such as Burns once teams start spending their free-agent dollars July 1. So Burns knows to be on guard Friday.
In the meantime, the Wild owns six picks heading into this weekend's two-day draft, starting with the No. 10 pick Friday. This will be assistant GM Brent Flahr's second in charge of the Wild's draft table -- the first looking like a success with the selections of forwards Mikael Granlund, Brett Bulmer, Johan Larsson and Jason Zucker."
