The 2006 NHL Entry Draft held no real surprises for anyone. The consensus top five players were taken with the top five picks, and things continued in a rather ho-hum fashion. At least, it did if you don't count the big deals that went down...

The day before the draft, the Panthers dealt Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a pick to Vancouver for Todd Bertuzzi, Alex Auld and Bryan Allen. Now, obviously this trade didn't make headlines because Krajicek was involved, as both Bertuzzi and Luongo have been expected to move for some time now. Luongo could make the Canucks a legitimate contender - more so than since 1994 - and Bertuzzi goes to a new city where he can possibly leave the Steve Moore issue behind him. The one thing that was unexpected about the deal was that Roberto Luongo was under the impression that the Panthers were ready to sign him to a long-term contract that he liked, and he was ready to accept. Needless to say, that won't help Florida's PR, but Luongo should thrive in an actual hockey market.

Calgary picked up Alex Tanguay from Colorado for defenceman Jordan Leopold and a couple picks - an amazing deal for them. They're deep on defence, so no worries in giving up Leopold, and a line with Tanguay and Iginla could be centred by an orangutan - they're still going to score. (I'm not going to lie to you; those two guys are my first-line wingers in NHL 06 - and if that doesn't seal the deal, I don't know what does.)

Toronto grabbed former Rookie of the Year Andrew Raycroft from the Boston Bruins for goaltending prospect Tuukka Rask, who was expendable because of Justin Pogge's presence. In Raycroft, Toronto gets a player coming off an atrocious year, but he's young, and will bounce back. He's also cheap at $1.35M this season, especially compared to the salaries other number-one netminders would have commanded. This essentially ensures that Ed Belfour will be leaving town either through a buy-out or a trade, and either Mikael Tellqvist or J.S. Aubin will follow (probably the former). In Rask, Toronto gave up a great prospect, but did themselves a favour in not surrendering anyone off their roster. The most unfortunate part: "Tuukka Rask" is really fun to say, and that just won't be happening as often in Toronto now.