CALGARY, Alberta -- New York Islanders general manager Mike
Milbury made plenty of news before and after selecting goalie Rick
DiPietro with the first pick in Saturday's NHL entry draft.
Just minutes before the 18-year-old DiPietro became the first
goalie chosen No. 1, Milbury pulled off the first of his three
trades.
He dealt goalie Kevin Weekes, defense prospect Kristian Kudroc
and a second-round pick next year to Tampa Bay for the fifth
overall pick and fourth- and seventh-rounders this year.
Milbury then traded his other goalie from last year, 22-year-old
Roberto Luongo and forward Olli Jokinen to the Florida Panthers for
forwards Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish.
"The danger spot obviously is going with a youthful
goaltender," Milbury said. "As dangerous as this might be, we
think that Mad Mike maybe has something going for him here."
In 1997, Milbury drafted Luongo with the fourth pick in the
draft -- which was the highest a goalie had been taken until
Saturday.
"We're rolling the dice here a little bit," Milbury said.
"Roberto Luongo is going to be an excellent goaltender in this
league."
Later, instead of using his second-round pick, 35th overall,
Milbury traded it to Edmonton, along with highly touted defenseman
Eric Brewer and big left wing Josh Green for veteran Oilers
defenseman Roman Hamrlik.
The trades reflect the arrival of new ownership on Long Island
that puts Milbury under the gun to get his team into the playoffs
next season after being on the outside looking in for the last six
years.
"We have not made the playoffs in far too long and we need to
get there," he said. "Our owners, let's face it, didn't come into
this business to wait another five years for us to make the
playoffs.
"They'd rather make this happen sooner. That was the direction
we had from them. This is a big day for the franchise. We've pushed
ourselves ahead by a couple of years."
|
|
ALSO SEE
Avs deal Ozolinsh in one of several draft-day deals
2000 NHL draft first-round picks
ESPN.com's NHL Draft 2000 coverage
AUDIO VIDEO
 ESPN's NHL draft team breaks down a busy day around the league.
RealVideo: 56.6
 Mike Milbury puts his reputation on the line by drafting Rick DePietro.
wav: 107 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
|
