Drafting Tyler Myers

From John Vogl of the Buffalo News:

Two pieces of paper with names scribbled on them are the highlight of Darcy Regier’s 2008 NHL draft.

The Buffalo Sabres general manager coveted defenseman Tyler Myers, the 6-foot-7 defenseman who could fill several needs with one large appearance. But the Los Angeles Kings wanted a defenseman, too, and before they would swap spots with the Sabres, the teams had to make sure they didn’t desire the same prospect.

So Regier and the Kings’ draft head hastily wrote down their top prospects’ names. They made an agreement to show their papers at the same time. If the names were the same, the Kings were keeping the 12th overall pick. If the names were different, L. A. was canceling its deal with another team and would move down one spot to allow the Sabres to pick 12th.

Read the entire article here.

Always good to get a behind the scenes look at just how some things come to being on the draft floor.

NHL Morning Papers: Special Post-Draft Edition

Here are the morning papers from the Northeast Division:

• Mats Sundin's days as a Maple Leaf are over, writes Damien Cox. Meanwhile, the Leafs were hoping to start a new chapter last night with the selection of Luke Schenn.
• Friday was a busy day for Bob Gainey, as he acquired Alex Tanguay from the Flames and word came out that he is negotiating a deal with Mats Sundin; Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette has all the details.
• Erik Karlsson was ecstatic to become a Senator last night, writes Bruce Garrioch. In other Sens news, see you later Ray Emery.
• The Bruins selected Joe Colborne last night, whose game has been compared to former Bruin Joe Thornton. If the Bruins want to make a big splash on the free agent market, they will need some cap space, writes Fluto Shinwaza.
• The Sabres are hoping Tyler Myers can live up to the Zdeno Chara comparisons.

News You Can Use Late In the Day

Due to time constraints, News You Can Use Will be abbreviated today.

1. Roberto Luongo is day to day with a rib injury, so the Canucks have recalled Drew McIntyre from Manitoba.
2. Sidney Crosby has won the 2007 Lou Marsh Award.
3. A profile on Angelo Esposito.
4. Cast your vote for Sportsnet's Athlete of the Year.
5. Brendan Morrison's consecutive games streak will end tonight.
6. The quotable John Tortorella.
7. The first day of Team Canada's camp has a few bumps today.
8. Eric Duhatschek wonders if Scott Niedermayer will start a trend amongst veterans.
9. The weekly release from the USHL.
10. Jonathan Tavares is the focus at Team Canada's camp.
11. An annonymous group of 4 NHL'ers is skating on Thermablades.
12. Pierre Lebrun says Sergei Zubov deserves some recognition.
13. Sheldon Souray returns to the Oilers lineup tonight. Allan Rourke will sit and Mathieu Roy is on waivers.
14. Your ECHL fix.
15. A profile on Tyler Myers of the Kelowna Rockets, a top prospect for this year's draft.
16. Ken Campbell writes that Sweden and Finland are likely to pull out of the NHL-IIHF transfer agreement.
17. The Czech roster for the World Junior tournament will have a CHL flavor.
18. Kukla thinks that the NHL needs to get back to playing wide open hockey, and forego the endless stream of proposed rule changes.
19. The London Knights are experimenting with Akim Aliu at defense.
20. Playing in Florida isn't all its cracked up to be.

For Illegal Curve, I'm Kyle Kosior.