Los Angeles, CA. Keep in mind, this is just rumor, innuendo, and borderline propaganda, but it's interesting. 

I talked with several media gurus last night, (it was a pleasure to meet them all), and the word was that the Islanders probably want to draft a forward, (Granlund or Johansen), and would be willing to trade down a pick or two if the price was right.  The Canes have been spending a lot of time interviewing the top three defensemen but it seems very unlikely one of those three will drop to the 7th spot.

Could the Islanders and Hurricanes be discussing anything?  Don't be shocked if the Canes move up to number 5 tonight. They would probably be very happy with any of the top defensemen, (Cam Fowler, Erik Gudbranson, or Brandon Gormley), if given the opportunity to choose one.

On the other hand, maybe Carolina will want to keep their multitude of picks and stay at #7 and take the best player available?  One Portland correspondent who has watched the Winter Hawks play a lot over the season said that Ryan Johansen is "the real deal" and he will go sooner than many think. 

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While Nino Niedereitter is a great player, Johansen is even better and scored the big goals when games were on the line.  He said that line was dominating night after night, all season long.

Also, keep an eye out for the third player on that line, Brad Ross, who was the sandpaper who did all the dirty work which helped make that line so successful.  The writer said that Ross is a "heart and soul" guy who will make someone an awesome pick in the second round.

I will be keeping my eyes and ears open and will add anything else to the open thread which will start up in a couple of hours.