With only one team making selections in the 2004 NLL Expansion Draft, and those picks being announced in alphabetical order by the players' former team, there was really no such thing as the first-overall pick.

Some of Minnesota Lacrosse's selections, though, were a lot easier to make than others.

The biggest names among the ten selected by Minnesota general manager Marty O'Neill in this afternoon's draft were forwards Dan Teat (San Jose) and Rusty Kruger (Toronto) and goaltender Matt King (Calgary), a trio that O'Neill couldn't have needed much time to decide on.

But even O'Neill acknowledges that the threesome might never suit up together for the team wisely expected to be called the Swarm (official word on Monday) -- and he planned it that way.

"Our strategy was to take the player that would hurt his team the most by losing him," O'Neill said after the draft.

Looking for leverage on the Stealth in the Teat selection will be difficult -- the Toronto-area native never took much pleasure in playing on the West Coast.

Stealth general manager John Mouradian seems resigned to Teat's departure anyway.

"When you choose to protect two goaltenders [as San Jose did, with Rob Blasdell and Brandon Miller]," Mouradian said, "that exposes four or five top caliber players that could play in anyone's lineup.

"We wish Dan the best of luck with Minnesota."

As a result, O'Neill is said to be shopping Teat among his Eastern Division foes, with Buffalo the likely destination.

Kruger, though, is another story, joining the Rock in this summer's blockbuster trade with San Jose. Toronto paid handsomely in that trade to acquire Kruger, playmaking forward Josh Sanderson, and defenseman Phil Sanderson, and perhaps will want to swing a trade to bring him back.

Right now, the deal stands as Steve Toll, Darryl Gibson, Anthony Cosmo (as a player to be named), and two draft picks to San Jose for the Sanderson cousins.

King might also be on the move, due to personal commitments, but if O'Neill can convince the former Roughnecks backup goaltender to come to Minnesota, he's got a cornerstone player to build off of.

O'Neill is already speaking highly of another of his picks, forward Sean Pollock (Arizona).

"He's exactly what an expansion team looks for -- a good young player willing to relocate," O'Neill said. "He's good around the crease and on power plays and he doesn't take any crap.

"He shows all the earmarks of being a good player for years to come."

Among Minnesota's other selections are three defensemen, Cam Bergman (Anaheim), Shawn Nadelen (Philadelphia) and Bruce Alexander (Vancouver). Forwards Jason Clark (Buffalo), Curtis Smith (Colorado), and Jon Harasym (Rochester) were also taken.

And those who expected Minnesota to select plenty of British Columbians were not disappointed. O'Neill, a Victoria native, grabbed four Shamrock alumni -- Alexander, King, Smith and Pollock. In addition, Bergman is from Coquitlam, B.C.