Ironic, isn't it, that two days before the 2003 NLL Entry Draft, Casey Powell gets traded?

Powell, the first-overall pick five years ago by the Rochester Knighthawks, is the antithesis of the player who'll go atop the board this year.

We don't even know who that'll be, and really, that's the point.

In September 1998, it wasn't much of a secret or a surprise that Powell would be the first pick, just as the respective coronations of John Grant and Tracey Kelusky the following years were predetermined.

The past two years, however, haven't been quite so easy to handicap. In 2001, Gavin Prout's willingness to join the New York Saints was unclear (he reported without a hitch), lending some mystery to the first five minutes, while last year, Patrick Merrill wasn't the clear-cut favorite for the honor, although he certainly was in the running throughout.

This year, though, your guess is as good as anyone else's. Most of the talk has centered around Victoria Shamrocks righthander Ryan Ward, although defenseman Mark Myashita's name has sprung up a lot this week.

Match them up with the team with the first selection -- the Vancouver Ravens, already a solidly-assembled playoff-caliber team -- and confusion reigns.

The Ravens apparently still don't know who to select, even with the draft less than twelve hours away as of this writing (Saturday, 10:00 AM, at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto), in part because they draft again at number four.

Vancouver wouldn't mind one bit if Myashita is still around after three picks if Ward goes first-overall, or vice versa.

Naturally, Ravens head coach Paul Dal Monte also has his eye on defenseman Taylor Wray, a product of the powerhouse Burnaby Laker (BCLA) junior lacrosse system.

Myashita also comes from the Lakers, who (funny how luck has it) were coached for years by none other than Paul Dal Monte.

"There's a domino effect we're playing with," Dal Monte told the Vancouver Sun. "Can we get our favorite two? We're going through all the different scenarios to come up with who it leaves us at four."

Philadelphia, drafting third, probably won't throw a monkey wrench into Dal Monte's plans, unless general manager Marty O'Neill snatches Ward. The Wings appear hot for University of Virginia standout A.J. Shannon, who's just as hot for them.

"Philly is the team I want to go to," Shannon said. "It's going to be a different style of game in the NLL from what I've been playing lately but I think I'm ready.

"The worst thing you can do is underestimate yourself. You have to go in a bit cocky and make an impression. I'm prepared to do that."

Calgary, Vancouver's most bitter rival, drafts second and wouldn't mind spoiling Dal Monte's grand plans. Pretty much locked in with their talent up front, the Roughnecks are expected to focus on shoring up their defense -- and they're very interested in Wray, or so we hear.

Towards the middle of the first round, we find the league's three winningest teams of a year ago -- Rochester (fifth), Buffalo (sixth) and Toronto (eighth) -- looking to the same group of forwards, including Scott Evans and Craig Conn.

Any of the three could move up, to undercut their Eastern Division foes or to hook the big one.

The fireworks shouldn't last more than fifteen or twenty minutes, but they'll definitely be worth watching -- and they're not the only interesting storyline in Saturday's draft...

Josh Bergey

The Salisbury State alumnus posted insane stats in his senior season (72 goals and 48 assists in 20 games), but undoubtedly the main reason he's getting a ton of attention is his name. Maybe you've heard of Jake Bergey, the Wings' star forward who came out of the late rounds of the September 1997 draft and quickly developed into a major force.

The chance to unite the brothers has Wings Nation worked up into a frenzy, with many fans calling on O'Neill to spend the ninth-overall pick on Josh Bergey. That would be an expensive move, with Bergey likely available in the second round -- but Philadelphia doesn't have a pick in that round or, for that matter, until late in the third.

Thirtieth-overall could be too late, especially since Rochester picks four times in between. It's difficult to imagine the Knighthawks letting Josh Bergey slide by that many times.

Compensatory Picks

The league gave in on Arizona's request earlier this week to recover draft picks which had been forfeited for rules violations. Granted, the 11-12-33 combo isn't nearly as good as 3-6-20 (where the former Landsharks would have drafted without the pick confiscation), but having a pair at the end of the first round allows for some interesting options.

Arizona can trade one pick for an established NLLer, to shore up a team expecting to be decimated by free agency; it can trade both picks, maybe to move up in the first round for a big name or to move down for lots of bargains; or it can keep them both and grab some more cornerstone youngsters.

Any way Arizona takes it, the move better be a good one, considering how awkward it was for NLL to award compensatory picks just days before the draft -- and that these picks, in a sense, are like free money.

Goaltenders

This isn't seen as a great year for drafting netminders, and in light of the NLL's grand plans for 2005 and beyond, that's a shame. Teams that draft a goaltender for the present likely will be disappointed, but having a backstop developing in the organization makes for a great bargaining chip when expansion rolls around. Look no further than Toronto, which had Matt Roik ready for shipment two years ago and traded him to New Jersey for defenseman Darryl Gibson (who's still with the Rock and still contributing).

Location

A year ago, the NLL held its dispersal draft (for Montreal Express players) at the Westin Harbour Castle in the morning and the entry draft at Air Canada Centre at noon. Perhaps the team executives just wanted to get over to the big show as fast as they could, but maybe there's something in the air at the hotel -- 21 picks in barely a half-hour. How fast will teams move this time?

And yet, in Blackbird Country, the Ravens are in no rush to make a decision at number one. Yes, an interesting draft is ahead.