NHL

Penguins get top pick; Lightning to select last

By TOM JONES
Published July 23, 2005

Pittsburgh won the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes.

The Penguins won Friday's draft lottery and the right to take Crosby, considered one of the best prospects in draft history, in the July30 draft in Ottawa.

Meantime, the Lightning could not have had worse luck. It finished last in the lottery, meaning it will have the 30th, and last, pick in the first round.

"We picked 30th in the 2004 draft and 30th in this draft," Lightning general manager Jay Feaster said. "Hopefully, we'll pick 30th next year, too, because that will mean we won another Stanley Cup."

The lottery got even worse for the Lightning. The benefit of picking last in the first round is getting the first pick of the second round because the NHL is reversing the order in even rounds. But here's the rub: The Lightning traded its second-round pick last summer to acquire Vinny Prospal from Anaheim.

And it gets worse still. The Lightning traded this year's third-round pick during the 2004 draft for extra late-round picks in 2004. That means the Lightning will pick 30th in this draft then not again until 91st, the first pick of the fourth round.

THE CROSBY SHOW: Feaster said Crosby deserves all the hype he is getting.

"This kid is the real deal," Feaster said. "It's a great day for the Penguins to get him. He will be a star."

Crosby said before the lottery that he didn't care which team won.

"Nothing's done yet, but I'd be more than happy to play (in Pittsburgh)," Crosby told Canada's TSN.

Crosby, 17, a 5-foot-11, 193-pound center, played last season in Rimouski, the same Quebec league team that once featured the Lightning's Vinny Lecavalier and Brad Richards. Crosby had 66 goals and 168 points in 62 games. Now he will play alongside NHL great Mario Lemieux.

"To be able to play with him will really be something very special," Crosby said.

LET THE NEGOTIATIONS BEGIN: Feaster will meet today in New York with the agents for Lightning free agents Martin St. Louis, Nikolai Khabibulin and Dan Boyle . He also has been in contact with the agent for Lecavalier and hopes to meet with him in the next few days.

"There's a lot to be done, and I'm not going to waste any time getting on it," Feaster said.

Feaster has until Aug.1 to deal exclusively with his free agents. After Aug.1, any team can negotiate with any player.

PATERSON DUCKS OUT: Rick Paterson, the longtime Lightning pro scout who once briefly coached the Lightning, has left the team for a similar job with Anaheim. Paterson becomes director of pro scouting.

"The Ducks asked permission to speak to Rick, and I hated to lose him. But I wasn't going to deny him the chance to do something else if he wanted," Feaster said.

Paterson was an assistant under Terry Crisp with the Lightning and spent six games as the interim coach between Crisp's firing and Jacques Demers' hiring during the 1997-98 season. He remained an assistant under Demers then became a scout before the 1999-2000 season.

Paterson moved on, in part, because of his close ties with Bob Murray, a former teammate and the Ducks' assistant general manager.

Feaster said Paterson left behind extensive scouting files, so there is no hurry to fill the position. Feaster added the vacancy could be filled internally.

JOHNSTOWN COACH: Frank Anzalone was named coach of the Johnstown Chief, the Lightning's minor-league affiliate in the ECHL. Anzalone, 51, spent the past four seasons coaching college hockey at Lake Superior State.

[Last modified July 23, 2005, 00:53:16]