If the Islanders take Tavares, the Lightning will take Hedman. He's exactly the sort of defenseman they need.

If the Islanders end up selecting Hedman, the Lightning may end up trading the second overall pick.

One team that desperately wants that second overall pick if the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brian Burke has been very vocal about this. Why would the Lightning trade their pick to the Leafs? Remember that Tampa Bay sent Olaf Kolzig, Jamie Heward and Andy Rogers to the Leafs at the deadline in what was essentially a salary dump. The Leafs did Tampa Bay a favor then so it's possible that Tampa Bay uses the draft to return the favor.

If Tampa Bay wants to dump more salary they could look to move either Ryan Malone, Vincent Lecavlier, Martin St. Louis or any combination of the three.

Here's what we do if we're Tampa Bay:

Trade Ryan Malone and the 2nd overall pick to Toronto.

Toronto would send their 7th overall pick, 50th overall pick (from NYR) and Luke Schenn to Tampa Bay.

Toronto would select John Tavares with the second overall pick.

Tampa Bay wouldn't be done at the draft however.

We would have them send the first round pick they just got from Toronto and either their second round pick (32nd overall) or Toronto's second rounder to Los Angeles in exchange for the fifth overall pick. With that pick they would select Luke Schenn's brother Brayden.

As far as free agent signings, the Lightning need defense.

The Lightning only have two NHL level defensemen under contract for next year (Andrej Meszaros and Paul Ranger.)

After moving Malone, they would have the cap space to pursue a free agent defenseman. They would love to have Jay Bouwmeester, but he likely wants out of Florida and would want to head to a contender. Philippe Boucher, Hal Gill or Rob Scuderi may be options for them as well, especially if they want to continue to to known as Pittsburgh South. Mike Komisarek could be an option as well. They would also have Luke Schenn and thus some of their defensive woes would be solved by that trade.

Thanks to a trade with Tampa Bay via Toronto, the Los Angeles Kings would have the seventh overall pick as well as two early second round picks.

The Kings need offense. Picking Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson seventh overall would be a good choice. In the second round they might be looking at the likes of Marcus Johansson, Stefan Elliott, Joonas Nattinen or Carl Klingberg to further strengthen their offense.

They also have the cap space to dip into the free agent pool. Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa or Martin Havlat could be on their radar. So could Alex Tanguay, Alexei Kovalev, Petr Sykora or the Sedins.

Adding a solid defensive defenseman like Rob Scuderi or Hal Gill might be possible as well. If the reports are true and Jack Johnson wants out of LA he could be traded. If that's the case Los Angeles could see themselves with both another high draft pick and looking for another defenseman. They may even consider trading Johnson to the Thrashers for the right to draft Evander Kane and some spare parts from Atlanta.

Now that they've moved up to select Tavares and traded for Ryan Malone, the Leafs are on the way to becoming a Brian Burke team.

With Pavel Kubina scheduled to become a free agent after this season the Leafs may consider moving him. He may even head to Tampa Bay or Los Angeles as part of their big three way trade.

The Leafs also have the cap space to sign some free agents as well. If we're the Leafs we play very aggressively with the free agent pool.

Jay Bouwmeester immediately comes to mind. Francois Beauchemin could be a possibility as well. Brian Burke may even make a play for the Sedins. He drafted them and clearly has a high opinion of them.

The Leafs will likely let almost every one of their free agents walk. They may wish to re-sign Martin Gerber to back up Toskala. No one on the Leafs roster is untouchable and thus anyone could be traded as the Leafs hope to rebuild quickly.

We would cut as many current players as possible, try to stock up on a few draft picks and dip into the free agent pool as often as possible. The Leafs have a ton of money. They would be wise to spend that money on coaching and scouting. There is no limit to the amount of money a team can spend on finding and training new players and thus the Leafs need to take advantage of that.

Nashville needs offense. They could end up drafting someone like Scott Glennie, Zack Kassian or Jordan Schroeder.

Nashville has a lot of holes to fill. They also have a lot of cap space. While they may not be the most attractive location for free agents, they will likely try and be very aggressive in signing players.

The Florida Panthers will likely lose Bouwmeester to free agency. They may attempt to trade his rights before July 1st in order to avoid him walking away for nothing. They could probably get at least third round pick for his rights.

The Panthers just barely missed the playoffs last season. Without Bouwmeester they will have even more trouble this year.

They will also have trouble luring marquee free agents to their team. Players like Mike Comrie, Alexei Kovalev, Steve Sullivan, Chad LaRose or Travis Moen could be on Florida's wish list.

Columbus could use an offensive, puck-moving defenseman. If we're Columbus we make a serious attempt to sign Bouwmeester. Falling short of that, Darryl Sydor or Philippe Boucher would be on the list.

Also, if it doesn't look like Rick Nash will re-sign with the team after this season, Columbus may want to send some feelers out early to see what other teams would be willing to offer in a trade. We wouldn't necessarily trade him yet, but we'd see what he's worth at this point.

If Los Angeles wants to trade Jack Johnson, Columbus may want to get in on that.

Calgary ended up in serious injury and cap trouble at the end of the last season. They weren't even able to dress a full lineup for some games.

The Flames will want to add some low cost depth to their organization in order to prevent the same thing from happening this season. They may also want to look into acquiring a different backup goaltender. Mikka Kiprusoff played a ridiculous 76 games last season and he was responsible for all but one of Calgary's victories. Someone like Brent Johnson, Scott Clemmensen or Kevin Weekes may be on the Flames radar for next season.

The Flames will also have to decide whether they wish to re-sign Mike Cammalleri.

He is very talented offensively and he finished second in Flames' scoring last season. However, there are rumors that he has a bit of an attitude problem. If we're Calgary we trade his rights before the draft to gain an extra pick.

Calgary could also use a right winger. Steve Sullivan would be a good fit on the Flames.

The Devils don't need too much. Scott Clemmensen, Kevin Weekes or both may leave the team due to free agency. This isn't a big problem for the Devils as long as Brodeur is healthy. If he isn't healthy, the Devils could be looking for a capable backup. Ty Conklin, Mathieu Garon or Andre Raycroft come to mind here.

They will also need to decide what to do with their free agent forwards.

If we're New Jersey we re-sign Travis Zajac and John Madden. Brian Gionta will likely be let go unless he's willing to cut his $4 million by at least $500,000. Brendan Shanahan reportedly wants to play for one more year. If he does, New Jersey might give him a shot.

The Devils do need to get younger however, and thus trading for additional draft picks may help them.

If we're Carolina we make signing Chad LaRose and Erik Cole to new contracts our priority. Cole has stated that he would like to remain in Carolina.

We also try to sign Hal Gill. He's the big body that Carolina needs to stand in front of Cam Ward. The Penguins showed weaknesses in the Hurricanes defense during the playoffs and Gill would help close those weaknesses. Re-signing Dennis Seidenberg would help as well.

The Hurricanes may have some issues with cap space. Cole may need to take a paycut to remain a Hurricane.