Former Sioux defenseman Matt Greene was traded from Edmonton to Los Angeles today.

Edmonton also sent forward Jarret Stoll to Los Angeles in exchange for defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.

Greene has played his whole NHL career with the Oilers. Since being called up by Edmonton as a rookie in 2005-06, Greene has only played one game in the AHL. He was a member of the Oilers’ Western Conference champion team in 2005-06.

Greene missed 34 games last season with an ankle injury and finished with one assist. The Kings will pay him $1.25 million next season.

A few former Sioux players will be free agents when the free agency period opens up on Tuesday.

Unrestricted free agents and last season’s salary:

Mike Commodore, D, Ottawa Senators (age 27) – $1.3 million
David Hale, D, Calgary Flames (age 26) – $590,000
Ryan Bayda, F, Carolina Hurricanes (age 26) — $475,000

Restricted free agent and last season’s salary:

Brandon Bochenski, F, Nashville Predators (age 25) — $600,000

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This means Bochenski could be playing for yet another team next season. Bochenski has played three seasons in the NHL, but he’s played on more NHL teams than most veterans. He started with Ottawa in 2005-06 and has since played with Chicago, Boston, Anaheim and Nashville.

Commodore isn’t far behind. He’s played for four NHL teams (New Jersey, Calgary, Carolina and Ottawa) and four AHL teams (Albany, Cincinnati, St. John and Lowell).

Bayda, meanwhile, has only played in the NHL with one team throughout his career.

Hale has played for New Jersey for two and a half years and for Calgary for a year and a half.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did an interesting piece over the weekend on who is making the NHL.

The paper made a chart based on every team’s NHL roster at the end of the season and what round the player was drafted in. Here are the results:

First round — 31.7%
Second round — 15.9%
Undrafted — 11.3%
Third round — 9.6%
Fourth round — 6.8%
Seventh round — 6.5%
Sixth round — 5.2%
Fifth round — 4.7%

Some other interesting notes about the list:

–Buffalo and Columbus are the only teams without an undrafted player.
–Philly has 15 first-round picks and no second-round picks.
–Cup champion Detroit has twice as many seventh-round picks (8) as first-round picks (4).
–The worst team in the league (Tampa Bay) and the best team in the league (Detroit) have the fewest amount of first-rounders.

At least two UND free agents will attend development camps this summer.

Ryan Duncan, who attended St. Louis’ camp last summer, has been invited to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ camp this summer.

And Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, who just completed his senior season, will attend camp in St. Louis along with T.J. Oshie and Chris Porter.

Thanks to a blog reader for also pointing out that Darcy Zajac will be at camp in Chicago next week.

Last summer, Erik Fabian got a free-agent invite to Chicago’s camp and Fabian ended up playing for the Hawks’ ECHL affiliate.

UND has seen six players drafted in each of the last two summers, tying Wisconsin for the most in college hockey. Here are the numbers:

2008 draft

Wisconsin 7
UND 6
Boston Univ. 6
Michigan 4
Clarkson 4
Ohio State 3
Denver 3
Northeastern 3
Cornell 3
Minnesota 2
RPI 2
Michigan State 2
Notre Dame 2
New Hampshire 1
Miami 1
Colorado College 1
MSU-Mankato 1
Duluth 1
St. Cloud State 1
Maine 1
Northern Michigan 1
Western Michigan 1
Ferris State 1
Dartmouth 1

Most players selected in past two drafts

Wisconsin 12
UND 12
Michigan 11
Minnesota 10
Boston Univ. 10
Notre Dame 7
Boston College 6
Clarkson 5
Miami 5

The second day of the NHL draft was far more busy than the first for college players. Six UND recruits went on Saturday between rounds two and seven. UND’s six picks was second only to Wisconsin, which had seven players taken.

All of the college players drafted are listed below. A WCHA player will be in red, a UND player in green.

Danny Kristo was the first Sioux player to go, getting picked up by Montreal in the second round. David Toews went to the Islanders in the early third. Corey Fienhage went to Buffalo in the mid-third. Phoenix grabbed Brett Hextall, who hadn’t been ranked at either mid-term or final by CSB, in the sixth round. Andrew MacWilliam went in the seventh round to Toronto and Joe Gleason went a couple of picks later to Chicago.

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Pick of note: Nashville grabs former Moorhead High standout Jeff Foss in the sixth.

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One pick that is guaranteed to cause a bit of controversey around here is the New York Islanders taking Roseau defenseman and Gopher recruit Aaron Ness at No. 40. If you remember, Islanders general manager Garth Snow ripped Minnesota coach Don Lucia last year, saying he didn’t properly develop Isles draft pick Kyle Okposo. The Islanders signed Okposo midway through the year. It’ll be interesting to hear Snow what says about this pick.

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Three Wisconsin defensemen go within six picks in the second round, meaning that next season the Badgers could have three first-rounders (Ryan McDonagh, Brendan Smith, Jake Gardiner) and four second-rounders (Jamie McBain, Cody Goloubef, Patrick Wiercioch, Justin Schultz) on D. A couple will likely be delayed until 2008.

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Other notes: Denver recruit David Carle’s hockey career is over because of a medical condition, the Anchorage Daily News reports. Carle was projected to go in the second or third round today and Tampa Bay still took him in the seventh. . . .Denver recruit Matt Donovan, not ranked by CSB, goes in the fourth. . . .A guy named Michael Jordan worked out well for Carolina in the early 80s. They hope history repeats itself with their fourth-round pick.

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UND’s draft board:

Danny Kristo – Montreal (56th pick, second round)
David Toews — N.Y. Islanders (66th pick, third round)
Corey Fienhage — Buffalo (81st pick, third round)
Brett Hextall — Phoenix (159th pick, sixth round)
Andrew MacWilliam — Toronto (188th pick, seventh round)
Joe Gleason — Chicago (192nd, seventh round)

College hockey’s draft board (if I missed anyone, let me know):

Second round

36. N.Y. Islanders — Corey Trivino, F, Boston University recruit
37. Columbus — Cody Goloubef, D, Wisconsin
40. N.Y. Islanders — Aaron Ness, D, Minnesota recruit
42. Ottawa — Patrick Wiercioch, D, Wisconsin recruit
43. Anaheim — Justin Schultz, D, Wisconsin recruit
45. Carolina — Zac Dalpe, F, Ohio State recruit
51. N.Y. Rangers — Derek Stepan, F, Wisconsin recruit
52. New Jersey — Brandon Burlon, D, Michigan recruit
56. Montreal — Danny Kristo, F, UND recruit
60. Toronto — Jimmy Hayes, F, Boston College recruit

Third round

62. San Jose — Justin Daniels, F, Northeastern recruit
63. Los Angeles — Robbie Czarnik, F, Michigan recruit
66. N.Y. Islanders — David Toews, F, UND recruit
81. Buffalo — Corey Fienhage, D, UND recruit
86. Anaheim — Steve Quailer, F, Northeastern recruit
89. Dallas — Scott Winkler, F, Colorado College recruit
91. Detroit — Max Nicastro, D, Boston University recruit

Fourth round

94. Atlanta — Vinny Saponari, F, Boston University recruit
95. St. Louis — David Warsofsky, D, Boston University recruit
96. N.Y. Islanders — Matt Donovan, D, Denver recruit
101. Buffalo — Justin Jokinen, F, Minnesota State-Mankato recruit
108. Calgary — Nick Larson, F, uncommitted
113. Anaheim — Ryan Hegarty, D, Maine recruit
115. Minnesota — Sean Lorenz, D, Notre Dame recruit
118. Columbus — Drew Olson, D, Minnesota-Duluth recruit
119. Ottawa — Derek Grant, F, Michigan State recruit

Fifth round

128. Toronto — Greg Pateryn, D, Michigan recruit
136. Nashville — Taylor Stefishen, F, Ohio State recruit
139. Ottawa — Mark Borowiecki, D, Clarkson recruit
140. Colorado — Mark Olver, F, Northern Michigan
151. Detroit — Julien Cayer, F, Clarkson recruit

Sixth round

157. Columbus — Cam Atkinson, F, Boston College recruit
158. Toronto — Grant Rollheiser, G, Boston University recruit
159. Phoenix — Brett Hextall, F, UND recruit
160. Tampa Bay — Luke Witkowski, D, Western Michigan recruit
166. Nashville — Jeff Foss, D, RPI
169. Chicago — Ben Smith, F, Boston College
172. New Jersey — David Wohlberg, F, Michigan recruit
173. Boston — Nick Tremblay, F, Clarkson recruit
174. Washington — Greg Burke, F, New Hampshire recruit
177. San Jose — Tommy Wingels, F, Miami
179. Chicago — Braden Birch, F, Cornell recruit

Seventh round

183. Los Angeles — Garrett Roe, F, St. Cloud State
184. Atlanta — Zach Redmond, D, Ferris State
185. St. Louis — Paul Karpowich, G, Clarkson recruit
187. Columbus — Sean Collins, F, Cornell recruit
188. Toronto — Andrew MacWilliam, D, UND recruit
190. Florida — Matt Bartkowski, D, Ohio State recruit
192. Chicago — Joe Gleason, D, UND recruit
194. San Jose — Drew Daniels, F, Northeastern recruit
197. Boston — Mark Goggin, F, Dartmouth recruit
200. Colorado — Nate Condon, F, Minnesota recruit and Fargo Force player
203. Tampa Bay — David Carle, D, Denver recruit
206. Montreal — Patrick Johnson, F, Wisconsin
208. Anaheim — Nick Pryor, D, Wisconsin recruit
209. Dallas — Mike Bergin, D, RPI recruit
210. Pittsburgh — Nicholas D’Agostino, D, Cornell recruit

Here’s a look at the first day of the NHL draft:

Big trade to start: Lake of the Woods’ Keith Ballard goes to Florida along with Nick Boynton and the 49th pick. Phoenix gets Olli Jokinen. Could the loss of two defensemen by the Coyotes be good news (more playing time) for former Sioux Matt Jones and Travis Roche?

College hockey players will be in blue. WCHA players will be in red.

1. Tampa Bay — Steven Stamkos, F, OHL.
Comment: The biggest slam dunk at No. 1 since Sidney Crosby in 2005. Also the first No. 1 since Crosby who isn’t a U.S. NTDP alum.

2. Los Angeles — Drew Doughty, D, OHL.
Comment: Apparently, he grew up a Kings fan because of Great One.

3. Atlanta — Zach Bogosian, D, OHL
Comment: An American goes in the top three for the fourth consecutive year. He’s from Massena, N.Y.

4. St. Louis — Alex Pietrangelo, D, OHL
Comment: The OHL had three first-round picks last year. It didn’t take long to surpass that total this year.

5. Toronto — Luke Schenn, D, WHL
Comment: Toronto trades up to grab the defenseman from Saskatoon.

6. Columbus — Nikita Filatov, F, Russia
Comment: The Russian wild card of this draft didn’t fall as far as Alexei Cherepanov did last year.

7. Nashville – Colin Wilson, F, Boston University
Comment: The first college player is selected. But will the Sioux see him in the opener next season? Wilson has indicated he’s willing to sign.

8. Phoenix — Mikkel Boedker, F, OHL
Comment: The Coyotes pick a Copenhagen, Denmark, native who played in the OHL.

9. N.Y. Islanders – Josh Bailey, F, OHL
Comment: The Islanders traded down, figuring they could grab Bailey at this spot.

10. Vancouver — Cody Hodgson, F, OHL
Comment: Hodgson grew up playing on the same team as Stamkos.

11. Chicago — Kyle Beach, F, WHL
Comment: His second-cousin is Oakland A’s pitcher Rich Harden.

12. Buffalo — Tyler Myers, D, WHL
Comment: Myers, a 6-7 giant who was born in Texas, was ranked No. 4 by CSB.

13. Los Angeles – Colten Teubert, D, WHL
Comment: His profile lists Rob Blake as his favorite player. Could Teubert be Blake’s replacement in Los Angeles?

14. Carolina — Zach Boychuk, F, WHL
Comment: TSN compares this 5-10, 175-pounder to Jason Blake.

15. Ottawa — Erik Karlsson, D, Sweden
Comment: Last time Ottawa hosted the draft, the Sens took Brian Lee with their first pick. This time it’s a Swede.

16. Boston — Joe Colborne, F, Denver recruit
Comment: Colborne is just the second first-round pick ever for the Pioneers and the first since 1984. He’s the first WCHA player to go.

17. Anaheim — Jake Gardiner, D, Wisconsin recruit
Comment: Gardiner makes it four first-rounders for the Badgers in the last two drafts. This means Wisconsin will have at least three first-rounders and a second-rounder on the blue line next year.

18. Nashville — Chet Pickard, G, WHL
Comment: Pickard is the first goaltender selected.

19. Philadelphia — Luca Sbisa, D, WHL
Comment: Sbisa represented Switzerland at the World Juniors.

20. N.Y. Rangers — Michael Del Zotto, D, WHL
Comment: Growing up, he also was on that team with Stamkos and Hodgson. I’m guessing they didn’t lose too often.

21. Washington — Anton Gustafsson, F, Sweden
Comment: His father, Bengt-Ake, is a former Caps forward.

22. Edmonton — Jordan Eberle, F, WHL
Comment: Eberle is the first North American skater selected who was outside of CSB’s top 30.

23. Minnesota – Tyler Cuma, D, OHL
Comment: The Wild give up a third-round pick next season to move up one spot and take Cuma.

24. New Jersey – Mattias Tedenby, F, Sweden
Comment: The Devils hope Tedenby doesn’t extend their non-UND player curse.

25. Calgary — Greg Nemisz, F, OHL
Comment: The Flames also added Mike Cammalleri via trade today.

26. Buffalo — Tyler Ennis, F, WHL
Comment: Ennis stands at just 5-9, 146.

27. Washington — John Carlson, D, OHL
Comment: The Caps select Carlson, who de-committed from UMass to sign with London.

28. Phoenix – Viktor Tikhonov, F, Russia
Comment: Tikhonov is the grandson of the Russians’ coach from the Miracle on Ice game.

29. Atlanta — Daultan Leveille, F, Michigan State recruit
Comment: Possibly the biggest surprise of the first round, Leveille plays Junior B in Canada and was ranked 47 by Central Scouting.

30. Detroit — Tom McCollum, G, OHL
Comment: Appropriately, the first round ends with an OHL player.

For Sioux followers, no NHL team in the last decade has been more interesting to follow on draft day than the New Jersey Devils. They’ve taken three Sioux players with their No. 1 pick since 2000.

This season, the Devils draft at No. 21 in the first round. Will they go for Danny Kristo, Corey Fienhage or David Toews at that spot? We’ll find out this evening. The draft starts at 6 p.m. and it will be on Versus. Live blog will be fired up throughout the draft.

You have to wonder if the Devils have figured out the trend in their top selections of the last decade. Here’s the list of their first pick of each draft since 1999 and how many games each has played in the NHL:

2007 — Mike Hoeffel — 0
2006 — Matt Corrente — 0
2005 — Nicklas Bergfors — 1
2004 — Travis Zajac — 162
2003 — Zach Parise — 244
2002 — Anton Kadeykin — 0
2001 — Adrian Foster — 0
2000 — David Hale — 215
1999 — Ari Ahonen — 0

The second player New Jersey took in the 1999 draft was Mike Commodore, who has played in 296 NHL games. Outside of former Gopher Paul Martin (315), no Devils draft pick in the last decade has played more NHL games than Commodore.

In that 1999 draft, Commodore is the only one of eight Devils picks who has played a game in the NHL. In 2003 and 2004, the Devils picked 14 players. Parise and Zajac have played a combined 406 NHL games. The other 12 players taken have combined for one.

Here’s a look at the Devils’ draft picks of the last decade who have played the most NHL games:

1. Paul Martin (’00) — 315
2. Mike Commodore (’99) — 296
3. Mike Rupp (’00) — 263
4. Zach Parise (’03) — 244
5. David Hale (’00) — 215
6. Travis Zajac (’04) — 162
7. Cam Janssen (’02) — 107
8. Mike Danton (’00) — 87 (yes, that Mike Danton)
9. Andreas Salomonsson (’01) — 71
10. Aaron Voros (’01) — 55

Draft day has arrived. That means for three Sioux recruits, the wait begins.

Danny Kristo, Corey Fienhage and David Toews could go anywhere between the late first and the fourth rounds according to various mock drafts.

Here’s a Herald graphic previewing the draft.

Here’s a Herald story featuring Toews, who is spending draft weekend in Grand Forks. I promise one of these days I’ll complete a story about David without mentioning his brother. But since we’re on the topic…. wait until you hear David talk this fall. Sounds exactly like Jonathan.

The NHL did a fantastic job putting together draft profiles of guys projected to go in the top three rounds.

Here’s a link to Fienhage’s page. Everyone seems to have their own way of spelling his first name. Corey is correct, though. Notice his unique birthplace.

Here’s a link to Kristo’s page. Notice who Kristo says he’d like to have dinner with. One of those guys had a fairly notable time in Grand Forks.

Here’s a link to Toews’ page. Notice who he says is his favorite NHL player.