Day 1 of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft came to a close. The Preds were the subject of trade rumors a couple of times on Friday --- just prior to the start of the draft there were rumors of inquiries from teams in the top-10 (but the Preds felt the asking price was too high) and then late in Round 1 the Preds were actively pursuing trade options, but were unable to find a willing taker. David Poile talked about trade talks and more in his Day 1 Recap interview (click here). As a point of reference the 22nd overall pick was traded for the 30th and 39th slots ... Nashville's earliest pick is No. 38. And then the No. 24 pick was moved for the 35th and 48th selections ... No. 35 is close to Nashville's first pick (No. 38) and No. 48 is close to Nashville's second pick (No. 52), but close wasn't enough. And once the price tag was set, other teams were looking for similar payoffs; the Preds just didn't own two picks that were quite attractive enough to get into the late first round.

There's a chance options could become available to move up earlier in the second round --- the Preds scouts have shown that in the past sliding up in a trade after Day 1 in 2001 to get Jordin Tootoo early on Day 2 and sliding up after Day 1 in 2008 to nab Roman Josi early in Round 2 --- so don't be shocked if Nashville slides up closer to the top of the second round tomorrow morning. The Preds scouts are meeting this evening back in the team hotel and those options are surely to be among the first topics discussed. But in chats with the Preds scouting staff, they are very encouraged by the way Day 1 played out and are high on the options they feel should be available to them at both the No. 38 and No. 52 slots. The No. 82 pick (Nashville's third-round selection) is a little further away, so projections take a little more guess work, but with the depth of this year's draft, the scouts are still pretty confident that they will have impressive options at 82.