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Canucks trade Eddie Lack to Carolina, draft Guillaume Brisebois with pick

The Vancouver Canucks finally traded a goaltender, but Calgary, Edmonton, and L.A. got a whole lot better at the NHL Draft.
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Eddie Lack and Jacob Markstrom celebrate one of the former's wins – in relief of starter Ryan Miller – during the 2014-15 NHL season. The Vancouver Canucks have traded Lack to the Carolina Hurricanes

By the time you woke up, your favourite goalie belonged to Carolina.

The Vancouver Canucks finally pulled the trigger on a much-anticipated trade, sending Eddie Lack to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a couple draft picks – although the haul was less than many outsiders, certainly many Canucks fans, hoped for.

Rumours had general manager Jim Benning looking to swing Lack for a second-round pick in this weekend's NHL Draft which, combined with the potential to also flip veteran defenceman Kevin Bieksa, would have given Vancouver a hefty slate of picks in Rounds 1 and 2, in a draft seen by many as the deepest in two decades.

Instead, the Hurricanes sent Vancouver their third-round pick in 2015 – which the Canucks used on Acadie-Bathurst blueliner Guillaume Brisebois – and their seventh-round pick in 2016. (It's believed the Edmonton Oilers were offering Vancouver a slightly better package, but that Benning didn't want to trade Lack within the Pacific Division.)

The move was going to test Canucks fans' patience, regardless of the return – and Twitter was on fire with angry Tweets all Saturday morning, with fans feeling they'd lost Lack for special beans.

Lack was a fan favourite in Vancouver, and is the third such tender to be traded since 2013 following Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo.

"I want to thank @VanCanucks for the past 5 years! Everyone in and around the team are first class and I've made friends for life," Lack wrote on Twitter on Saturday morning, while on vacation in Ibiza, Spain.

"Fans, I don't know what to say... U guys have done so much for me and I'm forever grateful.

"Good luck and keep supporting the team like you do, we'll maybe see each other down the road."

Canucks select Boeser, Brisebois with picks 23 and 66

On Friday, the Canucks used their first-round pick, No. 23, on scoring winger Brock Boeser, who potted 35 goals last season with the USHL's Waterloo Black Hawks.

Boeser, combined with Brisebois and Sven Baertschi – who the Canucks got from the Calgary Flames in March, in exchange for their second-round pick on Saturday – gives Vancouver a decent collection from the Florida sweepstakes.

But compare the Canucks' weekend with those from the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, even the Anaheim Ducks or the L.A. Kings, and it's looking like it could be a long decade ahead for Vancouver.

The Oilers drafted phenom Connor McDavid with the first overall pick, a presumed generational talent and budding superstar, and traded for 2012 fourth overall pick Griffin Reinhart. The Oilers also swung a trade with the New York Rangers for Henrik Lundqvist's herald backup Cam Talbot, after missing out on Lack.

The Flames, of course, cannonballed the pool on Friday, sending their first-round pick and two second-rounders to the Boston Bruins for cornerstore defenceman Dougie Hamilton. They now add Hamilton to a roster that was already good enough to bounce the Vancouver Canucks in a short six games in April, led by youngsters Sean Monahan, Johnny Gaudreau, and Sam Bennett.

The Kings sent their first-round pick to Boston, as well, getting hulking power forward Milan Lucic in return. And the Anaheim Ducks were active and adding to their stacked prospect pool, trading away Emerson Etem and Kyle Palmieri while leaving Florida with Carl Hagelin and first-rounder Jacob Larsson (27th overall), and offensive defenceman out of Sweden.

Hagelin will be a top six forward for the already potent Ducks attack, Larsson will give Anaheim another young tool for their down-the-road blueline, and both join a system that's done well with recent draft picks like Cam Fowler, Hampus Lindholm, Shea Theodore, Nick Ritchie, John Gibson, and Frederik Andersen (all selected since 2010).

And Lucic will join a Kings team that stutter through a down year in 2015, but still returns the majority of a roster that won a Stanley Cup just two years ago.

Even the San Jose Sharks, who were idle in the trade market this weekend, were able to add a top 10 pick to their system, No. 9 selection Timo Meier.

Meanwhile, the Canucks face questions about their cupboard, after using their sixth overall selection on Jake Virtanen last year – passing on a more dynamic talent like Nikolaj Ehlers, among others – and the 23rd pick this year on Boeser, who was chosen ahead of several high-flight forwards – Travis Konecny, Jansen Harkins, and Nick Merkley – and top-ranked defencemen – Noah Juulsen, Larsson, Oliver Kylington, and others.

VIDEO: Brock Boeser Meet the Media – NHL Draft 2015

VIDEO: Brock Boeser selected 23rd Overall by Vancouver Canucks