TORONTO -- Except for the Florida Panthers, who expressed a serious intent to use their No. 1 selection, it was expected the order of the rest of the first round of Saturday's NHL draft could be radically changed by trades as it moved along.

It didn't take that long.

The deals started Friday night as Tampa Bay sent the No. 4 overall pick to Philadelphia for forward Ruslan Fedotenko and the 34th and 52nd picks.

Don Waddell, the general manager of the Atlanta Thrashers who choose second, is itching to make a deal in an attempt to add veteran talent to a promising young lineup.

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Doug MacLean said he's received numerous offers for the No. 3 pick that might prove too good to pass up.

What this year's draft, which will have rounds 1-3 Saturday and 4-9 Sunday, lacks in immediate-impact talent, it makes up for in intrigue.

"I'm not sure,'' MacLean said, when asked what he expects to transpire. "I'm going to be sitting there tomorrow just like all the fans in the building.''

Where there is consensus is which three players are expected to go first.

Many general managers and scouts have narrowed that down to lanky defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, rugged wing Rick Nash and goaltender Kari Lehtonen.

"We think there are five great players and we wanted to get one of them whether it's a forward or goaltender,'' Flyers general manager Bob Clarke said after the trade with the Lightning.

Bouwmeester, who at 16 was among the youngest players to represent Canada at a World Junior Hockey Championships three years ago, is the only one considered ready to make the immediate jump to the NHL.

Nash, who has drawn comparisons to Detroit Red Wings sniper Brendan Shanahan, is said to need another year in junior hockey to improve his skating ability.

Lehtonen, who spent last season playing in the Finnish Elite League, will spend next year completing a mandatory stint in the military.

While Panthers general manager Rick Dudley said it would take a blockbuster deal to pry the No. 1 pick away from him, he's still facing questions of his own.

Before making his selection, Dudley wants the framework of a contract in place with one of the three prospects. On Friday afternoon, Dudley said he's still not comfortable with the offers he's gotten back.

"Not major (troubles), but we haven't gotten too far down the road either,'' Dudley said. "We've had communications, and I'm sure they're trying to figure out what they can extract out of us, and we want to know what they want to extract out of us, that's all.''

Because he considers all three players to have equal potential, Dudley admitted his choice might come down to which player negotiates the best deal.

"It's very close that money can be a deciding factor,'' he said. "I anticipate that this is something that will lead right up to our pick.''

Although the NHL has a rookie salary cap, teams can offer prospects lucrative bonuses which don't count against the cap.

"We're not prepared to go to crazy numbers for somebody,'' Dudley said.

The Panthers' choice will clear the way for the Thrashers to entertain a deal.

Waddell is seriously shopping the No. 2 selection, and all but guaranteed that he will trade one of the three picks the Thrashers have through the first three rounds.

"One way or another, we're making a deal,'' Waddell said. "I have three picks right now in the first three rounds, and I'm pretty confident that if I don't do something with our first pick, I have some options right now with our second- and third-rounders.''

Waddell is intent on making a deal in an effort to bring veteran talent to a team that includes such prized youngsters as Dany Heatley, this year's rookie of the year, and Ilya Kovalchuk, who was runner-up for the award.