NHL ENTRY DRAFT

June 21, 2003

Rick Dudley

Nikolai Zherdev

NIKOLAI ZHERDEV: I am pleased with the team that selected me and I am glad I went that high. I was hoping that Columbus would be the team that selected me.

The entire way they seem to be the team that was most interested in me. They conducted certain interviews with me.

We were recently opponents so it would be nice to be on the same team with him.

The fact that RIGNAS played for that team is just about the only thing I know about the city.

RICK DUDLEY: We had offers. We did not want to lose Nathan Horton. We felt that we could make this move at one NHL player who could help us and add another second round pick and it was very important to us. So it was a field that made a lot of sense to us. We knew they were going to take the goaltender. We felt that Carolina would take Staal. We were getting the player we wanted anyway.

RICK DUDLEY: To be honest with you we have liked him for a long time. We have had him at the top for a long time. Obviously the goaltenders are a little different ball game. Other teams need a little more than us. But as far as it went with Staal we really liked Staal too but we always had Horton a little ahead. That's the guy we wanted. It went the way we expected. But he's exactly what we'd like to have. We'd like to have 23 players like him. He's a guy who skates very well, that can score, and adds some bite to his game so he's kind of a perfect compliment for what you are looking for in NHL player.

RICK DUDLEY: Well, I think price for them, it was more them turning it down than me turning it down. People who came after it I made the price high. I don't think I hid that fact that it was going to cost a lot if we were going to move down very far. If we were not going to get Nathan Horton in this draft then it was going to cost a lot and no one was willing to pay that price.

RICK DUDLEY: He is a little different player for me. He's faster. He is a guy that he uses his speed. He can be an incredible forechecker and when he's having one of his shifts, it's an awful thing to play against him because he gets in so quickly so a defensemen, they are always on their guard when he's on the ice because he can get in and make contact. Other part of it of course he's a gifted offensive player.

RICK DUDLEY: I hope not. I think this question was asked I said we were going to get those people. It may not be through this draft. We intend to get the veterans that we need. We think that Michael SAMUELSON is a very good compliment for our team. He can play any forward position. He ways well over it 200 pounds and look good in our uniform. We're still looking for that leadership in those people. We didn't expect to get it by this. If anybody thought that, that wasn't the purpose of this trade. We were still -- even if we traded for people who played in the NHL, they'd a been young players.

RICK DUDLEY: We're pretty happy at our table. The same as last year. We got something there was no doubt we were taking our player last year and we were taking Horton. It is satisfying to be able to do that. Obviously Pittsburgh felt their need too. It's nice when the trades work out for everybody.

RICK DUDLEY: I think Clarke key felt that the asking price to drop to 11 was a little high and you can talk to him about that. He was certainly after the No. 1 pick, but again, everybody measures it differently and we were not going to drop to is 11 easily.