There are sometimes drafts that make you go WHAA!?!!? One of these occurred in the S56 SHL Entry Draft.

The struggling Toronto North Stars got semi-lucky during the lottery, and drew second overall. Im assuming Toronto's front office is one of those that are super competent, given their recent rise to the top - which is what makes this pick so odd to me.

The Toronto North Stars selected Evangelos Giannopolous 2nd overall.

Now, at face value - there is nothing wrong with this pick. However, what happened next perplexed me, as well as other SHL fans and associates.

The Toronto North Stars are proud to announce a trade

STEELHAWKS ACQUIRE:
(D) Evangelos Giannopolous (#2 OVR PICK)

NORTHSTARS ACQUIRE:
(D) Sarah Burke, (#10 OVR PICK)

I just don't understand - why would you select Giannopolous then trade him a day after? Perhaps he had some attitude issues, or maybe did not see eye to eye with management on the direction of the team. Maybe he was a real Lindros - or maybe Toronto Management had buyers remorse. This deal was very WTF at the time - they could have easily just drafted Burke with their 2nd pick. Was there perhaps communication between Hamilton and Toronto prior to the draft? Maybe Hamilton told Toronto to select Giannopolous at #2 since they knew he wouldn't sink to 10th, and perhaps Toronto agreed because they had their eyes on the first generation Burke anyhow, and figured that they would sink. Though I can speculate, I can't really see this as a realistic option, since TOR and HAM are in the same division. Either way, it wouldn't matter because ultimately the NorthStars would flip Burke, along with prospects and picks for one of the SHL's top Defensemen, Adam Barron.