The New York Islanders Select...

After attending the draft day party at the Coliseum and reading just about everything I could find on our new baker's dozen of prospects, here is my analysis of the Islanders 2008 draft.

With the 5th, I mean 7th, no wait the 9th pick - the Islanders select Center Josh Bailey from Windsor of the OHL. Time will tell if Snow's plan of picking up the additional 2nd and 3rd round picks from the deals to move from 5 to 7 then 7 to 9 were worth passing over Filatov, Schenn or Wilson. As of this point I believe we could have the new generation's version of Joe Sakic. Bailey is a lefty playmaking two-way center. During his post draft interview with Buccigross, Bailey stated he models himself after both Sakic and Yzerman. If he can do half of what both of these hockey greats have accomplished during their careers, we here in Isles Country will be very happy with this selection. He also said in his interview, that offensively he would rather pass the puck then use his shot (get him on the ice with Okposo ASAP), after you watch the youtube video, you will see that this kid not only needs to use his shot more but also that he is exactly the type of player we love around these parts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN4MlGHR5w4

The 1st of our 2nd round selections was Corey Trivino, another center who has some size but needs to hit the gym. This past postseason he averaged 1.47 points per game with 5 goals and 17 assists.

Our second 2nd round pick was this years Minnesota's Mr. Hockey defenseman Aaron Ness. While on the smaller side, 5-10 160, he just graduated high school and will be going to Okposo's former stomping grounds University of Minnesota. His senior year he tailed 72 points with 28 goals to lead his team to a section championship.

With our final 2nd round pick comes another defenseman, a 6 foot bruiser by the name of Travis Harmonic. "He plays on the Warriors, and he is a warrior" - said one scout. "He breaks his jaw earlier in the season, and comes back to play the rest of the game. You have to love his mentality, not overly skilled but will block a shot with his teeth if need be." Could he be a homegrown Witt?

The NHL has the Staal family dominating across the league and for the Islanders sake lets hope that the Toews are the next NHL family to take on the league. The first pick of the 3rd round was Jonathan Toews' brother, David. Going along with the draft theme of taking highly skilled players, David fits accordingly. He had 100 points last year in 51 games with 44 goals. If he develops into a player like his brother, we all will be very happy with this pick.

Continuing to build our defensive depth comes the selection of Jyri Niemi. Though Finnish born, Niemi is playing in the WHL where he led rookies with 14 goals last season.

The steal in this draft could come from pick number 73 Kirill Petrov. Ranked as the 2nd overall international skater for this draft, Petrov dropped this late in the draft because he has 3 years left on his deal with his Russian team. If Petrov did not have this contract over in Russia and expressed interest in coming to the NHL now, he easily could have been the Islanders pick in the first round at number 5. When compared to Filatov, Petrov is 3 inches taller with a wider frame.

Our 1st of two 4th round picks is defenseman Matt Donovan from Cedar Rapids. As a rookie last season, Donovan played in 59 games were he tallied 31 points (12g, 19a).

Our hopeful version of a Zetterberg type find in the draft comes with the pick of David Ullstrom. This 6-3 swede needs to hit the gym as he weighs in at 190. He also put up 54 points last year with 27 goals.

In need of having depth at the goalie position for our farm system comes the pick of Kevin Poulin with the 5th round pick. Hopefully he plays better then his 3.69 GAA and .887 save percentage of last year.

Adding some muscle to this draft is winger Matthew Martin. Last year he had 155 penalty minutes while also netting 25 goals.

Another potential steal from this draft could be our last pick, Justin DiBenedetto. This left winger was 2nd in scoring on Steve Stamkos' team this past season with 93 points.


Other News:
Dubie has agreed to terms with AK-Bars of the Russian Super league, it was a 2 year deal.

Bergenheim, Colliton, Nielson, Tambellini, Walter and Bruno all have recieved qualifying offers.

Coming later this weekend will be a preview of the upcoming free agency period, which opens on Tuesday.

Draft Day

----------------
UPDATE; I'm not too sure I liked what Garth Snow chose to do yesterday. He promised fans that he would take the best available player, but he clearly went back on his word. If either Filatov or Wilson turn out to be big time talents and Bailey becomes the next Ryan O'Marra, then it's over. It just isn't meant to be for us Isles fans. The Isles did replenish their farm system and hopefully that will pay its dividends sometime before 2015. July 1st is on its way. I'm not sure if that's a day to look for or not, but sometime in mid July we will have a better idea of what kind of team we will see out there for the 2008-2009 season. Thoughts?

----------------
Who will the Isles choose? Will they grab the speedy Russian forward Flitiov at the 5 spot if he's still available. Or will they perhaps grab Pietrangelo if he's still available when the Isles make their pick. Some believe the Isles might agree to drop a few spots in this year's draft in an attempt to grab some extra players, while allowing another team to move up. The events that unfold tonight will play a huge role in how the Isles will look over next 5 years. Let's see what happens.

Dubie Dubie Doon't

-------------------------
UPDATE: Isles talking to Yashin?

It appears the Isles are under talks with Alex Yashin's agent on a possible one year deal. Wow.
-------------------------

As many of you might have recently become aware, the Isles decided last week to cut ties with back up goaltender Wade Dubielewicz. Although Dubie got off to a terrible start last season, he did put in some incredibly solid performances in the latter part of the season. But let's not get too worked up about this one folks. Dubie is a career back up goaltender who has only had one productive NHL season. He is undersized, almost 30 years old, and he evidently reported out of shape to camp last season--his first season signed to an NHL level contract. His services were surely helpful, but they are undoubtedly replaceable.

The non-offering of a contract to Satan is not surprising, but I'm a little shocked the Isles didn't at least try to sign Joe Vasicek. I guess the Isles feel they have more than enough depth at center and thus do not feel the need to bring back another enigmatic player.

Regarding Sean Avery, I would not want any part of his services, nor do I expect Avery to have any desire to come to Long Island. Oh well.

Regarding moving up in the draft, I can only beg: "Garth, please do not compromise the future of this organization for the chance to land an aging, declining player that may or may not propel us to the 8th seed next spring." Aka, if you can't acquire a Dany Heatley, then let's give it a go with our own pick.

Pre-draft analysis coming soon....thoughts?

B&O Challenge: Bill is the Champion of the first annual playoff challenge! This is not surprising, as Sir William has been taking it to us all season. For a prize, how about a weekly column. Might as well put your knowledge to work, eh?