On Friday night, Islanders fans were poised to celebrate if general manager Garth Snow used the fifth pick in the NHL draft to select Russian forward Nikita Filatov, a potential source of goal-scoring and excitement, two qualities long missing from Nassau Coliseum. But the champagne fizzled and the air went out of the balloons when he traded down twice and wound up taking Windsor center Josh Bailey, regarded by many as a reach even with the ninth pick.
Even if Snow had used the fifth pick on tough-guy defenseman Luke Schenn, the player Toronto traded up to get because he’s NHL-ready now, Islanders fans would have celebrated because Schenn was part of the group most teams identified as the elite six at the top of the draft. Still, Filatov would have been the sexy pick in a league that has thrilled to the goal-scoring exploits of MVP Alex Ovechkin and fellow Russians Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk.
But Snow went into the draft with a trade-down strategy designed to stockpile enough draft picks to pump life back into the farm system. Starting with the second round today, Snow made 12 more picks, including the third-round selection of Russian forward Kirill Petrov with the 73rd overall pick.
It was Petrov, not Filatov, who was named top forward at the World Under-18 championships in January, when he scored five goals and added two assists in six games. While some worried about Filatov’s slender 6-foot, 172-pound frame, the 6-3, 198-pound Petrov is built more along the power-forward lines of Ovechkin and is said to play a similar high-energy game.
Although Petrov was the second-ranked European skater behind Filatov, he fell in the draft because he’s under contract to AK Kazan in the Russian Super League for the next two seasons. If he blossoms as expected, Petrov will have the opportunity to make millions at home in a new league that is forming with the aid of money from Russian oil and gas interests. In contrast, Filatov had rejected a contract offer from his Central Red Army team and declared his intention to play in the NHL.
The talent level is similar, and with so many picks on hand, Snow could afford to risk one on Petrov. Islanders fans might have aborted their party plans Friday night, but Snow and amateur scouting director Ryan Jankowski were celebrating today at the Isles’ draft table in Scotiabank Place.
“It was funny,” Snow said. “One team called us after the pick and good naturedly gave me a couple of curse words because that was the player they were about to take. He was rated pretty high. We’re trying to get him to our mini-camp if he can get his visa in July. He’s a player.”
No one was more excited about the pick than Jankowski, who said it’s up to Petrov’s Super League team to decide whether to allow him to attend the July mini-camp or not. “Our European scout only saw him with the Super League team,” Jankowski said. “He was playing with the big boys all last year, and he’s going to play with them next year from what we’ve been told.
“We’ve seen this kid for a couple years with the Russian national team more than with the Kazan team. We’ve seen him be the top forward in the tournament of players in his own age group. That’s been consistent for the last two years.”
The good thing for the Islanders is that they always will own Petrov’s NHL rights, but the danger is that he might never leave home. “This is a roll of the dice in the third round,” Jankowski said. “That’s why we got those extra third-round picks is to do something like this.
“Yeah, it might be a stumbling block, or maybe there’s an IIHF agreement in one year and, ‘Holy cow,’ we’ve got a home run here. You never know what’s going to happen. If we don’t ever see him, it’s a third-round pick. And he’s a first-round talent. If his name isn’t Petrov, he’s a top-15 pick in this year’s draft.”
The Filatov timeline
Before the first round of the NHL draft got underway around 7:20 p.m. Friday night, rumors were circulating that the Islanders had a deal with Toronto to trade down from No. 5 to No. 7. The rumors were reported on the Internet before Tampa Bay used the No. 1 pick on Steve Stamkos, and Snow said his own staff called him even earlier in the afternoon as he was traveling from his hotel to Scotiabank Place to ask about the rumors they were hearing.
If he made the trade before waiting to see if coveted offensive defensemen Drew Doughty, Zach Bogosian and Alex Pietrangelo would be taken in the second, third and fourth spots, it would be an error of monumental proportions. Asked today if the deal with Toronto was done ahead of those picks, Snow said, “Not true.”
Not surprisingly, he admitted the framework for a deal with Toronto was in place, as many outlets were reporting, but he maintained it wasn’t executed until after Pietrangelo was taken fourth by St. Louis and the Isles were on the clock. "I would never do a deal that early because a better deal could come in at the last minute,” Snow said.
“We had talked about something of that nature a couple of days ago, and I said [to Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher], ‘I’ll see you on the floor.’ When I was in my car on the way from the hotel to here, I got about three text messages from my staff wondering if we already had done the deal. I said, ‘No, it hasn’t.’ It got done right before the pick because I wanted to see who went before us. But we were prepared to do different things depending on who got drafted before us.”
Some believe Snow thought Columbus would pass on Filatov with the sixth pick and he would be available at No. 7. But the GM indicated yesterday that Filatov wasn’t his choice and that the trade-down scenario was predicated on Bailey’s availability lower in the first round. Had the Isles been able to trade up for Doughty, Bogosian or Pietrangelo, they likely would have done it, but the cost was too high. Obviously, Bailey had to be ranked at least fifth on their board based on what happened.
Snow’s evaluation of Bailey was much higher than the rest of the league had him pegged, and he stuck by his convictions. “We have a lot of faith in our staff,” Snow said. “He’s going to be a player our fans love.”
Isles files
Snow’s selection in the second round of high school defensemen Aaron Ness probably isn’t going to go over very big in Minneapolis. Ness won Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey award and is headed to the University of Minnesota to play for Golden Gophers coach Don Lucia.
When rookie forward Kyle Okposo dropped out of Minnesota in January this year to sign with the Islanders, Lucia publicly blamed Snow for pressuring the Gophers’ star to quit school. In fact, Okposo was unhappy playing for Lucia, and Snow responded by leveling criticism at the coach’s program and said he’d do the same thing in the future if Lucia remained as coach.
Questioned by Minnesota reporters yesterday, Snow said every case is different, and he supports’ Ness’ decision to play for Lucia and the Gophers. But he added, “Anyone who takes a shot at one of my players or our organization, there’s going to be a shot going back. So, that’s what happened there. The day before there were three people that took shots in an article against our organization and took a knock against Kyle. I wasn’t going to sit idly by. I told the truth. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”
Another of the Islanders’ picks yesterday attracted some interest if only because of name recognition. In the third round, the Isles took high school center David Toews, who is the younger brother of Chicago Black Hawks star rookie forward Jonathan Toews. Asked if he believes bloodlines are important, Snow said, “I don’t read much into it. I was a professional athlete, and my brothers weren’t very good athletes.” With a laugh, he added, “No, that’s not true.”
Toews is headed to the University of North Dakota, where there’s a chance he’ll play on a line with Islanders prospect Jason Gregoire.
If there was one other aspect of the Islanders’ draft that stood out, it was their willingness to choose a small, speedy defenseman like the 5-9, 157-pound Ness to go with last year’s third-round defenseman Mark Katic, who is 5-10, 180. Questioned about a possible lack of size on the blue line, Jankowski noted that two other defensemen chosen today, 6-0, 192-pound Travis Hamonic and 6-2, 192-pound Jyri Niemi, balanced the scales.
“We thought we could get our size with Hamonic and Niemi,” Jankowski said. “But you can’t have enough skill guys, and that’s where we’re going to roll the dice. It’s been very clear that we’re going for top-level players with skill.”
From "Section 208"
I've seen a lot of insightful comments on this blog, but this one from "Section 208" bears repeating: "The system needed restocking, but they passed over several potential franchise players in favor of a fair-to-middling prospect who's supposed to be low-maintenance and easy to coach. Says a lot about the institutional desire for control."
Right on.
Blog preview
In case you haven’t had your fill of the Islanders’ draft, I will be posting another blog in a few days explaining what the club saw in top pick Josh Bailey that convinced them to abandon the No. 5 slot…In Sunday’s Newsday, you will find my analysis of Snow’s trade-down strategy along with thumbnail sketches of today’s 12 picks.
Comments (33)
great second day by snow! lots of great picks. hope petrov comes over!
The second day made up for the first. Snow and the scouts got a lot of value picks, and we stocked our farm system.
Props to Snow......he clearly had a plan that was beyond the conceptualization of us beer guzzling masses (well me, anyway) last night and he stuck to it.
Of course, the proof will ultimately be in the pudding.
Props also need to go out to Newsday, Greg and Katie.
The Isles were given A LOT of coverage last night (much more than the other guys).
A reporter on the scene in Ottawa, Katie giving up a Friday night to give us a live blog and just the overall attention given to the Isles this weekend.....
That's good stuff.
Shame for uncritically repeating Snow's lame argument that Petrov was better than Filatov. Russian/NHL relations are terrible and hoping for an IIHF agreement is not a strategy. The Russians will only be stepping up their efforts to keep their players (they are still pursuing Malkin!!) and the chances of Petrov leaving are very small. So, no matter what Snow has to say about Petrov being the better player (which central scouting rankings doesn't support), Filatov is the better Russian to take.
Again, Snow might be right, but he has a terrible track record as we are, yet again, having a season that's a "new start."
The system needed restocking, but they passed over several potential franchise players in favor of a fair-to-middling prospect who's supposed to be low-maintenance and easy to coach. Says a lot about the institutional desire for control
Short post here ...
I haven't had a chance to pour over every player drafted yet .... I have to say ... after checking out the top 3 round picks .... I am somewhat encouraged that Snow pulled out a really good draft .... but as 505 said ... proof is in the pudding.... Besides .. 505 and I have been lecturing that more important than the first round .. is what the Isles do in rounds 2 and 3 ... and yeah ... even the later rounds ... but from what I see on paper in the first 3 rounds ... the Isles have most definitely restocked the prospect pool with some quality kids.
I'll check out more on all these players tomorrow and follow up with a phone call.
505 and 19 ISLES, Good to see that you guys have come down off the roof and see the picks for what they were. This nonsense about the top 6 picks being superstars is all hype. The top 4 were where it was at.
Pierre McGuire is an idiot, frothing all over himself about Schenn.
Who was the last "stay at home D man" to win the Norris trophy?
And Filatov wasn't even playing in the top Russian league. Small size players can be stars (Danial Brierre) but I don't see this kid being compared to Ovetchkin. He may turn out to be and then I'll be wrong. But the return Snow got was worth the price he paid.
Any team that has DP is never going to finish in last place, so get over this Taveras thing, people. Unless DP gets injured early, he is capable of stealing enough games for the Islanders to finish out of last place. So, you people that think that this is going to happen, get over it.
If Snow signs a true top six forward and a true PP QB (or trades for them) then this team is deep enough to finish near a playoff spot. Some of the kids will break through and some will not. This is the year that will seperate the wheat from the chaff. The good news is that the following year some of todays picks will be ready
to join the team and begin to move forward.......Sir William
Now Garth go get Vrbada and Liles.......Sir William
I'm not convinced Petrov will remain over in Russia. Ovechkin was just the MVP of the NHL (the big boys league). You don't think that's going to mean something to young Russian players? I think, if anything, that means these guys will be MORE likely to come over, Russian oil money or not. Heck, even Yashin was trying to get back over here after telling some newspaper how great it was in Russia.
That said, Petrov getting a couple of years seasoning over there would definitely not hurt anyone.
Actually, this just in:
"Petrov had a similar message for NHL teams during his recent trip to Toronto for the scouting combine, expressing his desire to play in the league sooner rather than later. 'The experience at the combine made me understand things a lot better,' Petrov said through an interpreter. 'I really want to play in the NHL and only in the NHL.'"
From NHL.com, June 17, 2008
Some teams had Petrov rated high, some wouldn't touch him (even if he was coming to the US right away). Hockey News ranked him 100th.
And ESPN's mock draft had him going 16th overall. You really never know with this sort of thing.
I'm starting an over/under pool for Aaron Ness staying at UM.
Bro in law reports that there is trepidation in the polka ridden ghettoes of the Northland over the Islanders drafting Minnesota's Mr. Hockey.
How soon before we see Round II of the Lucia/Snow throwdown?
I'm gonna go with conventional wisdom and give Ness one semester in Dinkytown before he crosses over to Bridgeport.
I held off on making any comments on Friday nght or Saturday (was actually ready to chew nails) b/c I wanted to see what Garth could do with the plethora of picks he had to play with. To say that I am satisfied is going well beyond understatement. I think the "Bobbleheads" had a plan and for the first time since Milbury came to town, stuck with it, notwithstanding the pressures of the "fet it fixed now" crowd. For th first time in recent memory, I believe this team is headed in the right direction. Are we Cup contenderes next year? No. The next? no. Is this team going to get better and better? I firmly believe it.
Snowy got some real good kids and, more importantly, used his assets wisely. Yeah, if Schenn (sp?) turns out to be a cornerstone D-man or if Filatov wins the Calder next season, we'll question the decision, but when a few of the kids we drafted turn into solid NHLers, we'll look back and say "Good Job". If Petrov makes it over to the big league, we'll be asking "Nikita who?".
My only regret is that this type of overhaul wasn't started three years ago, when DP made it to the Majors, b/c he deserves to have a solid team in front of him before he gets too far along in hsi career.
Snow should have gotten more from the Leafs than what they ended up getting to move down to 7.
It is obvious the Leafs were enamored with Schenn and were dying to get him.
I thought getting the 40th pick to move down to 9th was a great move actually.
still, I would have taken Filatov, still had a million 2nd and 3rd rounders anyway.
Bailey better be a good one
AZS-"Kman, can you please show me any reputable web-site that considers Bailey "slow and soft"?:"
Both TSN and Hockey's future said that Bailey lacks speed and grit but is a very good playmaker. The grit part can be changed however the speed is an issue. Lacking both is a glaring issue.
Sir William- Filatov isn't exactly a small sized player. He's 5'11" (some report him at 6'). Crosby is the same height. The weight issue will be gone within two years. The top SIX picks were regarded as 'cornerstone players'. In the end, this is all going to rest on Bailey's development.
Folks, regarding Petrov. With all of the very good players that have left Russia, you can rest assured that if he develops into an elite player himself that he'll see obscene money to stay home. This could be the huge move, or a non factor.
First of all where is the love for me boys....The ORACLE is the one that predicted the copying of the Pats for this draft...Shape up! :) :) :)
Second....Did any of you actually see the draft on Versus...I admit I did not and was just getting constant updates on Friday while at a party.....I just caught a glimpse of the Isles first pick on tape....IS WANG KIDDING ME ??????? Why was his grandson there? IT looked like Romparoom at the Isles table!
I did not see any of the rest of the coverage wo maybee one of you can help me out....Did any other team have kids running around there table???
***Back to the picks....Same way we all needed to take a breadth on the negative side, let's hold out praising these BOBLLEHEADS huntil we see how things pan out....REMEMBER: We would not of had to re-stock the farm if these same morons did not trade three number ones for a rental nick named Captain Canada that the whole wrold knew would never stay on the island! ****
What a group of Long Island whiners. It doesnt matter who we draft, the immediate future is bleak. Thats a fact.
Stockpiling picks is a wise long term move. Deal with it and stop crying...none of you have even seen the majority of these "top 5" guys play. Get real.
Nothing Garth does will satisfy you all because we are so far from respectability.
STEADY: I caught some of the draft, and did see some kids running around the tables, and if i remember correctly the Coyotes were one of them..
Coral spring: I have stepped back into my house...I was pretty close to jumping..But its been a very stressful year and after the draft it basically put me over the top...but im doing good right now..did a few breathing exercises and decided not to jump..
Now that I have had a another day to take this all in, I am going to have to do a complete turnaround and say, I am partially optimistic..You know they hype up the top 4 to 5 picks that make u believe they are caliber players and will make a immediate impact for your team, which is VERY UNTRUE...It is maybe more possible then say the 30th pick, but you still NEVER know...These are young kids who have alot of talent, but not all of them will be stars in the NHL...
We are on the youth movement plan, and the teams poor decisions made in the past, made SNOW do what he did..WE needed to stock pile our system...We all know our system is pretty dry with very little to choose from...Now we have 13 new prospects to develop and hopefully get a few GEMS...Nothing is ever for sure when your drafting young players..So we cant really judge anything that happened these last 2 days, probably for another 2-3 yrs....Now if we had the number 1 pick and traded down, then i would have to abandon the team for GOOD!! But come on guys, BAILEY had SICK stats and was just behind STAMKOS w/ points....Lets give this kid a shot!!!! Obviously if
Filatov turns into the next Federov, or Wilson turns out to be the next Adam Oates, and Bailey turns out to be the next Andy Hilbert then well we SCREWED UP BIG TIME...But what if Filatov turns into the next Kvasha(minus the size) and what if Wislon turns into the next Patrick Flately(boy i didnt like him) and Bailey turns out to be the next Modano...Then SNOW looks like the man..BUT WE JUST DONT KNOW YET!!!!!
Its very hard to stay optimistic with this team, and there is NOT one Islander fan who can say different...If your a die hard fan you can ONLY hope and pray this is the year we turn it around and continue to stick with our plan...
Now SIR WILLIAM.....I must admitt, you say alot of things i disagree with, but thats why i love this blog...If we all agreed on this blog, it would be very boring...But i have agreed with your few past posts, which has helped me from not jumping(not literally) and become a little more optimistic..We need some young talented FA signing..and im a huge fan of Liles and Vrbata...which should come at a lower cost than HOSSA...Now, if we could still sign HOSSA i would jump on it...No doubt in my mind...KO BAILEY HOSSA???? COME ON, your telling me you wouldnt want that as your first LINE? maybe 2nd line.. Comeau Comrie Vrbata???? but i DO agree that we need some very good FA signings when July 1st comes..And I am not holding my breath about signing Hossa, because i know its not gonna happen, but it does sound like a pretty sexy first line don't ya think???
So now that I am feeling a little better about the last few days, Now we wait for July 1st.....We need to make a splash!! Come on SNOW prove us all wrong!!!
Thanks for the perspective, Gillies. As I said, I'm fully off the ledge after yesterday and getting some perspective. As Steady said weeks ago, they needed to stockpile picks to replace a depleted prospect pool (And Steady, let's not get back into Smyth...O'Marra looks every bit like a bust and Nilsson is an above-average NHL player, not much else. 13 new prospects can only add to the cupboard.
Also, one thing to add about Petrov: don't underestimate the Ovechkin Factor. Having a Russian win the MVP in the best league in the world has to motivate other young Russians to come over here and play with the big boys, like he did. Expect the Islanders to try to sign Petrov in 2 years, and maybe they can entice him. If they can't, the 3rd round is the time to take a chance like that.
Also, tonysac....if you already acknowledged the Islanders are going into a youth movement, why do we now need to make a huge splash in the FA market? I'm with Sir William on this - make long-term offers to younger veterans who'll be at their peak when the kids can grow together.
Nick....by making a huge splash i mean picking up quality young talent that will help us along with our youth movement...Not going after the High priced veterans...I used HOSSA as an example of a caliber player who is still decently young that if we had a chance to pick up, to go for it...But im well aware that its totally unrealistic...But guys like Huselius, Nystrom, Ryder,Commodore, Dupius, Malone, Orpik, Wheeler, to name a few that stick out, I think we should go after...Make a SPLASH..and sign some good young talent..we have the cap space to pick up many of them...
What is wrong with you people?!
Can you please stop judging the draft of the islanders after the first day. Oh Josh Bailey sucks blah blah blah.
For all I know he has a chance to be a great playmaker with KO and Filatov can be a huge bust. Maybe the opposite way around. So don't determine how good the draft was before you've even seen the players play.
Do you really think Bailey is bad because the experts said so? Expert are usually wrong. Don't judge a book by its cover! Don't tell us he's going to score 60 points before he suits up.
And don't say the 2nd or 3rd round was so great either. Just because Garth Snow says Petrov is amazing, doesn't mean he is. AND NEVER TRUST A RUSSIAN WHO CLAIMS THEY WANT TO PLAY IN THE NHL! Remember, he was drafted by the Islanders!
And last of all in my tirade, Islander fans, please stop whining and whining how the islanders are so bad and it's because of Wang, Milbury, etc. Stop the blame game! Yes I know these people haven't exactly helped the team, but can you guys be a little more optimistic? And no more bandwagoners who give up on the team and say they're done and root for a winning team and then they come back to us. I know I've been pessimistic in my few posts but I'll try to only talk about the team with little reference to Milbury or Wang.
MadMike97
P.S.- I'll still blame that Ranger spy Don Malphoney for our troubles.
I'm not sold on this year being a bust. Lets not forget the rash of injuries most of the year. Lets see what a healthy DP, a healthy John Simm, a healthy Campoli and so on (you remember the names) can do this year. You also have Bergenheim who in my opinion is poised for a breakout season and I think he is going to be one heck of a player for this team. I'm also going to challenge for the Oracle spot. My prediction is that the Isles go all out for Brian Campbell and sign him. He will address the puck moving power play defenseman issues we are faced with. Snow will spend big for Campbell well before spending big for Hossa (who probably would have "0" interest in playing on the Island).
It did take Snow and Co. a year or two to finally realize that this team had to build from the ground up. For all the talk of Nolan not embracing young talent, it was the Smyth trade that was the biggest symbol of our organization still buying into the Milbury Quick Fix mentality of yesteryear and sacrificing prospects.
The good news is I think that trade for once and for all got it through their heads that this team isn't going to become a winner via magic tricks. It's going to take patience, smart drafting and we are going to have to actually develop players (an unheard of concept during the Milbury era with our sad assortment of coaches, Peter excepted).
This draft demonstrated that they are finally on the right track. The question will now be will Islander fans have enough patience to let a winner develop on the Island? If Friday night was any indication, we could be in trouble on that score.
I didn't initially realize that there are younger guys like Huselius and Malone available through UFA. Maybe they could put together some 3-4 year deals and actually had some more pieces to this group they are now building around Okposo and DiPietro. This will again be a test of Snow - will he add old players like last year that cannot make this team win immediately, or will he indeed embrace his new philosophy and add younger (faster) players?
This Organization thinks the fans are stupid - but I'm not:
They let all of the UFA's go, saving over 10 million
they don't sign a top 5 talent b/c they don't want to pay them
next step they will not sign any UFA's July 1st
at the Draft party I get the ticket Prices for the upcoming season and they will be the same as last season....the same prices for an minor league team they will be putting on the ice....lower the prices for the fans
Fair enough Nick...You get my point though on the flip flopping of the bobbles.
As for the YOUTH movement .... I was right on mirroring the Pats and I believe i will be right n this...We are not going to spend squat on any big names... Look for more grinders.
My worry is we lose DP ... In losing him, I mean mentally.... I am sure they told him, Guerin, and pretty boy toe dragger that they were going to try and win now....Well that is off the table.....Let's hope they stay motivated!
Die hards like all of us will buy into the long term plan...BUT, the casual fans are gone....NVMC will be empty!
Let's give Snow some credit. He knows that the team as it is now cannot compete. He also knows that it is his job at stake too, if the Isles have a miserable season and the Coliseum is empty.
Let's not be mislead by the hype of "We need room for the younger players to play" mantra.
I repeat. A GM who tips his hand is a fool.
Snow will take a run at at least 2 legitimate FA's and will probably make at least one deal before the season starts.
You want an Oracle, well there it is..........Sir William
if this draft was so important. they why didn't traded some pieces for picks at the trade deadline last year. now where letting players walk away for nothing. I wish this plan was in place then
this reaction to the Bailey pick kind of reminds me of the reaction to another Isles first round pick a few years ago that all the "experts" said was an even bigger reach...
That pick obviously being Okposo.
How about we let the people who study the players for a living make the decisions? The Isles have had GREAT drafts the last decade, the problem has been trading away talent, not drafting talent.
oh... and all this worry about Russian players not leaving Russia for the money... Let's not forget that the political situation over there isn't exactly a good one... Civil liberties are vanishing and don't think the players don't realize that...
I must take objection to this asstertion by the blogger:
"Snow’s evaluation of Bailey was much higher than the rest of the league had him pegged, and he stuck by his convictions. “
As publisher of McKeen's Draft Guide, I had the occasion to talk to many scouts during the season, and to say Snow's evaluation of Bailey was much higher than others would be a false statement. Anaheim for one had Bailey in it's top ten - most teams had him solidly in their top 12.
Islanders' fans should feel good about getting Bailey - he'll be a fan favourite sooner rather than later. What I would be "snowed" off about was moving out aof a position to draft Schenn and have the building block on defence the team needs.
Experts Take: NYI '08 Draft The hockey experts weigh-in on the Islanders 2008 draft New York Islanders Jun 28, 2008, 3:10 AM EDT
Bailey Despite a curious initial reaction, the hockey media has applauded the Islanders for taking the correct steps in acquiring the player they targeted in first round (Josh Bailey) while also rebuilding the farm system to set the team up for years to come.
But, if you don't believe us, take it from the experts.
National hockey beat writer Kevin Allan of the USA Today ranked the Islanders' draft as the third best this year and wrote: "Joshua Bailey will be a frontline offensive scorer, and Corey Trivino has high yield potential. And I like all of their rolls of the dice. Sure Aaron Ness is a small, but maybe he will be another Phil Housley. David Toews has the right bloodlines of scoring success and Kirill Petrov is 6-3 with overflowing talent, even though he hasn't lived up to expectations this past two years.
"Basically, I think Garth Snow's had some courage to take some chances on a smaller player like Ness, and particularly Petrov. If he comes over here and if he finally starts to explore his considerable talent, Petrov could be one of the best players in this draft. And Toews may not be as skilled as his brother, but he's a smart player"
MSG's Stan Fischler also gave Islanders GM Garth Snow high marks for the draft by saying: "The Islanders G.M. traded down on Friday night to obtain more picks for Saturday and made good on a pair who give the Nassaumen long-term roster depth and, perhaps, two diamonds-in-the-rough.
"Snow's priority was to replenish a depleted roster. With the additional picks garnered by trading down, he went a long way toward reaching that target."
EJ Hradek of ESPN liked that the Islanders had a plan going into the draft and said: ""Well what was interesting to me is the fact that they traded down twice, from 5-7 and then 7-9. It told me that they really had a strategy. They had someone in mind that they liked, that person was Joshua Bailey, and they knew they could get him a little bit later. So they went out and got some other draft picks in the second and third rounds in the moves and that's a strategy that teams are going to, if they find a guy like that who they like. This was a draft that was a pretty deep in talent."
We already told you about XM Radio's analysis, but if you missed it, they called the Islanders as one of the big winners of draft. Click here to listen to their report .
NYI Blog Boxer BD Gallof spoke to Matt Ebbs, the General Manager of the International Scouting Service, who said: "The New York Islanders added tremendous depth to the organization through shrewd trades on Friday. First, Garth Snow traded down and picked up Toronto's 3rd round pick in 2008 as well as their second round pick in 2009. He followed this move by trading down again and getting Nashville's 2nd round pick. In short, Garth took his 5th pick that would have resulted in Luke Schenn (great player) for Josh Bailey, Aaron Ness and David Toews…
"Garth has added some depth, mobility and skill to the back end as well as solid, character players up front. Our scouts ranked Bailey #10, Ness #29 and Toews #27. They also picked up Corey Trivino with their 2nd round pick who ISS ranked at #26."
After the draft, Shane Malloy, host and producer of the Hockey Prospects Show on XM Radio, was quoted saying: "Now assessing a NHL draft a few days after is never fair and actually quite silly since hockey is similar to baseball in that it is a slow developmental process for its players. However the Islanders were savvy on draft day this year trading down for extra picks in the second and third rounds. The management realized after assessing the lack of talent and depth on the farm they needed a balance of quality and quantity.
"They traded down from 5th to 9th and picked arguably the smartest player in the draft Josh Bailey who plays a strong defensive along with his superior offensive skills. The second and third rounds are the bread and butter of your future and adding the likes of forwards Corey Trivino, Kirill Petrov and David Toews and defenseman Aaron Ness, Travis Harmonic and Jyri Niemi is like have two drafts in one. In five seasons the Islander faithful could look back at the 2008 draft and see where the foundation was laid for a contender."
Hey Greg, I hate to disagree, but you make it easy Lately. All these guys do for a living is cover hockey. They can't all be wrong. Oh, and just how many GM's thought the Isles didn't did do so good, 1 maybe 2?
There were many gems in all the rounds of this years draft, not just the 1-5 picks.. One more thing about Filitov, not many players his size make it to the show as you well know, no matter the skill llevel. And in my humble opinion, a playere as small as him, that is used to the "bigger" rinks of Europe, will definately fifind it harder to find the room to skate on the "smaller North American rinks."