The First-Overall Pick...and what to do with it

We all think we know what is going to happen on June 26 when Garth Snow, Ryan Jankowski, and (hopefully) Charles Wang step to the podium in Montreal.

They pick John Tavares. That's what we all are hoping for.

Wasn't it interesting during the Ping Pong Derby that TSN's James Duthie asked Ken Morrow about Denis Potvin, and how drafting the Hall of Famer in 1973 started the ball rolling through the dynasty years? I mean, offhandedly, it makes sense. Build from the goal out and get that stalwart defender who will protect your crease for the next ten years.

Also interesting was Morrow's quick reply: there's only one Denis Potvin. Does this mean that the organ-eye-zation already knows that Tavares is their man? Probably not. Not yet, anyway.

I have to admit that I was full on board with Chris Botta's suggestion that Garth go up there and proclaim that Tavares was going to be the pick to send a message to the kid that he was important enough to be a cornerstone of the rebuilding process. I thought it would also send a message to the fanbase that the team was ready to kick the whole process into overdrive and man would it sure make the whole summer a bit more fun.

Instead, Ken Morrow kindly deflected any talk of who the team was going to pick. Duthie seemed to expect it, of course, as the Islanders pro scout captain gave the regular draft-speak of how lucky they were to be able to get an impact player, etc.

And now, I am thinking that they did exactly the right thing. Here's one reason why: Brian Burke.

Burke--a man who is never afraid to shoot his mouth off--proclaimed to the Toronto media that he was willing to do whatever it would take to land John Tavares. He was willing to trade anyone off his roster (except for Luke Schenn, the one guy anyone would want from the Laffs) and any amount of draft picks for the right to choose first overall.

Well, we have to thank Mr. Burke right there. For all of his bluster and for all of his proclamations, he did the Islanders a great service. Brian Burke, by talking out of his backside about an improbable trade--have you seen the Leafs roster lately?--just drove up the value of the Islanders first-overall selection in June.

Burke, a guy who played the shell game before and was able to land the Sedin twins while he was the GM of the Canucks, sort of lends credibility to the whole (I can make this happen) thing. At least, the Toronto media wants us to think that. They all think it's a birthright for the Leafs to be able to go and get any player they want at any time. This sense of entitlement has probably fed the beast and all of those (ahem) "rumors" that come out of the self-proclaimed Centre of the Hockey Universe.

Anyway, by rattling his sword, Burke has done exactly what he wanted to: get his name in the paper to make it seem like he is aggressively trying to improve his team before he leaves the country for the World Championships in Switzerland.

In doing so, he makes that pick just a bit more attractive, wouldn't you say? Snow can now sit back and listen to all the stories and fake trades and scuttlebutt that puts him and the Islanders front-and-center of all of the speculation. The Islanders fans get more and more excited to hear the name out there and the speculation leads to more and more people talking about the New York Islanders. That leads to more people playing attention to the rebuilding and Lighthouse projects and when people are talking about you in a positive sense, you get more relevant.

After all of the armchair speculating, once it comes time to actually cash in that first overall pick, you'll have more and more positive press. A further examination of the Islanders by a wider scope of media types will shine a light on what the team has been doing right with the young players who got a lot of very much needed experience while suffering together through the last season. Instead of Gord Miller going on TSN and saying off-handedly that Josh Bailey wasn't playing much and was a healthy scratch at times, maybe he'll do his job and actually notice that Bailey was injured and not sitting out earlier in the year and that he finished up pretty darn well for a young kid playing his first season as a pro. You know, spin the situation positively rather than just using knee-jerk, lazy clichés about what they think the Islanders organization must be like without actually looking into it.

Now, do I think the Islanders are going to actually trade the top pick? No. No way. Not a chance. Especially not to the Maple Leafs, who literally have no one on their roster and admit to having no players in the system that are top-end blue chippers. That's why Burke is chasing these college free agents like crazy: he needs to roll the dice on prospects somehow. His predecessor's draft record was as shaky as a meth addict who tries to quit cold turkey. Ferguson left the cupboard bare and even took the shelf paper out while trying to get this desperate franchise to the playoffs. Burke has very few toys to play with!

In the new NHL--and with the expected lowering of the salary cap, makes young impact players important to every team's success because the salary level for all of the rookies is affordably low. NHL teams can make a mistake here and there and do not suffer the after-effects for years like the teams do at the top of the NFL draft.

And again, it never hurts to listen to other GMs as they make their pitch. The Islanders are finally the belle of the ball--and Mike Milbury isn't there to screw it all up on us.