1st Pick

And the waiting is over... Islanders picked John Tavares!


Reaction to come . . .

One Day Until the First Pick

Since April 14, when the Islanders won the right to make the first overall pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft, we've been waiting for The Day. Tomorrow is That Day.

We've heard stories about free draft parties and all sorts of speculation about whom the Isles will select. Experts have pontificated; Garth Snow does his Lady Gaga impression and says nothing on draft preview shows and in the papers. Chris Dey laughs off whether he even knows the player who will go #1 overall.

Seventy-four days after winning the right, the Isles are on the clock. Hell, they have been for those seventy-four days. All Snow has said is that the kid they were leaning towards on April 14 is the same kid they are going to choose tomorrow night at about 7:15PM.

Now I don't know about you, but those 74 freaking days have been pretty difficult. Recent history has most Islanders fans cringing at the thought of another Mad Mike debacle that has our team shipping off Roberto Luongo--even though Snow has proven (so far) to be a steady hand and a capable general manager.

Has he made mistakes? Sure. Hasn't everybody? But if you think back to the Ryan Smyth trade, that move energized the heck out of the Islanders Faithful for a few months. If Smyth had resigned--and he himself admitted it was a difficult decision at the time--the path the team would have taken would have been more of the Band Aid/trade for veterans sort of operation. With that method, you either hit a home run or you quiet go along, singling and doubling your way through the regular season.

Snow wisely recognized that the Islanders team needed to be torn down and built back up. He's signed a few free agents here and there and he's allowed some to even come and play and try to rebuild their reputations. All along, though, the spotlight has been on developing the youngsters the team had drafted to get them experience in the league so that they can take over and become leaders for the next round of kids who pull on the Islander sweater.

Mike Milbury tried--in his scattershot, ADD way--to do the same thing but he didn't have the opportunity or patience with the rebuild to keep it going. Milbury tried to throw as much as he could around to see what would stick and then he just traded away what didn't stick for pennies on the potential dollar.

Say what we will about Mad Mike...but it was never boring. Might not be fun, but it wasn't boring.

Lots of people are asking me what the Islanders plan on doing tomorrow night. I honestly tell them that I don't know for sure but that I think they are going to draft John Tavares. Snow has been a master of getting people to talk and gossip about what he is going to do and all of that speculation has only been good buzz for the New York Islanders. His silence and the potential of a goal-scorer like Tavares joining the Islanders has Long Island and the hockey world talking. It's exciting.

Saying that, we need to mention that if the fans are overwhelmingly excited about one player as they are about John Tavares, then to NOT choose him first overall is going to take balls the size of Transformers.

And yet, does anyone fit the needs of a team any more than John Tavares fits the Islanders'? You have a team desperate to be reckoned with and desperate for one guy to hang their hat on. John Tavares has been poked, prodded, scouted, and written about since he was 14 years old. He knows how to deal with the spotlight so well and he has been around seemingly forever that scouting services and media types kinda turned on him and began knocking the kid for his flaws and overlooking what he does best. When he did something good--like a hat trick in the WJC while leading Canada to gold--it was "expected" and no one was surprised. Yawn.

Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene are the new kids in town. Hedman had a down WJC and everyone overlooks it. Duchene had a fine career in juniors but was never The Guy on any team he has been on. Duchene was also cut from Team Canada--you know, the team John Tavares lead to gold this winter?

What I am saying is that none of the other players eligible in the draft has faced the scrutiny that John Tavares has been living with for the last four years. Hedman certainly projects as a heck of a defenseman but as a Swedish player--and a defenseman to boot--he is not exactly going to inspire ticket and jersey sales. Duchene, if he is picked first overall and Tavares falls down in the draft--is always going to be compared to JT and is going to suffer the slings of a frustrated fan base who will never let him forget that he wasn't the guy an overwhelming majority of us wanted.

John Tavares, on the other hand, doesn't shy from the spotlight. He's used to being The Guy. And if the Islanders do select him first overall tomorrow night, you just know that there will be people signing up for season tickets and other ticket plans on the spot. They'll sell tons of jerseys as soon as the are available. Selecting John Tavares energizes and galvanizes the Islanders fans in a way we have not seen in a very long time.

It's the most logical choice and the only choice for the Islanders. Expect them to select John Tavares first overall tomorrow night in Montreal. Remember: you can help a guy improve his skating and you can team him to be more aware in his own end. But you can't teach a kid to score. The great goal scorers have something innate in them that allows them to create opportunities the other players can't. John Tavares, from all reports, has that ability. Let's make John Tavares an Islander.

Penguins win; Cosby doesn't shake hands; world keeps spinning

Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was the highest-rated hockey game on American television in 36 years. That is great news and it was a great game. Congrats to the Crosbies and Genos and even the Islanders contingent of Bill Guerin, The Tank, Miro, and Dan Bylsma on the win.

Sour grapes to what I believed to be a classy organization, the Detroit Red Wings. The epic booing of the Penguins was totally the reaction of a crowd spoiled by extreme success. The Penguins played tough and hard and overcame a lot--including Sidney's starter beard--to beat the Red Wings. Pittsburgh was the better team.

The whining by some of the Detroit players about Crosby not shaking hands with Nick Lidstrom while celebrating was a bit grade schoolish, didn't you think? Hank Zetterberg complaining was even funnier since there's a photo from Getty Images all over the internet of Sid the Kid shaking with Zetterberg. There's pictures of him shaking hands with all sorts of Red Wings players, coaches, and stick boys. He was there. He did what he could.

I'm a huge believer in the traditions of the sport and if it were me, I'd have made it my duty to be the first one there to shake Lidstrom's hand. But the fact of the matter is (did I just slip into wrestling promo talk?) that Sid was celebrating a MONUMENTAL ACCOMPLISHMENT with his teammates...and that was a tall order considering the guy got checked in the balls earlier in the game and was clearly injured.

Hey, let's face it: giving Crosby heck is like it's own sport within the sport. Sometimes, it really comes off as childish piling on. And in this situation, it is. Crosby isn't going to have tons of friends and he is always going to have his detractors but man, wait for the kid to screw up royally before you kick snow on him.

Besides, he got the last laugh: he just won the Stanley Cup.

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The long Canadian nightmare is over...or is it just getting started?

I've had myself a good old laugh at the conspiracy theorists in the Canadian media who continue to be obsessed with the state of the Phoenix Coyotes. I love how they blame the commissioner for everything and conveniently forget that he helped stabilize the Buffalo and Edmonton franchises and that he had a hand in saving the Calgary Flames as well. Of course, he'll always be an off-putting and short "New York lawyer" to them no matter what he does.

Wow, that paragraph sounds like I am a Bettman Apologist...and I am so not. My theory is that if you're going to poop on a guy and all that you better be able to see what good he has done as well and there is no doubt that when the Canadian dollar was tanking faster than "Land of the Lost" that the guy totally had a hand in helping keep the franchises afloat.

Now that Phoenix is staying in, um, Glendale, the real work is about to begin. This is where we'll see what kind of deal they can put together to keep the franchise afloat in the desert. Whether or not Winnipeg should have moved there in the first place is irrelevant right now. The truth is that the team is in Arizona and the league has to find a way to make it work there because there are contracts with arenas and vendors and all that stuff that make things harder than just picking up the team and moving it wherever you want just because some place is more "worthy" of a hockey team than another area is.

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The draft is coming. I personally can't wait for The Big Day. All of this waiting is annoying after a while. Would it have been better for the Isles just to come out and say who they were picking right after they won the #1 overall pick? Well, that can be argued forever.

The Isles are saying that they've given out over 14,000 freebies for the draft party. If half of those people show up, it will be unreal. Me and Mrs. NYIFORLIFE.com and Victor: Friend of The Show are planning on making the trip. If you see us, please feel free to say hello. I'll the guy in an Islanders t-shirt!

Speaking of the First Lady of this website, Mrs. NYIFORLIFE.com will be doing her live blogging of the NHL Awards show tomorrow night on this very website. Last year's edition proved quite popular so make sure you check it out.

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Lastly, in sad news, Newsday reports to day that former Islanders radio voice Bob Lawrence has passed away at the age of 70. Bob helped foster a love for the Islanders for a kid from central Connecticut back in the day; as I used to listen to the Islanders broadcasts on a little radio when I was supposed to be sleeping. Our best to the family of Bob Lawrence.

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.

Isles Get 1st Pick

Islanders get the first pick in the NHL draft lottery.

Woohoo!

PPD tonight; other thoughts on the season

Remember the STAR-STUDDED FINALE of everyone's FAVORITE REALITY SHOW is tonight when the NHL holds it's FABULOUS PING PONG DERBY to finally figure out who will have the right to select either JOHN TAVARES or VICTOR HEDMAN first overall in the 2009 NHL ENTRY DRAFT in MONTREAL this JUNE!!

(I just thought I'd write that sentence in the press release style that I have always wanted to do. All those CAPS are obnoxious, aren't they?)

So, yeah. Tonight's the night. It's worth noting that Tampa got to pick first overall last year (Stamkos) and that the Lightning have the second-best chance to pick first again. After the Bolts, there are only three teams that can move up to #1: the Avalanche, who had the worst record in the Western Conference, the mighty Thrash, and Los Angeles Kings. Everybody else falls in behind somewhere.

That said, the Isles and their 48.2% chance of landing the first pick can only slide down as far as second. They'll still get a good player but if it happens, it's going to be The Stomach Punch Felt Around Long Island. Seriously, not matter how much the boys improved in the second half, you'd like to get something substantial for your efforts when you're out of the playoff picture by Christmas.

But enough of that. The proposition of losing #1 overall to Tampa makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

So does all of the speculation about The Lighthouse. I love the lazy media and their ground-breaking journalism and how everybody and their brother who has an article of John Tavares has to mention that the team is moving to Kansas City or that Tavares is going to shoot down the Islanders like Lindros did with Quebec a lifetime ago. I guess it doesn't matter to our Canadian brothers that Tavares and his agent both issued statements shooting down the speculation and that anyone with like two minutes to search on Google can find news fro Newsday that the Isles have a pretty good lease until something like 2015.

Why let reality get in the way of silly innuendo that goes nowhere? Of course, they used to say that controversy sold newspapers but the way things are going now, it is harder and harder to sell an actual newspaper to anyone without a coffee ritual or long ride to work these days.

Enh, I feel like I have written this whole post before. Check the archives.

Just a few housekeeping notes for the website to finish for today.

We'll have our first-round predictions up wither later today or tomorrow. We are also working on a feature first suggested by Mrs. NYIFORLIFE a long time ago about our favorite hockey cards. I've been collecting since I was eight years old so I've got quite a few favorites. We hope to share that feature sometime over the long summer.

We also will select out 2008-09 NIFORLIFE.com ISLANDER OF THE YEAR. Last year Richard Park was the winner and you can read that posting at the left by clicking on his picture.

Finally, we'll go back in time for another RETRO LIVE BLOG or two over the summer months. For those who don't know, we'll do a live post of a great game or event from the past and comment on it like we are watching it in real time. The 1980 All-Star Game was a particular favorite; as was a 1976 WHA game with the Whalers taking on the Red Army.

Now we are half done...

The Islanders season-long journey toward securing the first-overall pick in the entry draft is complete. With last night's 6-1 shellacking (pasting?) in Pittsburgh, the Isles are now going to finish with the worst record in the National Hockey League this season.

The Islanders, with this last-place achievement, can only pick first or second this June. That means they're all but assured of getting a top player in the draft. Whether they'll pick John Tavares or Victor Hedman is unknown right now...but I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that I am hoping for #1 so that Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski can say the name "John Tavares" in Montreal at the draft.

Let's face it: for all of the heartbreak and disappointment the Islanders have inflicted on the most loyal fans in sports, to get a guy who has the makings of a marquee scorer like Tavares will only add good vibes and a feeling of hope as the team works on the Lighthouse initiative. Plus, adding goals will validate the rebuilding program in the syes of the ticket-buying public. The past few months have been a revelation for the younger players like Bailey, Nielsen, and Comeau, etc. We need to keep that momentum going and get people excited.

To that end, the Isles made some other signings of younger draft picks.

The team signed defenseman Mark Katic and left wing Justin DiBenedetto to three-year contracts. Both players are reporting to Bridgeport for the rest of the Sound Tigers' seasons.

Katic is interesting to me as he is another puck-moving defenseman and was a major part of the book "Future Greats and Heartbreaks: A Year Undercover in the Secret World of NHL Scouts" by Gare Joyce. It's a book I recommend highly.

DiBenedetto was a sixth-rounder last year who "suffered" by being Steve Stamkos' linemate during Stamkos' last year in junior with the Sarnia Sting. Too many people thought DiBenedetto was riding shotgun and getting inflated stats because of playing with last year's first-overall pick. This season, again with the Sting, DiBenedetto proved his detractors wrong with 45 goals and 48 assists in 62 games.

The Isles are going to need guys who were tagged as reaches like DiBenedetto in their draft years for the turnaround to be complete. DiBenedetto reportedly loves nothing more than proving his detractors wrong--which is a great attitude to have as a late-round pick.

According to Point Blank, the Isles also signed a youngster named Ryan Duncan from the University of North Dakota. Duncan is listed at 5-6 and 150 lbs--so he's tiny--but he has produced at UND and will play with the Sound Tigers on a PTO contract. He had 39 points and apparently is tough enough to have not missed a game in four years.

NHL Entry Draft Ping Pong Derby to be live on Versus: NHL.com

The National Hockey League Draft Drawing, to determine the order of selection for the first 14 picks of the first round of the 2009 Entry Draft, will take place on Tuesday, April 14th. The result of the Draft Drawing, will be announced at 8:00 p.m., ET on TSN (Canada) and Versus (U.S.) as part of a 30-minute live Draft special from TSN’s studios in Toronto. The Draft special will also be streamed live on NHL.com.

Clubs that did not qualify for this season’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, or Clubs that acquired the first-round picks of those non-playoff Clubs, will participate in the Draft Drawing.

Minnesota downs the Isles 6-2

Not a lot of great things to talk about from last night's game so I'll be brief.

Joel Rechlicz might not be as tall as Mitch Fritz, but he can skate better. A lot better. I also admire The Wrecker for sitting there and becoming a fist magnet for the Wild's 6-8 John Scott. Rechlicz goes 6-4 but was outweighed by about 40 lbs in his first period tussle with Scott.

The fact that he could stay on his skates after getting popped like he did has to count for something. I hope he got free beers after the game.

Interesting chat between Billy and Howie about the fight and whether it falls under the new NHL rule of being "staged" or not. Billy said he didn't think it was staged but I saw it more like Howie did: since it came merely seconds after a face-off and the guys had a chance to talk about it while waiting for the puck to drop, it certainly looked like an agreed-upon fight to me.

People are also going to be talking about Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo spitting nickels at the Wild bench but I look at it as a positive. Sure, they're young guys and they will learn but the kids all stick together and have each others' backs.

Anyway, that sort of stuff is all a part of growing up. Plus, it shows that the kids still care.

Bruno Gervais scored again for the Isles. Playing with Streit has really upped his confidence. The guy had as many goals as I have for like 100 games and now he was 3 in his last 11.

Latest look at the Ping Pong Leaderboard: Isles 56 points in 72 games; Tampa and Colorado 64 points in 73. Chris Botta mentioned that in the thirteen years that the league has used this ping pong-ery to decide the draft that the team with the worst record has only secured the top overall selection 6 times. So, less than 50% of the time the worst team gets the first pick.

What does that mean? Well, it means there's a higher probability that we are gonna get hosed again.

The next lesson comes Friday as the Isles travel to Detroit to face the reigning Stanley Cup Champions.

35 games to go; Sillinger officially ruled out for the season

This just in: the Isles are 13-29-5 in 47 games this season. That's "good" for 31 points. Our boys currently have the lead as the league doormats by a comfortable 8 point cushion over the Thrashers and Senators in the race to get the most ping pong balls in the draft lottery.

One thing worth mentioning: in the lottery, a team can only move back one spot in the draft order from where they finish. So, if the Islanders end up in the absolute cellar and are in 30th place, that the WORST the team will have would be the second overall pick in this June's Entry Draft.

Here are Red Line Reports' Current Top Five draft-eligible prospects from USA TODAY:

1. John Tavares C 6-0/198 L 20 SEP 90 London

2. Victor Hedman D 6-6/218 R 18 DEC 90 MoDo

3. Jared Cowen D 6-5/218 R 25 JAN 91 Spokane

4. Evander Kane C 6-1/180 L 01 AUG 91 Vancouver

5. Matt Duchene C 5-11/196 L 16 JAN 91 Brampton


Some interesting notes: We've all heard about Tavares and Hedman and other writers are talking up Duchene but let's not forget the impression Evander Kane made at the World Juniors. Will the Islanders do that trading down thing they mastered last year at the Entry Draft? Who knows. If they get the first overall pick it is going to be hard to sell the fanbase on trading down to get more picks and not select John Tavares.

The other thing to consider is that while Josh Bailey has had trouble scoring goals, he hasn't really had too many plays where his NHL experience (or lack thereof) has shown with glaring errors. He's proven that he can at least hang at this level and the league as a whole is incredibly young these days. Youth, speed, and skill is winning out over the old war-horse mentality that was squeezing the life out of the game before the lockout. Should the Islanders be in a position to select a guy like Tavares, Cowen, Kane, or Duchene, the pressure is going to be on the club to play him right away.

That sort of thing goes two ways and it all depends on which theory you subscribe to. The Bruins stapled Joe Thornton to the end of Pat Burns' bench for his rookie season when he was 18 and he was atrocious and had people questioning whether or not he was going to be a real top drawer player in the NHL. Of course, he was and is and the Bruins traded him away. Seems like we may have heard similar stories on the Island as well.

Would Bailey have been better off playing another year of junior? Who knows? Personally, I would have liked to see him get Christmas off to play for Canada in the WJC but it didn't happen. I think that the Islanders brass maybe didn't want Josh hanging around an old negative curmudgeon like Pat Quinn--but that is pure speculation on my part.

Of course, the trade deadline is coming and everyone is speculating on which current Islanders will be moved. Bill Guerin has a no-trade clause in his contract that he'd have to waive to be moved but you have to think that if a team like Boston came knocking that Guerin may be more receptive to play in his hometown for a team that looks like they're primed for a long spring.

Mike Comrie also is working under a one-year contract. He is a veteran but he is also only 28 years old. Going into the future, the Islanders are going to need Obi Wans to lead the way for the younger guys. Do they see Comrie as that kind of guy? Not sure. His reputation coming to the Islanders was not stellar but I think we all agree that from what we've seen and heard, Comrie may have been mis-characterized or even, perhaps, has matured. The guy is feisty and has a serious competitive streak. That right there makes him a popular rental choice as some secondary scoring for a contender.

Doug Weight has been the subject of trade rumors from the minute he signed on with the Islanders. He has also stated that he wants to stay with the Islanders and likes the area. There's no doubting his productivity while healthy but his recent injuries might scare off some teams who are fixated on his birth certificate.

My best guess is that if the Isles can include Jon Sim and/or Thomas Pock in any deals then they are going to swing those trades faster than Usain Bolt in a wind tunnel. Let's face it: the team has to clear roster space to bring up Trevor Smith and Andy MacDonald from Bridgeport. Reports are that MacDonald, who represented the Sound Tigers in the AHL All-Star Game, is ready to make the next step...and seeing Jon Sim on the power play is simply driving the fanbase crazy.

In other news, the team said Tuesday that center Mike Sillinger had hip surgery for the second time in a year and will miss the remainder of the season.

Sillinger had a microfracture procedure on his hip that forced him to sit out the final 29 games of last season and the first 24 of this one before he was able to play in seven games this season, scoring two goals. On Monday, the Islanders assistant captain had what was reported as "hip resurfacing surgery" and his career is believed to be in jeopardy.

His last appearance in a game was 12/29 versus the Rangers when he scored a goal.

The Isles are back in action tomorrow night in Atlanta.

The Case for Luke Schenn

Well, everyone is else is speculating so I may as well do it too.

If the Islanders stand pat at 5 and Nikita Filatov is off the board, I want Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski to select Luke Schenn, defenseman from the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL.

Here's why: For one thing, I've actually seen him play. He was on Canada's gold medal winning World Juniors team this past Christmas. I was impressed with the edge he brought to the ice and how composed he (and really, all of the kids) was during the tournament; which has to be the biggest pressure situation any of those players will have played in at this juncture of their young lives. Plus--and Pierre McGuire was all over this broadcasting the games--Schenn makes a heck of a nice first pass out of the zone. In the "new" NHL, that first pass is more important that ever because it stretches the defense.

Schenn is almost always compared to Adam Foote. See, to me, being mentioned as a guy who plays the game like Adam Foote is just an incredible thing. Foote has been one of the toughest, most talented, and smart defensemen of this generation of NHLers. No one questions his guts, fortitude, and leadership abilities. If there is a player coming up who is comparable to Foote and you have a chance to take him, then by all means, you have to take that guy and let him anchor your blueline for the next 10-12 years.

Don't take it from me...take it from TSN.ca. They write: (Schenn) is without question the best defensive defenseman available in the draft, a big, physical presence with an edge who perfectly understands his role as a shutdown defender. The bonus is that he makes a great first pass, doesn't try to play outside of his ability and is as mentally tough as he is physically tough.

And this is from NHL Central Scouting: He has a tough edge to him, he has the ability to, if caught up ice, to work hard and get back in time to recover. Needs to improve his decision-making.

Um, show me the kid at 18 who doesn't need to improve his decision-making. That kind of stuff comes out through attrition. He's going to be a good player in the NHL for a long, long time.

I know that the draft is tough to gauge and difficult to predict, but I am thinking that at 5 that the Islanders are going to get a crack at either Filatov or Schenn. That is going to be a difficult choice to make because in Filatov you're getting a guy who is projected to be a scorer and the fan base is desperate for goals and an improved offense. The issue there is that Filatov is, by all accounts, not ready to step into the NHL tomorrow. He is going to need some seasoning and is actually too young to be sent to the Sound Tigers. If he does come to North America, he is going to have to play in the Major Juniors somewhere to get accustomed to the style of play. Plus, the kid has to fill out some.

With Luke Schenn, he has already been in pressure situations like the WJC and by playing in the WHL playoffs. He knows how to play the style and can probably contribute in the American League if needed.

The way the draft is looking now, the key to the entire top of the first round lies in Los Angeles. The Kings ownership is committed to building through the draft and they have quite a few young defenders in the system. Still, conventional wisdom sides with the "best athlete available" no-brainer when picking high in the draft. With so many quality defensemen available--and with Filatov actually coming to North America as a wild card--you expect Dean Lombardi to pick one of the top defensemen. He just has to.

After Steven Stamkos, Nikita Filatov is the highest-rated can't-miss guy. Figure he is off the boards at five. That may line it up nicely for Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski to make the right pick for the team, Luke Schenn. Defense, while not sexy, wins championships.

Prediction for San Jose: Pain

OK, here is another rumor-mongering post for everyone.

The Sharks are always the trendy pick in the playoffs. Once they got Joe Thornton, everybody figured they'd break through and make the finals even though Big Joe was not thought of as a solid playoff performer while wearing black and gold.

Now, after dropping the epic sixth game against the Dallas Stars, the Sharks are probably going to be voted Most Likely To Blow The Whole Thing Up This Off-Season.

The change is probably going to be at the top with coach Ron Wilson. Wilson, described as an abrasive sort, is allegedly one of those guys who rules the roost with negativity. As a "for instance" according to Fox Sports, one of his tactics he has been famous for is writing players' names on white boards and telling the rest of the team that these are the guys letting us all down and for playing head games with his captain, Patrick Marleau. More on him in a minute.

The general manager is of course, Doug Wilson, NHL legend and snappy dresser. I'm always struck by Wilson every year at the draft when you see rumpled people (likely, scouts) running around from table to table and chatting up everyone from officials with other teams to the kids that wear the sweaters of each team on the draft floor. And yet, every time it comes to San Jose, there is Doug Wilson, kinda tanned and sometimes chewing gum, but always looking like he is in total control. Years ago, during the "Mad Mike eating popcorn" era, I remember saying that as funny as Milbury was, he was totally hamming it up for the cameras and trying to be the center of attention. Doug Wilson seems to be the total opposite. He knew the cameras were on him but he didn't seem to care one bit. That's the guy I want running the draft table--the one in control.

So, anyway, the coach in San Jose is kind of a jerk to the players and allegedly also didn't talk to captain Marleau for long stretches over the past few years. Hard to figure that one out since you'd think the coach and captain should be on the same page--or at least reading the same book--to get the pulse of the players in the room and whatnot. The captain has to be the guy the players look to do communicate with the coach and he has to be able to represent the coaching staff while dealing with the players. In San Jose, not so much.

Now, Marleau has been questioned for his leadership in the local media and even on NBC this spring. After years of abusive head games, he is probably desperate to get out. Could he be moved for, let's say, the fifth overall pick in this June's draft? Is that a trade the Isles would be ready to make?

Marleau signed a two-year extension in August of last year. This means that he is working on a one-year deal. Unless the Sharks decide to can the coach who has been a PITA for the last few years, I bet he would be willing to leave in a heartbeat. He has something to prove.

This past season, in 78 games, Marleau totally underachieved to the tune of 19 goals and 48 points--not to mention the disarming -19 on a pretty decent defensive squad. Think he needs a change of scenery?

Marleau had scored 32 and 34 goals in the two prior seasons. He's scored over 80 points before. The guy is a player who can help a team like, oh, I don't know, the Islanders, who had a little bit of trouble scoring last season. Did you notice?

And here is the best part for a guy like Patrick Marleau: if he comes into the Islanders, he doesn't have to shoulder the load of being the captain! We already have a fine captain in Billy Guerin! And Marleau has already played with Guerin, albeit briefly, when Guerin was picked up by San Jose for the stretch run two seasons ago.

Now, yeah, I will totally admit that I am just spitballing here but that is all you can do when the Islanders have been out golfing for almost a month now. And still, if you think about it, the deal makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. Both teams have a viable reason for at least entertaining this kind of move. San Jose needs to re-load and the Islanders need to put pucks in the net and continue to show the fans that they are serious about turning this whole thing around.

Do I want to move the #5 overall pick for a guy like Patrick Marleau? Well, I am not so sure. If he is the kind of guy who lacks fire like (and I am SO not branding him here) Alexei Yashin did, then probably not. Yashin never seemed comfortable in his role being The Guy or in doing what was expected of him. Sure, he preformed well at times, but those times seemed to be too few and too far between. Before something like this could even be considered, any team trading for a guy like Marleau has to suss out whether Marleau is a damaged player or if he is the kind of guy who is going to rebound in a new setting with different pressures. The Islanders have proven to be a much more nurturing family environment for many players. Perhaps a guy like Marleau who is simply tired of being ragged on can flourish under a coach like Ted Nolan and an organization like the Islanders who are going to be much more positive than the shit storm he faced every day playing for a guy like Ron Wilson who couldn't push his buttons.

And again, this is just conjecture. Something to think about on a slow day.