Low blow Dan. I have been consistently against drafting small fries or bringing them in through free agency or what have you. Disagree with my thinking is cool, but don't assign it to sour grapes. That's a flat out lie and is not appreciated.
Sorry you feel offended but I call them like I see them. I respect you opinion and the desire to see the Isles improve, I believe we are all in that camp, and I also agree with a lot of what you say about hockey and what happens on the ice, but I just cannot get worked up about this draft or pick in particular, or the lack of moves so far.
The Isles first round pick, Bellows, is a solidly-built kid who is aggressive and will go into the dirty areas. It was a smart pick.
They took Golyshev, who has done it at the KHL level, which is regarded as the second best league in the world and he had been tabbed by some as the best non-drafted player in hockey. Will he come over? I don't know but the Isles head scout seems to believe the Isles can buy out the contract as soon as next year and he is close to ready for the NHL.
They followed that pick up with a huge kid who is very young but already has a scoring touch and primarily needs to work on his skating, like most big players need to do. He just likely needs to grow into his frame. That takes some time so getting a more developed player like Golyshev makes some sense. There is some symmetry to the two picks.
The rest of the picks are reasonable gambles. Players who will either go off to college and go through a proper strength and conditioning program like Pastujov who is already 6' and 200 lbs or, in the case of Quenneville, could be a PP specialist and niche player. That is typically what you get in the 7th round. I just can't get worked up about the sixth rounder, Collin Adams, who is short at 5'9", but if he is a true 180 lbs, and from the pics I have seen that appears to be the case since he appears to be relatively thick.
Besides complaining about the size of a fourth round pick, just one of two with the other being a monster, you are already throwing around lines like:
"Well, I did preach giving them till thru the draft before declaring a fiasco about to unfold.
Hope everyone brought their fiasco glasses and Hawaiian shirts because in a few more hours... things be looking like 100% fiasco, Wang style."
Come on man, NOBODY made any material moves other than the Red Wings unloading a contract that the Coyotes will use to circumvent the cap floor.
The Isles have sufficient cap space to make a couple moves if the right deals are there AND, hopefully, the new owners have green-lit spending some money. However, we still have to wait to see what happens, just like everyone else.
If the Isles manage to land a couple good players, be it via free agency and/or trade, they should be able to then clear out a contract or two to get under the cap. If the new owners are willing to spend up to the cap, it shouldn't be a problem. Especially if Grabo is, unfortunately, sidelined due to all of the concussions.
