2019 Draft Thread

[BMOK33]

In case nobody has noticed. Hughes has had a very pedestrian season and about 25% of scouts now feel he might not go first overall. At the very least it’s looking like the projections which had him as the next Matthews Crosby or McDavid aren’t going to be right

 

[Lights911]

Anyone seen anything of Nathan Legare? I’m a really big fan and hope we can snag him with our pick late in the first. Nice size, good shot, and can finish

 

[Finnislander]

In case nobody has noticed. Hughes has had a very pedestrian season and about 25% of scouts now feel he might not go first overall. At the very least it’s looking like the projections which had him as the next Matthews Crosby or McDavid aren’t going to be right

Meanwhile his closest competition, Kakko, is redhot in Finnish Liiga. 17 goals in last 23 games, currently 8th in goal scoring (10-15 less games than most of his competition). He already passed Laine in goals scored at the same age, is one goal behind Barkov, to take the lead in goals scored in Liiga before NHL draft age.

I dont know how close it actually is, I quess Jack is still ahead in the race.

Im a bit of a homer, but damn I would like Finland to get our first, first over all, we are due for one.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Here is a player I think the Isles should look at given where they are likely picking. A Center to boot!

C Alex Newhook - Victoria Grizzlies, BCHL (2019 Draft)

 

[boredmale]

Here is a player I think the Isles should look at given where they are likely picking. A Center to boot!

C Alex Newhook - Victoria Grizzlies, BCHL (2019 Draft)

My guess is he is gone by 20(which most likely will be before we pick)

 

[The Winter Soldier]

My guess is he is gone by 20(which most likely will be before we pick)

Going to be doing more work on this crops prospects. Will have stronger opinions as we get into spring with the end of playoff games finalizing lists.

What I like about Newhook is for a skilled guy he has little fear. To me this is a huge plus for a player!

 

[Skip To My Lou]

Here is a player I think the Isles should look at given where they are likely picking. A Center to boot!

C Alex Newhook - Victoria Grizzlies, BCHL (2019 Draft)

Honestly, he was a guy I really liked when looking up prospects before this season started. I'm very surprised he has fallen though. I remember he was projected a top 5 pick in September.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Honestly, he was a guy I really liked when looking up prospects before this season started. I'm very surprised he has fallen though. I remember he was projected a top 5 pick in September.

Good call!

 

[benedictTavares]

I doubt we actually make our 1st round pick this year. Hopefully Lou can pry away a decent offensive winger with it. Usually 1-2 names start to surface after the season that no one was even mentioning around the TDL.

Even if we sign re-sign Lee/Nelson and pick-up Panarin(long shot) we still need to add talent on the wing. I could stomach another year or two of Eberle if the price was right. I would rather not though. lol

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Another player I am taking a liking to is Ilya Nikolayev. Russian kids are sometimes overlooked, and this kid may fall to the 20's. Lots of skill, and potential top 6C talent. Picking in the 20's rather swing for the fences than play it safe.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I doubt we actually make our 1st round pick this year. Hopefully Lou can pry away a decent offensive winger with it. Usually 1-2 names start to surface after the season that no one was even mentioning around the TDL.

Even if we sign re-sign Lee/Nelson and pick-up Panarin(long shot) we still need to add talent on the wing. I could stomach another year or two of Eberle if the price was right. I would rather not though. lol

I'm gonna take this opportunity to ask the board a base question, because I've seen this notion from a good dozen posters over the past 4-6 weeks.

So for each of you out there...

Do you feel that the only way Lou can improve this team in a trade is by moving our 1st rounder?
Is this our biggest and somehow most available currency for adding say, a top 6 forward?

MY TAKE:
- You build through the draft. It's vital to keep bringing in young talent. The talent in Round 1 is theoretically better. That talent may bloom into direct help or into something you can use to trade for direct help. To be denoted: At the moment, we only 5 picks in this draft, three of which are in rounds 5-7.
- Since Snow moved a 1st (and 2nd) not even two summers ago in a move that was NOT made to improve the team, it doesn't seem like Lou can afford to move another 1st rounder already at this juncture.
- We have a LOT of players under contract and a lot of depth on our left defensive side. Would it not be much more prudent to pick up a younger impact player from a team lacking defensive depth, but exploding with more expensive forward contracts they may have to peddle off anyways?
- Some of our best players are upcoming UFAs with no certainty that they'll be retained or adequately replaced. However, the UFA market is pretty large this summer and may get bigger with a few buyouts.
- Depending on how things go in the playoffs, we may or may not be close to contending. Moving 1st rounders is something only contending teams should really be in the habit of doing.

 

[Jester9881]

Where the Isles are picking, the C's that should be available are guys like Lavoie, Suzuki (longshot they're even still around), McMichael, Tomasino, Leason, Beecher (last two would be reaches).


Other forwards in that range:
Bobby Brink
Nils Hoglander

Defense in that range:
Thomas Harley (I think he's going to be a riser though, big time)
Ville Heinola
Anttoni Honka

 

[The Winter Soldier]

This is what Ilya Nikolayev said when he was asked this question. I like this kid even more now.

Q. What do you do in your spare time?
A. I don’t have much of it. When I get the chance, I try to watch NHL – full games and highlights. I follow the Washington Capitals. Personally, I like the way Patrice Bergeron plays.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

The Isles scouts drafted Ruslan Iskhakov last year at #43 higher than on most draft lists.

This gives me an outside hope for The Islanders landing Center Ilya Nikolayev. The more I look into this kid, the more I like him. He could be a steal later in the first rd, and he is right now slated as a high 2nd rd pick.

 

[SI90]

Just a stupid angle from Caufield. He passed Phil Kessel as the NTDP all time leading goal scorer.

Teams that regret passing over DeBrincat will think twice. This kid will be a first round pick.

 

[mm11]

If the Isles even hold onto their 1st rounder I suspect Lou and company take a player that is smart and plays a heavy game. I would like to see some more skill in the pipeline but what do I know? I some schmuck living in NE Florida

Let's go Isles!

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Goal by Ilya Nikolayev. Apparently he got 4 pts in the playoff game.

 

[saintunspecified]

Do you feel that the only way Lou can improve this team in a trade is by moving our 1st rounder?
Is this our biggest and somehow most available currency for adding say, a top 6 forward?

I don't know. Do you? I imagine all of LL's eggs are in Panarin's basket, but we won't know about that until after the draft. I expect NYI to make the pick.

But if LL knows that Panarin, or any other high profile UFA is unlikely, he has to consider major roster changes. And then, I think, a first round pick could be part of a series bigger roster-changing deals.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I don't know. Do you? I imagine all of LL's eggs are in Panarin's basket, but we won't know about that until after the draft. I expect NYI to make the pick.

But if LL knows that Panarin, or any other high profile UFA is unlikely, he has to consider major roster changes. And then, I think, a first round pick could be part of a series bigger roster-changing deals.

First and foremost, Lou has a list of players HE'D like to have on this team.

Some are not players we're suspecting. He will determine who of them is attainable and will go after them.

This is what I think he will do between now and September:
- Lou will add another college UFA to the organization (just added Grant Hutton today)
- Lou will sign 1-2 UFA player(s) from Europe (perhaps a North American playing in Europe) by no latter than the conclusion of the World Championships.
- Lou will re-sign Lee and Lehner before they go to free agency.
- Lou will move the rights to one of our upcoming UFAs for a pick.
- Lou will move Hickey. It will be to recoup mid-round draft picks.
- Lou will move another asset or two for the same reason.
- Lou will make at least one 1st round selection this June.
- He will move one of our prospects for a player another team is giving up on.
- He will trade Leddy. It will likely be in a deal involving a young, established forward who is no longer fitting in his team's salary structure for forwards.
- He will be in the hunt for Panarin. In fact, we should think of the NYI as currently being one of maybe four chief front runners.
- He will add several other UFAs, all forwards except for one depth defenseman.
- Several of our upcoming UFAs will walk this summer.
- By the end of August, roughly 55% of the current team and prospects on their ELC will no longer be in the organization.

 

[Islesfan22]

That’s a lot of moves Lou is going to make

 

[periferal]

First and foremost, Lou has a list of players HE'D like to have on this team.

Some are not players we're suspecting. He will determine who of them is attainable and will go after them.

This is what I think he will do between now and September:
- Lou will add another college UFA to the organization (just added Grant Hutton today)
- Lou will sign 1-2 UFA player(s) from Europe (perhaps a North American playing in Europe) by no latter than the conclusion of the World Championships.
- Lou will re-sign Lee and Lehner before they go to free agency.
- Lou will move the rights to one of our upcoming UFAs for a pick.
- Lou will move Hickey. It will be to recoup mid-round draft picks.
- Lou will move another asset or two for the same reason.
- Lou will make at least one 1st round selection this June.
- He will move one of our prospects for a player another team is giving up on.
- He will trade Leddy. It will likely be in a deal involving a young, established forward who is no longer fitting in his team's salary structure for forwards.
- He will be in the hunt for Panarin. In fact, we should think of the NYI as currently being one of maybe four chief front runners.
- He will add several other UFAs, all forwards except for one depth defenseman.
- Several of our upcoming UFAs will walk this summer.
- By the end of August, roughly 55% of the current team and prospects on their ELC will no longer be in the organization.

I like a lot of this, but what is your angle on the "Lou will make at least one 1st round selection this June." comment? do you think Lou is going to use the Isles 1st round pick, or trade it and trade back in to the 1st round?

 

[periferal]

Just a stupid angle from Caufield. He passed Phil Kessel as the NTDP all time leading goal scorer.

Teams that regret passing over DeBrincat will think twice. This kid will be a first round pick.

Watch this video again. He releases the shot from BEHIND the goal line. That means it's physically impossible to score from there without deflecting it off something...Which means it had to go off the goalie (probably his back/shoulder area).

 

[SI90]

Watch this video again. He releases the shot from BEHIND the goal line. That means it's physically impossible to score from there without deflecting it off something...Which means it had to go off the goalie (probably his back/shoulder area).

That’s why I wrote stupid angle. Crazy.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I like a lot of this, but what is your angle on the "Lou will make at least one 1st round selection this June." comment? do you think Lou is going to use the Isles 1st round pick, or trade it and trade back in to the 1st round?

No particular angle here.

I'm thinking, contrary to what some around Islanderville seem to think, that Lou will not be in the business of moving our 1st for more immediate help.

If he does, then I think it'll be in a package and I think he'd then be bringing a first back as part of that move or even in an adjacent move.

However, without going into detail, I have one suspicion about a possible move that would bring back an extra first. We'll see if I still have that feeling by June.

GENERAL STATEMENT:
There seem to be Isles fans who kind of assume that A) we're in a mode to win and have pieces for the future, so we don't really need to be picking in the 1st round or much whatsoever and B) if we want to get offensive help in a trade, we've kind of gotta move that 1st rounder as part of a deal.

I'm not a fan of these trains of thought and I doubt Lou is either.

A 1st is a huge, huge commodity and we're in a day and age where it's becoming more and more common for teams picking 20-31 to come out of the draft with a bonafide NHL talent who is ready to play within 2-3 seasons. You needn't look any further than the 2016 and 2017 drafts, much less 2015. You start moving firsts when you're very close to the cup - 1 or maybe 2 pieces away. Until then, you horde them and use them with every opportunity. If they don't become future players for you, they still remain highly tradeable assets.

Furthermore, we are in the driver's seat with respect to cap space, trading chips (i.e. bodies, not picks), and team build-up. I mean, any highly capable offensive player in the league who is looking for a team that essentially just needs scoring and a better PP presence, i.e. that which he is most capable of, can basically look at this team as a prime target destination. There's plenty telling UFAs that we are soon going to be a major contender and they can be a part of it - heck, even ensure that it takes place.

Now, as you and I both know, much of keeping that advantage is based on getting things done with respect to particularly Lee, Nelson, and Lehner. That alone will also be a major task for Lou. We all know that July 1st cannot arrive with all of Lee, Nelson, Eberle, Lehner, and Filppula just hitting to free market. Then Lou's work will already be more about replacement than upgrading.

But hey, maybe even that is part of Lou's plan?

 

[YearlyLottery]

Honestly? If the Isles could never get enough value for their top five picks to get a good player here, I doubt they will trade a much later pick for a good player.

What does everyone think of Lavoie? I have not watched him enough to see how he uses his size.