I guess it's all part of the experience and natural to start declaring winners and losers of a draft the next day or a few days after and no doubt we will start seeing articles along those lines with the few released already and sure I will post them for you.
Islanders website is posting XM radio highlights and that did not even list the person commenting while at Hockey News via TSN they listed the Isles as losers for their first round which I posted Saturday.
Most of it is a little silly at this time and means absolulutely nothing until a few years pass (in most cases) and then we really discover who won or lost.
I would be less than honest not to admit the draw of not selecting a Filatov was
disappointing Friday but can mean absolutely nothing as soon as everyone starts playing hockey games this fall.
You can also make a great argument the Islanders passed on players who have greater franchise player potential than the one they selected ninth overall.
You can also make a great argument it was not worth a few extra second rounders in a great draft to take themselves out of a mix for players with franchise potential.
Having written all that you can also go the other way and write if you want management to finally stick to a plan and build with prospects what did you expect them to do with the youth movement they have in place with left wing Bergenheim, left wing Comeau, left wing Tambellini and left wing Joensuu among others?
I know Howie Rose and even Billy Jaffe keep repeating the Islanders finally have to have a youth movement and pick a direction. I'm not trying to awake anyone from their slmuber here but it's been happening for a while now if you have not noticed between Campoli, Gervais and many of the forwards I just listed.
What left wing did you want to kick off the team from our youth movement for Filatov to play left wing here next season or the year after? Tambellini because of his games played now must clear waivers to go back to the AHL.
I asked this a few times over the weekend and the reaction most gave was get rid of Tambellini or silence which makes those folks just as guilt as Mike Milbury for dumping youth too soon and not sticking to a plan. They already have three right wings if Okposo is here with Figren expected to play in Europe.
Does anyone want to dump Tambellini before we find out after three years of time and money invested in him? If he goes to another club and puts up fifty points and can score what would everyone write then?
Meanwhile there is a spot for Bailey at a center who takes Vasicek's spot next to Okposo this fall if he can earn it at the moment. That could change by July 1st and may not happen regardless.
As as a counterpoint about pick from above in a draft like this last one you cannot have enough quality picks in the first two rounds.
Regarding Garth Snow and Ryan Jankowski I do not think they should care one bit what Mike Milbury, Neil Smith or Bill Torrey did at the draft table. At this point if you do that you should compare Snow with Bill Torrey drafting Dave Chykowski and Scott Sissons because that's how old some of this has become.
It's completely worthless in 2008.
I know that's how fans measure this. I suggest folks get past it because anyone who drafts with that philosophy does not belong in the gm chair or a scouting department for any professional sports team. In that case Isles should just do an on-line poll, and let the fans make the picks from the articles we read so virtually no one complains.
Regarding this draft I do not know how this draft class will work out for the Islanders. Some of these players have some great potential, a few were not listed in central scouting and we all know Petrov's contract vs potential which sounds nice but until he plays here is just words.
Winners or losers? On paper they lost day one, on paper they had a very good day two.
On paper means nothing, if that were the case teams would not play games.
On paper coming out of the lockout Carolina was picked fourteenth and won the cup. On paper Boston was picked dead last in the conference and made the playoffs.
Winners or losers for real? Ask me in three-five years unless someone jumps into the NHL and dominates next season. Were still figuring out if Blake Comeau and Sean Bergenheim can be impact players and they were drafted in 2002 and 2003, so were Jeremy Colliton and Frans Nielsen.