Did the Islanders make good draft picks?

Question

Big Isles fan here. I cant say im happy with the first pick but the others seem ok. Whats your opinion?

Answer 1

We won't know until about 5 years from now. I'm not really an Isles fan, but I root for them to do good; I have faith in Garth.

Answer 2

find out in 2-3 years

Answer 3

Niemi, Toews and Petrov are good picks in the third round. Those are the only picks your team got that I know of as good or pretty good.

Answer 4

I figured they would trade down once the top 3 d-men were taken. Schenn would have been great, but they already have a bunch of defensemen who aren't goal scorers, and Witt is a good shutdown player in his own right.  I could see them passing on Filatov, as their past history of taking Euros hasn't been good, with the player either never showing up or leaving after a season to go back home. I got pissed when they took Bailey instead of Hodgson, who I think can help them more quickly. I am excited more about Ness, who can become that puck-moving defenseman they desperately need in a year or two. It's going to be a long rebuilding process to undo all the damage Milbury caused. other tahn first round, a good draft. Here's hoping they can sign them all.

Answer 5

Good after the 1st pick, but even Bailey may turn out to be pretty good. I'm not sure why Garth didn't take Filatov or Hodgson.

That Ness kid can skate like the wind, and has a ton of moves. Only problem is his size, he's like 5'10 165 lbs. If he can get close to 6 feet and up to 190 lbs, he will no doubt be your top pairing offensive d-man for years to come. Look him up on youtube.

Answer 6

Minus their chance at selecting Schenn or Filatov, I think Snow and company did a superb job landing players that are solid in each of their own way.  There are 5 players that I'd have loved to have my Sharks select that the Isles ended up selecting:

David Toews

Aaron Ness

Corey Trivino

Jyri Niemi

Kirill Petrov

Toews, Jonathan's bro, is a smart player and simply dominated playing for Shattucks St. Mary's.  He'll need to grow and get a tad bigger.

Aaron Ness, projected late 1st rounder, was named 2008 Mr. Hockey winner.  He's a smooth skating defensemen who knows what to do with the puck.

Corey Trivino is a scoring machine and has excelled at both the Junior A challenge and at the under 18 championships.  He may have dropped some in the draft due to him bypassing playing in the juniors and playing instead in Tier II hockey league.

Jyri Niemi, is a smart 2 way dman whose stock also dropped, but this time because of a hip injury.  Otherwise, he's a solid d man, who already plays in the WHL and learning the north american game.  Also won hardest shot competition for a dman!

Kirill Petrov, should've gone higher but due to him currently feeling comfortable playing in Russia, there's fear of him staying there.  He's a premiere power forward, but if he does decide to come over, thats a steal for the Isles.