As we get down to the final hours before the 2011 NHL Entry Draft takes place, I'm seeing more and more people saying that Garth Snow should trade the 5th overall pick for NHL talent.
The calls for this seem to grow with the news of the blockbuster trades made by the Philadelphia Flyers as they sent Mike Richards to the Los Angeles Kings and Jeff Carter to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Don't get me wrong - this line of thinking is a great one. Sean even brought this up during our podcast last weekend, saying that he expects them to trade the pick - but was more hinting at trading down to pick up other assets and then parlaying some of those into NHL talent.
In all honesty, while the second scenario seems like it could be a fantastic approach to Friday night, I think that if the Isles are moving down for a player they like then it's with the idea of drafting one or two of those players high on their draft board rather than to move the picks.
When Sean mentioned that he wanted to see that pick moved, I pressed him on who had in his head that could be had in exchange for the 5th overall pick. The only (realistic?) idea he could come up with is Paul Stastny of the Colorado Avalanche. Other names he came up with? Zach Parise and Drew Doughty.
As nice as Paul Stastny is, he's not a player I'm giving up a 5th overall pick for. In reality, there is no one out there that could be had for a top five pick.
When people talk about making trades for "proven talent," you have to keep in mind what they were traded for. The last time a top five pick was traded for proven talent? Our very own New York Islanders did in 2001, in a package for Alexei Yashin (2nd overall).
There are only extenuating circumstances where a player like that becomes available, and as usual that is not the case this year. But what about the trading back scenario? Well, that would be more plausible.
2006:
- The Avalanche traded Alex Tanguay to the Calgary Flames for Jordan Leopold, a 2nd round pick (59th) and a conditional pick.
- The Kings trade Pavol Demitra to the Minnesota Wild for Patrick O'Sullivan and the 17th overall pick.
2008:
- The Flames trade Tanguay and a 5th round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for a 1st (25th overall) and 2nd round pick (48th).
- The Kings trade Mike Cammalleri to the Flames for a 1st round pick (17th).
- The Flyers trade R.J. Umberger and a 4th (118th) to the Blue Jackets for a 1st (19th overall) and a 3rd (67th).
2009:
- The Anaheim Ducks trade Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle to the Flyers for Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa, a 2009 1st round pick (21st) and a 2010 1st round pick (29th).
2010:
- The Florida Panthers trade Keith Ballard and Victor Oreskovich to the Vancouver Canucks for Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner and a 1st round pick (25th).
At the end of the day, if the Islanders are bringing in that proven vet at the draft then it would most likely come after trading down once or twice to gather up assets they can use to move for talent. Those of you hoping for it to play out this way can keep that in mind with thoughts of Brent Burns, Ryan Malone, Scott Hartnell and whoever else you may have dancing in your head.
What do I think? I think the Islanders are going to stay right where they are at five and make their pick. After the dust settles, the Islanders will have drafted Ryan Strome.
Sean and I will both be at the draft today and are planning to make our way around the parking lot. We'll both have cameras, and I plan to take some candid shots of fan activity for a photo gallery of some kind. So if you see us roaming around, please do come up and introduce yourself. We'd love to meet some of you.
There are couple of things going on that you may have noticed I haven't written about yet (Doug Weight's award, Radek Martinek update, analysis of the Flyers' trades) but that will be coming at some point later. We're trying to focus solely on the draft items for now and go from there.
-Chris
nyifyi@gmail.com
Showing posts with label Jeff Carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Carter. Show all posts
June 24, 2011
October 30, 2010
Habs Sweep Home and Home, Isles Head to Philly
Lats night, one could essentially say the Islanders played twi different games.
For the better part of 15 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens controlled the play, and really took it to the Islanders. They could not get anything going. The Canadiens seemed to have figured out the gameplan and picked up right where they left off. Fortunately, the Islanders figured things out in the last few minutes of the period, and began to battle back.
The second period saw more of the same from the Islanders, as they closed the gap in shot total and battled hard to tie the game on a goal from Matt Martin. Frans Nielsen made a really nice play from behind the net to Martin, who was positioned to the right of Alex Auld for one of those infamous dirty goals. Those are going to be the kind of goals Martin will score throughout his career as he establishes himself as an immovable object in front of the net.
It seemed as though when the Islanders got their hitting going, their play improved and the Canadiens were reeling a bit. Martin layed two big hits on Hal Gill early in the contest and things seemed to improve from there. He even had a fight with Gill later, which is a bit of a mis-match when you compare the size. Gill definitiely has longer arms, so it was difficult for Martin to get his punches in with Gill holding him back, but I tip my hat to him for holding his own in the fight.
The Islanders continued to press in the 3rd period, but couldn't put one past Auld who made some really nice saves. A A breakdown with three Canadeins flying into the zone lead to Benoit Pouliot's goal to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. Poulit has a really nie shot, and has struggled a bit in the early going this season after finding his game after a mid-season trade from the Minnesota Wild last season.
Scott Gordon after the game said lack of backchecking is was caused that goal, and I would agree. It is clear that Montreal is a much faster team, and that paid off in that situation. You can see how much the team misses Rob Schremp and Michael Grabner.
Blake Comeau had a bit of a sloppy game, but still appears to be backchecking. He isn't as involved in the offence as he was prior to Josh Bailey's injury, but as long as he keepts pushing hard and at the very least forechecking he'll get his touch back.
The ice at the Coliseum was really bad last night from what I could see. We know that the puck always takes some odd hops here and there, but last night it was a lot more noticeable than past games. The Islanders are on the middle of this long string with most of the games on the road, and there were a couple of events at the Coliseum in the past couple of weeks. That certainly played a factor in the poor ice.
The attention now turns to the Flyers. Rick DiPietro gets the nod against a team that the Islanders have not had much good luck against in recent years. Milan Jurcina is out with what appears to be a hamstring injury, so Bruno Gervais gets back in the lineup but as a defenseman today. The Islanders are looking for their first win in Philly since April of 2007 (nine games).
The Flyers are a team that started off slow, but have picked up their play of late. They currently sit in 1st in the division by way of a tie breaker from the Penguins, and one point in front of the Islanders. Jeff Carter has been on a hot streak of late with rumors of him being close to re-signing with the Flyers. Chris Pronger has not been feeling all that great this year, and perhaps is one less problem to have to deal with when not at 100%. Danny Briere and Claude Giroux have been on fire, with each having six goals each so far this season.
This is another team that has some speed to it, but not as much as Montreal. I do think this is a team the Islanders can match up will with. As I said with the game last night, once the team started throwing the body it changed the feel. The Flyers are a team that doesn't hesistate to throw checks, so Martin and the rest of the Isles are going to have to be doing that from the get go.
If more news comes about any last minute changes, we'll have it for you here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
For the better part of 15 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens controlled the play, and really took it to the Islanders. They could not get anything going. The Canadiens seemed to have figured out the gameplan and picked up right where they left off. Fortunately, the Islanders figured things out in the last few minutes of the period, and began to battle back.
The second period saw more of the same from the Islanders, as they closed the gap in shot total and battled hard to tie the game on a goal from Matt Martin. Frans Nielsen made a really nice play from behind the net to Martin, who was positioned to the right of Alex Auld for one of those infamous dirty goals. Those are going to be the kind of goals Martin will score throughout his career as he establishes himself as an immovable object in front of the net.
It seemed as though when the Islanders got their hitting going, their play improved and the Canadiens were reeling a bit. Martin layed two big hits on Hal Gill early in the contest and things seemed to improve from there. He even had a fight with Gill later, which is a bit of a mis-match when you compare the size. Gill definitiely has longer arms, so it was difficult for Martin to get his punches in with Gill holding him back, but I tip my hat to him for holding his own in the fight.
The Islanders continued to press in the 3rd period, but couldn't put one past Auld who made some really nice saves. A A breakdown with three Canadeins flying into the zone lead to Benoit Pouliot's goal to give the Habs a 2-1 lead. Poulit has a really nie shot, and has struggled a bit in the early going this season after finding his game after a mid-season trade from the Minnesota Wild last season.
Scott Gordon after the game said lack of backchecking is was caused that goal, and I would agree. It is clear that Montreal is a much faster team, and that paid off in that situation. You can see how much the team misses Rob Schremp and Michael Grabner.
Blake Comeau had a bit of a sloppy game, but still appears to be backchecking. He isn't as involved in the offence as he was prior to Josh Bailey's injury, but as long as he keepts pushing hard and at the very least forechecking he'll get his touch back.
The ice at the Coliseum was really bad last night from what I could see. We know that the puck always takes some odd hops here and there, but last night it was a lot more noticeable than past games. The Islanders are on the middle of this long string with most of the games on the road, and there were a couple of events at the Coliseum in the past couple of weeks. That certainly played a factor in the poor ice.
The attention now turns to the Flyers. Rick DiPietro gets the nod against a team that the Islanders have not had much good luck against in recent years. Milan Jurcina is out with what appears to be a hamstring injury, so Bruno Gervais gets back in the lineup but as a defenseman today. The Islanders are looking for their first win in Philly since April of 2007 (nine games).
The Flyers are a team that started off slow, but have picked up their play of late. They currently sit in 1st in the division by way of a tie breaker from the Penguins, and one point in front of the Islanders. Jeff Carter has been on a hot streak of late with rumors of him being close to re-signing with the Flyers. Chris Pronger has not been feeling all that great this year, and perhaps is one less problem to have to deal with when not at 100%. Danny Briere and Claude Giroux have been on fire, with each having six goals each so far this season.
This is another team that has some speed to it, but not as much as Montreal. I do think this is a team the Islanders can match up will with. As I said with the game last night, once the team started throwing the body it changed the feel. The Flyers are a team that doesn't hesistate to throw checks, so Martin and the rest of the Isles are going to have to be doing that from the get go.
If more news comes about any last minute changes, we'll have it for you here.
-CH
nyifyi@gmail.com
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