First Pick Is First Step Towards The Future

Now that it is official and the NY Islanders have won the 1st overall pick in the 2009 draft, the rebuilding process of the franchise can begin in earnest. The team began the process a bit last season adding numerous draft picks to the cupboard, its here, with the chance to select a potential young franchise player, that will be the key to take the organization to the next level.

Lineup:

F: Weight, Okposo, Bailey, Hunter, Nielsen, Park, Tambellini, Bergenheim, Comeau
D: Streit, Witt, Martinek, Sutton, Meyer, Gervais
G: Dipietro

Depth:
F: Colliton, Thompson, Rechlicz, Bentivoglio, Joensuu
D: Hillen, Fraser, MacDonald, Kohn
G: Mannino

Goal: All eyes will be on Dipietro. If he cant stay healthy, the team will definitely challenge for the 1st overall pick again. Finding a more proven NHL netminder to serve as backup will be a major need for the Isles

Defence: The defence is actually decent if it can stay healthy. The team did miss Sutton, Martinek and Witt for long periods.GM Garth Snow will definitely still seek to retool as the Isles need more mobility and skill on the backend to mesh better in the attacking style system coach Scott Gordon is seeking to instill. Streit was a revelation and has turned into one of the better offensive defencemen in the NHL. But the fact he led the team in scoring is of major concern.

Forward: There lacks clearly offensive punch up front. If Tavares is made the 1st overall pick by the Isles, that would help. Right now, their top youngsters Bailey and Okposo are not ready to be big time scorers. Weight is now too old to be a top line centre and there is almost nothing in between. The forward ranks lack size, skill and depth. If they can land another top 6 forward in addition to the 1st overall pick, plus another grinding winger to help Hunter out, that would be a nice start in turning the corner for this team.

Leadership: Snow started last summer the overhaul of the Isles and right now he pretty much has a clear canvas to work with. While the aggressive move to get Ryan Smyth didn't pay off, Snow seems competent in the task of turning the Isles around, picking up Streit, adding lots of extra draft picks and getting the team younger. There are plenty of grizzled veterans on the roster to help teach their young players but it would be nice for the team if Dipietro could be healthy as he really is the face of the team and the guy who stirs the drink. If he can play, Gordon can lean heavily on him and be able to teach and work with all the young players, while being somewhat assured the team wont get blown out every game with a solid Dipietro in goal.

Key Stat: Only 2 players (Streit and Park) played more than 70 games last season

Off-Season:

Payroll: 30.7 mil

UFA: Hilbert, Sillinger, Lee, Pock, Danis, Macdonald, Fritz, McAmmond, McLean, Iggulden, Walter, Callahan, Jackman, Lessard
RFA: Colliton, Smith, Thompson, Hillen, Mannino, Comeau

The Isles are unlikely to max out their cap space and will likely try and look for nice, cheap alternatives to fill roster spots and hopefully surprise the team while given lots of ice time and opportunity to excel. But Snow isnt opposed to spending and could try and find another Streit type of player.

If any thing the biggest key will be off the ice where the organization hopes to secure something formal allowing them to build a new arena.

Possibilities

Trade Options: Seems unlikely but the Isles could very well trade the 1st overall pick. Because they need help everywhere, the organization may not be very opposed to getting either Tavares or Hedman. That could lead them to maybe move the 1st pick, acquire extra assets and perhaps still end up with the player they want. The team though may not want to trade out of the top 3. A top end young prospect is first and foremost on the Isles agenda.

Free Agent Options: A big thing the Isles could offer is opportunity. Someone like Tomas Kopecky, who has been buried on depth duty in Detriot could be a top line player on Long Island. He has the size the Isles sorely lack up front. The team could go cheap as well and bring in Ville Koistinen as another offensive defenceman and boost the skill level of the backend. If the team is willing to spend, perhaps a player like Brian Gionta would draw some interest. He has proven goal scoring ability and may be the quality veteran player to take some pressure off of the young players.

The Draft

Some potential choices for 1st overall include:

John Tavares: Consensus 1st pick is offensive wizard and goal scorer Isles lack
Victor Hedman: Big franchise type defenceman has it all, size, speed, skill
Matt Duchene: Fleet forward is perhaps fastest skater in draft
Evander Kane: Unlikely to knock off top 3 but a character player with skill.

Draft picks: 2 1st, 3 2nd, 3rd, 4th, cond. 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th

Top Prospects:
Corey Trivino C
Trevor Smith C
Aaron Ness D
Mark Katic D
Travis Hamonic D
Blake Kessel D
Robin Figren LW
Matt Martin LW
Maxim Gratchev LW
Rhett Rakhshani RW
Kirill Petrov RW

Ness and Harmonic finally provide the Isles with some decent defence prospects. They are skilled blueliners which is an area the Isles are lacking in. Up front, they are also high on Trivino, Rakhshani and Gratchev who are also highly skilled. But time is needed for these players to develop properly.

One area that need addressing is in goal. While Dipietro is signed for another dozen years, they need a young goaltending prospect to start developing. With the injuries to Depietro he constantly gets, they need as much depth in goal as possible.

Outlook: The Isles have miles to go before they can be considered a playoff team. But if they can remain healthy, they can certainly surprise some. But ideally, the team would be best served to follow the lead of teams like Pittsburgh and Washington and accumulate a series of top 5 picks to replenish their organization.