Will The Islanders Trade Up?

I'll give you my first choice right now whom the Islanders will take with the first overall pick: John Tavares. Why? He'll be the face of the franchise, score the goals, assume the leadership role, fills in the empty seats, so on and so forth. He's being compared to Bossy, and that is exactly what the Islanders need now and in the future.

But now on to the 26th pick of this years draft, and there are some really good players, even down at number 26. The Islanders can help themselves a little by possibly trading up. They will be able to give up the 57th overall pick in the second round, along with their first rounder to move up. The question is, which team will do it? My guess will be the Calgary Flames. They do not have a 2nd rounder, but have a high third round pick, so giving them a lower second rounder would benefit the Flames. The Flames should be a perennial Western Conference team for some time, so giving up there 20th overall pick will not kill the Flames, considering they would be moving down six places. The question now is who will the Islanders draft?

If they go defense, I will stick with my gut and go with Erixon. From NewYorkIslanders.com:
"He's very mature and took a big step forward this year. He wasn't with us last year for the U18. (Him and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are) pretty close to the same. Tim is better on defense because he’s a little bit bigger and has a good reach. They have the same skills offensively, are very good at the blue line and have a good shot too.”
-Team Sweden Under-18 Head Coach Stephan Lundh, as quoted in Hockey's Future

“He’s a copy of his dad.”
-Director of NHL European Scouting Goran Stubb

“An offensive minded defenseman with good size and mobility. Erixon has first-class hockey sense and passes the puck well. Moves the puck with confidence and likes to join the rush when he gets the chance to. Could use some work with his defensive game.”
-EliteProspects.com

If the Islanders decide to go offense, which I still believe they will, look for them to draft Jeremy Morin. From the Ottawa Sun:

GM Garth Snow can't pass up drafting perhaps the best goal scorer after JT if he was to fall into their lap. Morin has a great touch, with quick and soft hands. Fresh off of winning a gold medal at the 2009 world under-18 championship, Morin signed an Ontario Hockey League contract with the Kitchener Rangers. A dynamic goal-scorer, few players have the one-timing ability of Morin.

Style compares to: Rick Vaive