Draft Day: The Islanders Will Pick........

Islanders fans, welcome to the start of your new season. I'm sure everyone is excited and curious about what Garth Snow and company will do today. Will they pick at number 4 or will they trade down like in 2008? Make no mistake, the Islanders cannot afford to not make a pick in the first round, so rest assurd there will be a first rounder this year. So what should they do? My thoughts.....

As I said, I (along with the rest of you) expected a little more from this team last year. I was hoping for a top 10 pick, somewhere between 7-10 in this lottery, so I would not be surprised if the Isles traded down to that range, only if the team gets a player who could help them now. But I honestly believe it will come down to when the Islanders are on the clock and they look at who is available. The "Draft drama" as I like to call it has rumblings of Murray being available, even Nail Yakupov slipping to 4th. My gut is telling me Murray will be taken before the Isles pick. If "Fail for Nail" is available, the Isles must pick him.

But there are two more reasonable picks that will most likely be available for the Islanders in Forsberg and Reinhart. Both would be excellent additions to the prospect pool, but I'm hoping the Islanders select....Reinhart. Why? Because the Islanders need a draft pick who would be ready for NHL duty this coming year and there seems to be plenty of room for a defenceman rather than a forward. I'm going against conventional Islanders wisdom of them drafting a forward in the first round because Reinhart is too good to pass by. Then again, I was hoping the Islanders drafted Cam Fowler a few years back also.

So Reinhart is my pick, actually he's been my pick for a few months now. But Snow has enough prospects where you could see a trade or two to speed up the development of this young team. For now, I wouldn't be surprised if Anders Lee or a Ty Wishart were traded for either another a pick or for a player or look for a package. Just take a look at the depth of this team by position and you will notice these two and a few more may not be able to get a shot at this teams lineup. For now, enjoy the draft and I'll be back with another article about the draft.