Sansided
Eyes On Isles
Home/NY Islanders News

New York Islanders Daily Links: Draft Day

By Matt O'Leary
Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Mathew Barzal poses with team executives after being selected as the number sixteen overall pick to the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; Mathew Barzal poses with team executives after being selected as the number sixteen overall pick to the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The New York Islanders head into draft day with the mindset of replacing Kyle Okposo. Garth Snow has to somehow find a top 6 forward.

Draft day; where bad teams celebrate picks for the future. Remember those days? I certainly do, the Islanders are far from the days of hoping for a lottery pick. Now they are trying to add pieces to get themselves over the hump.

Arthur Staple of Newsday says if Garth Snow doesn’t find a trade that ends up dealing the first round pick, that he could potentially trade back. The Islanders don’t have many picks after 19. They don’t have a second or third rounder.

If the Islanders do move back, look for them to keep an eye Alex DeBrincat and Tage Thompson. These are two guys expected to go at the end of the first round. DeBrincat had a 51-goal season this past year in the Ontario League.

In order to replace Kyle Okposo who seems to be 100% gone and the possibility of replacing Frans Nielsen as well, I think the Islanders would be better suited to trade the 19th pick for a player. I don’t want Garth to force a trade but if one presents itself he shouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

Have an Islanders article you want to share? Send it our way on Twitter @EyesOnIslesFS with the #MyIsles to be featured in our Daily Links.

The Hockey Writers had a cool experiment yesterday. Using NHL 16 they previewed what the Islanders would look like without Okposo, Martin and Nielsen. Although it’s just a video game it was clear the grit wasn’t there on the bottom two lines (The Hockey Writers)

We looked at the Islanders biggest needs going into the draft. Check it out to be up to date while you’re watching the draft tonight (Eyes On Isles)

Over at Today’s Slapshot they talked about how Okposo is 100% gone. A source has told Arthur Staple that Okposo will not be an Islander next season (Today’s Slapshot)

Next: Islanders Biggest Needs Heading Into Draft

Lighthouse Hockey took a look back at their Top 25 under 25 list from years past. There were a few surprises in there looking at years gone by. (Lighthouse Hockey)

facebooktwitterreddit