New York Islanders Top 2018 Draft Picks are Golden Tickets

It’s been an under the radar story for the New York Islanders. The reason being the Isles have to wait for this prized investment. Make no mistake though, the Isles top 2018 draft picks are golden tickets.

In the New York Islanders front office, you might hear the staff singing “I have a golden ticket” from the classic Gene Wilder movie, Willy Wonka. The Islander fans should be singing as well with the franchise having these upcoming picks.

The Draft Picks

The Islanders have two, first-round, as well as, two, second-round selections in the upcoming 2018 NHL Draft. This June’s draft has been described with a lot of superlatives and has been compared to the talent-rich draft class of 2015.

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The Isles have their own draft picks in rounds one and two, as well as Calgary’s thanks to the Travis Hamonic trade. These four future players have a chance to give this talented organization incredible impact over the next decade.

Could the Isles land another player on the level of Mathew Barzal?

Root Against Calgary

Clearly, the Isles don’t want to see their own draft pick selection turn into a top pick in the upcoming June draft for obvious reasons. Calgary however, is another matter.

The Flames are a good team, but like the East, the Western Conference is very deep and the playoffs are no guarantee for Calgary.

Nothing against Calgary but the number one team the Islander fans should be rooting against on a nightly basis isn’t the New York Rangers but the Calgary Flames. Sorry Calgary, but business is business.

If Calgary misses the playoffs could the ping-pong balls bounce favorably for the Isles as they did for the Flyers last year?

Major Trade Asset

These four upcoming draft picks are major assets that the Islander organization possesses. They are extremely coveted by other NHL clubs.

In any future trade talks no doubt the opposing general managers will try and pry away one of these picks from Garth Snow. The thought of adding these future prospects to a really good prospect pipeline is very enticing.

Snow could use one of these picks as a trade chip anytime between now and the trade deadline.

Another possibility is Snow holds on to these picks and use them once the 2017-18 season is over. June is the unofficial trading month in today’s salary cap NHL.

Not likely a star player will be available via trade between now and the trade deadline. June however, could be an entirely different matter.

Next: Isles Podcast: Trade Deadline Preview

The Islander fan base should be ecstatic over these top draft picks. They will be extremely valuable to the franchise one way or another.