The New York Islanders were reportedly planning on selecting him 16th overall. I'm not sure if this was ever confirmed, but it was alluded to by many in the media. I believe there was also talk of him going 6th to the Rangers. Anyway, he wouldn't have fallen past 16th, so it doesn't really matter where independant scouting services had him ranked.
That was pure speculation, based on Milbury's claim that he and his scouts were eyeing a player who would be an "off the board" selection, and he was hoping he'd get him but you never knew who else might be eyeing him. Seeing that Nokelainen wasn't all that off the board, and Milbury never made any comment saying he got the guy he was eyeing, many assumed the guy MM wanted was taken before 16 and looking at the top 15 picks, Wheeler stands out the most as an off the board pick.
However, Milbury also said it was a guy that could help out sooner than later. And that is clearly not Wheeler who is more or less the textbook definition of project. Which personally leads me to believe that it was either Smid or Stafford. Both of whom were taken a bit earlier than predicted, and both of whom were already pretty mature and had games that seemed to fit with the Islanders' drafting habits around the time. Smid: slick skating D-man with good poise (see: Campoli, Kohn, Gervais, Sims). Stafford: forward with good size, skating and all around game (see: O'Marra, Nokey, Colliton, Comeau, Bergenehim, etc).
And of course, it is possible that Nokey was the guy he wanted all along. And personally, I doubt that the Rangers would've taken Wheeler, while already dealing with their another project not developing as hoped (Jessiman). However, even assuming it wasn't Wheeler that Milbury or Sather wanted, it remains possible that his pre-draft comments, and speculation about the Rangers, scared Phoenix into not wanting to trade down in fear that it was.