I hope everyone would read this post before having Hamilton to the Isles in their Mocks.
I couldn't agree more. I know a lot of Ottawa fans are hoping the Devils or Isles take a Murphy or Hamilton but I just don't see it happening. For both NJD and NYI its either Larsson or a forward.
Exactly!
And if Murray REALLY wants one of those forwards (and we all know that Landeskog and/or Couturier would at least theoretically be ideal picks for OTT, while not being in the top 3), he's gonna have to deal with Lou or Snow.
Now, we haven't seen Lou picking top 5 in like, forever, so it's really hard to tell what he's gonna do. In light of the cost of signing Kovalchuk (not just the financial penalty, but also the loss of draft picks), I wouldn't in the least be surprised to see Lou drop down and maybe even drop down again if he feels he can ultimately turn that #4 (one body) into 4 or 5 bodies within the top 45 picks. Really wouldn't surprise me in the least... Heck, one may even have to expect it. Especially when he knows how much a GM like Burke would likely love to move into that spot and has a few assets to do it.
As for Snow, if he and the staff really do want (uhh, or would settle with) Hamilton, Murphy, Strome or even a surprise like Bartschi/Zibanejad, I can thoroughly see him listening to Murray, BUT the swap of positions would very likely have to include a body, not other draft picks. When talking about this in other threads, I've mentioned Murray sending over Peter Regin in order to swap spots.
It'll all depend on how much Murray wants a Couturier, Landeskog or Huberdeau, 'cause one will be there at 5. With a bit of dough to spend on the market this summer, a good number of picks and taking his prior propensity to move/trade in first rounds into account (see #15 for Rundblad last summer, the attempt to move up for Kadri in 09), I'd gander that a move with Snow like the one just mentioned is fully within the realm of possibility.