Some time has passed since the dust settled and here are some initial thoughts to the draft haul.
General:
I had hoped the team would come away solely with skaters, with hopefully more forwards than Dmen. As mentioned before the draft (and for years around these parts), you don't draft goalies when you have less than the allotted 7 picks. And even then, you should best only do it when you have upwards of seven picks. They simply take far too long to develop into an NHL option. Let them do that elsewhere. You shore up on system depth in that department, if necessary, via other routes. As such, I was glad this was continued.
I don't there's anything wrong with playing things safe and in no less than Nelson and Schulz, they took (terribly) safe picks for those respective spots. Both have traits indicating they can be an NHL option in the future, Nelson naturally moreso than Schulz.
When a team is like the Islanders and is participating at a below average rate in a number of drafts in a row, there's good reason to "swing for the fences" every now and again. That was done with Nurmi. I'm familiar with him. This is a kid whose upside is that of a producer. Lots of steps to take until that's possible at the NHL level.
Then there's the all too common overager trend. I mean, it's officially a "thang" for this staff. I know, some in the fan world think it's cool and a good route to go. The team does it basically yearly now. In 2019, it was Coskey and Bibeau. In 2020, it was Tikkanen. In 2022, it was Maggio and Kuefler. Now they took Gill and Good Bogg. Yes, yes, Maggio is looking good, primarily as one of the kids who missed out on an entire season of OHL play and thus, had that extra year bonus. I wouldn't it applies so much to either Kuefler or Gill, each of whom got some time in the Dub and Q respectively, even in the lost covid year.
Lastly, another "thang" for Lou at the draft table is that he doesn't deal. He doesn't move up. He doesn't move down. He stays right where he is and uses the picks. That's been the case for literally ALL six of his drafts. There's not been a single move to say, add an extra pick by dropping back. He just doesn't do it.
The players:
49 - Nelson - Am perfectly down with this pick and like it. I enjoyed his play immensely at the U18 and do NOT think he's strictly a 3rd line shutdown talent. His background makes him basically pre-ordained to be an Islander pick. I see him as immediately being one of our top 5 prospects at this point and have little doubt that he'll be an NHLer.
Players I was eyeing Thursday at 49: Nelson, Lardis, Heidt, Molgaard, Whitelaw, Hameenaho
113 - Nurmi - Not upset with this pick, but not extremely enthusiastic either. The good thing is that he skates well and likes to create offense. He can do things with the puck. He's actually produced at a very solid rate the past two years. Nothing really wrong with his U18 Worlds either, but he's not a player who looks like a difference-maker yet. He doesn't really arise to the occasion. And his size doesn't have to be a problem, but ideally he'll be 6 foot and 185 lbs. by the time he's turning into an option, if at all. Interestingly, almost every independent outlet out there had Nurmi in their top 100.
Players I was eyeing Thursday at 113: Minnetian, Ciernik, Pinnelli, Allen, Shaugabay
145 - Gill - This overager came earlier than usual. Yes, he had gaudy numbers in the Q this season. He looks to go pro immediately. Can't say much about his game or upside. Just know there was still a lot of talent on the board. The team's scout in the Q seems to have a certain clout within the staff.
Players I was eyeing Thursday at 145: Mania, Mukhanov, Port, Forsfjall, Molnar, Jarventie
177 - Schulz - I never mind seeing the team add a USNTDP kid, especially one who has captained a gold medal winner. It's a fine pick at this spot. Gotta see what Wisconsin does moving forward as they were a tire fire last season, despite plenty of NHL prospects. He'll play there with Quinn. Defensive Dman despite being able to move well with the puck and make a solid first pass.
Players I was eyeing Thursday at 177: Forsfjall, Molnar, Jarventie, Hanzel, Mittelstadt, Rimashevsky
209 - Good Bogg - Was Dman #7 for the gold medal winning U18 team in Germany (2022). Basically only played for AIK's junior outfit, where he was on the top pairing. Was fine there in a two-way capacity. Good size. Overager. Didn't see him being mentioned by about any indpendent services heading in. Is scheduled to play for AIK in the HockeyAllsvenskan next season.
Players I was eyeing Thursday at 209: Molnar, Jarventie, Levis, Copponi, Fink, Jedlicka, Dell'Elce, Jelsma, Weinstein, Sova, Scherzer, Szturzc, Mangone, Halaburda, Fine, Vote
Initial synopsis:
Like just about each of the drafts we've had since 2018, I look at this one and basically really like one pick, don't mind two others, and then think we're underselling ourselves with the rest. That's just from the outside looking in, but the impression I get yearly. I know these staffs not only see the kids play, but make personal bonds with them and like their backgrounds, upbringing, etc.
As mentioned above, there are certain trends that look mighty common for this staff. You can almost bank on them. Also, if your interest in the draft is more or less solely to see who the Isles are taking, then you can save your money on draft guides. This staff certainly is.
Looking at how the final three rounds panned out and how many guys DIDN'T get drafted, the team seemed to run par with its final three picks. I think we'll look back at this draft in a couple of years and think it was fine, much as we do already for 2021, or even to a degree the ones before that. Nothing more, nothing all too less.
Hard to give it any other assessment.
Personally:
I wish the staff would move a little bit away from the "let's use the draft to help out BPort with CHL overagers who are ready to be there in a year or two" mentality. That's what free agency is for, where there are often plenty of guys who are every bit as good as the kids we're drafting (yes, yes, save for perhaps a Maggio). I mean, if nothing else, there are almost always a handful of college-bound kids from high schools or leagues like i.e. the BCHL who are long-term investments that sometimes end up popping real big. Keep an eye on Aidan Fink, for example. Back in the day, Gaudreau was one such selection.
Not always, but a bit more than this staff currently does, which is basically never.
This is just MHO because I just don't see too many teams taking the path the Islanders do with regularity although we - unlike some other teams - only average 5 picks per summer.
I think we can all agree that Carolina, for example, has been a strong outfit with year in, year out competitiveness and yet, they find a way to draft between 8-13 times every summer. Like without fail. They then have guys internally competing for NHL jobs while maintaining a boatload of tradeable assets come the deadline.
Aside:
On the other side, I think a couple of teams out there killed it and just set themselves up very nicely. In the eastern conference, I felt Philly and Buffalo had mighty impressive hauls and, well, that's no fun for us, especially considering particularly Buffalo is already loaded with young impact NHLers and as healthy a pipeline as anyone. I think we'll look back and once again have to say that Carolina had a sneaky good draft too. Out west, Seattle's haul was insane, as was San Jose's. Chicago and Anaheim did real well for themselves and geez, Winnipeg made the most of their five picks.
