I have no personal insight, but the guessing game of the Islanders and their 5th overall pick this year is quite fun...on twitter healthy (for the most part) debates bring about the classic draft argument of "need v. Best player available." I fall into both categories depending on the year. Last year I wanted Brandon Gormley because I felt the team NEEDED to add D, badly. This year take the best player available, build out the depth in the prospect pool and carry on.
All that said, I will state this: whoever the Islanders pick, there is no immediate need to rush this particular pick into the NHL. The Islanders have a stockpile of talent acquired over the years and have prospects galore that are going to to make impacts in the near future. Of course if Jonathan Huberdeau is selected at 5, I'm going to clamor for him to play on the second line. Hockey's a fickle thing like that.
So, in place of my philosophy, I give you my thoughts on the draft.
The Isles (like all teams) can go three different ways:
1) take the best player of the top 5 ranked players at 5; this would be whoever is left of Adam Larsson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Gabriel Landeskog, Sean Courturier and Jonathan Huberdeau. I have NO idea where this kids will be picked (TNH has Huberdeau to the Isles, I think his play in the QMJHL playoffs may have propelled him to top 3 or even the top pick) but these are the "consensus" top 5. Take the last man standing and move on...this isn't the Isles style (unless that player is the Best fit for the Hockey Ops department).
2) take an unconventional pick; last year I slotted this take as the Nino Neidderreiter pick. I wanted one of the "Big 3 D" in last years draft as Fowler and Gormley were right there at the 5th pick. Now, Nino will pay huge dividends soon enough, but I was arguing for need and not biggest impact. So players under this scenario would be Doug Hamilton (the consensus Isles fan top pick), a Brandon Saad, Sven Bartaschi, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Strome (no thanks), Mika S, these guys; highly talented kids that at 5 feels like a stretch. They could be "huh" picks, but huge ceilings and plenty of development could pay off huge in the future.
3) trade down. The Senators have 2 1sts, so if the Isles believe they can get their guy or guys with lower first round picks they could trade down and get their guy or guys. The Islanders have assets that they can move to acquire those picks if they so choose, If you can walk out of the draft with Duncan Siemens AND a future offense contributor, then that's a nice haul in what's described as a top heavy draft. Am I advocating for a trade down; no, but I do love Duncan Siemens and think he's as projectable as Dougie Hamilton.
The only draft eligible player that I can say the Isles are likely to pick is OHL tough guy Alex O'Neil as he's been "in the system" since last July attending Prospect Camp, Bridgeport's camp and signed an ATO with Bridgeport after the OHL. Another team taking O'Neil would be a pretty messed up move, but taking him higher than the 5th round would be crazy. O'Neil is a straight up tough guy so he'll be a lower round pick for the Isles.
That's what I've got for the Isles at 5...buckle up, it's going to be a wild ride.
