While I am working on transcribing the interview I did with Garth Snow yesterday afternoon, I decided to ask two friends of mine for THEIR thoughts about who the Islanders should take with their fifth pick.

First up is my Blog Box Buddy and Isles blogger extraordinare, Dominik of LighthouseHockey.com, offered his thoughts on who Garth Snow should announce as the Islanders 2011 1st round draft pick.

So Ladies & Gentleman, please welcome LighthouseHockey:


It's much foggier than last year just who will still be available at #5. Most scenarios have Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Adam Larsson and Gabriel Landeskog gone by then, but I've even seen some nuanced scenarios where one of those three falls to #5. If you add Jonathan Huberdeau and Sean Couturier to those three to make a "Big Five," then the Islanders should take whomever remains, BUT... There's always a caveat, the chief one being the tail end of the "Big Five" is murky as Huberdeau's stock has risen with some others while Couturier has suffered from mono and scout nitpicking.

The Islanders haven't taken a defenseman with three top 10 picks under Snow. Is Dougie Hamilton's size and skating enough to tempt them? An even bigger BUT: Mika Zibanejad is already playing well with pros in Sweden and has the makings of a quality two-way NHL center with the versatility to move to the wing. With a scarcity of certain stars in this draft, the Isles could take Zibanejad and not think twice about whether they've just added a fine future NHLer who can play any forward position.

So if the Islanders want a defenseman, Hamilton is who will be there unless they trade down. If they want a winger, whoever is left among Landeskog, Huberdeau (who's listed as a center but played more wing and has an awful faceoff percentage in the QMJHL) or Zibanejad (who can do both) would be great. If it's center they're looking for, both Zibanejad and Couturier provide offense with mature-beyond-their-years defensive awareness.

While they should take the best player available (and the one they're most comfortable with after analysis and interviews), when it's this close you do have to consider existing system depth. With David Ullstrom, Casey Cizikas, Anders Lee and Brock Nelson among the possible future NHL centers in their system, is it time to add a high-end wing? If so (assuming Landeskog is gone), Huberdeau or the versatile Zibanejad is the way to go. However, if they think all good centers should be able to one day move to wing (like Lee and Nelson might), then the big two-way Couturier remains in the equation. -- Dominik

Join the Discussion: » Comments » Post New Comment

» Boychuk for Seven

» Good Ain't Good Enough NYR 2 - NYI 1

» The Return of Isles' Capt. America

» The JT Show in TO in OT

» Kennedy's Debut