I am actually excited to see the Islanders lose recently, I bet you didn’t think you would ever hear me say that. The reason I am excited is their potential first or second overall pick in this year’s draft. The two top players in the draft are John Tavares and Victor Hedman. Tavares is a sniper who broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record as a 16 year old in the OHL. He also set the OHL goal-scoring record with his 214th goal, passing the previous record held by Peter Lee. Tavares currently has 104 points in only 56 games played, mostly goals. This is the sniper the Islanders have been waiting for since Milbury traded them all away. He will likely step into the NHL next year and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score 60 points or more.
Hedman is a hulking, 6 ft 6 in, defencemen from Sweden. He has been compared to both Chris Pronger and Niklas Lidstrom. He does everything well and would be an anchor on any team that gets him in the draft. Some would even say that this type of player is the most difficult to ever acquire and that he should actually be picked first. I am hoping that the Isles get Tavares because it has been a long while since we have been wowed with offensive talent in this organization. Although, I wouldn’t mind getting Hedman as well. If he is anywhere near as good as Lidstrom he will be the most valuable player on the team for a long time. In the long run, Hedman may be the smarter #1 draft pick but for the Islanders, Tavares is exactly what the fans want to see out there next season.
