The 2015 NHL Entry Draft – LIVE! – Day One Final

The 2015 NHL Entry Draft begins on June 26th in Sunrise, Florida. But for the New York Islanders it begins with pick 72, formerly the Florida Panthers’ third round pick. You may remember that pick was acquired in the 2014 Draft day blockbuster that saw the Islanders trade back…a whole year.

Join New York Islanders Fans in DC at the Irish Channel on Friday, June 26th, at 6:30pm. Draft starts at 7pm so let’s make the most of the buildup by drinking and complaining about things for reasons. It’ll be great. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Like many other keyboard warriors I’ll be on my couch for the festivities.

The hot topics going into this year’s Draft are:

• WHO are these kids?
• WHY should I care?
• WHAT do you mean the Islanders “don’t have picks”?
• WHO will Garth trade for more picks?
• WILL Garth trade some picks for other picks?
• WILL teams make rash, irresponsible deals?
• GOALIES: Who wants one?
• WHY are these people inside an arena in Sunrise instead relaxing on South Beach?

Questions like these (and more that come up due to General Managers’ questionable professional decisions) may/not be answered at the Draft but we can “debate” them here, LIVE!, all night.

Pre-Draft Olegstradamus Trade Predictions:

• Cam Talbot to Edmonton
• Patrick Sharp…not traded yet, but deal put in place to be executed after his day with the Cup
• Martin St. Louis to St. Louis to prepare for a summer of contract badness for the Blues
• Arizona’s 3rd Overall pick to Carolina
• James Reimer to Dallas (the Bernier thing is a contract negotiation)
• Milan Lucic to Edmonton because that seems bad and plausible NOPE! LOS ANGELES! HAHAHA!
• Kevin Bieksa to Pittsburgh (DRAMA INTENSIFIES)
• Josh Bailey to Minnesota
• Robin Lehner to San Jose Nope, Buffalo. Odd trade, too.
• San Jose…will be approached by everyone about everyone but will hold steady until January
• Brayden Schenn to Calgary
• Mike Richards to Florida

And now we wait.

June 26 Pre-Draft Updates:

– After acquiring Carl Soderberg from Boston for a 2015 6th Round pick, Colorado signs Soderberg to a 5y/$23.75M contract ($4.75 AAV). Not only does this give the impression Ryan O’Reilly is gone, but it now decreases Sakic’s leverage in any deal. Isn’t he smarter than this?

– Bieksa to the Sharks is heating up

– Ottawa trades Robin Lehner and David Legwand to Buffalo for the New York islanders 2015 1st Round pick (21st overall). What is the cost now for a single goalie? Maybe Tim Murray isn’t the GM we thought he would be.

– Nasvhille re-signs Mike Fisher to new 2y/$8.8M ($4.4M AAV) contract. K.

– Los Angeles re-signs Tyler Toffoli to new 2y/$6.5M ($3.25M AAV) contract. People seem pleased with this.
The Colorado Avalanche have stated they’ll be making small changes to their uniforms, debuting them tonight. The Phoenix Glendale Arizona Coyotes are doing the slow-burn on a full makeover. The howling dog and Sedona brick red remain, but what in good graces is on the shoulder?

Notice anything different? Details at our #NHLDraft Party at 3pm today. pic.twitter.com/iq1qH5B2xZ

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) June 26, 2015

– Wow. In a move that let’s us know this is Don Sweeny’s world and we’re just living in it, the Boston Bruins have traded Dougie Hamilton to the Flames for Calgary’s first-round pick (15th overall) and two second-round picks (45th and 52nd overall) in the 2015 NHL Draft. While everyone thought Hamilton was safe and that the rest of the team would be blown up to keep him, this happened. Ginger issues? Money issues? COVETING LUCIC OVER LOGIC? The day is still young.

– WOWZERS, Boston recovered. Han Solo thought he had it, thought he HAD IT, when he put the Millennium Falcon into hyperdrive and failed, Don Sweeny felt the same going into the Dougie Hamilton trade. Ha, no. But sending Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for the 13th overall pick and backup goalie Martin Jones, Sweeny was no longer the nerfherder. What on earth is Dean Lomabrdi thinking? Granted he had three 1sts to spare, but on Milan Lucic?! He who poorly punches people and gives death threats in the handshake line? Deano, you win the Cup when you trade with Philly and ‘Lumbus. This is going to bite LA hard in the rump.

– Just opened a Great South Bay Brewery Blonde Ambition

– RYAN O’REILLY TO BUFFALO?!?!? Yes, for Zadorov, Grigorenko, Compher and the 31st. Incredible. Jamie McGinn also goes to Buffalo. Tim Murray goes big, Joe Sakic is bad at his job.

– The Arizona Coyotes should be embarrassed. These are awful.

The new #Coyotes jersey!! 😍 @ArizonaCoyotes pic.twitter.com/SJkpzcDFy4

— FOX Sports Arizona (@FOXSPORTSAZ) June 26, 2015

– Connor McDavid, C, goes number one to Edmonton. He wears the Kevin Smith-era third jersey. The shoulder numbers are bad.

– Jack Eichel, C, to Buffalo. Tim Murray shoots in and out faster than the Arizona Ranger who shot Texas Red.

– Dylan Strome, C, of Ryan Strome fame, goes 3rd to Arizona. The new jersey is hideous.

– Mitch Marner, C, to Toronto. Don’t care.

There seems to be a trading ceasefire. Which isn’t cool. Or its very cool because Garth hasn’t budged. Conflicted and confused.

– Number 5 pick, D Noah Hanafin to Carolina. ‘Murica.

FINALLY activated my Xfinity account. Womens World Cup USA/China on tv, Draft on laptop. Beer halfway done. Evgeny Nabokov is working the San Jose Sharks Draft party. Awesome, love that guy.

– New Jersey takes C Pavel Zacha at 6.

– Columbus unveils a new secondary mark. I like it.

– Philadelphia, with the 7th pick, takes Ivan Provorov, D.

My son loves watching things on the computer. He’s loving the Draft. Oddly excited for Ron Hextall.

– Columbus Blue Jackets make Jack Werenski, D, the 8th overall pick. John Davidson’s mustache game remains strong.

Fajita dinner break. Back soon.

Back. Fajitas always turn into burritos here. Wonderful.

Where we stand:

– 9th Pick, from Switzerland, San Jose takes RW Timo Meier

– 10th Pick lands with Colorado and its RW Mikko Rantanen

– 11th Pick has the honor of having his name called by Bill Torrey, and that is LW Lawson Crouse

– 12th is Dallas and they choose RW Denis Gurianov

– 13th is the first Boston pick, Jakub Zboril, D.

– 14th is the second Boston pick, Jake Debrusk, LW

– 15th pick, and stop me if you heard this before, goes to Boston in the form of RW Zachary Senyshyn

RUMOR: GARTH JUST MOVED TO #16. HOW?

Griffin Reinhardt to Edmonton for Picks #16 and #33. Welcome back to the top 60. How did Griff fall out of favor so quickly? Bad skating and Game 5? Well, Kyle Okposo is still on the team and no roster player was sacrificed. Need to sit on this.

– New York Islanders select, with pick 16, Mathew Barzal, another C. Very interesting. Garth correctly acknowledges Bill Torrey.

– Winnipeg selects Kyle Connor, LW, at 17. Looking more Kyle Reese than John Connor, has a 50/50 shot to defeat the Terminator.

– Pick 18, Ottawa’s first of the First Round, D Thomas Chabot. People seem displeased.

Earlier tonight I posed the question if Garth could get a Hamilton-esque return for Okposo, should he? Many are saying this is close to that return but for an expendable part. Wonderful.

– Detroit’s first pick under a new regime, pick 19 becomes Evgeny Svechnikov. Scrabble Players of Detroit are elated.

– Minnesota’s pick, number 20, is C Joel Eriksson. He may have been an Islander in some capacity, so start hating him now.

– Pick 21 was the Isles’, then Buffalo, now Ottawa’s so they choose C Colin White. No, not the Devil.

Caps are up at 22. This should be entertaining.

– At 22, Mr. (Ilya) Samsonov goes to Washington. First goalie off the board, which wasn’t projected to happen until the early 3rd. Either this is starts a run or GMBM is a dimp.

– Vancouver picks Brock Boesner, RW. Another American, goes 23.

My next beer is Shipyard Brewing Co. Summer Ale. It has a lobstah on the label.

– Good Ol’ Toronto picks at 24. Ha, no, Philadelphia does. Travis Konecny, C.

Philadelphia traded their 29th and 61st for the Leafs’ 24rd.

Ron Hextall looks like an 80’s movie CEO villain or a Philly mob boss. Or both. And he sounds an awful lot like Garth. Hmm…

– John (Jack) Roslovic (who is he, the president?) goes to Winnipeg at 25. Jets collecting Americans.

– Montreal’s pick, 26, is Noah Juulsen, D. Second Noah and an amazing last name.

– Anaheim’s pick, 27, used on D Jacob Larsson.

 

So here’s what Colorado did to “tweak” their jersey. The patch, while sharp, replaces the Sashquatch foot. Boooo.

GARTH SNOW STRIKES AGAIN! Islanders trade the 33rd and 72nd picks to Tampa Bay for the 28th pick. You are witnessing the power of Garth Snow; no Firsts or Seconds, trades a spare prospect to get into First Round THEN trades new spare pieces to get into the First round AGAIN. No roster players moved. Achievement Unlocked: God Mode.

– Pick 28 to the Islanders is Anthony Beauvillier, LW.

Columbus trades 34th and 68th picks to Toronto for the 29th pick.

– Through thick accent, Columbus selects Gabriel Carlsson, D, at 29.

– The last pick of the First Round, Arizona tortures another teenager with a bad new jersey. Nick Merkley, RW, is the 30th pick

Anaheim trades Kyle Palmieri to New Jersey for this year’s 41st pick and a 2016 3rd Round pick. Ok.

Wow, just before the last pick NBCSN cuts to track and field. Hello, Heidi Game…

So, that’s the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Boston sheds current and future salary concerns while getting a new backup goalie and many draft picks. Garth Snow does Garth Snow things, shows the magic repeatedly and gets 2 Firsts for Griffin Reinhardt. Arizona and Edmonton debut new jerseys (Edmonton is fine but for the shoulder numbers, Arizona should be ashamed of themselves), with Colorado and Columbus unveiling new secondary markings. Both are good but Colorado failed to change one of the most dated uniforms in the league both in logo and template. Columbus wins.

Full Draft weekend trade analysis after the weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.