Garth Snow finally came clean about how he decided to choose John Tavares with the first overall pick in the draft.
"He let me beat him at golf," the New York Islanders GM told the TSN network.
|
|
| The Islanders hope John Tavares can help revive a struggling franchise. (Getty Images) |
"Not everybody was keyed in on the draft this year," said Montreal GM Bob Gainey, alluding to the salary cap concerns most teams have. "Normally the draft is the catalyst to kick all this into motion, so it may just be that this will go on through the summer and we may not be able to do what we need until September or October."
The result was that Snow's choice of high-scoring Tavares was the highlight of the evening, even if didn't really qualify as a surprise. Then again New York could have chosen either massive defenseman Victor Hedman or speedy two-way forward Matt Duchene and it wouldn't have been a surprise either because none of the draft's consensus top three players were seen as being clearly ahead of the others.
• Goldstein: Draft thoughts | Islanders draft Tavares No. 1 | Tracker | Notes
Still Tavares, whose exploits in Canadian junior hockey were likely seen by few of the 10,000 people who were at the Nassau Coliseum draft party, became the people's choice as soon as the Islanders won the draft lottery in April. Snow knew that from a marketing perspective, Tavares was the sexiest choice. And it became apparent when fans erupted in the arena after the choice was announced.
So for a team still in the early stages of rebuilding, and in need of a new arena, getting a scoring star with the cache of a prodigy made Tavares a smart pick for New York. Tavares scored more goals than any player in the history of a junior league that has had Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros play in it, and with other recently drafted forwards Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey, he should help provide the Islanders with a potentially dangerous offensive core in the coming years.
At least the Islanders hope so. The last time they had the first overall pick was in 2000 when they choose Rick DiPietro after trading away Roberto Luongo at the draft and leaving Marian Gaborik and Dany Heatley on the table.
Burke fails to make a splash
You gotta love the way Brian Burke plays the media in Toronto. Even when it doesn't work.
Few people in hockey generate as much attention as Burke does, and he seemed to enjoy being miked by the TSN network during the proceedings. Of course there was nothing particularly illuminating in the brief floor exchanges that were aired, but the stories Burke was planting for weeks about wheeling and dealing and moving up in the draft were entertaining. And at time, it made it seem like he was going to steal the show.
Right after the lottery in April, Burke announced he wanted to move up from No. 7 to get a shot at Tavares, and he made overtures Snow and Tampa Bay GM Brian Lawton for his second pick. With the draft getting closer and a deal for a top spot looking less likely, the word was put out in Toronto that Burke was on the verge of working a trade with Boston to send Tomas Kaberle to the Bruins for Phil Kessel. Oh yes, and Burke let the world know that he thought the Islanders would take Duchene at No. 1.
That of course didn't happen, and neither did the trade with the Bruins because there was a "miscommunication" at the last minute because Boston thought it was getting the No. 7 pick in the deal. So Burke ended up staying right where he was, using the seventh pick to take Nazem Kadri.
"We're not frustrated at all, we think we got an excellent young player," Burke said when asked if he was disappointed at not making a deal. "We could have made a deal, but my ego isn't that big that I have to be up there with the first or second pick.
"We would have had to put Luke Schenn into the deal, I didn't want to do that."
But he did get people talking.
Icings
- Scott Niedermayer's decision to return to the Ducks isn't surprising considering he is a lock for Team Canada 2010 Olympic team and the Games will be in his home province of British Columbia. But Niedermayer had to commit by today so Anaheim could figure out it salary cap situation, and when he did, it spelled the end of Pronger's time in Anaheim. "He called me today to tell me and wished me the best and that he hoped I'd still be around," Pronger laughed. "I think we all knew the answer to that one."
- Ottawa GM Bryan Murray looked more frustrated as the evening wore on because of his inability to trade disgruntled forward Dany Heatley. The problem with moving the high-scoring winger is that he has a $7.5 million cap hit with several years remaining and Ottawa isn't giving him away. Apparently the Senators asking price was two players and a first rounder. The Senators are under some pressure to move him before July 1 because he'll be owed a $4 million lump sum bonus that date, but Murray said if Ottawa can't move him, then Heatley stays whether he likes it or not.
- American born players had their worst draft in years, with no player going in the top 10 for the first time since 1993. The Swedish players did well though, with seven going in the first round, a record for that county.
- The awkward moment of the night occurred in what should have been the nicest touches. When the Chicago Blackhawks came to the podium, they had legendary coach Scotty Bowman, now a team consultant, announce the pick. Before he did, Bowman, who coached Montreal to five Stanley Cups in the 1970s, congratulated three of his former Red Wings players -- Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille -- for their nominations to the Hall of Fame this week. Bowman made his remark in both French and English and in both cases, neglected to congratulate Brian Leetch, the fourth member of this year's nominated class.
They said it
"We'll never know" -- Tampa Bay GM Brian Lawton on whether he would have chosen Victor Hedman had the first pick belonged to him. The Lightning took Hedman at No. 2.
