Would Milbury have drafted Tavares?
by davesy22 on Feb 6, 2012 3:46 PM EST
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PrintMike Milbury made a huge mark on the Islanders' franchise. Obviously not the mark everyone else would want, but its thanks to him the picture of the Islander's beloved crest (and even that god awful fisherman) would be easily found in any dictionary next to the words "doormats," "embarrassments," "poor management," etc. It's also the reason we get comments like this from major publications: "The Isles have put together a nice run of performances, going 6-2-2 in their past 10, which is typical of a franchise that has a knack for winning games when they don't matter." (Scott Burnside of ESPN as the latest of ESPN insults to our beloved franchise). Case in point: This guy has hurt the Islanders real bad.
However, there has been one name that seems to be putting those days of shame behind us and his name is John Tavares (better known as the 26th best player under 25). Tavares was the NHL's player of the Month for January, leads the Isles in scoring for third season, and is finally starting tonget some recognition around the league (except on ESPN of course). He has been a major turning point for the last few years, but I have wonder: Would Mike Milbury have drafted John Tavares?
As we all know in 2009, there was no "consensus" pick. JT was the favorite to go No. 1, but there were so many questions about his skating, defensive play, and strength. Many thought the Islanders should have gone with Hedman as the franchise D-man or Matt Dooshene as the better center and franchise cornerstone.
Milbury's draft failures are well-documented, but the last time he had that No. 1 pick, there were also a few players vying for that No. 1 spot and Milbury obviously picked the one no one ever saw coming.
I think that we are all grateful that this decision was not Milbury's to make, but if it was, which direction would he have taken?
And if he didn't take JT, what would have been his reasoning?
I look forward to enjoying your answers.
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Milbury would have drafted Kassian and justified it by saying the team needed grit.
by Metzfan22 on Feb 6, 2012 4:05 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
As Much as I hate to say it
He would have drafted Tavares because of the DiPietro debacle. He would have done it to save his job. I don’t think Mike did anything other than always try to take care of Mike.
But I’d love to say he traded Okposo, #1 pick in the draft (Tavares) as well as an over achiever selling high (Matt Moulson) and the always present swap of 6th round picks to the NY Rangers for Scott Gomez and Chris Drury and one other high salaried locker room Cancer plus the exclusive rights to publish Kirk Mullers Autobiography. Oh I almost forgot he’d have to take a prospect that the Rangers were trying to get rid of telling Milbury he’s our top Prospect. So Milbury could Gloat We poached a future calder trophy winner.
Hedman
He would have drafted Hedman and traded him a week later
That’s how long it would have taken Milbury to realize he was European
by Mulligan on Feb 6, 2012 4:26 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Hedman trade
Milbury would have staged a brawl in the stands to see if Hedman was willing to beat a fan with his own shoe before deciding to trade him for a future ninth rounder
by Rumpelstiltskin on Feb 14, 2012 9:28 PM EST up reply actions
He would have traded the pick
for Nikita Filatov
"He's depriving some small village of a pretty good idiot" - Mike Milbury on Ziggy Palffy's agent. On Twitter: @Dan_of_Science
by PGI on Feb 6, 2012 4:37 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Yes he would.
Whether he would’ve traded him by now is another story.
Writer at Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times
Pitchf/x enthusiast.
http://twitter.com/#!/garik16
by garik16 on Feb 6, 2012 5:31 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
Yes.
But he might have seen drafting Strome as making JT more expendable this past summer and traded him for a defenseman.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 6, 2012 5:42 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
And
Would Milbury have moved up to take Brock, another Center?
"Mark D: the internet's foremost chronicler of Milburian insanity" - Pretty Good Idiot
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
The Reverend is Going to Be Some Player
The article about Nelson posted on the official site today has him at 6-4, 192 lbs. And he already has elite hands. The Blackhawks could regret trading down from the 30th spot at the 2010 draft. It’ll be interesting to see whether the two players the Hawks took with the Islanders’ two second round picks (LW Ludvig Rensfeldt and G Kent Simpson) pan out.
by rmblifn on Feb 7, 2012 12:49 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs
I am psyched about the Rev.
Cant wait to see him in BPT!
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 10, 2012 5:47 PM EST up reply actions
He'd have picked Tavares
but traded him in March of 2011 as part of a multi-player deal with Detroit to bring Todd Bertuzzi back to Long Island. Milbury felt that, after one “disappointing” season, Tavares “wasn’t a Ted Nolan player.” He admitted he was wrong to have traded Bertuzzi so early in his career (though he did present a slideshow highlighting the extensive contributions Trevor Linden made to the club), but was excited about “the grit” and “veteran leadership” the 36 year old Bertuzzi could bring the Islanders in their push to make it out of the first round for the first time since ’93. Milbury was ecstatic the deal only cost him Tavares and an additional 2nd round pick, and maintains it was “the right move,” even though the Islanders finished 10th that season, missing the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, all while watching the young Tavares spark Detroit to their second Stanley Cup in four years, earning Conn Smythe honors in the process.
He would've picked Douchene (misspelled on purpose)
And laughed heartily at the podium after doing so.
No, I think he would’ve listened to Islander Nation and picked Tavares but would have traded him and Okposo away for Dustin Brown in LA because we needed more “veteran leadership” from veterans who want nothing to do with us. (Trevor Linden, anyone?)
I don't know
But I do feel like the next year he’d have drafted Jack Campbell.
Lighthouse Hockey: A flute with no holes is not a flute. A Dane with no holes is Frans Nielsen.
by Dominik on Feb 6, 2012 10:16 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
I think there's a lot of problems with this scenairo
Does Milbury bring in Matty Mo on JT’s word?
Would he ever give a 2nd chance to PA Parenteau?
Plus some of the other guys like Kabanov, Cizikas and Lee. All 3 of them fell for their own reasons and Milbury might have skipped on them.
If Milbury even drafts KO, does Kyle last long enough to get to play on JT’s wing?
"Mark D: the internet's foremost chronicler of Milburian insanity" - Pretty Good Idiot
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
Forget JT, Could You Imagine the Stink He Would've Created With Nino?
Nino has 1 goal in 28 games and is -16. Under current management, no one is the least bit panicked because the kid is only 19. Cap’s working him in slowly, and he continues to get better playing without the puck. Absolutely no drama whatsoever.
Milbury would be gutless puke this, gutless puke that, etc., and would be trading him for some shitty prospect like Fliatov. And then he’d be making excuses after Nino scores 35 three years from now.
Milbury = Ultimate Loser
IMO Mike knows hockey
That doesnt mean he knows how to build a team.
I mean, obviously he doesnt.
Let Us Go, Islanders! (Ever notice how strange that sounds without the contraction?)
by TheMetalChick on Feb 7, 2012 1:55 AM EST up reply actions
Except
It’s one thing if he’s talking hockey and the X’s and O’s. But it’s another when he acts as a talent evaluator, or talks down about a player. That’s where I want to punch the TV.
"Mark D: the internet's foremost chronicler of Milburian insanity" - Pretty Good Idiot
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
Thank Bossy we never had to find out...
He wasn’t very draft savvy, but that wasn’t a stellar draft for Snow either.
Tavares is a no brainer. (IMO) No matter what the media said at the time tavares is a player that the CHL changed it’s rules for, and who dominated juniors doing exactly what the Islanders needed.
deHaan, on the other hand, is rather debatable. Not picking him, but how they picked him. They definitely expended too much energy going after Calvin deHaan.
Two goalies with high picks in a deep draft? (clark, roussel, Wrenn) All RH D with some size in the second. Barrie, and probably my fovorite as a miss was McNabb in the third.
My point is, who knows how bad it would have been for Milbury, but the jury is definitely out for Snow. As good as the 2008 draft was there are still some questionable picks. It’s a crap shoot.
I believe in ELI! Go Blue!
@JPinVA
Draft you can't tell for 4 years
If DeHaan stays healthy as an NHLer and he’s all the things they say he is. Who cares what they gave up they got the guy the wanted they got the guy they needed and they didn’t have to worry about mind reading some other teams prospect sheets.
But he gets hurt way to much so you could be right JP
Somewhere
there is an alternate timeline where this exists, and it freaks me out. Maybe this is what happens to the Islanders on Earth-2.
Official choice of Lighthouse Dog #1.
top 5 things people should stop doing because time and repetition has made it boring (if i were a ruthless dictator i would totally make this happen)
1) stop whining about the simpsons… people have been complaining since year 5 and the complaints are now more boring than the show supposedly is which it isn’t
2) same for snl… all the whiners somehow say it’s never funny as it’s on the air but always used to be funny a few years ago… not sure how that happened
3) woody allen married his ex girfriends adopted kid, not his own, get over it… it’s been over 20 years they are married and have 2 kids of their own… myob
4) enough with the milbury obsession… time to move on… the isles fan will never evolve until they let this part of their psyche go
5) kirk is not a hero… he doomed my wife and my people… never forget that guy is a bastard
by Khan Noonien Singh on Feb 7, 2012 11:44 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
Milbury would so have...
brought in PAP, Avery and a 3rd rounder for the 1 pick. He would have then traded PAP to Pittsburg for Mark Eaton. The 3rd rounders rights would have expired this year .
Whatever Milbury did would turn to shit
Tavares would have sucked because milbury was a cancer that brought out the worst in the organization. Glad he’s gone can’t wait till he loses his TV job. probably won’t because he’s really exceptional at bullshitting billionaires
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1979-80
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May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
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May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
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May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
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May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
