NHL Draft: The attack plan for Islanders draft coverage

The #1 pick frenzy and other recent good charm is likely to send quite a view new visitors to this Web site, where the next three days will be see a constant overkill flow of content. I just want to welcome any new (and new-ish) visitors and frequent lurkers -- please poke around and pour yourself a drink -- and to let you know your comments are always encouraged and welcome here. (You do need to pick an SBN or Yahoo! or OpenID identity, a small gesture to deter trolls and enhance the community experience.)

On Friday, if the Islanders pick Tavares, I encourage you to share your reaction -- positive or negative. If they pick someone else (if so, I'd prefer Hedman over Duchene), the same applies: Fire away. Normally we keep things to a minimum level of coherence around here, but obviously the emotions of Friday or other similar events will bend that standard quite a bit, and that's perfectly fine.

The goal of this site is a collegial forum for solid hockey/Islanders info, insightful comments and interaction, with a dose of humor (albeit the gallows variety). But major events call for major doses of passion, so your "HEEEEEEEELLLLL YEEEEAAHHHH TAVARES!" or "I quit this team" emissions are cool, too.

With that in mind, what follows is a roundup of draft resources (draft order, schedule, theories, blog links etc.) and coverage you can expect to find here and elsewhere among the various Islanders Web sites.

So this is the big day. But it goes beyond #1. What picks do the Islanders have (barring trades)?

Islanders Picks, 2009 NHL Draft

Round 1: 1st, 26th (SJ, via TB/OTT for Chris Campoli) [Note: If the Islanders disappoint you, you'll want this handy fan's survival guide]
Round 2: 31, 37 (TOR, 2008 draft trade), 56 (BOS, Petteri Nokelainen trade)
Round 3: 62 (not 61, because NYR weaseled a 2nd-round compensatory pick out of the death of Alexei Cherepanov); 91 (via PIT in Bill Guerin trade)
Round 4: 92
Round 5: 122
Round 6: 152
Round 7: 182

Here are the NHL's video prospect profiles for a ton of these guys. The full order of NHL 2009 Draft picks is, surprisingly, best found at Wikipedia.

What are Those Picks Worth?

I've linked to a few of these earlier this week, but if you want to get into the theoretical and number-crunching for the value of picks in any given round, there were some great compilations looking at recent drafts this week:

• From the 2009 playoffs' best players: 1st round, forward; 2nd-round D [Birdwatchers Anonymous]
• But wait: Over time, it's a little blurrier -- but never draft a goalie high. [Gospel of Hockey]
• The Falconer returns with a method to evaluate the best-drafting teams since 1995.
• Big Picture Guy tries to assess the economic value of surplus picks [From the Rink FanPost]
• Are higher picks really that necessary to a team's success? [PPP FanPost]

Who are These Kids, Anyway? (Mock Drafts)

• TSN's much-anticipated mock draft
• An interesting list from two scouts, via Ottawa Sun
• Various prospect profiles collected by Western College Hockey
• The final, 30-team NHL mock draft by the SBN hockey blogs
• Steve Zipay's mock draft (with conditions and alternatives, which is refreshingly realistic)
• Western College Hockey's final mock draft (interesting pick for the Isles at #26)

How Do I Find Out What's Happening with the Isles at the Draft?

In a word, turn the Internets on.

Television: Versus or TSN, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. EDT; 2nd round is on NHL Network beginning 9 a.m. Saturday.

Web: I will be watching and blogging during both days (skipping my 15-year's-long weekly Saturday hockey rec game, since I guess the Isles will have two picks during the time I'm usually playing. What.Have-I.Become.). We'll have an "open thread" Live Draft Thread here each day where you can chime in with comments or get updates, oh-so-essential opinion, and random bits of frustration at the agonizingly slow process that is the NHL freaking Draft.

(I should add that the three Isles-focused message boards linked on the blogroll of this site will no doubt be teeming with commentary, but that almost goes without saying.)

[UPDATE] The Globe and Mail has an excellent live blog going.

Audio for the Web-enabled rover: Recent LHH user starz31 found a Web audio that should work on an iPhone from a Calgary radio station (likely this one). If you want to hear the big moment ("The Islanders select..."), you can find a way.

Paper: Probably not in real-time, but you know the reliable Islanders beat writer Greg Logan will be posting the choicest bits at his Newsday blog, On the Islanders Beat.

The Montreal Contingent

I'm not in Montreal, but I'll be exchanging and linking to the latest info from those who are:

• Friday night, my LHH colleague Doug -- in Montreal -- will be doing a Cover It Live live blog at his Islanders Officials Outlook site. I'll be a panelist on that one, too. (I know you don't really care about my whereabouts, but I thought I'd be clear.) He'll be blogging all day Saturday, too -- even if hungover.
  
• Also in Montreal, our LHH colleague Michael Shuerlein will be doing his video, photo and commentary thing at his aesthetically pleasing Islesblogger site.
• Ken of OkposoNet will likewise be up there blogging and getting the others into trouble.
  
• There will be coverage at the official site (and IslandersTV video), where Tom Liodice, of The Tiger Track, will do the official site's blow-by-blow.
• B.D.'s assembled gang at IslandersIndependent will be in both locations with their wit and (we hope) happiness at a reward for years of fandom in troubled times.

Home Front and Draft Party

• There is another resonant impact from this draft, of course: The momentum behind the Lighthouse Project. Paul Squire, an Isles fan and Lighthouse Group intern, will be live-blogging from the Draft Party at the Lighthouse Group's blog.
  
• Newcomer but high-producing blogger IslandersCrazy is worth checking out, too -- I believe from home rather than Montreal. (On that note, not sure what 7th Woman's plans are, but she always has a different perspective.)
  

And of course, the "Blogfather" Chris Botta will have his stuff from the Coliseum Draft Party at IslandersPointBlank. He cautions that his site crashed during the trade deadline, so if there are issues, follow him in 140-character increments on Twitter. (Lighthouse Hockey is on Twitter also -- as are most of these bloggers -- but I'm not digging everybody's profile up right now. You can find them at their sites linked above (or in my list of Tweets I follow).

Those are just the ones whose plans I know of. But the Islanders blogosphere is growing constantly, which is awesome. If you're a blogger I've missed and you're doing something about the draft, let us know in comments (or email).

What about Other Teams?

Of course I'm going to pimp NHL draft coverage from around the other SBN hockey blogs -- a bunch of whom will also be in Montreal -- because frankly, I think they're great and this network makes following the whole league a constantly entertaining joy. The draft hub for all stories coming out of SBN hockey blogs is here:

James Mirtle, our coordinator and guide-who-never-sleeps, had a nice round-up of links to all those guys and their Twitter accounts.

And there are two other major grandaddys of coverage: TSN's NHL site, and the entertaining non-stop blogger collective led by Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy.

Come back here often for comment and links to the latest. When it comes to the most important draft of the Islanders' post-Dynasty era, I guess you could say the world has it pretty well covered.