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The free agent feeding frenzy is less than (er, I mean close to) 24 hours away. Here's some of the news and views to chew on in the meantime:
- Puzzled by the Islanders' 7th-round pick of goalie Cody Rosen? So was Cody Rosen, who didn't believe it was really Garth Snow on the line. (This other story also gets quotes from Rosen, including Snow explaining 7ths are reaches for diamonds in the rough. But that second link has been wonky this a.m.)
- An ESPN look at Tyler Seguin is very heavy on quotes from John Tavares and Scott Gordon about the delicate process of jumping straight from the draft into the NHL. Good read for those quotes alone.
- Ladies and gentlemen, we have a trade...: Nashville gets the upset Kostitsyn for Dustin Boyd, free agent goalie Dan Ellis, and futures. Bob McKenzie is dubious about Ellis joining the Church of Carey Price environment. Habs Eyes on the Prize says it might work.
- NHL.com has a roundup of free agent possibilities for the Atlantic Division (and every other division), though it's pretty much as uncertain as anyone else's. Here is their list of the top defensemen available (I wouldn't touch PCS Willie Mitchell with a 10-foot pole, sadly).
- Meanwhile, Pierre LeBrun shares what's on his crackberry. Lots of agent smoke out there.
- A little local angle on the Tony DeHart pick, from the Oshawa Generals supply line.
- Recent IPB posts: The interview with Bobby Nystrom on Eric's free agent outlook; Botta's NYI free agency primer
- In honor of two early 2000s 1st-round picks being let go this week (Smith-bait Robert Nilsson is being waived in Edmonton), Dee reflects on the uncertainty of such picks. Everyone knew Nilsson would be cut, but Lowetide relishes the kick-in-the-ass statement anyway.
- Isles official stuff: Mingle with the prospects at the July 9 Mets game; The Reverend Brock Nelson was on NHL Live.
Finally, several fans have emailed me over the last few days, some to say thanks (thanks back!) and some to elaborate on the Draft Party reaction (Newsday said fans were disappointed with the Nino pick; others disagree.) A little more on that, and some video of the reaction:
Billy told me it was more surprise than disappointment, related to do with the possibilities that opened up once Columbus reached for Johansen:
"We were thinking 'Holy crap! Fowler, Gormley AND Connolly are available. Do we take Connolly for scoring? Or Fowler for defense? Or take Gormley as the safe pick?' Then we took Nino and it was like 'No way?!?!' Mind you we didn't say that in a bad way, just shocked. Out of the four people rumored for them to take, we didn't take one."
"Dragonfly" who runs Yes Islanders!, reports the same, and has some great video of the reaction: "You'll notice some people making noise and being excited, but many people were sitting in their seats with little response, positive or negative. I was surprised by the pick, and apparently so were the majority of fans in attendance."
By the way, his full draft video [below] is great -- a survey of tons of Isles fans at the Party guessing/hoping who the Isles would pick beforehand. Reminds me how fun it is to be a fan:
Just thought that was fun. If you see any interesting free agent stories (or anything else), as always post 'em in comments or FanShots. And remember: Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of some free agent's life.