1:36 pm: The Islanders have tendered qualifying offers to Sean Backman, Justin DiBenedetto, Mark Katic, Mikko Koskinen, Tomas Marcinko, Matt Martin, Rhett Rakhshani, Ty Wishart. Hoping there isn't an arbitration hearing on Matt Martin and retaining the NHL rights of Katic, Rakhshani, Koskinen & DiBenedetto.
Long Island native Tony Romano, Tyler McNeely & Yannick Riendeau were NOT tendered QOs. Sorry Tony.
7 am: While chosing nothing but defensive prospects in an NHL draft is a little unusual, it shouldn't send off 'crazy' alarms in the hockey world. But these are the Islanders, so of course, it will. (The Anaheim Ducks picked 5 D out of 8 picks. I'm just sayin'.) This year's draft was heavy on defense and the Islanders took advantage of it to shore up a position they have had a shortfall in. Besides, rumor has it defensemen take longer to develop and these kids are all born the same year as my daughter who just graduated high school.
If size matters, some of this year's crop has it in spades. Griffin Reinhart is 6'4" and if you heard Charles Wang attempt at humor "We tried to find someone taller than Garth." They did. But Griffin wasn't the only one. Loic Leduc is 6'6" and Doyle Somerby is also 6'4". So, fans wanted "big"? You got "big". Add these guys to 2011 picks Scott Mayfield and Andrey Pedan who are both 6'4" and you've got an impressive display of size.
Isles fans also looked for "toughness". I did a little chart (which of course because it's in excel, I can't get to paste here. I'll try from work later.) and I was amazed at the amount of penalty minutes these kids have amassed in their junior clubs.
Scott Mayfield earned 159 penalty minutes in 52 games in 2011 the year of his draft. That's an average of over 3 penalty minutes per game. Leduc came in second in this category with 99 PIMs in 65 games followed by Pedan who earned 89 in 51 games.
The lowest number of PIMs in his draft year goes to Jake Bischoff who earned only 4 in 24 games. However, that's a high school record and his coach would probably bench him if he took penalties. On a side note, Bischoff comes highly recommended by Fiona Quick of QuickFacts, the one comprehensive place for Minnesota Hockey information.
QuickFacts on Bischoff: Son of a Gopher, will play at U. Great D w/good offense, assists. Not flashy, but solid D. Great kid & family
Speaking of Family ties, Reinhart comes from an NHL pedigree along with Adam Pelech, the Isles 65th draft pick, who calls Mike Gillis "Uncle." (Am I going to read reports of underhanded dealings on this pick too? Just wondering.)
Of the dozen defense prospects chosen since 2010, seven are right handed shots, three were born in June and Doyle Somerby was born in Marblehead, Mass on July 4th. Doyle is also the heaviest of the lot listed on NHL.com at 232 lbs. (And you're in high shcool???)
Also of the last dozen D prospects, six are from the US, four are from Canada, and two are European.
The highest point total for his draft year stats goes to Brenden Kichton, who was chosen 127th in the 2011 draft. Brenden managed 81 points in 64 games with only 31 PIMs. I'll have to see if the kid grew a little. He was listed at 5'10 and 175lbs, but he is 2 years older than the new guys.
No matter what anyone says, this will prove to be a very interesting prospect camp which begins today. I'm hoping to get there some time this week, but there are other blog box members who have a little more time and will be sure to be reporting -- along with Art Staple from Newsday and the tireless Islanders PR and web staff.
I'll just be happy to get back into an ice rink after the last heat wave
New York Islanders Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»