While the Islander season has finally been put to bed, the offseason begins in earnest tonight as the NHL Draft Lottery will occur at 8pm. The Islanders currently are slotted for the fifth position in the 2014 entry draft, but they do have a slim shot of winning the lottery and moving up to the first position. The odds of the Isles moving up to the top spot are 8.1%, so much like the Isles power play, “Hey, ya never know.” If another team behind the Isles wins the Draft Lottery, they will fall to the sixth pick.

The question being asked around the league is, “What will the Isles do with their pick?” Obviously, if they win the lottery and move up to the top spot, they will keep it. General Manager Garth Snow has until the beginning of June to decide if they will keep this pick or send it to the Buffalo Sabres to finalize the Thomas Vanek trade.

I believe that the Isles will keep this pick and use it or they will trade it on draft day. If the Islanders can actually be aggressive this offseason, they could compete for a playoff spot next season. The Islanders need to badly address the goaltending situation, add some help to the blue line, and possibly add another winger. If they can get healthy and at least sure up the goaltending and blue line, the Isles will be significantly better in 2014/2015.

I know there is that apparent fear of being terrible and giving the Sabres a lottery pick in the loaded and potentially legendary 2015 draft, however management cannot work that way. If you give the Sabres this year’s pick, you are telling your fan base that next year will be another losing season. That is why this year’s pick should be held onto. They have the offseason to fix this team and get them moving in the right direction. If the Sabres end up with a pick in the teens next year, then so be it. I just feel that giving Buffalo a top 5 pick this year is already admitting defeat.

When it comes to Islander draft picks, I had the chance to see a few of them last night in Bridgeport. While the Sound Tigers lost a hard fought game to the Phantoms, the story were the kids on the blue line. 2013 first round pick, Ryan Pulock made his AHL debut and did not look out of place. Pulock has good size at 6’1, and he is built like a tank. He was physical, moved the puck well, and his skating looked good. Unfortunately he was not able to get that cannon of a shot off, and the only time he got into some space, he broke his stick on a one-timer.

Kyle Burroughs and Jesse Graham also looked comfortable patrolling the blue line. These kids showed good skating ability and were eager to be physical and get their noses dirty. It’s still too early to tell if or when they will be NHL-ready, but it is great to see some of these kids get one step closer to the big league. The Sound Tigers have the making of a strong blue line next season with the likes of Andrey Pedan and Scotty Mayfield playing alongside these newcomers. As always, for more on all things hockey, please follow me on Twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.

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