Booker T. In Blue & Gold?
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— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) June 21, 2015How great would it be if Tim Murray were to trade the 21st pick in the EichDavid Draft back to the…
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The Brooklyn Islanders?
Snow will not select until pick #72. Having to wait to pick in the third round of a generational draft is like going to a birthday party, watching all of the other kids eat cake and ice cream, while you dejectedly chew on a chunk of celery. Snow is trying everything in his power to get himself back into the talent and character rich first round of the draft. He will do whatever he can to get into the top 40 picks of the draft.
Snow traded a first rounder in the one-sided Matt Moulson for Thomas Vanek bank robbery in October 2013. Credit to Darcy Regier. You will recall that the conditional first round pick ended up being deferred to 2015 by the Snowman.
Curious times these are, eh?
Murray has a leverage on Snow and he knows his pressure points.
Snow is a desperate man. He is looking for a dance partner who can get him into rounds on two.
But that doesn't mean Snow will be quiet next weekend. In fact, one of the Isles' longtime core players could be in play when trade talks heat up on the draft floor.
Why would Murray make a trade with a guy who he has already taken to the cleaners on the recent deal?
Because Murray is looking to a big, strong, fast, smart, scoring power forward to his top six group.
Kyle Okposo checks all of those boxes, and then some. Okposo is entering the final season of a 5 year, $14-million contract, could be on the trading block, according to two league sources outside the Islanders' organization. Newsday’s Arthur Staple suggests that Okposo is on the trade block.
Okposo is Tim Murray’s type of player to a tee. He just turned 27 years of age in April. He is a perfect fit for Buffalo in terms of his age and his skill set. He would ad immediate leadership and credibility to the Buffalo lineup. He plays big, strong, fast and hard.
In 71 games in 2013-14, he scored 27 goals and added 42 assists in 71 games played. He also racked up 51 PIMs. This past season, he scored 18 goals and added 33 assists in just 60 games played. Murray would love to add a power forward who can push the pace, score with frequency--- 120 points and 45 goals the past two seasons--- skate with top-end speed, and smash faces on the walls and in the enemy’s blue paint.
Okposo, 6'0 and 220 lbs., would have easily scored 20+ goals last season, however, he missed 22 games after emergency surgery to repair a detached retina in January.
Three other factors that bode well for Okposo being traded Buffalo:
1. He is a paltry $2.8 million cap hit in 2015-16.
2. Okposo was a one man wrecking ball against Dan Bylsma and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the 2012-13 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Islanders battered the Penguins with extreme prejudice and were eliminated in six games. Okposo scored 3 goals and added an assist in six games played.
3. Okposo is the best friend and former line mate of Sabres forward Matt Moulson.
Snow has been tight-lipped in recent weeks as he has five players entering the final season of the current contracts in Okposo, Michael Grabner, Franz Neilsen, and Matt Martin. Snow told Newsday that he will be busy fielding and making trade proposals. He wants badly to trade himself into the first and second rounds of next weekend’s draft.
"There's a lot of different scenarios that could play out," Snow said. "There could be a trade where we acquire a first or a second. We prepare the same way for this draft that we have in past drafts, because you just don't know what's going to happen."
Snow would be wise to phone Tim Murray and offer Okposo and Griffin Reinhart to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo’s #21 and #31 picks in this draft. I can already visualize and a Sabres second line of Moulson-Samson Reinhart –Okposo. How about a top line of Kyle Okposo-Jack Eichel-Evander Kane?
Hey, now! Yes. Please!
Griffin Reinhart is the older brother of Sabres center Samson Reinhart. Griffin is 21 years of age and is looking to make his ascent to the NHL. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2012 NHL Draft. He has two years remaining on his entry level contract. Reinhart is not likely to have a job waiting for him in the Brooklyn top six D corps this season. Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, Travis Hamonic, Calvin DeHaan, Thomas Hickey, Brian Strait, and Lubomir Visnovsky were the go-to guys in the NYI D corps last season. Visnovsky is UFA. Reinhart has played only eight games with the Islanders. Last season in AHL Bridgeport, he scored 7 goals and added 15 assists in 59 games played.
Should Tim Murray hold on to his 31st overall pick, he will be looking at a defenseman. Possibly Niagara's Vince Dunn or Erie's Travis Dermott. It makes perfect sense for Murray to trade his 31st overall pick in exchange for a super talented former 4th overall pick Griffin Reinhart?
The Islanders have Ryan Strome and Josh Bailey waiting in the wings to assume top six RW responsibilities in the event that Okposo is traded away this summer.
Garth Snow has to ask himself:
How badly do I want to get picks in the first and second rounds of the best NHL Draft since 2003?
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Happy Father’s Day to my friends and longtime followers. Safe travels Tony Falbo.
Savor the day.
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