In a Saturday post on NHL.com during the NHL Combine, Sharks GM Doug Wilson passed along what his plan is, and has been, for the first round pick in 2015.
"We were not going to move our first-round pick regardless. The chance to add a high-end quality player [in the draft] was not something we were going to compromise on."(NHL.com)
There you have it, Sharks fans. The 9th overall is going nowhere.
That was the most newsworthy portion of the article, but it wasn’t the most interesting. Apparently, Doug Wilson thinks he’s been adding a bunch of picks for this year’s draft.
"Our staff, led by [director of scouting] Tim Burke told us this would be a strong draft and that's why we acquired all the picks we did the last few years," Wilson said. "We see it as a very good draft. It was forecast as a good draft and it's playing out that way." (NHL.com)
“acquired all the picks we did… he says. This is where Joe Thornton makes a cameo appearance tells Doug to shut up and stop lying.
Let’s recap all of these fancy picks Doug Wilson brought in.
The Sharks traded their 3rd (McGinn) and 4th (Packaged with 2014 2nd to get DET 2014 2nd to move up 5 spots and draft Julius Bergman) round picks in the 2015 draft and picked up Calgary’s 4th (Galliardi), the Islanders 5th (Boyle), and the Islanders 7th (Kennedy).
They traded away a 3rd and 4th and ended up with a lower 4th, 5th and 7th. Seems like a sweet deal, no?
If I was the guy who traded that package I wouldn’t be telling anyone that my Director of Scouting told me this would be a great draft so I gave us worse draft picks. If my Director of Scouting came to me and said “Hey, Tim, 2015 is going to be a great draft…like, really great.… My next move isn’t to call Philadelphia and give away my 2015 third round pick for Tye McGinn.
The more Doug Wilson opens his mouth the more I scratch my head after he’s done talking. There’s not much Douglas says these days that makes much sense.
Completely unrelated...
QUESTION: Larry Brooks ponders the thought that the Rangers may package Yandle with Talbot for a greater return. That would kill two birds with one stone for San Jose, if you believe in Talbot that is.
If you're the GM of San Jose, do you pursue a deal like Yandle/Talbot? What would your package be going to New York?
Thanks for reading.