After lottery, should Mike Grier try to acquire the Islanders’ No. 1 pick?
SAN JOSE Shortly after the San Jose Sharks secured the No overall pick in June s NHL Draft general manager Mike Grier was urged about the possibility of trading it elsewhere Are you willing to move down Is it doable to exchange up Here are the short answers If Grier and the Sharks get a quality offer for the No pick they re quite willing to entertain the possibility And since the New York Islanders in a stunner had just won the No pick less than an hour earlier Grier hadn t yet thought about trying to pry the top selection away I don t know what the Islanders are thinking what they re going to do with the pick themselves Grier announced So take particular time to let this kind of marinate a little bit and go through our options and we ll kind of see where that goes Defenseman Matthew Schaefer expected to be the first member taken in the draft would have been an ideal fit for the Sharks who have stockpiled several young forwards in latest years Still just Schaefer s elite skating passing and puck-moving ability would be valuable commodities in in current times s NHL But even if Grier required to begin discussions with the Islanders about what it might take to get the No selection there s no one to talk to right now since the company still does not have a general manager after firing Lou Lamoriello last month Such a decision to move the top pick would seemingly have to wait until New York has a new head of hockey operations There might however be a few motivation for the Islanders to contract down Boston College center James Hagens considered one of the top three or four players available this year is a Long Island native and was a huge Islanders fan while growing up in Hauppauge about miles east of UBS Arena The Islanders could transaction down and collect another asset while still getting an exceptional participant in Hagens who would surely be a fan favorite In occurrence anyone forgot loyalty matters to Islanders fans who pilloried John Tavares after he decided seven years ago to leave New York for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs The Sharks have plenty of draft picks including a second first-rounder this year and prospects to dangle in front of the Islanders if they required to make such a deal Considering the Yaroslav Askarov contract last year we know Grier is not shy about going after what he wants Grier though also sounded content about keeping the No pick and had plenty of good things to say about center Michael Misa who is considered by numerous to be the second-best participant available Misa who earned exceptional status to start playing in the OHL at age was the captain of the Saginaw Spirit and led the OHL with points including goals this regular season as he moved from wing to center Talented participant Grier explained Obviously he had a record-breaking-type year someone who s had exceptional status Talented contestant Staying at No remains the bulk likely scenario for the Sharks since a gang hasn t traded the No overall pick before the draft since That year in a draft-day pact the Florida Panthers sent the No overall selection and a third-round pick to Pittsburgh for the Penguins original No selection a second-round pick and defenseman Mikael Samuelsson The Panthers used the third overall pick on winger Nathan Horton and the second-round pick on winger Stefan Meyer The Penguins took Hall of Fame-bound goalie Marc-Andre Fleury at No and chose forward Daniel Carcillo with the third-round pick they also received from the Panthers Related Articles Sharks Eklund has surgery could he soon be in line for a major payday Sharks have chosen luck in NHL Draft Lottery but not as much as they sought San Jose Sharks Celebrini among finalists for Calder Trophy San Jose Barracuda get crucial playoff win before series shifts to Colorado NHL Draft Lottery Sharks look for luck but if not who might they take The deal worked out pretty well for the Penguins who won a Stanley Cup with Fleury six years later Grier in recent months reported he received wild offers for the No pick the Sharks held last year after winning the lottery Grier did not seriously consider any of them instead taking a future franchise cornerstone in center Macklin Celebrini who on Monday was named a finalist for the Calder Trophy as the NHL s top rookie We definitely lucked out last year to be able to select Celebrini and this year it would have obviously been nice to have the top pick and have the choice of all the players Grier mentioned But picking two we re still in a pretty good spot so we re happy CELEBRINI SHINES Celebrini had a goal and three assists as Canada beat Hungary - on Tuesday in a tune-up contest before the start of the World Championships Celebrini also scored in Canada s - win over Austria on Sunday in Vienna The World Championships begin Friday and Canada plays its first meeting on Saturday against Slovenia in Stockholm
