So I was talking to someone about my last Milbury article and how he managed to almost never have a 3rd round pick. This got my curiosity up as to what did Mike manage to get in the deals with those picks. For the most part I think he parted with them as throw aways. Throw aways are basically players you throw into a deal that you think are of little value to you just to make the deal even. One of the more infamous throw aways was Raffi Torres in the Janne Niinimaa deal. Which brings up a question for another time, what was Milbury’s obsession with European players, considering that he’s supposed to be from the Don Cherry school.

In the 96 draft, Milbury kept the pick and got Zdeno Chara.
In the 97 draft, Milbury kept the pick and got nothing useful.
In the 98 draft, Milbury traded the pick as part of the Linden trade. Also traded for Linden was McCabe and Bertuzzi. Considering Linden bombed as an Islander, the trade was already in favor of the Canucks before the 3rd rounder was thrown in.
Okay, the 99 Draft was a mess. Basically because it was supposed to be one of the deepest ever, the Islanders did trade for two third round picks. But their original 3rd rounder was part of the Reichel for Isbister trade, and to  make even less sense, the Isles and Coyotes just traded 16 positions. Neither teams 3rd rounder as part of that trade did anything.
In the 2000 Draft Milbury traded away the 3rd round pick in the deal that got them Weekes, Scratchard and Muckalt for Potvin, the 2000 2nd and 3rd round picks.  I’d say thats just about a fair trade, as Potvin played horribly for the Canucks. I’m actually surprised the Islanders got that much for him and a 2nd and 3rd. Then again I’m surprised the Leafs got Berrard for Potvin.
In the 2001 Draft, let alone all the other stupidity that happened, the Isles traded their 3rd rounder for a 2001 4th rounder and a 2002 3rd rounder.
In the 2002 Draft the Isles took Franz Neilsen, with their 3rd rounder.
In the 2003 Draft the Isles traded the pick as part of the Osgood for Papineau deal. The Isles did get a 2nd in the deal and the Blues got the third rounder.
In The 2004 Draft the Isles kept the pick and got Sergei Ogorodnikov who is back to playing in Europe.
In The 2005 Draft, The Isles kept the pick and drafted Shea Guthrie who isn’t done with college yet.
In The 2006 Draft, the Isles kept the pick and got Robin Figren.

So basically over 10 years the Isles kept the pick 6 times. To me the Linden deal was a complete bust. The Potvin deal was fair, until you remember the Isles traded Berard straight up for Potvin. If you ever saw Berard before his Injury you knew he was going to have easy entry into the Hall of Fame. He was averaging 40 points a season on bad Islanders teams. The 2001 trade makes no sense to me. You already haven’t had a pick till the 3rd round and then you trade your 3rd for a future 3rd and 4th. The 2003 trade was pretty even considering the Isles got a 2nd out of it. Although I wish they would have kept Osgood around.

Out of the 10 picks, the Isles picked 6 times and only two of them were busts. Thats actually not a bad track record considering what the rest of the draft record looks like. Robin Figren is currently the #2 rated prospect in the Isles system, and Shea is rated to be at the very least a depth player with good size. Neilsen looks like he’s made the Isles for good, and we all know how good Chara is.

People might ask why I keep picking on Milbury? If you saw what Detroit fans were ready to do to Matt Millen, imagine someone that does an even worse job then Millen in every aspect and appears to be even more impossible to get rid of. He even guarenteed one season (1999 or 2000 I think) that if the Isles didn’t make the playoffs his head would be on the platter. How he was going to make the playoffs with a 39 year old Beezer in net we’ll never know, but his head was never on the platter somehow.

Related Posts:

• Every Milbury Trade Reviewed
• Islanders – 10 Years & 5 Young Players
• Re-Imagining the Islanders
• The Many Rebuildings of the Islanders
• Why NBC should Fire Milbury