Looking Toward The Future

After watching tonight's stinker against the Flyers, it seems safe to say that it's over. There will be no miraculous charge to the eight seed, no Wade Dubielewicz pokechecks in an Easter Sunday shootout. Instead, there will only be a scene we're all too familiar with - observing the playoffs from an outside perspective and getting an early start on preparing for the draft. For the umpteenth consecutive year, the highlight of the spring for the Islanders will be their draft party.

Why should we have ever expected anything else? If you saw tonight's game, you saw everything you needed to see. An anemic offense and stupid penalties are not the recipe for a deep playoff run. The games Rick DiPietro stole in the first half are now the games where the Islanders get blown out. Need proof? The Flyers had four power play goals tonight. The Islanders have only scored three in their last twelve games.

So, if this season is a wash, now what? Good question. Because the truth is, for a team that says all the right things about rebuilding, there really isn't a ton of depth in the organization. The majority of this team is grizzled vets, with a few prospects here and there. While it's wonderful that Sean Bergenheim and Blake Comeau have made tremendous strides this season, that's really about all the Isles have left in terms of young players. Jeff Tambellini is just starting to learn the NHL game, and Jeremy Colliton and Frans Neilsen are too green to judge fairly.

However, what is clear is that the Islanders, despite having had some favorable draft picks, haven't done all that much with them. This is a team that drafted Robert Nillson in 2003, forgoing future stars such as Zach Parise, Ryan Getzlaf, Mike Richards, and Corey Perry. Whoops. They also could have gotten Andrej Meszaros in 2004, but settled for Petteri Nokelainen. Remember him? While they did manage to get Comeau in the second round of that 2004 draft, the fact remains that the Isles should have more to show for their mediocrity over the past five years. Doesn't it seem like the Isles should have more to show for their first-round picks this decade than DiPietro and Bergenheim?

Of course, there is Kyle Okposo, their 2006 first-round selection. And that's where the Islanders should be looking - not just for the future, but for the rest of this season. We all know the Isles aren't going anywhere, so why not bring up Okposo for the final twelve games? Take one of the many unproductive veterans, tell him to sit in the press box, and send Okposo a one-way ticket to Long Island. Why not? He won't lose his rookie status, and he'll only benefit from seeing some action on the NHL level. You can always send him back down to Bridgeport for the playoffs (they'd be the eighth seed if the season ended today). It would the best possible scenario for all parties involved - Okposo gets valuable experience, the organization saves face with the fans, and the fans get a look at the team's future.

Will the Isles do the right thing and bring Okposo up? Probably not. But they really ought to consider it. What else do they have to lose?