Words of Warning: The 1999 NHL Entry Draft

If you're an Islanders fan, you're pretty excited about this year's draft. You've got the first overall pick. Then, you have the 26th, the 31st, the 37th, and the 56th. Not a bad showing for the first-round, eh? You'd have to go back to 1999 to find a better prepared Islanders team in terms of draft picks in the first two rounds.

In 1999, the Islanders had four first-round picks. They had #5, #8, #10, and #28. This, coupled with the 1997 draft which saw the Isles draft Roberto Luongo at #4 and Eric Brewer at #5, should have been the start of big things for the Islanders. After all, according the Wikipedia, the 1999 draft was "considered one of the deepest in talent in years"... something that sounds pretty similar to what people are saying about this year's draft. Pay attention.

With the #5 pick, the Islanders selected Tim Connolly, the center of the future. Since the Isles had virtually no other talent to speak of, Connolly was immediately placed on the first line. This was a lot for the young Connolly to take, especially with the lofty expectations placed upon him. Connolly ended up totaling 75 points in his two years as an Islander, missing just one game over those two seasons. He was dealt to Buffalo as part of the Michael Peca trade; Connolly was still a 20-year-old future star at the time. He has only recently begun to reach his potential, though this high level of play has been tempered by constant injury.

At #8, the Islanders took Taylor Pyatt. Pyatt was considered to be more of a two-way player than Connolly, but still had potential as a scorer. Pyatt only played one year with the Islanders before being shipped to Buffalo in the Peca deal. Pyatt has since recorded years with 23 goals and 16 goals in Vancouver. He never became a great two-way player as many suggested he might, but he remains a solid NHL player who is in the lineup each night.

The 10th pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft was defenseman Branislav Mezei. Mezei scored exactly two goals in the Islanders organization - one in Bridgeport, and one on the big club. While it's worth noting that the Islanders didn't draft Mezei - he was drafted by Montreal - they should be scolded for trading then-captain Trevor Linden straight-up for Mezei. They were able to dump Mezei off to Florida for Jason Wiemer, but that's not saying a whole lot.

Kristian Kudroc was drafted at #28 by Dallas, but ended up on the Islanders as a result of a draft day trade. His biggest contribution to the team was being part of the package sent to Tampa Bay for Raffi Torres at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

Four first-round picks. A total of four seasons played by these four men. Wow.

It's worth noting that the 1999 NHL Entry Draft might have been the worst draft in NHL history. The first round has produced, to date, exactly three All-Star seasons - one each by Nick Boynton, Martin Havlat, and Henrik Sedin. The top ten featured such busts as Patrik Stefan, Pavel Brendl, Jamie Lundmark, and Kris Beech. In fact, the only truly notable players picked were Ryan Miller (fifth round) and Henrik Zetterberg (seventh round).

You'd think the 2009 draft couldn't possibly be this bad, right? Well, you never know. After all, the only real way to determine a player's worth is to see him play in the NHL. At this point, none of the big names have proven anything aside from the ability to dominate inferior competition. So don't get too frazzled about who the Islanders pick, because we truly know nothing about him right now. In other words, John Tavares might be the savior of the New York Islanders... or he could be the next Patrik Stefan.