Isles 98 Draft Review
Written by Tom M. early July
A look back at the Isles selections in the 1998 NHL Draft:
1)LW Michael Rupp, Round 1 - 9th Overall....The Isles took a
big risk with this selection, but the upside could be just as
huge. Rupp has excellent size at 6-5 and 218lbs. He is a very
good skater for a player his size and that is what drew the
Isles to him. Hopefully this will not be another Todd Bertuzzi
repeat. Rupp lacks hockey experience, but is looking forward
to a big year in junior this upcoming season. At worst he
should be a third line player in the future. The Islanders are
hoping he will be a John Leclair clone or perhaps in the mold
of Clark Gillies. But one of the reasons Bertuzzi failed is
because he too had to live up to Gillies comparisons. Bertuzzi
failed to gain good hockey knowledge with the Isles and was
eventually traded to Vancouver. Rupp, was originally drafted
by Windsor(OHL), but was traded mid-season to the Erie Otters.
He played much better from that point on as he scored a point
in every game for the rest of the season. Was a team-mate of
Isles 97 Draft choice Jeff Zehr. Rupp went 16-11-27 with 117
PIM's in 64 games.
GP G A Pts. +/- PIM PPG SHG FG GW GT
98-99 Erie OHL 61 19 25 44 -2 100 4 0 3 2 0
2) C Chris Nielson, Round 2 - 36th Overall....This was a bit
of a surprise. Nielson sustained two concussions during last
season in the WHL playing for the Calgary Hitmen. He played
well at the end of the season and did not complain of any
after-affects. But with the Isles history in the last few
years of concussion problems(ex. Brett Lindros and Dennis
Vaske)Nielson looked like a sure bet not to be drafted by the
Isles. He also reminds me of the Isles third round pick last
year, Jarrett Smith. Nielson was the first player taken
overall in the WHL draft in 1995. Comparisons to Mike Modano
have faded, but he still has good size and skill. Smith, as
well a former #1 overall in the WHL draft, was also compared
to Modano and Mario Lemieux. As far as the Isles are concerned,
they were thrilled to have Nielson still available in the
second round. He went 22-26-51 with 31 PIM in 68 games played
last season.
Update: Chris Nielson has had a great start to the 1998-99
10/13 WHL season for the Calgary Hitmen. On Sept.30th
against the Medicine Hat Tigers, Nielson scored 4
goals and missed a chance for a 5th on a penalty
shot in a 5-1 win.
GP G A Pts +/- PIM PPG SHG FG GW GT
98-99 Calgary WHL 64 21 20 41 16 43 6 1 5 4 0
3)RW Andy Burnham, Round 4 - 96th Overall....Burnham is a big
tough winger from the OHL. He is 6-4, 200 pounds. He was a
third round midget pick and considered an up and down style
winger. He combines a physical presence with good hands and
could possibly become an offensive contributor with the Windsor
Spitfires in time. He was traded mid-season last year to
Windsor from the Plymouth Whalers, but saw limited action. He
went 2-4-6 with 78 PIM in only 38 games.
GP G A Pts. +/- PIM PPG SHG FG GW GT
98-99 Windsor OHL 51 7 7 14 -24 165 0 0 1 2 0
4)C Jiri Dopita, Round 5 - 123rd Overall....1997-98 was a huge
year for Dopita. He was part of the Gold-Medal winning Czech
Republic Team in Nagano, Japan. He went 1-2-3 in 6 games and
was a +3. He had a goal and an assist against the Americans,
with the goal being an empty netter in a 4-1 win. He then went
on to win a Bronze medal at the 98 World Championships with the
Czechs. Robert Reichel, a current Islander, also played for both
teams. Dopita finished it off by leading his regular team Vsetin
to the Czech league title. He was the playoff goal leader with
12. On the season, he was sixth in scoring with 21-32-53 in 50
games. The Isles expect that he will challenge for a roster spot
next season. Possibly for a spot on one of the top two lines. He
was previously drafted by the Boston Bruins 133rd overall in the
92 Draft but never signed with them. Gordie Clark was an
assistant coach with them at the time under Rick Bowness and was
just becoming their head scout that summer. The 30 year old
Dopita is 6-3 207 pounds.
5)D Kevin Clauson, Round 6 - 155th Overall....The first
defenseman taken by the Isles, the 6-5 210 pound Clauson was a
freshman with Western Michigan of the CCHA last season. In 36
games played he went 1-1-2 with 56 PIM's. He is a good prospect
and looked at primarily as a defensive defenseman.
6)D Evgeny Korolev, Round 7 - 182nd Overall....For the first
time in Islander draft history, they re-drafted a player. He was
previously taken in the 8th round of the 96 Draft, 192nd overall.
He was considered to be one of the Isles top ten prospects. They
tried to sign him so he could begin further developement in
Lowell next year, but Korolev decided to re-enter the draft.
Obviously the Isles did not want to let him go because they see
some promise there. The 6-1, 186 pound Russian went 9-31-40 with
64 PIM's last season with London/Peterborough(OHL). He is 20
years old.
GP G A Pts. +/- PIM PPG SHG GW GT
98-99 Lowell AHL 41 2 5 7 26 0 0 1 0
Roanoke ECHL 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
7)G Frederik Brind'amour, Round 8 - 209th Overall....Butterfly
style goalie played for weak Sherbrooke team in the QMJHL last
year. Over the last two seasons he posted a combined record of
22-50-2 in 85 appearances. He shows all the skills of a typical
butterfly goaltender, but don't expect him to challenge Roberto
Luongo as the heir apparent in the Isles net. But with some
more playing time and experience he may have a future as a
backup in the pro's. Was rated 10th among goaltenders by the
CSB.
8)D Ben Blais, 237th Overall....played for Walpole HS in
Massachusetts last year. Will play for St. Lawrence(NY) in the
ECAC this coming season. He will join Islanders 97 draft pick
Jeremy Symington, who struggled in goal for St. Lawrence last
year as a freshman.
9)RW Jason Doyle, 242nd Overall....Another reclamation project
by Isles assistant GM Gordie Clark. Doyle was previously
selected in the 4th round of the 96 Draft, 80th overall. He has
not put up great numbers in the OHL the last two years between
SS Marie and Owen Sound, contributing to his downfall. Rated
28th by CSB two years ago, scoring 28 goals over the past two
seasons has not helped his cause. But Clark obviously saw
something in him the first time around that was woth the Isles
giving him another chance. His scouting report from the 96
draft: a strong skater with good speed, good along the boards
and corners, good puck control, does not shy away from physical
play, needs to be more aggressive offensively and more aware of
what was going on around him. The 20 year old wingers junior
days are over. Perhaps he'll be in Lowell this year. He is 6-1
200 pounds. He went 15-22-37 with 70 PIM's in 46 games last
year.
GP G A Pts. +/- PIM PPG SHG FG GW GT
98-99 Brampton OHL 4 2 1 3 -6 7 1 0 0 0 0
London OHL 51 17 31 48 -4 51 5 1 1 2 0
Total 55 19 32 51 -10 58 6 1 1 2 0
10)LW Radek Matejovsky, 250th Overall....played for Slavia Praha
in the Czech League last year. He will be playing for Jihlava
this year. The Isles traded their 1999 9th round pick to Boston
to acquire this pick. The Bruins did not have a pick from the
6th round on and Harry Sinden needed to leave early. So the
Isles took the pick off their hands as basically a favor.
Tom's Hockey Trivia
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page