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
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