Revisionist History

Lamoriello's first NYI draft class didn't live up to the hype

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Good Morning, Islanders Country.

Oliver Wahlstrom is officially a member of the Boston Bruins. The former Islanders’ 2018 first-round pick skated with his new team on Monday, aiming to jumpstart his career, which began with much fanfare and hype.

This past weekend, I posted a video of analysts' comments immediately after the Isles announced Wahlstrom as the 11th overall pick. He was called the best scorer in the Draft and was compared to Billy Guerin and Mike Bossy. Yes, really.

The 2018 Draft Class was Lou Lamoriello’s first as the General Manager of the Islanders. Some called it a “Snowmoriello” Draft because Lamoriello had only been hired weeks earlier, and Garth Snow’s scouting department was essentially running the show. The Isles received straight A’s from all the experts, who unanimously loved Wahlstrom and 12th overall pick Noah Dobson, a byproduct of Snow’s trade of Travis Hamonic to Calgary that netted an extra 1st and 2nd.

But it didn’t stop there. Bode Wilde was a “thoroughbred with Scott Niedermayer’s quickness,” and Ruslan Iskhakov was described as “a deadly puck wizard who will make goalies look foolish in shootouts." (Ok, that was pretty much spot on). Jakub Skarek, an average-at-best AHL goaltender, was said to be the best Czech netminder since Dominik Hasek. If that wasn’t enough, fifth-rounder Blade Jenkins had the coolest name in the draft.