OTTAWA – The Islanders apparently knew better than everybody else.
For in position with the fifth overall selection of the NHL Entry Draft to select either highly regarded shutdown defenseman Luke Schenn or the talented winger Nikita Filatov, GM Garth Snow and the committee traded their way to ninth overall, where they tabbed Windsor center Josh Bailey.
This selection may have been a feature of familiarity, as Bailey was a teammate of head coach Ted Nolan’s son, Brandon.
“I don’t know Ted, but I know who he is,” said Bailey, a 6-foot-0, 192-pound pivot whom the Islanders interviewed on Long Island last week.
“I’ve heard a lot of good things about him.
“When they flew me in, it got me excited thinking I’d be drafted by them. I’m ecstatic.”
In trading down with, first, Toronto to seventh overall, and then with Nashville to ninth overall, Snow added two second-round picks in this year’s year draft and a third-round pick next year.
The Maple Leafs selected Schenn, who is expected to compete for a job this year, at five, while Columbus took Filatov with the sixth pick.
“Josh is the player we targeted from the beginning,” Snow said. “He’s a center who makes the players around him better, the type of center we need in our system.
“We kept trading down because we believed we could grab Josh at No. 9.”
Bailey was second in the OHL in scoring behind first-overall selection Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay) with 96 points (29-67). He dedicated his selection to Mickey Renaud, the Windsor captain who collapsed at his home and died suddenly this spring.
“I’m dedicating this night to Mickey Renaud and his family,” Bailey said. “I’m sure tonight he’s looking down with a smile.”