NHL Draft: Isles offered entire draft (including No. 4) to Jackets for No. 2

Giving away your entire draft to move up only 2 spots. Only the Islanders, and only the Jackets would pass up that deal.

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I don't know much about the top of the NHL draft, but how valuable can one player be to turn down another team's entire draft.

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I thought at first it was a horrific decision. Picking up six extra picks just to move down two spots seems like a no-brainer.

But I actually like the decision not to make the trade after thinking about it more. The fourth-seventh rounds is just a really big crapshoot. Occasionally, you'll get a guy that late in the draft that is an NHL contributor. Extremely seldom do you find one that late that emerges into a high-caliber player (unless you're the Red Wings). This is kind of interesting:

LINK

Both the number 34 and 65 picks each have only a 1/4 chance of playing 100 games in the NHL, with both averaging less than a "very good minor leaguer". The 103 is in a similar boat but a little less likely. 125, 155, and 185 are all around 10-15% chance of playing 100 or more NHL games.

So basically, even if we say that two NHL regulars emerge from those extra picks, one of which is an above average player (which would be more than what typically happens with those picks), is that worth passing up a potentially franchise-changing player like Murray? Now, you could argue that the difference between a guy like Murray and Reinhart at 2 and 4 is small enough where those two extra NHL players would be worth it. From all accounts, Murray is about as safe of a pick as possible, almost bust-proof. Great leader, two-way game, extremely, extremely smart. And obviously, if the NYI were willing to give up that much for him, they agree. I like not making the deal. Still, it was a very interesting offer, and a type I'd not seen before in the NHL, and really can't recall anything like it besides the Saints Williams trade.

As an Islanders fan I'm not surprised at all

FWIW, it seems looking at other sites that the Isles offer may have been contingent on Murray being picked first overall so Yakupov was still on the board. A bit of a different dynamic. It doesn't seem like Portzline (Jackets beat writer), however, has that as the case. Who really knows?

as a jackets fan i was initial suprised but i agree with the above posters take on the late picks being nothing more than a crapshoot.

I'm happy they kept they're pick.