By DAN MARTIN
June 18, 2008
Garth Snow leaves for Ottawa today for the NHL Draft with his Islanders holding the fifth overall pick in what is considered one of the best drafts in years.
"It's a good situation to be in," the GM said yesterday from the Coliseum, where the team will hold a draft party on Friday and could end up with one of three highly-touted defensemen or Russian Nikita Filatov. "We know we're going to get a good player."
Snow naturally wouldn't commit to whether he will hold on to the selection, but said that he is "taking all calls" in regards to the draft - as well as in other matters.
That includes calls from Alexei Yashin's agent, Mark Gandler. The Isles famously bought out Yashin's contract a year ago and Snow didn't sound enthused about his possible return to the Island.
"As a general manager, you talk to all agents of players who are unrestricted free agents," Snow said. "Alexei is a great person and a great player and we wish him the best."
As for Bill Guerin, who had shoulder surgery last month, Snow said he is "great" and is expected to be healthy for training camp, when the team tries to recover from the end of last season, when the Isles dropped out of the playoff race.
"He'll be back," Snow said. "No matter what happens, we're going to be younger, but that doesn't mean we can't be good. The silver lining of last year was that we got a chance to see some young guys play and prove they belonged."
