islesinfo - 1988 Draft

The Islanders finished the 1987-88 season with a record of 39-31-10 which was good for 1st in the Patrick Division with 88 points and 6th overall in the NHL. But that soon led to a disappointing first round playoff loss to the New Jersey Devils, who had managed to squeak into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season when John MacLean scored in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Islanders would enter the 1988 draft with the 16th pick overall. Little did they know that this would be the first draft of many that would precede a long era of futility that would last many years. GM Bill Torrey would go to the Western Hockey League for the second straight season and tab defensive defenseman Kevin Cheveldayoff from the Brandon Wheat Kings. Cheveldayoff had plenty of promise when he was drafted, but because of an on ice incident he would unfortunately never realize that promise in the NHL. Kevin, just coming off a successful first training camp with the New York Islanders prior to the 1988-89 season, was returned to Brandon to continue his junior career. On New Years Day 1989 in Brandon's 40th game of the season, Cheveldayoff would sustain an injury that would forever change his career. Racing back into his own end he got tangled up with an opposing player on the Spokane Chiefs while on the powerplay early in the second period. As they both went down, Cheveldayoff's leg went into the boards and twisted awkwardly. Upon finding out about the injury, the Islanders flew Kevin to New York where he was further examined. He was told by then Islander doctor Jeffrey Minkoff that he had sustained a severed anterior cruciate ligament and would require reconstructive knee surgery. Just a year earlier, Patrick Flatley of the Islanders had sustained the same type of injury and Cheveldayoff credits Flatley with helping him through it. He even lived with Flatley for a while during the rehabilitation. In 1989-90, Cheveldayoff returned to the Wheat Kings midway through the season and finished off the year with the Islanders affiliate in the AHL, the Springfield Indians. The next three seasons, from 1990-93, Cheveldayoff played for the Capital District Islanders, providing solid defense that a defensive defenseman prides himself on. But he never really returned to the form that the Islanders hoped he would and it was evident at times that the knee was not always 100%. Even though the Islanders were going through years where their defensive unit was not too strong, Cheveldayoff never got the call even once. He failed to ever make the NHL and retired as a player following the 1993-94 season with the IHL's Salt Lake Golden Eagles.

Hits: The ratio of players from this draft to ever suit up in an Islander jersey is one of the poorest in team history as only 2 out of 14 picks ever saw action. C Marty McInnis out of Boston College was the only successful player to go on to have a career in the NHL. He would join the Islanders following the 1992 Olympics with Team USA and spend the next 5 season as a serviceable forward at both ends of the ice. The Islanders 3rd round pick, G Danny Lorenz, would get called on only 8 times by the Isles and spent the majority of his career as one of the top goaltenders in the AHL and IHL.

Misses: Besides Cheveldayoff, the Islanders had a couple more huge misses in the second round. Wayne Doucet, a big left winger from the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL, was touted as out of the Bob Nystrom mold. After getting traded 3 times in his final two years of junior, Doucet would go on to spend 3 years with the Capital District Islanders. Just like Cheveldayoff, he never played a game in the NHL. While Doucet was taken 29th overall, LW Sean Lebrun was selected with the 37th pick. After scoring 52 goals in his final year of junior, he like Doucet joined the Capital District Islanders. Unfortunately he was never able to gain the same offensive output at the AHL level. The Islanders kept 6th round pick RW Pavel Gross, a Czech who played most of his career in Germany, on the roster for about 7 years. But Gross never desired to play in the NHL.

Turn Back the Clock: Hindsight is always 20/20. As far as the other players that went in the mid first to third rounds there really wasn't much different the Islanders could have done. All the top end players went in the top 10 selections: Mike Modano - 1st, Trevor Linden - 2nd, Jeremy Roenick - 8th, Rod Brind'amour - 9th and Teemu Selanne - 10th. Players like G Stephane Fiset - 24th to Quebec, RW Tie Domi - 27th to Toronto and C Tim Taylor - 36th to Washington all would have been better first or second round choices where the Islanders were concerned. But with some better scouting, perhaps the Islanders would have uncovered some of the gems that went in the later rounds, like C Mark Recchi - 67th by Pittsburgh, RW Tony Amonte - 68th by the Rangers, D Rob Blake - 70th by LA and RW Alexander Mogilny - 89th by Buffalo. Even LW Claude Lapointe, who was drafted in the 12th round 234th overall by Quebec, would have been a better early round pick. IslesInfo choice: Blake would have been a stud on the Isles blueline for years to come, especially in the post Denis Potvin era. But either of Recchi, Amonte or Mogilny would have been a quality pick as well.