3) John Tavares
photo courtesy of http://a.espncdn.com/On June 26th, 2009 after months of anticipation the Islanders made John Tavares the number one overall pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft. Upon being drafted comparisons were made to Sidney Crosby how the Penguins drafted him and his play led to them staying in Pittsburgh and maybe Tavares would be able to do the same for the Islanders. While Tavares wasn't quite able to do that, what he has done is give fans a reason to hope again when seemingly all reasons were lost or dissipating. Not to mention, this season leading the team to their first playoff appearance in six seasons. If not for John Tavares, who knows where the Islanders would be right now!
2) Mike Bossy
In 1977 Islanders GM Bill Torrey surprised some by taking offensive minded forward Mike Bossy with the 15th overall pick in the first round. The knock on Bossy was that he lacked defensive play. The Islanders brain trust decided that they were able to teach him defense and his offensive skills were to good to pass up on. Boy, were they right!! Bossy went on to be a main piece in the Islanders dynasty and one of the best pure goal scorers of all time amassing at least 50 goals in each season he played in but one. If not for a bad back, who knows what kind of numbers Bossy would've put up.
1) Denis Potvin
After a bad first season, the Islanders were awarded the number one pick in the 1973 entry draft. With that pick they took defenseman Denis Potvin. They didn't know it then, but that picked changed the history of this team. Potvin turned out to be one of the best defensemen to ever play the sport and one of the real leaders of the dynasty between 1980-1983. He has a big place in the Islander Ranger rivalry to as cat calls for him can still be heard at MSG.
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