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The Isle of misfit toys offseason primer


yave1964

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This is the final write up of a team that missed the postseason.

 

2017-18 FINAL RECORD 35-37-10 80 points 17 points out of a playoff spot. They were hanging around close to the deadline and chose to hold onto Tavares in the hopes that the team could make a push and then resign him.

  Looking back on last season, it was a strange one, securing a place to play beyond the next season proved stubbornly difficult before finally getting handled, Tavares situation simmered all year, calls for Garth Snows head reached a crescendo as the season continued, goaltending was a gaping hole, the defense grew old or slow or both. In the midst of all that Matthew Barzal established himself as one of the flashiest young stars in the game with 85 points, Tavares managed 84 while trying his best to put off talks of this offseason, Josh Bailey managed 71 points and signed a long term deal, anders Lee had the least noticed 40 goal season in recent memory. Jordan Eberle even established that in the right role he has some use. Nick Leddy showed he can still play on the power play.

  But on the bad side, Halak and Greiss were the Baton Death March of goalies, Andrew Ladd sucked even more than the year before which nobody thought possible, Brock Nelson took a huge step backwards and Boychuk/Seidenberg proved to be the most worthless defenseless duo around. And again, Tavares status hung around like a bad cloud. Snow and Weight were canned, Lamoriello like a mafia don after the night of a thousand knives just took over.

 

FREE AGENTS , 

C'mon if you need to ask..... seriously the whole point of this article is the Tavares saga. He is the top free agent in the game period.

Kulemin left for the KHL and will not be missed. Two usable defensemen inHickey and De Haan are UFA which would deplete an already exposed blue line. Halak is an UFA and wont be invited back.

 

TOP PROSPECTS

bEAUVILLIER established himself and has a chance to be really good, they are probably going to look for intervention with Ho Sang who couldn't get along with Weight but has talent,  Keiffer Bellows is a very talented winger  in the system who may stick. Ryan Pulock established himself on the back end and could be a minute eater who pushes the puck. Some people like Del Colle and Eansor but I don't think much of them.

 

OFFSEASON QUESTIONS:

 

UMMM... SERIOUSLY IS THERE MORE THAN ONE? 

Sign Tavares or lose him for nothing. The question is does he want to sign? He has been coy and proper but a lot of folks feel he hasn't been comfortable and is likely leaving.

 

SHOULD THEY SIGN KOVALCHUK? I posted on that elsewhere but my opinion is no, too old, too long a term would be required and looking for a payday. Pass. I doubt signing him would convince Tavares to return and in the eventuality of losing Tavares Kovie is not a suitable replacement. 

 

WHO IS GOING TO BE IN NET?  I think Carter Hutton is going there, an aging non prospect who caught a break and ran with it, kind of like Greiss a few years ago. The two of them can take turns playing Russian Roulette in net all year. Net is not a position that you go on the cheap with but the Isles have other areas to address.

 

 LEE IS AN UFA NEXT YEAR. CAN THEY KEEP HIM? 

hIS 40 goals distance between them probably wouldn't equal the length of a good icing, he sets up in front of the net and deflects the puck as well as anyone in the game but truthfully it is his only measurable skill. Coming off a 40 goal year they still have one more year to decide but if he repeats or close he is going to get overpaid by someone.

 

IS LOU THE ANSWER? If the question is who ran the Devils into the ground and left them a scorched Earth yep, Lou is the answer. If the question is can he fix all that ails the Isles, you haven't been paying attention to a decade of bad drafting and worse signings in Jersey before he sulked off to a self imposed exile in Toronto.

 

 

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Tavares has been nothing but a class act for his entire hockey career. If he thinks the Isles really want to win he'll stay. I'm not sure if just getting Lou says that to him though. He'll get paid, but I'll bet he goes to a team he believes in over top dollar.

 

 I wouldn't mind Philly signing de Haan if the price is right...We don't need offence from the backend and he doesn't really bring it. He does bring a solid defensive game and he's only 27. The lack of scoring should keep the contract down.

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@flyercanuck

 

Agreed on both points, De Haan can play in a bottom four stay at home role as the nice safe stay at home guy. He is someone the Isles can ill afford to lose after watching Hamonic leave last year. His best chance at big money is with the Isles.

 

 Tavares is a great team player and has a tough decision, I think it is better than 50/50 he ends up elsewhere. My original thought was San Jose to replace Jumbo Joe but they just resigned Kane so that is that. If I had to list his likely landing spots not counting the Isles I would say:

Montreal. Absolute perfect fit in every way. Already used to playing in the Apple Montreal is a whole other game but I think he would be the perfect Hab forward.

Carolina. If he wants small market anonymity he could be the hero of Raleigh if he signed there and they turned it around, a new owner may want to make a splash.

Rangers. Oh what a disaster that would be for the Isles and what a coup for the Rags if that happened.

 

  I have read some ridiculousness involving teams who probably have no realistic chance such as the Bolts, the Leafs who are always rumored to be in on everyone and sadly the Wings who have no cap space.  

 

 So if I were to put a number on it I would say Isles 40 pct, Habs 30, Carolina/Rangers 10 and the field 10 percent. Just my thoughts.

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There is no way JT goes to montreal he wants to win a cup and the habs are a disaster ,and with the rise of some young guns,and a new GM how will bring in a goalie and beef up the defence JT stays put in my oponion ,another 3rd liner to replace nelson or isles fan pray Ladd gets shipped off somewhere then a contender they may be with proper coaching and maybe kolvochuck (rumor) and a real goalie they have a chance they also have the biggest cap room to improve.I say they trade there 1st round picks this year for goalie or a few dman and with soderstrom in the AHL as well as bellows and if sorokin ever plays here this teams future looks good.

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I like the Montreal idea for JT, and I agree he'd be exactly what they need up front.    I wonder, though, if it came down to it if the Isles would package some variation of sign & trade (or early permission to negotiate) plus their #11 pick (or #12) to the Habs for the #3 pick and take Tkachuk themselves.  No scenario of Tavares leaving works well for the Islanders, but it gets them something in the process if that ends up seeming inevitable at the draft.   The Habs still need help on their defense, but this helps their offense immediately.  I also agree, though, that this may not be terribly attractive to JT himself.

 

The same sign and package concept goes for Carolina.   For both Carolina and Montreal, if it's negotiate ahead of time and there's a deal in place, I may even want something in addition to the pick upgrade if I'm New York.  Carolina's pick is a little more odd for the Isles.  With the #2 pick you almost have to take Svechnikov.   Maybe you go for it and you have money to play with to go get a 1C.  

 

Tavares immediately does some things for the Rangers, not least of which being that Zibby drops down in the lineup where he belongs.  They, too, have a mess on the back end, IMO.  I don't see the Rangers doing a sign and trade involving him, and it's somewhat pointless on the Isles' side, but if that were the case I want two of the Rangers' first round pick and I'm drafting one of the top-end defensemen with it.

 

All of this works for the receiving teams, but like I said, it's not ideal for the Islanders.  I'm only doing any of this if the cards say it's hopeless for the Islanders.

 

I would ordinarily say that the Islanders, hockey-wise, is probably the best fit for Tavares.  But with the Belmont Park arena not being ready for another three years, I don't think that's the case.   The weird setup of splitting time between Barclay and Nassau is just that:  weird.  I know for Islanders' fans toiling under years of Garth Snow, Lou is a joyful upgrade.   I don't blame them.  If my team just got rid of Garth Snow, I'd be happy with the "time to make the donuts" guy.   But I don't believe that Lou is.   Maybe he begins the process of bringing in a competent heir apparent, in which case they may be on to something.  But Lou by himself is not a reason to stay if I'm Tavares.  Staying where he is is probably attractive to him on some psychological level, but I wonder if it's enough.

 

Strictly from a Cap perspective and as a free-agent signing where the Isles get nothing, the Blue Jackets make a ton of sense to me.  It slides Wennberg down to 2C and makes that team a whole lot better.   

 

I've seen Detroit, Tampa, Toronto, San Jose, and Philly (really, I've only seen this one on Philly forums), but none of that makes sense to me for various reasons.  San Jose seemed obvious to me, but I agree that the Kane signing screws that up.

 

Someone said 50/50 chance he stays on the Islanders.  I agree and would put the odds slightly higher that he goes, but I slide back to the 50/50 because I think simply "stay where you are" levels it out for Tavares.  At this point, I think Lou's expertise will be in getting as much as he can for him as he heads out the door.   And then replacing him as well as he can with the new-found cap room.

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