2014 Free Agency and Trade Discussion

[YearlyLottery]

I think we all know the islanders are not going to bring in any big free agents. First off nobody wants to come here and wang will only go to the cap floor. We are doomed for another bad season and will see a top 5 pick go to buffalo. No wonder people chuckle when they see me where my islanders gear. At this point in my life ive seen them win the cup i just want to see them win a playoff round.

Just two short months ago people laughed at the idea of Halak signing here. Well he did..

First off people WOULD come here if we paid them. Money talks..

Another top five pick? I guess a goals didn't help.. Whatever.


I can deal with a rational fan who thinks the we won't sign anybody. I can't deal with somebody saying we are "doomed" and a top five pick will go to Buffalo before July 1st has hit. But hey, some people can see the future I guess.

 

[CREW99AW]

Yeah, I went to Staple's twitter and I didn't see it. Thanks for the link!

So there goes Gagner for Bailey talk and the talk of getting Purcell.

In an end of the season article, Staple said the front office was divided on moving JB.

Sounds like the isles and Oilers discussed a Gagner/Bailey swap and the isles were the ones unwilling to make the swap. I was pretty meh about it. I am not big on either Bailey or Gagner.
Both are disappointments.

 

[First Blood]

Arthur StapleVerified account
‏@StapeNewsday
@essentialclash They offered 1 year at very reasonable $, he said no. Could always change his mind, but that throws the door open to others.

Regarding Nabokov

 

[boredmale]

For all the shade Bailey takes for his failure to meet expectations (yet), I still think he is better than Gagner.

Much better all around, but offensively Gagner better

 

[David Volek1993]

Just two short months ago people laughed at the idea of Halak signing here. Well he did..

First off people WOULD come here if we paid them. Money talks..

Another top five pick? I guess a goals didn't help.. Whatever.


I can deal with a rational fan who thinks the we won't sign anybody. I can't deal with somebody saying we are "doomed" and a top five pick will go to Buffalo before July 1st has hit. But hey, some people can see the future I guess.

If you think this team is a playoff team then my friend you have blinders on. They need 2 more good defenseman and a top winger on Tavares line. Halak is an average goalie who will help but its not enough. Remember we are the Islanders and almost nothing has gone right in the last 20 years.

 

[PK Cronin]

If you think this team is a playoff team then my friend you have blinders on. They need 2 more good defenseman and a top winger on Tavares line. Halak is an average goalie who will help but its not enough. Remember we are the Islanders and almost nothing has gone right in the last 20 years.

We don't need a winger on the top line really.
Halak is better than average.
Take your blinders off.

 

[First Blood]

We don't need a winger on the top line really.
Halak is better than average.
Take your blinders off.

I also think Bailey is a better player then Gagner, glad we didn't do that trade

 

[boredmale]

Shame that Purcell was traded because I figured the Islanders might have been able to pick him up for cheap if we couldn't get any UFA forwards to sign reasonable deals

 

[BroadwayJay*]

We don't need a winger on the top line really.
Halak is better than average.
Take your blinders off.

I think we need a winger on the top line...

Or it would certainly help.

The easiest upgrade is probably a second-line winger.

 

[David Volek1993]

We don't need a winger on the top line really.
Halak is better than average.
Take your blinders off.

Who is going to replace Vanek/Mouslon? Don't tell me an unproven Lee who had one hot streak. If Halak was so good why did St Louis get rid of him then? Yeeeeeeeee i got blinders on for sure. Some people here need a reality check. Until this franchise gets sold it will be the same old Islanders. Hopefully sooner then later.

 

[periferal]

Well Botta has gotten a lot of information that matches what I have been told recently. I am happy to have someone else bring it out.
At this point, I am being told regarding the above that Wang has not responded to the offer he accepted. He has just gone incommunicado.
I have been told one other thing. That the acceptance of the offer included a break-up fee Wang would have to pay if he walked away now.
This gives me some hope that the sale can be closed, but Wang is acting weird and not responding to contact.

If you told me that Wang is acting appropriately I would have been surprised.

 

[KrisBeKreame]

Who is going to replace Vanek/Mouslon? Don't tell me an unproven Lee who had one hot streak. If Halak was so good why did St Louis get rid of him then? Yeeeeeeeee i got blinders on for sure. Some people here need a reality check. Until this franchise gets sold it will be the same old Islanders. Hopefully sooner then later.

Vanek Scored 17g and 27a in 47 games for a 0.93 ppg

Lee scored 9g and 5a in 22 games for a 0.63 ppg
Nelson scored 14g and 12a in 72 games for a 0.36 ppg
Strome scored 7g and 11a in 37 games for a 0.47 ppg

I happen to think the Young three here playing full seasons with the addition with a middle six UFA could more than cover the lose of Vanek/Moulson. We dont need one line to score all the goals, for the first time in years we should have big seconary and "thirdary"(Shout out to Butchie) scoring.

 

[Abe Vukota]

It is inevitable that the sun will run out of fuel and die. It is NOT inevitable that Charles Wang will sell the Islanders. He seriously might die with them in his control. He might sell...He might not sell, but the very article you quoted ends with...

"A deal awaits Wang’s consent. As of this morning, no one knew when, or if, it will come."

Yet you come in right after that and claim a sale is "inevitable"...Even if Barroway walks away. Unless you can prove to us that you are Wang himself, bold predictions are not actually facts

Costa Rice beat Greece today, LeBron James opted out of his contract, and the Sabres bought out Erhoff. These things actually happened and yes...Charles Wang still owns the Islanders. It's inevitable he sells the team...WHEN HE SELLS the team. Any claims otherwise prior to that moment are just words.

I knew I liked your posts for a reason, and apparently it's because they are what I would write if I was able to form coherent sentences when getting a rage boner about Wang.

 

[PK Cronin]

Who is going to replace Vanek/Mouslon? Don't tell me an unproven Lee who had one hot streak. If Halak was so good why did St Louis get rid of him then? Yeeeeeeeee i got blinders on for sure. Some people here need a reality check. Until this franchise gets sold it will be the same old Islanders. Hopefully sooner then later.

Bailey or Nelson. It's really that simple. If Miller was so good, why did he struggle in St. Louis and do worse than Halak?





I've grown tired of the handful of posters who are all doom and gloom. It's just irritating. You're not living in reality when you're constantly assuming the worst, that's called being a pessimist. I'm not parading around the forum proclaiming every UFA will want to sign here or we'll address every hole (neither is anyone else), and yet, every time a poster comes around with a simple idea of who the Islanders might try and target to make the team better, they get ripped apart by the pessimists.

Each time someone brings up how our younger players will likely improve, the pessimists are all over that one too.

What's that? The Islanders obtained one of the best goaltenders on the market? Nope, he's only mediocre, even though his numbers have put him in the top 10 of the NHL for the past few seasons.

Leave it to the pessimists to proclaim they are living in reality, and that the Islanders, no matter what, will always be on the downswing.

 

[Abe Vukota]

We don't need a winger on the top line really.
Halak is better than average.
Take your blinders off.

I remember reading lots of posts about how negative fans were underrating the team last July, too. Not so many in December though.

Bailey or Nelson. It's really that simple. If Miller was so good, why did he struggle in St. Louis and do worse than Halak?





I've grown tired of the handful of posters who are all doom and gloom. It's just irritating. You're not living in reality when you're constantly assuming the worst, that's called being a pessimist. I'm not parading around the forum proclaiming every UFA will want to sign here or we'll address every hole (neither is anyone else), and yet, every time a poster comes around with a simple idea of who the Islanders might try and target to make the team better, they git ripped apart by the pessimists.

Each time someone brings up how our younger players will likely improve, the pessimists are all over that one too.

What's that? The Islanders obtained one of the best goaltenders on the market? Nope, he's only mediocre, even though his numbers have put him in the top 10 of the NHL for the past few seasons.

Leave it to the pessimists to proclaim they are living in reality, and that the Islanders, no matter what, will always be on the downswing.

Halak is a terrific addition. The young talent will continue to improve. And none of that will change the fact that the team has an internal budget tied to the cap floor. Go back a few pages and re-read my post on the Islanders in free agency since 2008, and answer honestly: why on earth do you think things will change right now? Why are you setting yourself up for disappointment? We will obtain one solid player to reach the floor, a backup goalie, and one middling player. Maybe that middling player turns into Parenteau or Moulson, which would be great. But it's not pessimistic to assume things will stay as they are. I appreciate your optimism and will force myself to emulate it come October, but for now? Reality makes it hard to get into your frame of mind, at least for me.

 

[PK Cronin]

I remember reading lots of posts about how negative fans were underrating the team last July, too. Not so many in December though.

It's not about underrating or overrating. It's the overall attitude of the posters.

 

[scott99]

If you think this team is a playoff team then my friend you have blinders on. They need 2 more good defenseman and a top winger on Tavares line. Halak is an average goalie who will help but its not enough. Remember we are the Islanders and almost nothing has gone right in the last 20 years.

There's negative and then there's David Volek. You call Halak average, but do you know ANYTHING about him ? Do you realize that over the last 5 years, Halak is in the top 5 in goals against and save percentage ? The other guys in the top 5 with him are Vezina Trophy winners. That's pretty good company and would go against your AVERAGE argument. I know what your gonna say, "but he played behind St Louis' great defense", but guess what, he had a better save percentage playing behind Washington's ****** defense. So obviously you don't know anything about Halak.

As far as being a playoff team, basically the same team made the playoffs the year before with a far less superior goalie and less superior defense, Reinhart should help the team as well as any FA defenseman signing, as well as a 2nd year of de Haan who should be even more improved. Not saying playoffs are a guarantee, but I'd be willing to bet ANYTHING that we will NOT be in the #5 draft slot again next year. If we are, I'll be joining you in team negative.

 

[themanc84]

Who is going to replace Vanek/Mouslon? Don't tell me an unproven Lee who had one hot streak. If Halak was so good why did St Louis get rid of him then? Yeeeeeeeee i got blinders on for sure. Some people here need a reality check. Until this franchise gets sold it will be the same old Islanders. Hopefully sooner then later.

I think Lee is more of a 3rd line player right now. Brock Nelson would be pretty good playing with Tavares and Okposo. They are going to bring in a forward. An elite goal scorer like Vanek would be ideal, but if they dont get him, there are plenty of guys out there capable of scoring 20 goals for us. Vrbata, Richards, Hemsky, Michalek are a few that come to mind. So if thats the case we dont need a Moulson or a Vanek because we'll have a lot of guys that can contribute outside of the 1st line.

I think Grabner could score 20 goals again, Nielsen could, Strome, and Lee could too.

 

[PK Cronin]

Halak is a terrific addition. The young talent will continue to improve. And none of that will change the fact that the team has an internal budget tied to the cap floor. Go back a few pages and re-read my post on the Islanders in free agency since 2008, and answer honestly: why on earth do you think things will change right now? Why are you setting yourself up for disappointment? We will obtain one solid player to reach the floor, a backup goalie, and one middling player. Maybe that middling player turns into Parenteau or Moulson, which would be great. But it's not pessimistic to assume things will stay as they are. I appreciate your optimism and will force myself to emulate it come October, but for now? Reality makes it hard to get into your frame of mind, at least for me.

I'm not proclaiming we'll even sign a huge free agent. It's not about that. It's about the team and how it's currently constructed.

The addition of Halak + a new coach (with a pedigree) would be enough for me to think this team can make the playoffs. In previous seasons we've had plugs and stop-gaps throughout our roster while the kids were being groomed to come up and play real minutes. Two seasons ago, with a very similar roster, this team made the playoffs. Last season didn't go as well as they/and some of us had hoped, but we did get a glimpse of some of the players we've been waiting for.

Nelson looked real good, and even better as the season progressed. We saw the emergence of Strome as a more complete/dominant player. Lee has looked good in his limited time. Now, the difference between this upcoming season and years past is the goaltending and the players we have coming in to fill the spots which were formerly held by plugs and stop-gaps.

Are Nelson, Strome, Lee going to be better than Boyes, PMB, Regin? I'm going to say yes, especially cumulatively. Is Halak going to do better than Nabby did? Again, I'm going to say yes. Our team has already improved over last season because of this. I'm not banking on these kids to put up 80 point seasons either, they just need to be better than what we had for half the season last year, and I think they will be. Combine that with the fact that I think we will address at least one more need via free agency, so I'm going to say we'll be a bubble team this upcoming season.

It's not about UFA's to me. It's about the internal replacements we've produced. We've got plenty of pieces, they just need to be coached properly and maybe an addition or two. Adding one or two pieces isn't far-fetched.

 

[themanc84]

I'm not proclaiming we'll even sign a huge free agent. It's not about that. It's about the team and how it's currently constructed.

The addition of Halak + a new coach (with a pedigree) would be enough for me to think this team can make the playoffs. In previous seasons we've had plugs and stop-gaps throughout our roster while the kids were being groomed to come up and play real minutes. Two seasons ago, with a very similar roster, this team made the playoffs. Last season didn't go as well as they/and some of us had hoped, but we did get a glimpse of some of the players we've been waiting for.

Nelson looked real good, and even better as the season progressed. We saw the emergence of Strome as a more complete/dominant player. Lee has looked good in his limited time. Now, the difference between this upcoming season and years past is the goaltending and the players we have coming in to fill the spots which were formerly held by plugs and stop-gaps.

Are Nelson, Strome, Lee going to be better than Boyes, PMB, Regin? I'm going to say yes, especially cumulatively. Is Halak going to do better than Nabby did? Again, I'm going to say yes. Our team has already improved over last season because of this. I'm not banking on these kids to put up 80 point seasons either, they just need to be better than what we had for half the season last year, and I think they will be. Combine that with the fact that I think we will address at least one more need via free agency, so I'm going to say we'll be a bubble team this upcoming season.

It's not about UFA's to me. It's about the internal replacements we've produced. We've got plenty of pieces, they just need to be coached properly and maybe an addition or two. Adding one or two pieces isn't far-fetched.

Despite all of their flaw last year they were still 34-37 when the season ended. Imagine if they only blew have the leads they had in the third period instead of all of them. They probably would've squeezed into the playoffs.

You forgot about Reinhart too, Visnovsky can hopefully play some more games, Donovan could get better, maybe they keep Strait and he's healthy...

And they will add another piece or two. And I'm sure whoever they add will be better than Regin and Bouchard!

 

[boredmale]

Despite all of their flaw last year they were still 34-37 when the season ended. Imagine if they only blew have the leads they had in the third period instead of all of them. They probably would've squeezed into the playoffs.

You forgot about Reinhart too, Visnovsky can hopefully play some more games, Donovan could get better, maybe they keep Strait and he's healthy...

And they will add another piece or two. And I'm sure whoever they add will be better than Regin and Bouchard!

For me it's all about the fact we have to use about 8-10M in getting UFAs, and that is after signing a backup goalie. Simple fact is in the game of musical chairs somebody will have to take our offer unless they rather play on another team for like 1M dollars.

 

[PK Cronin]

Despite all of their flaw last year they were still 34-37 when the season ended. Imagine if they only blew have the leads they had in the third period instead of all of them. They probably would've squeezed into the playoffs.

You forgot about Reinhart too, Visnovsky can hopefully play some more games, Donovan could get better, maybe they keep Strait and he's healthy...

And they will add another piece or two. And I'm sure whoever they add will be better than Regin and Bouchard!

The blown leads is an aberration. How frequently does that happen in an NHL season to any team? It's highly unlikely to happen again. The end results of the season(s) are important, obviously, but so is how those results came to be as you pointed out.

I didn't forget about Reinhart, but rather left the defense alone, since I do think that's an area of concern for the team. I am expecting a solid year from Reinhart, but I don't want to have expectations too high. If they add one middle pairing D (or a top one), we'll be in much better shape than we were last season.

The biggest area of concern for me right now is our coach. I'd love to see a replacement.

 

[themanc84]

For me it's all about the fact we have to use about 8-10M in getting UFAs, and that is after signing a backup goalie. Simple fact is in the game of musical chairs somebody will have to take our offer unless they rather play on another team for like 1M dollars.

I'll say it again, if the Mariners can get Cano from the Yankees, then the Islanders will be able to sign an impact player if its the best deal on the table. It happens in sports all the time. Usually the Islanders offer isn't the best one available. This might be the year. A lot of teams need to get under the cap, Isles need to get to the cap floor.

 

[boredmale]

Looks like Gagner got trading again to Arizona. Looks like it's for a pick(s). Should be interesting to see what he gets because I am guessing Bailey has similar value

 

[boredmale]

I'll say it again, if the Mariners can get Cano from the Yankees, then the Islanders will be able to sign an impact player if its the best deal on the table. It happens in sports all the time. Usually the Islanders offer isn't the best one available. This might be the year. A lot of teams need to get under the cap, Isles need to get to the cap floor.

In terms of forwards there is to many LWers on the market and not enough spots for them to sign. It shouldn't be that hard getting one of them to sign here. As for defense we will probably have to overpay a lesser defenseman to come here

Looking at Tampa dumping cap space above scares me, I am guessing they might have somebody lined up to play there(most likely defense). MY money might be Ehrhoff