Confirmed Trade: [CHI/NYI] Josh Bailey and 2026 2nd round pick for future considerations

[AvatarAang]

There’s about 3 fans who still complain consistently about the Tavares circus and they’re busy wearing beer stained DHGate third jerseys (the ugly one from 2010) with Snake or Goring written on a piece of duct tape placed over Tavares.

Nice try but it’s pretty easy to search the isles forum to confirm that Tavares is still mentioned multiple times per day:

Search results for query: Tavares

forums.hfboards.com

I guess loyalty only goes one way for the isles. pathetic that they expect players to remain loyal to a team with poor management and yet they have no issues with the team dumping players that want to stay in NYI.

 

[Ignite111]

Isles fans are still fuming to this day that Tavares wasn’t loyal to NYI.

How do they feel about uncle Lou wasting a 2nd round pick to dump a loyal player that was happy to play for NYI?

Well if you know anything about hockey you would understand teams put their best players on the ice to help them win hockey games. Unfortunately, a player can be loyal but not good enough to be put in their lineup.

I know this a little over your head but you may learn it eventually.

 

[SI90]

Welcome to the islanders for 500k Blackhawk legend Josh Bailey!!

 

[Ignite111]

Makes this thread a hilarious read.

I kinda love it now. We get to see so many knowledgeable people on here.

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

Lol Varly gonna come back at 3 mil for 20 games? That will be very very scary if that’s the case

Sorokin or Varly in all 82 games is the biggest goalie advantage in the entire league.

Varly is better than probably 1/3rd of the starters in the league.

 

[denis5]

Typical Lou. Self-inflicted wounds from cap mismanagement, mortgaging futures just to keep your mediocre team treading water. Keep on kicking the can down the road knowing you'll never face the consequences (but the team will).

This is exactly what he did his last years in New Jersey and it crippled the franchise for nearly a decade.

In 2026 Lou will be long gone and the Islanders will be a wasteland of talent. They will really need that pick to replace their aging stars on albatross deals and fix the complete dearth of young talent.

Bailey wasn't signed by Lou; he inherited the contract from Snow and has been trying to dump it for at least 3 off seasons. Finally doing so for a pick that may not result in an NHL player for 6-7 years if ever is pretty big win.

 

[Ignite111]

Sorokin or Varly in all 82 games is the biggest goalie advantage in the entire league.

Varly is better than probably 1/3rd of the starters in the league.

He's a very good goalie but you can't pay him 3mil a year for 20 games. If they do its a big mistake. Lou is a disaster though so I wouldn't put it past him.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Hall - Bedard - Bailey

Josh will have a career year if he plays on the top line.

 

[miscs75]

Yet there is ONE Toronto fan, who's posting history and avatar is dedicated to Tavares/Isles. This thread was going perfectly fine, until... Everything changed when the Fire Nation Attacked!

That’s almost as good as the glue sniffer who tries to bash the isles while using internet currency as his username.

Nice try but it’s pretty easy to search the isles forum to confirm that Tavares is still mentioned multiple times per day:

Search results for query: Tavares

forums.hfboards.com

I guess loyalty only goes one way for the isles. pathetic that they expect players to remain loyal to a team with poor management and yet they have no issues with the team dumping players that want to stay in NYI.

I’m glad all you do is bash the Islanders. Don’t you have a Kyle Dubas photo to burn out of spite or something?

 

[Joe Sakic]

2026??!!

World will be run by AI at that point

 

[CupHolders]

Nice try but it’s pretty easy to search the isles forum to confirm that Tavares is still mentioned multiple times per day:

Search results for query: Tavares

forums.hfboards.com

I guess loyalty only goes one way for the isles. pathetic that they expect players to remain loyal to a team with poor management and yet they have no issues with the team dumping players that want to stay in NYI.

Only one poster brought John Tavares into this mainboard thread about Chicago and the Islanders while claiming that Islander fans are hung up on John Tavares... A Toronto fan with an Islander Tavares Jersey meme for an avatar.

However, if you were here for a genuine conversation; and we all know you are not.

I would ask, why would Lamoriello owe a Garth Snow signing in Josh Bailey unquestinable loyalty? Yet he still did right by him in paying an asset so that he can still pursue playing in the NHL this season... instead of buried in the minors.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Is @PWJunior okay today? Who is going to be topless with a chain around his neck in his avatar now?

 

[Green]

Lou ensuring the Islanders are absolutely dreadful for about a decade for an extremely small chance to win this year or the next

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

Lou ensuring the Islanders are absolutely dreadful for about a decade for an extremely small chance to win this year or the next

If you're going to rebuild, be awful and get top picks.

Ironically, Lou is a big reason why the Devils are so good right now.

 

[Green]

Isles fans are still fuming to this day that Tavares wasn’t loyal to NYI.

How do they feel about uncle Lou wasting a 2nd round pick to dump a loyal player that was happy to play for NYI?

Bailey wanted to get traded, he knew his ice time was limited, I am sure he is happy about this

 

[Green]

If you're going to rebuild, be awful and get top picks.

Ironically, Lou is a big reason why the Devils are so good right now.

Well they are giving away their picks, maybe in 15 years after being awful from 2024-2034 they might be on to something, but I would rather not wait until the 2038 season to be optimistic about this team again

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Good use of cap

I would have liked 2024 but still stocking up on future picks is good even if a way out

Hawks now have 3 picks in 2026 2nd

Hawks 2nd
Leafs 2nd
Islanders 2nd

Buying him out is wrong move IMO he could have had value as 3rd line winger and potential TDL flip

 

[PromisedLand]

hate off to hawks. they are doing the "rebuild" the right way as long as they dont rush things

 

[innitfam]

How bad is the Isles cap crunch this year where they needed to trade a 2nd (albeit far away) to save the extra 2.4M this year vs buying him out themselves?

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

Well they are giving away their picks, maybe in 15 years after being awful from 2024-2034 they might be on to something, but I would rather not wait until the 2038 season to be optimistic about this team

Well Nico was drafted in 2017, so that's around the time the Devils started rebuilding for real.

They nearly won the division in 2023. That's about a five or six year gap.

Even if you start with nothing, you can rebuild within a half of a decade with the right amount of high draft picks and a decently intelligent management group.

 

[MTK]

Wow 2nd round pick. Great work Hawks, especially since the dark ages for the isles seem all but inevitable again for them so that should be a high 2nd in 2026.

Do you want to provide any facts backing the " Dark Ages" coming Miss Cleo?

Pretty sure, NYI will not have the same team at that point btw. Its called trades, buyouts and more.

Maybe we can sign Patrick Kane, as I heard he is the missing piece to winning the cups.

The way your team is run, you will probably pick ahead of us in 2026, and be playing at MSG #5 on Staten Island after they tear down MSG.


What I love, is how much NYI gets to you. Seems to keep you up at night. Always entertaining. Keep it up.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Do you want to provide any facts backing the " Dark Ages" coming Miss Cleo?

Pretty sure, NYI will not have the same team at that point btw. Its called trades, buyouts and more.

Maybe we can sign Patrick Kane, as I heard he is the missing piece to winning the cups.

The way your team is run, you will probably pick ahead of us in 2026, and be playing at MSG #5 on Staten Island after they tear down MSG.


What I love, is how much NYI gets to you. Seems to keep you up at night. Always entertaining. Keep it up.

Quite the long winded response. NYI has no good prospects, not an up and coming team, and at best are a mediocre team that in a few years will have nothing but aging players on bad contracts. Good luck also getting Sorokin to sign, guy is going to get PAID next year to join a contender.

 

[MikeyMike01]

How bad is the Isles cap crunch this year where they needed to trade a 2nd (albeit far away) to save the extra 2.4M this year vs buying him out themselves?

Mayfield, Varlamov, Engvall, Parise, Wahlstrom (or their replacements) need to be signed, with approximately 11.5M in cap space (6.5M before this trade).

 

[Nico Hischier]

If you're going to rebuild, be awful and get top picks.

Ironically, Lou is a big reason why the Devils are so good right now.

Lou left this team in a mess. Would have been in the running for mcdavid and Mathews if he didn’t trade a top ten pick for Cory Schneider who was good enough to keep the team from bottoming out those years and prevented the team from doing a proper rebuild.

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

Lou left this team in a mess.

Yeah, why do you think your team got Nico and Hughes (x2)?

It's better to be rock bottom while rebuilding than it is to be picking 5-10th.