SI90
Registered User
I feel like I've seen this movie before...as recently as last month lol
I remember Lawton saying the isles were going to be the busiest team at the deadline. He’s not really reliable.
I feel like I've seen this movie before...as recently as last month lol
In fairness, I’m sure they were very busy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that things have to come togetherI remember Lawton saying the isles were going to be the busiest team at the deadline. He’s not really reliable.
In fairness, I’m sure they were very busy, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that things have to come together
I feel like I've seen this movie before...as recently as last month lol
This Tweet below is why while I'd let Nelson go in a second, but you either have to resign him or find a center at least as good. To let him go and not replace him will kill next season.
This Tweet below is why while I'd let Nelson go in a second, but you either have to resign him or find a center at least as good. To let him go and not replace him will kill next season.
How bad is Jake Gardiner really, or is that just Leafs fans blaming him for their lack of success? Just wondering if he would be worth pursing as a UFA, thereby freeing up Leddy for a trade. I haven't really focused on him in the TO games, and if he's bad defensively he's just one of many, right?
Nelson is pretty versatile and a shoe in for 20 goals though. He’s the type of UFA I think you keep if the price isn’t astronomical.
That was one of the things I was thinking of as a positive. The others are that (of course) playing for Trotz and in his system should help, and I also think of Justin Schultz and how he was abused by EDM fans (except when they were offering him in trade proposals) and then how he's done pretty well in PIT.I do think Gardiner would help make something else out of our PP.
The more this season continues on, the more I'm thinking I'd like to see him remain an Islander.
The question is, would resigning him prevent us from UPGRADING the center position?
I'm not sure it would. If you have Barzal, Nelson, and a guy like Hayes up the middle, why not go that route?
Gonna be very interesting to see what Lou does this summer.
I think you need to add to Barzal and Nelson, not just upgrade Nelson.
Barzal/Nelson/Hayes or Duchene would be really solid.
Maybe they re-sign Filppula to be a depth forward since he can play center or wing and both special teams. Johnston stays around for heavier “assignments”. All I know is that this team needs to improve center depth. When one center misses time (Cizikas), it throws off all four lines.
This is my ideal scenario. I honestly feel with the combination of young defenseman developing and Trotz system that Leddy is expendable. He hasn’t produced offensively like he was billed to do and he’s not great defensively.
I don’t think EDM does that trade but you never know. Even if we had to add. I’d do it.
As far as WPG the only guy I can think of is Little but he doesn’t do it for me.
I fully expect Lou to tackle the scoring inefficiency on the wings. I almost EXPECT Panarin to sign with us this summer.
In my post above, I'm referring solely to the center position.
What I don't see is retaining Nelson AND adding Duchene.
What I'm referring to however is ponying up to retain Nelson and then adding an i.e. Hayes instead of resigning Filppula.
Improvements to the wings will have to be made as well. There's not getting around that.
In fact, when you look at what this team has done this season and how, all you have to do is add the type of top 6 forwards who are constant PP threats AND ensure that a game like the one against Detroit never goes lost - because they can bring the necessary magic through pure skill.
SIDENOTE:
What Hoffman does on the PP is just amazing!
If feels like he's scoring a one-timer PP goal from that right face-off circle every second game. Just sick!
I am intrigued by the idea of adding both Nelson and Hayes, landing Panarin too (or acquiring Hoffman as a plan B if they don't) how do you line them up? How are roles defined, since Hayes and Nelson seem similar? Which one takes on some of the more defensive assignments that Filppula takes on?
Top 9-
Panarin - Barzal - Beau
Lee - Nelson - Ho-Sang or Dal Colle
Komarov - Hayes - Bailey
Panarin and Barzal should not play together, they are very similar players, albeit the different positions. Both drive the play.
The better pairings would be
Lee - Barzal - Nelson
Panarin - Hayes - Bailey
Komarov - Beau - Ho-Sang/Dal Colle
That Top 6 checks off all the boxes . . . maybe even swap Beau and Bailey and have Bailey center the 3rd line
We're not getting Panarin.