GDT: GDT #21 New York Islanders @ New Jersey Devils | The Dawn of the Mike Reilly Era | November 28th | 7 PM | F/5-4 L

[Throttle]

You don’t think we can sign top 10 ufas? Yet the Blue Jackets can sign Gaudreau, the Devils can get Hamilton, but we couldn’t get middle 6 players? Makes no sense. Surely the isles could easily sign these types of guys.

Regardless of who the next GM is, the current has reached the end of the road. Malkin needs to step in and remove Lou from day to day operations. I don’t mind Lou as a figure head, but he shouldn’t be managing the roster anymore.

W/o having them play on the team first? Highly unlikely. NJ paid a kings ransom for Dougie when NJ was terrible and had gobs of cap space. Johnny misplayed the market and Columbus backed into him - he wasn’t their strategy to sign him.

 

[Rehabguy]

You’re drawing an imaginary line in the sand for something you know is never going to happen. Lou and Scott Malkin made Barzal the face of this franchis. If you think Lou is going to have enough second thought to trade him now I don’t know what to tell you.

You may as well start expressing your outrage.

Barzal "ie. the kid" should be the face of this franchise. We should consider ourselves lucky we even have a player of his caliber in and Islander uniform. Why in god's name would anyone even consider trading him in his prime?

 

[Throttle]

You’re drawing an imaginary line in the sand for something you know is never going to happen. Lou and Scott Malkin made Barzal the face of this franchis. If you think Lou is going to have enough second thought to trade him now I don’t know what to tell you.

You may as well start expressing your outrage.

That’s ok, Lou has traded out of players before. Just sharing my opinion - he created the situation, he can get out of it. No new GM or coach is going to right the ship on this player.

Fans seem more than happy that he’s the man and everything else is the problem. Just gonna be a long 8 years with him as the face. (See above as an example).

Start?

Some people just expect a top tier player at $9M+.

 

[MJF]

Barzal "ie. the kid" should be the face of this franchise. We should consider ourselves lucky we even have a player of his caliber in and Islander uniform. Why in god's name would anyone even consider trading him in his prime?

Barzal is not as good as you think he is. I'm not debating Barzal any longer with anybody. It would be a waste of time.

 

[Throttle]

Barzal is not as good as you think he is. There's no debate here.

A good portion of the fan base has his line of thinking though.

 

[Rehabguy]

Fans seem more than happy that he’s the man and everything else is the problem. Just gonna be a long 8 years with him as the face. (See above as an example).

Seems like you have been implying that Barzal is the problem and if the team doesn't win the Cup it is because Barzal is getting tons of assists and scoring timely goals, and continuing to be one of this team's best playoff performers- which seems an awfully strange view to uphold.

 

[MJF]

A good portion of the fan base has his line of thinking though.

Because they fall in love with a highlight reel through the legs goal and the chance to hear NHL Network and Barstool call it "pure filth."

Barzal has one tool in his box, his edges. Not enough to make this guy a cornerstone of a franchise but we did it here.

 

[Rehabguy]

Barzal is not as good as you think he is. I'm not debating Barzal any longer with anybody. It would be a waste of time.

But he's not as BAD as some of you guys think he is. He wasn't taken as a #1 overall pick but only a fool would think that he wasn't a gift to this franchise at #16 position he was drafted.

 

[Throttle]

Seems like you have been implying that Barzal is the problem and if the team doesn't win the Cup it is because Barzal is getting tons of assists and scoring timely goals, and continuing to be one of this team's best playoff performers- which seems an awfully strange view to uphold.

No, Barzal is not a $9M plus player, not a number one center, doesn’t make his linemates better, he plays down to the competition (Covid games), the team goes on winning streaks to make the playoffs w/o him (.600 plus last year), he is a net negative in OT and SHO, and going 17 games w/o a goal are not ‘faces of your franchise.’

But he's not as BAD as some of you guys think he is. He wasn't taken as a #1 overall pick but only a fool would think that he wasn't a gift to this franchise at #16 position he was drafted.

Ummm, he’s on 7 years in the league, his draft position is irrelevant. It’s what he does vs his cap hit now. He’s not BAD, but he ain’t much beyond ok to good to very good in spurts. That’s not GOOD enough for his role and cap hit.

 

[Rehabguy]

Because they fall in love with a highlight reel through the legs goal and the chance to hear NHL Network and Barstool call it "pure filth."

Barzal has one tool in his box, his edges. Not enough to make this guy a cornerstone of a franchise but we did it here.

Again, putting any blame on Barzal for how this team is playing is foolish. Night after night most fans and opposing teams commentators would say he is the best player on the ice each shift he takes but leave it to Islander fans to see him as cancer.

 

[Throttle]

Again, putting any blame on Barzal for how this team is playing is foolish. Night after night most fans and opposing teams commentators would say he is the best player on the ice each shift he takes but leave it to Islander fans to see him as cancer.

I’ve watched plenty opposing team game commentators- they carry the same storyline because (a) it’s been built into the ethos of the player, (b) they don’t see the player over the course of 3,5,7 games to magnify the flaws. They are not scouts following the team, they are commentators.

 

[Rehabguy]

No, Barzal is not a $9M plus player, not a number one center, doesn’t make his linemates better, he plays down to the competition (Covid games), the team goes on winning streaks to make the playoffs w/o him (.600 plus last year), he is a net negative in OT and SHO, and going 17 games w/o a goal are not ‘faces of your franchise.’


Ummm, he’s on 7 years in the league, his draft position is irrelevant. It’s what he does vs his cap hit now.

You must be watching a completely different player than I am. And what is with all this nonsense about players making their linemates better. There never was such a thing. Bryan Trottier didn't make Mike Bossy a better player no more than Wayne Gretzky made his regular linemate Dave Semenko a better player. What's with all this nonsense about that?

There are a lot of players in the league who get paid more than they're perceived worth. Barzal is not one of those players.

 

[Rehabguy]

I think some fans pour on all this hate in Barzal because the mistakenly view his as if he was a #1 draft pick. He could have been a #1 draft pick on any draft other than the one he was in. Maybe McDavid overshadowed all the good players that were in play that day. But at this point paying 9 million a year for pretty much the only player on the Isles who's gives this team a fighting chance to score a few goals every night seems about right.

I can't imagine the current Islander squad without Barzal. There would be zero scoring because no one on the team knows how to set up plays with any consistency other than Barzal.

 

[JohnTonelliRises]

Just to clarify again, Lou has made some boneheaded moves, but it isn't all of his fault.

Players have settled into a weird country club environment. We're probably going to need to see a change of the C and the 4th line being moved for any assets that we can get. Lambert will need to be shown the door sooner than later at some point.

 

[DerekKingSnipes]

So no complaining eh. This is the result of all that playoff success this team had over the past 5 years. Was it worth it?

You can complain all you want but to say Lou wasn’t worth hiring from start I don’t agree with. I think like most fans think his time is up here now but his six year kick at the can here had more success than previous regime.

 

[periferal]

You can complain all you want but to say Lou wasn’t worth hiring from start I don’t agree with. I think like most fans think his time is up here now but his six year kick at the can here had more success than previous regime.

Well I swear I think a few posters here could've had more success than the all-star trio of wang/snow/capuano, so saying Lou was better than the previous regime means little to nothing.

That said, we can debate whether or not Trotz would've have come here without Lou as GM, but either way Trotz, and not Lou, was the #1 reason we had the success we did those 1st 3 years under Lou (in case you thought Lane is just having "bad luck"). Let's remember that team was 90% snow's roster (and is still over 50% his) so we can't give Lou too much/really any credit in terms of roster building.

But yes...His time is done now, and the sooner Malkin addresses this the sooner we can start fixing things and get back on track.

 

[periferal]

I'll give you points for humor on this one.

 

[steveat]

Well I swear I think a few posters here could've had more success than the all-star trio of wang/snow/capuano, so saying Lou was better than the previous regime means little to nothing.

That said, we can debate whether or not Trotz would've have come here without Lou as GM, but either way Trotz, and not Lou, was the #1 reason we had the success we did those 1st 3 years under Lou (in case you thought Lane is just having "bad luck"). Let's remember that team was 90% snow's roster (and is still over 50% his) so we can't give Lou too much/really any credit in terms of roster building.

But yes...His time is done now, and the sooner Malkin addresses this the sooner we can start fixing things and get back on track.

To be fair. I think management/owners should had let Lou go and hire Trotz as the GM. The GM role is what he wanted.....but this org has a weird loyalty thing going on. I get it...it's great because I think workplace loyalty is something needed...just not in pro sports.

 

[Strummergas]

But no double-dipping.

 

[Throttle]

To be fair. I think management/owners should had let Lou go and hire Trotz as the GM. The GM role is what he wanted.....but this org has a weird loyalty thing going on. I get it...it's great because I think workplace loyalty is something needed...just not in pro sports.

Hire the coach w/zero management experience vs. the guy with a ton of it and successfully managed the franchise from the abyss?

Something tells me Malkin wasn’t biting whether it was Lou’s decision or not. The Nashville ownership group did though…

 

[Rehabguy]

Well I swear I think a few posters here could've had more success than the all-star trio of wang/snow/capuano, so saying Lou was better than the previous regime means little to nothing.

That said, we can debate whether or not Trotz would've have come here without Lou as GM, but either way Trotz, and not Lou, was the #1 reason we had the success we did those 1st 3 years under Lou (in case you thought Lane is just having "bad luck"). Let's remember that team was 90% snow's roster (and is still over 50% his) so we can't give Lou too much/really any credit in terms of roster building.

But yes...His time is done now, and the sooner Malkin addresses this the sooner we can start fixing things and get back on track.

When it came to the hiring of Lou I think the idiom, "Careful what you wish for" aptly applied.

 

[mm11]

You can complain all you want but to say Lou wasn’t worth hiring from start I don’t agree with. I think like most fans think his time is up here now but his six year kick at the can here had more success than previous regime.

one can certainly argue Lou's success has been the best in the last 25 years for our beloved hockey franchise

 

[periferal]

To be fair. I think management/owners should had let Lou go and hire Trotz as the GM. The GM role is what he wanted.....but this org has a weird loyalty thing going on. I get it...it's great because I think workplace loyalty is something needed...just not in pro sports.

You sure that Malkin is showing “loyalty,” or perhaps does Lou have Malkin under his thumb a bit?

That’s what I’m afraid of…That Malkin will never fire Lou the way want never would’ve fired snow.

But no double-dipping.

Wasn’t trying to be funny the 2nd time.

 

[Throttle]

You sure that Malkin is showing “loyalty,” or perhaps does Lou have Malkin under his thumb a bit?

That’s what I’m afraid of…That Malkin will never fire Lou the way want never would’ve fired snow.



Wasn’t trying to be funny the 2nd time.

Maybe he’s just letting the hockey guy run the hockey thing and wants stability while he does the rest of his enterprise? Maybe he’s NOT a reactionary fan.

He’ll make a move when he sees the decline in financials or absolute apathy from the players. Lou will go out respectfully vs. tossed out like people want him to.

 

[periferal]

One thing I know… It’s not the coaching.