Next season: what this team should look like

[Jester9881]

Why would Eberle accept a haircut of 1.5 mill over what he has been making after this last season?

Lee has been nothing but a bargain.

Season 1- Made $102 k with partial season in AHL and then scored 9 goals and 5 assists in call up last 22 games of the year.

Rookie season signed to 825 k qualifier and put 25 goals and 21 assists.

Summer signs 4 year 15m contract.

Season 2 contract pays 1.75 m scores 15 goals and 21 assists.

Season 3 contract 3.5 million, scores 34 goals and 22 assists.

Season 4 contract 4.5 million scores 40 goals and 23 assists.

Upcoming season is due 5.5m

Lee has averaged 30 goals per 82 games played since coming into the league and has been paid an average of 2.67m. I would say he has provided a very fair value to the Islanders. I guess Bellows, MDC, and JHS better be ready.

He's also averaged about 50 points. I love Anders and would like to see him retire an Islander, but he's more on par with a James Neal or a JVR. What his actual salary was this year is irrelevant.... Josh Bailey is going to make 7m next year, his cap hit is 5 right where it should be. Any contract with more than 5.5 cap hit is an overpayment. Ditto Eberle who would also be getting a raise over the next two seasons with Baileys contract.

Those guys don't have to be ready right away..... moves don't have to be made until the deadline. Look what Rick Nash got back in trade.

 

[Jester9881]

A\ Okay, that's an option.
B\ I'm just gonna repeat myself very shortly here - if Beau can repeat/improve his performance from the second half of this season, I'd like to see him among our core players and for me that means the kid is getting locked for 8 years. If he doesn't, then I'm completely fine with a bridge deal.
C\ Look, I just said it's rumored. I don't think he should get that, but there's a possibility he will.
D\ Less than $1.5M on the UFA market means at least $2-2.5M for the Isles, because no one wants to come here and we need to overpay them.
E\ Where? Because I can't find this.
F\ Well, we need to fill the defence with someone (someones). Not a fan of him staying, but...
G\ Oh yes, the biggest problem with this team is behind the bench and in the front office. Completely agree. That said, we're losing de Haan (which is stupid), Boychuk will only get worse, I don't even want to imagine how Leddy will look like next season... We need at least one top pair d-man, someone solid to replace de Haan and a little bit of depth, because right now we have only four d-men signed for next season (though Pulock for sure will be getting re-signed, we just don't know the term/money). Unless we want Davidson and Hickey back.

And yeah, the biggest problem our defence had this season was Weight and his stupid system. They would perform considerably better with a solid defensive system in place that would include all players on the ice (which would mean our forwards would have to behave better defensively as well). That still doesn't mean it's a playoff caliber defense.

But trading Lee/Eberle is not only about cap management for me. It's also a way to get certain assets that will help adress the issues this team has. If we're gonna somehow get the top pair d-man and a goalie, they won't come in cheap. I would even try to re-signed Nelson, who I don't want to see on this team, just to have him as a nice stat to sweeten the trade or something. Accumulate draft picks and try to trade for players that we need, because UFA market is not a viable option for all of these.

This is the last encyclopedia I'm replying to....
- If we're going to be giving ever young player 8 year deals and skipping the bridge. Cap is going to vanish quickly regardless of what happens with Eberle/Lee. Bad move, you skip the bridge with Tavares, you skip it with Barzal.
- Show me where it's rumored that Pulock is getting a 5m/yr contract. If it happens, talk about absurd. They wouldn't pony another 500k for CDH before the injury and that was still below 5m. Nonsense squared
- (E) I've said over and over you don't need to pay a shut down C top six money. There are centers available that can be signed for under 1.5m. Probablythe 3rd time I've typed this in this thread.
- (F) you don't say?
- We don't need a top pairing D, we need two top 4 D to get us back to when Hamonic was still here. One if CDH signs.
- If you trade Lee and/or Eberle now (which I am not 100 percent against) you are putting a lot of faith in Bellows or Ho-Sang. My way takes away the risk and even gives the Islanders the chance to retain both.

Never make a move until you are being forced to, especially when it comes to moves concerning cap space. You could always sign both Lee/Eberle and move them when it becomes necessary. They would be worth more signed anyway.

 

[Jester9881]

Any deal with Eberle and Lee will have serious bonus $ attached and a NMC for at least the first couple of years. Trading them mid way thru the deal is not realistic.

I wouldn't bank on that.... Bailey didn't get a NMC/NTC. Not saying you're wrong, it could very well happen.... but it isn't written in stone.

 

[Instant]

This is the last encyclopedia I'm replying to....
- If we're going to be giving ever young player 8 year deals and skipping the bridge. Cap is going to vanish quickly regardless of what happens with Eberle/Lee. Bad move, you skip the bridge with Tavares, you skip it with Barzal.
- Show me where it's rumored that Pulock is getting a 5m/yr contract. If it happens, talk about absurd. They wouldn't pony another 500k for CDH before the injury and that was still below 5m. Nonsense squared
- (E) I've said over and over you don't need to pay a shut down C top six money. There are centers available that can be signed for under 1.5m. Probablythe 3rd time I've typed this in this thread.
- (F) you don't say?
- We don't need a top pairing D, we need two top 4 D to get us back to when Hamonic was still here. One if CDH signs.
- If you trade Lee and/or Eberle now (which I am not 100 percent against) you are putting a lot of faith in Bellows or Ho-Sang. My way takes away the risk and even gives the Islanders the chance to retain both.

Never make a move until you are being forced to, especially when it comes to moves concerning cap space. You could always sign both Lee/Eberle and move them when it becomes necessary. They would be worth more signed anyway.

- Of course we're not giving every young player 8 years deals. But Barzal? For sure. Beauvillier? Maybe, if he does great.
- I don't know where you got the $5M, I said only it's rumored they will give him a long term contract. The money part is completely your idea?
- Please show me the available centres that will sign with NYI for under $1.5M and you'll never have to repeat yourself again.
- We desperately need a top pair d-man? And a decent goalie? Like, these two should be our priorities coming next season? (except re-signing Tavares ofc)

Sure, your way gets us the chance to retain both Eberle and Lee. But what else? I already said, trading any of them isn't pure cap management on my part (it's more of "we won't be able to afford them anyways, so let's get something for them" move), but also to adress the d-man and goalie issues we have. Your plan is much better for our forwards group than mine, because yes, mine does assume that Bellows or Ho-Sang will be able to fill the empty spots, but also gives the team opportunity and assets to get the d-man and a goalie. You still didn't explain how you fix defence and goaltending in your plan.

 

[SI]

I wouldn't bank on that.... Bailey didn't get a NMC/NTC. Not saying you're wrong, it could very well happen.... but it isn't written in stone.

That's a nice catch on that - surprised to see Bailey didnt

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

So the same D and goalies that let in 300 goals this season?
Garth is that you?

You got me!

No, that was just what I think is "likely" to happen, not how I'd go about making this team better...

That's not the squad I personally want to be rooting for next year.

 

[Hunn]

Can we change the thread title, every time I see it I grimace.

Should be either "What this team should look like" or "How this team should look". Please, PK, change it! I'll take a picture of my "I love Bailey" bumpersticker if need be....

Done. I'm not a native speaker, so I'm sorry for the mistakes, you grammar nazi

PS. Looking forward for/to? that picture you mentioned.

 

[Hunn]

Talking about trading Lee, Eberle, Ho-Sang, Bellows, while retaining Ladd, Clutter, Cizikas...

On a similar note, this fandom is still serious about getting back a certain 4-liner who is usually a healthy scratch these days, but somehow perceived here as the difference between being 17 points out and being a contender.

 

[PK Cronin]

Talking about trading Lee, Eberle, Ho-Sang, Bellows, while retaining Ladd, Clutter, Cizikas...

On a similar note, this fandom is still serious about getting back a certain 4-liner who is usually a healthy scratch these days, but somehow perceived here as the difference between being 17 points out and being a contender.

They'd just say him being scratched was the reason they lost to the Bruins.

I'd be all for him coming back, if he were the same price as Johnston...but he's not and Johnston might actually have more skill than Martin does.

 

[Instant]

Talking about trading Lee, Eberle, Ho-Sang, Bellows, while retaining Ladd, Clutter, Cizikas...

On a similar note, this fandom is still serious about getting back a certain 4-liner who is usually a healthy scratch these days, but somehow perceived here as the difference between being 17 points out and being a contender.

Nah. We have Johnston, who's much cheaper, younger and his skill level is higher. Why would we want Martin back?

And hey, if trading any (or all) of Ladd, Clutter and Cizikas would land us a solid d-man or a goalie, I'm all for it. But it won't. It's usually like that, you have to sacrifice something of value to get something in return.

 

[YearlyLottery]

They'd just say him being scratched was the reason they lost to the Bruins.

I'd be all for him coming back, if he were the same price as Johnston...but he's not and Johnston might actually have more skill than Martin does.

Johnston is the reason why you don't sign Martin long term. That being said, like everything else Snow does it took way too long to find another Matt Martin type of player.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Done. I'm not a native speaker, so I'm sorry for the mistakes, you grammar nazi

PS. Looking forward for/to? that picture you mentioned.

Well as someone who teaches English as a foreign language I commend anyone brave enough to use it! Funny thing is I assumed it was a native speaker anyway lol! Thanks for fixing it though!

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

If the team does fail to resign Tavares (gulp!), then it seems obvious and logical that Snow would attempt to grab one, if not two, of Bozak, Riley Nash, Beagle, or Ryan, likely in that order.

Meaning we'll prolly end up with Plekanec...

 

[Hunn]

Getting Karlsson for Leddy (and of course pieces)? Is it really out of the realm of possibilities?

In the world of Subban-for-Weber it's doable.

I know that another OD is the next-to-last thing we need, but clearly Karlsson is a huge upgrade over Leddy.

I know that Karlsson is better than Subban, Subban is better than Weber, and all of them are way better than Leddy. However, taken into account their contracts, supplemented with pieces, probably we can get Karlsson for Leddy (and pieces)? Pipe dream?

 

[Knoxville555]

UFA

UFA Resigned:

F: Tavares
D: –
G: Gibson

UFA Gone:

F: Kulemin
D: De Haan, Hickey, Seidenberg
G: Halak

UFA Don't care / Don't know:

F: Gionta, Jones, Wagner
D: Helgeson, Lafranchise
G: Gudlevskis

Comments.

Obviously, I would like to resign Tavares. He's no Crosby of course, but he's still the best player we have. Moreover, I'd say he's still our best player by far – in spite of his cold streaks and the emergence of Barzal.

Saying that, I have to admit that if he walks I won't be on that proverbial suicide watch. Boston survived departure of their best player and "the face of the franchise" quite well, we will survive too.

Gibson is relatively young by goalies standards. I would like to retain him to see whether he's yet another backup, a bust, or a diamond in the rough. Jury is still out on him. Besides, he's cheap.

And yes, I know that him and Gudlevskis are of the same age. The difference is I've seen enough of Gudlevskis to judge him as a career minor leaguer.

Hickey, Kulemin, and Seidenberg are not worth to retain. De Haan and Halak are most probably gone by themselves.

As a side note, I think that Halak will get a starting job and very nice numbers with his new team.

Other UFA are fringe NHLers, easily replaceable from within or by the market.

One thing we are not, nor ever will be is a franchise like Boston.
Its like comparing a Corvette against a Corvair.

 

[eoin92]

Did someone fix the title of this thread?

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

Getting Karlsson for Leddy (and of course pieces)? Is it really out of the realm of possibilities?

In the world of Subban-for-Weber it's doable.

I know that another OD is the next-to-last thing we need, but clearly Karlsson is a huge upgrade over Leddy.

I know that Karlsson is better than Subban, Subban is better than Weber, and all of them are way better than Leddy. However, taken into account their contracts, supplemented with pieces, probably we can get Karlsson for Leddy (and pieces)? Pipe dream?

Well, here's the problem with that...

Leddy is signed at 5.5 million per through the 21-22 season.

Karlsson has one more season at 6.5 million.

IF OTT would want Leddy AND the NYI would want to part with that long-term "contract weight", then a move of this nature would have to be of interest to the Isles, granted Ottawa doesn't want a mirage of other pieces as well, which you have to think they will (think Bellows, 1st rounders, etc.).

But whether we would bring in a Karlsson or an OEL, we're talking about a highly paid offensive Dman with just one year on his contract before hitting the biggest free agency period of his life.

That means going through the entire Tavares-style fiasco all over again and possibly watching a huge game-changer walk.

I just do not see this team as close enough to being cup-worthy to throw all the eggs into such a risky bucket. And I wouldn't trust Snow to aptly manage the situation in favor of the franchise either - I mean why would we believe we'd see any more assurance and security in the situation than we've seen with Tavares, who is home-grown to boot???

If Karlsson had another 3 years on his contract, then that would be a totally different story.

 

[Hunn]

Bump this up, 1 year later, to boast how smart I was and to confess humbly how stupid I was.

Saying that, I have to admit that if he walks I won't be on that proverbial suicide watch. Boston survived departure of their best player and "the face of the franchise" quite well, we will survive too.

Happy with this comment, would have never ever believed they would rebound so fast so soon (basically immediately).

Undoubtedly, Tavares would make this team better, but whether having Tavares would have been worth the pure enjoyment of seeing them playing the Leafs 3 times per year – I'm not so sure.

As a side note, I think that Halak will get a starting job and very nice numbers with his new team.

I was surprised he signed with a team with an established No 1. Nevertheless, he proved, much like the Isles themselves, that the last season numbers were entirely on Weight and his cronies, not the personnel.

I like Johnston, he's perfect 4th liner. He's cheap.

Return of Martin made Johnston much less relevant. He is not a "perfect 4th liner", but it's nice to have this kind of depth.

Pulock is the only young defenseman in NYI system capable of top-4 duties right now. If there is a defenseman to retain from this trainwreck of Weight's "defense" – it's him.

Happy, happy, happy.

Toews is highly praised by those who pay close attention to minors (including Snow), so I go with the majority.

Happy again.

Now we turn to our best trade asset: Brock Nelson. In my opinion, he is among those unfortunate players good enough to play in NHL, but not good enough offensively for top-6 and not good enough defensively for bottom-6. Still he is consistent 20-goals scorer, there must be a market for him. He should be shopped aggressively in the offseason.

Heh, still don't know what to think about him. It's fair to say he's our Top-5 MVP this season, but this is his walk year, so ... I don't know, truly.

He will finish his career as the greatest Islander at this side of the dynasty.

I stand for every word in this quote.

Barzal is the future: he is our Matthews-Laine-McDavid.

His numbers are less sexy than the last season, but he is still the main piece of the future.

I'm impressed with the development of Beau this year. He's already a serviceable middle-6. I don't want him traded unless in a package for something irresistible.

Here, one of the main disappointments. He is still a "serviceable middle-6", but his progress is not as good as I hoped, and, given that he looks like one of the dumbest players on this team (IMO), I have doubts about his ceiling.

Eberle is probably the only one Islander this season I can't really complain about. Both him and Lee are perfect top-6 wingers. With shrewd management we can retain them both.

Eberle is not Beau/Ladd-bad, but he didn't earn an extension, plain and simple. Lee should be resigned.

Cizikas is harder to defend because of his contract, not his play. Nevertheless, the cap keeps going up, Seattle is coming, by the end of his contract it won't cost much percentage-wise. At least no one can question his work ethics.

My Top-5 MVP:

Nelson
Lehner
Cizikas
Pulock
Boychuk

IMO: during this season Cizikas more than earned his contract and some more. Happy again.

And then there is Ho-Sang, the opposite of Cizikas in all respects, from talent to work ethics. Still believe he is part of the solution though.

Here, I changed my opinion: he is not "part of the solution". His failure to make a severely offensively-challenged team says a lot about him. His output after demotion says a lot about him. I was one of his biggest supporters on these boards, but enough is eventually enough. We all should just move.

About Boychuk: unless we draft Dahlin (and he delivers), or trade for Karlsson/Doughty, or Pulock emerges – Boychuk is our best defenseman. He won't be on a first pair for 2/3 of the league, but this is what we have right now.

And Pulock emerged! Boychuk is now our second best defenseman.

Aho and Mayfield are fillers at this stage in their careers. Both have upside.

Mayfield is above praise. As one of his biggest supporters, even I didn't expect how good he became. I want to proclaim myself Mayfield Fan Club Supreme Leader.

Dal Colle is a high draft pick of Snow, we know how it goes. Whether it will be Nino-type deal or Griffin-type one is anyone's guess.

DMC had more than enough time to prove himself. Don't see him becoming much better than what he is right now.

There are 5 players I would like to get rid of – 3 of them are no-brainers: Clutter, Greiss, and Ladd. They are the real anchors: given their age I'm highly doubtful they can improve in the upcoming seasons versus their contracts. Unfortunately, there is nothing to do with that.

Greiss: the same as Halak – he proved he is a good goalie. One year left, then we'll see.

Clutter – overpaid, his contract is acceptable so far, but the term will eventually bite us.

Ladd is done, LTIR-bound.

Leddy is very good offensive defenseman who can thrive playing for a defensively responsible team. Unfortunately, the Isles are not among those teams, and given the disbalance in talent between our forwards and our defensemen, they won't be in a foreseeable future.

I was wrong, I was stupid.

In a sense, he is much better: his +/- turnaround mirrors the Isles GA one. That's all, the main point is that he does not "thrive playing for a defensively responsible team". Should be shopped.

[As about the last sentence in the quote above – I'm ashamed of it, my only consolation is that I'm by far not the only one to make this kind of "assessment"]

Who makes defense defensively responsible? Apart from coaches, defensively responsible defensemen make defense defensively responsible – sorry for this tautology.

At least, I mentioned the coaches, otherwise, I'm stupid, no question about that.

Apart from Boychuk and De Haan we have no one, absolutely no one. On the other side, we have Leddy and Pulock as offensive defensemen, plus Mayfield trying to join offense despite his limited abilities, and Hickey consistently trying to impersonate Bobby Orr with consistently the same results.

We have no one, absolutely no one? One year later, we have EVERYONE playing a well-coached defensive game.

As about Pelech, he's very limited untalented bottom pair defenseman, who, in due time, will fall behind Pulock (already happened), and then Aho, Mayfield, and Toews. So, trade him high, now.

I hated Pelech right until about January – now he is one of my favorite Islanders. Love this guy, very-very happy to be wrong about him.