Recalled/Assigned: Donovan down/de Haan up

[redbull]

Hickey and MacDonald have been just as bad defensively, Carkner was even worse. I don't blame Donovan for anything. Now as far as the replacement for Streit offensively, Donovan barely got any power play time when he was in there, which to me was quite puzzling, especially when Vis went down. But hell, why would anyone question such sound coaching decisions Cappy has made (sarcasm).

That's funny. And true. And sad. But mostly funny. And true.

Logic dictates new GM, coaches soon. Isles logic means just the coach, once it's too late to matter.

 

[Bexlyspeed]

How many games until deHaan gets Donovanned?

Isles fans take out frustrations on players that are setup to fail. Maddening.

Donovan will be a good defenseman one day. He looks like Marc Andre Bergeron now, without the offense, but he's a rookie. The vast majority of young defensemen struggle. Remember Del Zotto? Jake Gardiner is a healthy scratch, he was the best dman on the Leafs in the playoffs last year.

For the record, I think deHaan will be very good. Smart player. Like Hickey. If we are lucky.

Isles need a lot more than deHaan though.

exactly this. throw a kid under the bus when he doesnt have any proper NHL d men playing with him and showing him the ropes. this is why we need a veteran presence on the blue line to help all these defensemen in the system mature. but what the heck does snow know about building a team.

 

[Poulin 0n My St1ck]

Thank god, the very first thing I am THANKFUL for with this team in weeks. Not that I am the least bit excited about de Haan, but Donovan is an absolute disgrace of a defenseman. 1 goal in 22 games for a supposed offensive d-man while making some of the worst blunders and costly giveaways I have ever seen consistently from an NHL player. Hopefully, he never wears an Isles uniform again because I honestly dont see an ounce of potential in him. This is the guy we thought was going to replace Streit, hahaha. Every single person on this site, whether they admit it or not, would give their left arm to have Streit back instead of this never-will-be bum.

I thought Streit was god awful defensively...until I saw Matt Donovan

 

[blinkman360]

exactly this. throw a kid under the bus when he doesnt have any proper NHL d men playing with him and showing him the ropes. this is why we need a veteran presence on the blue line to help all these defensemen in the system mature. but what the heck does snow know about building a team.

I don't doubt that Donovan would have looked better with a solid/smart vet playing beside him, but basically giving him a free pass(which I'm assuming is what you are implying) because he didn't have that type of player is crazy. I can't count how many times Donovan got caught leading to an odd man rush. Nor can I count how many times he turned it over on the breakout leading to a scoring chance. Maybe all of the injuries put him in a position that he clearly wasn't ready for, but Donovan needs to take a lot or most of the blame for his play.

Growing pains are acceptable for rookies when they play well for the most part, or at least show signs of their potential. Donovan showed pretty much zero to be excited about. Blame that on the position he was put in if you want, but even if you're right and he was destined to play awful from the start, don't you think we would have at least seen a few flashes from him?

Isn't it possible that Donovan played terrible because he's A) not at all ready, or B) just not that good? Get mad at the organization for 'rushing' him, but on paper the kid was ready. 22 or 23 year old defenseman coming off of two very solid AHL seasons. Offensive defenseman filling a hole left by an offensive defenseman. In the offseason, it seemed like a no-brainer.

I'm not mad at the Isles for assuming he was ready. I'm mad at the Isles for essentially handing him his spot without making him earn it in TC. The Isles decided to give out spots based on seniority as well as paycheck-size instead of examining what was happening on the ice. Unfortunately it has come back to bite them.

 

[TeamKidd]

The real question is: how long after watching dehaan play, do we start wishing we had donovan back.....

 

[blinkman360]

The real question is: how long after watching dehaan play, do we start wishing we had donovan back.....

My guess is never. I'll gladly eat crow if I'm wrong, but personally I think CdH is our 2nd best D-prospect. I'm sure there will be some hiccups in the beginning, but I expect him to be pretty efficient. I think a lot of fans will come to appreciate him pretty quickly.

 

[redbull]

Growing pains are acceptable for rookies when they play well for the most part, or at least show signs of their potential. Donovan showed pretty much zero to be excited about. Blame that on the position he was put in if you want, but even if you're right and he was destined to play awful from the start, don't you think we would have at least seen a few flashes from him?

Isn't it possible that Donovan played terrible because he's A) not at all ready, or B) just not that good? Get mad at the organization for 'rushing' him, but on paper the kid was ready. 22 or 23 year old defenseman coming off of two very solid AHL seasons. Offensive defenseman filling a hole left by an offensive defenseman. In the offseason, it seemed like a no-brainer.

I'm not mad at the Isles for assuming he was ready. I'm mad at the Isles for essentially handing him his spot without making him earn it in TC. The Isles decided to give out spots based on seniority as well as paycheck-size instead of examining what was happening on the ice. Unfortunately it has come back to bite them.

Why are you so sure he didn't win the job at camp? He had a job before Martinek was signed. Visnovsky (definitely) and Strait were ahead of Donovan in the depth chart - and once they got hurt, Donovan did not rise to the occasion with the increased minutes.

Maybe he won't get better. But is anyone so sure based on what they've seen so far? I'd be shocked and dismayed if anyone can make that claim.

We can agree to disagree blinkman, but I HAVE seen flashes of promise from Donovan. I see excellent offensive instincts, good passer, excellent shot, poise with the puck in the offensive zone - he's got tools.

He has real problems with the size and speed of opposing forwards, he is slow to adjust to the NHL game and he coughs up the puck and gets caught a lot.

If it were just Donovan, I'd be concerned. But I see the same in MacDonald, Hickey (though he is a much better dman), Martinek and Carkner. Donovan, at least, has potential to get better. The others are in their way down in their game.

So when Snow deals AMac and replaces him with nobody, ditto for Nabby, McDavid is a real possibility in 2015.

I just hope the Isles do not defer the BUF pick. That would be a disaster.

 

[TeamKidd]

donovan was okay for a rookie. the problem with the islanders is that donovan should have been a #6 but was playing the role of a #3 or #4...totally out of his league. Every Dman is playing above their pay grade and it makes them all look terrible. We need 2 top four dmen stat. visnovsky cant come back soon enough. trouble is, i doubt he is.

i dont think dehaan is much of an upgrade, but if he can play a simple clean game...he'll be okay. would have preferred mayfield. at least he has some size.

 

[blinkman360]

Why are you so sure he didn't win the job at camp? He had a job before Martinek was signed. Visnovsky (definitely) and Strait were ahead of Donovan in the depth chart - and once they got hurt, Donovan did not rise to the occasion with the increased minutes.

Maybe he won't get better. But is anyone so sure based on what they've seen so far? I'd be shocked and dismayed if anyone can make that claim.

We can agree to disagree blinkman, but I HAVE seen flashes of promise from Donovan. I see excellent offensive instincts, good passer, excellent shot, poise with the puck in the offensive zone - he's got tools.

He has real problems with the size and speed of opposing forwards, he is slow to adjust to the NHL game and he coughs up the puck and gets caught a lot.

If it were just Donovan, I'd be concerned. But I see the same in MacDonald, Hickey (though he is a much better dman), Martinek and Carkner. Donovan, at least, has potential to get better. The others are in their way down in their game.

So when Snow deals AMac and replaces him with nobody, ditto for Nabby, McDavid is a real possibility in 2015.

I just hope the Isles do not defer the BUF pick. That would be a disaster.

I'm not going to write him off, that would be foolish, but I'd be lying if I said Donovan showed me some things to be excited about. He laid a big hit once, which was nice. He had a goal too, and maybe jumped up into the play effectively a couple of times, but more often than not he jumped up and cost us a goal against or at the very least an odd man break.

I don't doubt that he can go back to Bridgeport, start playing well, build up some confidence and then come back to NYI and succeed. He just could not stay up and continue to learn on the job, because it's only hurting the team as well as his development.

..and no, IMO he didn't earn anything in camp. There was one open spot, and I don't think anyone would say that he outplayed Reinhart for it. The problem was we lost Streit and the Isles wanted to replace his points. Either that, or they felt Donovan earned his stripes with his AHL play, while Reinhart was still too young to get a shot. Either way, they made the wrong choice based on TC play IMO.

 

[blinkman360]

donovan was okay for a rookie. the problem with the islanders is that donovan should have been a #6 but was playing the role of a #3 or #4...totally out of his league. Every Dman is playing above their pay grade and it makes them all look terrible. We need 2 top four dmen stat. visnovsky cant come back soon enough. trouble is, i doubt he is.

i dont think dehaan is much of an upgrade, but if he can play a simple clean game...he'll be okay. would have preferred mayfield. at least he has some size.

Donovan played about as bad as you could expect a rookie to play. If you want to look at successful rookies, look at Hamonic back in '10. Not that I expected Donovan to play at that level, but he was miles behind. Again, a few bad games here and there is something to expect and something you can live with, but I could count the amount of good games Donovan had on one hand.

..and deHaan is much better than Donovan in his own end, so yes I expect him to be an upgrade.

 

[Jester9881]

Donovan never was, and probably never will be known for his defensive game. I'll never understand why many here thought the opposite. That said, he's still a fine prospect. If anything it's his offensive game that was disappointing, I feel a lot of that has to do with the stupid power play the coaching staff is employing this season.

The good news is, CDH is known for his defensive game and poise with the puck. This style PP also plays to his strengths as a PP QB, though I'd bet my house this coaching staff never puts him there.

 

[Sparksrus3]

The CDH era begins. Gives me hope, gives me a reason to watch / go to games. He will be the giant on the ice next to ness,Mac,and hickey. Thanks- for- giving us this rookie who got his learning curve out of the way with the one game he played in 2012. Thanks for no more shanked shots,broken sticks,bad clears,stupid plays.although Donovan will be back this season. And most of all thank you. Yes you!
For being here. This few minutes a day mixed in with other things keeps me from having to talk to the Godzilla I mean wife.
Now back to business. Let's have a survey. Will CDH dislocate his shoulder in the
A- 1st period
b- 2nd period
C- 3rd period
D- getting off the bus

You may only vote once!
LETS GO ISLES!!!! BEAT THE WINGS!!!!!

 

[IslanderPride]

Donovan and deHaan have been successful EVERYWHERE. That's clue #1, not because they are "an Islanders prospect"

Not every prospect reaches their maximum upside, almost NONE of them reach that (or anywhere close) in their rookie year. Add a terrible team, terrible coach, cheap owner, sprinkle a few key injuries and it's not exactly an environment where many can succeed.

If you want to take a snap-shot of Donovan as an Islander, in the midst of this losing streak, in a bad season, and write him off, then fine. To suggest he's not a good prospect is just naive.

The NHL is FULL of young defensemen who struggle. Heck, it's full of old defensemen that struggle.

Who exactly do you suppose would be better? Look around the league, all teams need defensemen and there are very few great ones, a lot of bad ones.

I'm not suggesting Donovan or deHaan will be all-star NHL dmen. They are very taleneted, have had success at all levels of hockey before the NHL, they have potential.

If you've seen enough of Donovan to classify him as a bum, wonderful. I'm sure there are plenty of teams that will grab him once he's waived. Maybe he's the next Gervais or Campoli or Hillen. Maybe not.

Isles are a team relying solely on drafted players to carry the team through this "rebuild" - if you believe that, then you have to understand young players, especially young defensemen, need TIME and SOME will get better, some won't.

I happen to think BOTH Donovan and deHaan will have long NHL careers.

What I see in Donovan is a smart offensive player, good instincts, good shot, sometimes makes poor decisions with the puck and struggles with positioning at the NHL level. There's not a young defender in the NHL that isn't in exactly the same boat. Carlyle says the exact same things about Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner. Cam Fowler was awful defensively as a rookie. Michael Del Zotto still is.

Exactly - I Smh and lol at some of the things said in these post .

 

[cjdv16]

Donovan.... tremendously nervous and clunky with the puck. Always out of position.

Dehaan.... it's now or never, kid.

 

[cjdv16]

Donovan never was, and probably never will be known for his defensive game. I'll never understand why many here thought the opposite. That said, he's still a fine prospect. If anything it's his offensive game that was disappointing, I feel a lot of that has to do with the stupid power play the coaching staff is employing this season.

The good news is, CDH is known for his defensive game and poise with the puck. This style PP also plays to his strengths as a PP QB, though I'd bet my house this coaching staff never puts him there.

You still need to be somewhat capable. He was not. At all.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I don't think Cappy does anything with the PP. That's allllll the Doug Weight show.

With only one Dman pivoting alone on that blueline, it's hard to have anyone else from the blueline crew working up there.

And I hate to say it, but I just don't see Hamonic as having much offensive upside. I think e.g. Hickey could do much more on the PP than Tavis.

This said, I personally felt Donovan did very poorly when he had the chance. His shooting was awful (although he switched sticks, so I think that did play a role leading up to the switch) and he seemed to let good shooting or passing opportunities go by in favor of waiting longer and moving to another spot. In the NHL, that means you've usually surpassed the better opportunity. Things just move more quickly than at other levels.

As such, I hope he's playing 10 minutes of PP per night down in BPort until another few injuries lead to the next call-up. Needs to find his mojo and confidence.

 

[Islander Prophet]

Why are you so sure he didn't win the job at camp? He had a job before Martinek was signed. Visnovsky (definitely) and Strait were ahead of Donovan in the depth chart - and once they got hurt, Donovan did not rise to the occasion with the increased minutes.

Maybe he won't get better. But is anyone so sure based on what they've seen so far? I'd be shocked and dismayed if anyone can make that claim.

We can agree to disagree blinkman, but I HAVE seen flashes of promise from Donovan. I see excellent offensive instincts, good passer, excellent shot, poise with the puck in the offensive zone - he's got tools.

He has real problems with the size and speed of opposing forwards, he is slow to adjust to the NHL game and he coughs up the puck and gets caught a lot.

If it were just Donovan, I'd be concerned. But I see the same in MacDonald, Hickey (though he is a much better dman), Martinek and Carkner. Donovan, at least, has potential to get better. The others are in their way down in their game.

So when Snow deals AMac and replaces him with nobody, ditto for Nabby, McDavid is a real possibility in 2015.

I just hope the Isles do not defer the BUF pick. That would be a disaster.

I'm guessing that's a joke right???

 

[Jester9881]

You still need to be somewhat capable. He was not. At all.

I disagree to a point. If paired with a solid defensive defenseman and given minutes more suitable to his skillset, I can see him carving out a decent career as a PP trigger man in the NHL.

Anyone that is expecting, or ever expected Matt Donovan to be much better defensively than what he showed..... you're probably going to be disappointed. JMHO

Heck, even Jack Hillen has managed to stay in the NHL this long.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

I think if you dropped Donovan onto a blue line with even average vets and paired him with a defensively responsible partner he would have had a better shot at staying ir at least playing better. Seeing what we saw though you have to question why they didn't bring CdH up first. I don't think he is going to have it easy either for the same reasons.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

We shouldn't forget that Donovan is a rookie two years removed from his sophomore year of college. There's still time.

Much to learn and time to do it.

Just tough for us knowing that he did so well developing in the AHL and we really kind of needed him to somewhat replace a good bit of what Streit took with him. I really thought he'd be a 5-15-20 -5 player in spot duty throughout this season.

Can still happen, but he needs to get back on track down on the farm first.

 

[TeamKidd]

Donovan played about as bad as you could expect a rookie to play. If you want to look at successful rookies, look at Hamonic back in '10. Not that I expected Donovan to play at that level, but he was miles behind. Again, a few bad games here and there is something to expect and something you can live with, but I could count the amount of good games Donovan had on one hand.

..and deHaan is much better than Donovan in his own end, so yes I expect him to be an upgrade.

donovan came here to provide offense, to "replace" streit. Personally, I blame the coaching staff. They were trying to go 80mph with him. First year they should have told him, stay back, concentrate on playing a simple defensive game, only go when you are 100% sure. Instead they kept saying how he needs to activate and replace streit blah blah blah. Let the kid get some confidence, establish himself on the blueline before you try to turn him into streit. Kid needed to learn the nhl defensive game, and to be fair, one-on-one he was okay.....weak on the puck sometimes, but his mistakes generally came from when he was rushing up the ice and turned it over....not when he was back playing the man. yes there was some blown coverages, but thats miscommunication more than anything....

He's not comparable to Hamonic. Hammer was a strong defender and thats what he did when he came here. donovan never was a strong defender and he was asked to do waaaay too much, too soon.

 

[enigmatic]

im just stating the obvious.....what others have said countless times....

donovan has been terrible and has been sent down rightfully so......not writing him off, he just needs more time in the A and more shelter when he gets brought back up....de haan has paid his dues and deserves a shot....lets see what he does

either way, this team is still going to suck until we address our problems with veteran d-men and play de haan, reinhart, pulock, donovan, mayfield, pedan etc. 10 minutes a game until they MAKE us (hopefully not capuano by that point) play them more

 

[The Underboss]

Donovan.... tremendously nervous and clunky with the puck. Always out of position.

Dehaan.... it's now or never, kid.

SO, SO true!!

 

[Mustang2750*]

de Haan scratched!!

Hahahaha this coaching staff is an absolute joke. I hope Detroit slaughters us.

 

[Brain Hemorrhage]

de Haan scratched!!

Hahahaha this coaching staff is an absolute joke. I hope Detroit slaughters us.

Ask and you shall receive.

That said, de Haan played a better game tonight vs. the Caps than Donovan has played all season on the Island. Very poised. As a bonus, made a fantastic pass to Grabner, who was apparently sleep walking towards the net and did not see the pass coming. Should have been a scoring opportunity, if not a guaranteed goal.

By contrast, the best I have seen from Donovan this year was to try to go for redirections off players sticks.

Also noteworthy, de Haan's state line: played 20:07 TOI, 4 hits, 2 blocked shots, and ZERO turnovers.