New York Islanders: Roster Discussion: Filppula out 4 weeks; Boychuk, Eberle day to day

[LeapOnOver]

Have you ever thought Hoffman didn't want to sign with us? Karlsson wouldn't agree to an extension, so what's the use in that...we could have gotten Patches, but what for? If JT wasn't staying, it wasn't worth it.

We had a need to tighten defence because third line last year was non-existent and the rest was just a plain bad system. Komarov was the best out of the bunch and he wanted term..should we have done nothing and have players that weren't taught well. This is a teaching system, not a "learn on the job" kind.

I honestly don't think we will tank this year and people will be surprised at the outcome. Previously, we gave up, we didn't know what hard work was or how to win. All these guys acquired keep their feet moving and are hard workers and Trotz leads by example. I think Trotz rewards hard work and that's why Fritz is up. I am sure if things aren't going as planned, you will see some moves. We just have to see 10-20 games before he can make that assumption that things need to be changed up.

Not only have we have been improving defence, we now have depth. We can call up players and not worry about their lack of experience. Our depth can hold their own and can easily be a temp stop-gap until inuries are over instead of the season going south when 1 or 2 injuries happen.. for example..last year when cool lemon and dehaan went down.

No, I never thought of that because Hoffman is not a UFA and still has two years left on his contract. I only think about things that are relevant. I'm the first one to bring up that players don't want to come here. You completely missed the point because you probably were thinking of responses before you finished reading everything. Don't do that. All my point was that is in recent years there hasn't been a lot of trade movement or big name players leaving teams, while this offseason there was. It was in response to the previous poster who said something along the lines of 'what moves would you have made' implying nothing notable around the NHL happened this season. Well, many notable things did happen. So trying to ease angry Islander fans by claiming that it was a quiet offseason won't work this time.

Hopefully you get the point now. You didn't last time. And I find the bold laughable.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Let's play that game on players being available.

Hoffman and Paccioretty are top 6 wingers. Does this team need more top 6 wingers? And if you trade for them which top 6 wingers do you want to replace? And personally with the state of the team I'd rather have one of Dobson/Wahlstrom for at minimum 3 years plus a second contract than Paccioretty for 5 years.

Karlsson didn't want to sign an extension here. If you don't think Lou was trying to get him your out of your mind. But trading him without an extension is a dumb move. Plus it was said that if he stayed in the East the cost was a hell of a lot higher.

The fact of the matter is outside of Duchene(pending UFA) there was no top 6 centers that moved who I think they should have been in on.

What top 4 D outside of Karlsson would you have liked?

This had nothing to do with me. I was responding to another poster who made it seem like nothing happened this offseason. I'm fine watching a shitty team tank all season. Happened before with this franchise, will probably happen again. My only point was that it was not a quiet offseason and there were plenty of big name players who changed teams and were available. So those fans who wanted to see a big trade won't be assuaged by "well those big trades never happened" because they actually did, just not with the Isles. That was my only point.

 

[LeapOnOver]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the love affair Isles fans have with Grabner is nauseating. He wasn't that good.

He had a great first game with the Yotes even though they got shutout. Grabner in comparison to guys like Fritz, Filippula and Komarov makes him a lot more appealing. It's not about the quality of the thing behind the glass, it's about the quality of the stuff in your pocket.

 

[majormet]

This is my early take, we are in the right direction but these are the top concerns right now

1. Leddy on the right side - this is not going to work out, he has been on the left too long and being paired with Hickey is illogical for so many reasons
2. Cal Clutterbuck on the PP - looks great on the 4th line after 2 games, but he is not an offensive player, my guess is that he is just filling in for Ladd
3. Pulock on the 2nd power play unit, seems like he should be playing with the big boys and not Clutter and Boychuk
4. Boychuk - only 2 games but he looks like he has lost a step now
5. Lee/Nelson/Eberle - 3 finishers on the same line with poor puck movement, really need to break them up
6. Player Usage in Situations - Lee on the ice with the empty net in game #1, Martin/Clutter on the 4 vs 4

All in all, I just think Trotz is experimenting which isn't bad but the team should look like this at some point

Lee/Barzal/Bailey
Ladd/Filppula/Eberle
Nelson/Beau/Fritz
Martin/Cizikas/Clutter

If we do well, you can upgrade players, if we do badly... JHS replaces Eberle when he is traded, Bellows replaces Nelson when he is traded... Lee should be extended with a lofty deal

 

[Frankie41987]

This is my early take, we are in the right direction but these are the top concerns right now

1. Leddy on the right side - this is not going to work out, he has been on the left too long and being paired with Hickey is illogical for so many reasons
2. Cal Clutterbuck on the PP - looks great on the 4th line after 2 games, but he is not an offensive player, my guess is that he is just filling in for Ladd
3. Pulock on the 2nd power play unit, seems like he should be playing with the big boys and not Clutter and Boychuk
4. Boychuk - only 2 games but he looks like he has lost a step now
5. Lee/Nelson/Eberle - 3 finishers on the same line with poor puck movement, really need to break them up
6. Player Usage in Situations - Lee on the ice with the empty net in game #1, Martin/Clutter on the 4 vs 4

All in all, I just think Trotz is experimenting which isn't bad but the team should look like this at some point

Lee/Barzal/Bailey
Ladd/Filppula/Eberle
Nelson/Beau/Fritz
Martin/Cizikas/Clutter

If we do well, you can upgrade players, if we do badly... JHS replaces Eberle when he is traded, Bellows replaces Nelson when he is traded... Lee should be extended with a lofty deal

I think boychuk could still be an effective player but he has to be with someone who can skate/backcheck to compensate for his lack of foot speed. Toews would have been a logical choice.

 

[majormet]

I think boychuk could still be an effective player but he has to be with someone who can skate/backcheck to compensate for his lack of foot speed. Toews would have been a logical choice.

He really fits with Leddy, just that they are not a top pairing

 

[Macch]

The most common phase on these boards at the end of the year will be “player x had a much better 2nd half of the season.”

 

[majormet]

The most common phase on these boards at the end of the year will be “player x had a much better 2nd half of the season.”

I think that will be true of most players except the older ones and possibly Eberle

 

[Jester9881]

This is my early take, we are in the right direction but these are the top concerns right now

1. Leddy on the right side - this is not going to work out, he has been on the left too long and being paired with Hickey is illogical for so many reasons
2. Cal Clutterbuck on the PP - looks great on the 4th line after 2 games, but he is not an offensive player, my guess is that he is just filling in for Ladd
3. Pulock on the 2nd power play unit, seems like he should be playing with the big boys and not Clutter and Boychuk
4. Boychuk - only 2 games but he looks like he has lost a step now
5. Lee/Nelson/Eberle - 3 finishers on the same line with poor puck movement, really need to break them up
6. Player Usage in Situations - Lee on the ice with the empty net in game #1, Martin/Clutter on the 4 vs 4

All in all, I just think Trotz is experimenting which isn't bad but the team should look like this at some point

Lee/Barzal/Bailey
Ladd/Filppula/Eberle
Nelson/Beau/Fritz
Martin/Cizikas/Clutter

If we do well, you can upgrade players, if we do badly... JHS replaces Eberle when he is traded, Bellows replaces Nelson when he is traded... Lee should be extended with a lofty deal

I agree with most of this with an exeption to using Filppula as 2C

I think boychuk could still be an effective player but he has to be with someone who can skate/backcheck to compensate for his lack of foot speed. Toews would have been a logical choice.

Agree with this totally. Boychuk needs to have his minutes limited and he needs to be paired with someone who can get back fast to cover for his lack of speed and has the ability to get the puck out of trouble with their skating.

I think Leddy is playing on the right side at the moment out of necessity, but I believe after last night he will be back on the left side. Here's to hoping that doesn't mean we start seeing more of Mayfield (likely). Let us pray that Toews forces their hand and he's back in the lineup soon with Pelech sliding to the right side with limited minutes.

 

[Frankie41987]

I agree with most of this with an exeption to using Filppula as 2C



Agree with this totally. Boychuk needs to have his minutes limited and he needs to be paired with someone who can get back fast to cover for his lack of speed and has the ability to get the puck out of trouble with their skating.

I think Leddy is playing on the right side at the moment out of necessity, but I believe after last night he will be back on the left side. Here's to hoping that doesn't mean we start seeing more of Mayfield (likely). Let us pray that Toews forces their hand and he's back in the lineup soon with Pelech sliding to the right side with limited minutes.

Leddy is with boychuk in practice today! Now I’d love to pry Faulk from the Canes

 

[Jester9881]

You can tell Trotz is still feeling this team out a little. They are much better so far this season, even though they aren't "there" yet. The additions of Komarov and Filppula have really helped lock in the PK which I believe will now be a strength of the team going forward. The entire bottom six has been solid really, which is a big improvement on it's own. The PP hasn't skipped a beat, though it could use some tinkering. The one setup they have with Pulock/Barzal where they pass off to Barzal and the two switch positions with Barzal then feeding Pulock for the one timer is going to be gold.

Absolutely fix the top two lines.... Beauvillier and Lee are struggling, just swap the two and use the same top line as PP1. Not sure why Trotz hasn't done this yet. Lee feeds off of Bailey, he looks lost without someone getting the puck to him in his spot.

I predict a lot of 1 goal wins/losses.... lots of OT games and I'm calling it now close to zero go to the shootout.

 

[majormet]

I agree with most of this with an exeption to using Filppula as 2C



Agree with this totally. Boychuk needs to have his minutes limited and he needs to be paired with someone who can get back fast to cover for his lack of speed and has the ability to get the puck out of trouble with their skating.

I think Leddy is playing on the right side at the moment out of necessity, but I believe after last night he will be back on the left side. Here's to hoping that doesn't mean we start seeing more of Mayfield (likely). Let us pray that Toews forces their hand and he's back in the lineup soon with Pelech sliding to the right side with limited minutes.

I think at this point Filppula is a natural center which this team lacks, if he can get Ladd and Eberle pucks for 50 games, then you trade at the deadline for the upgrade

 

[Macch]

Do we riot now that Fritz is an extra forward ?

 

[Skip To My Lou]

Do we riot now that Fritz is an extra forward ?

I mean, since we've had nothing to complain about the past few days, I don't see why not?

 

[Lame Lambert]

I mean, since we've had nothing to complain about the past few days, I don't see why not?

Pulock is not on the 1st powerplay. Plenty to complain about.

 

[Jester9881]

At least Fritz brings something more to the table than Alan Quine and Shane Prince did. As long as he keeps up the intensity, stays out of the box and never ever attempts to fight again.

 

[majormet]

At least Fritz brings something more to the table than Alan Quine and Shane Prince did. As long as he keeps up the intensity, stays out of the box and never ever attempts to fight again.

Did Fritz ever fight?

He put up some big numbers in Bridgeport, could he be a slow developer aka Derek Ryan type?

 

[Jester9881]

Did Fritz ever fight?

He put up some big numbers in Bridgeport, could he be a slow developer aka Derek Ryan type?

He's a bleeder... and he's 37 so I'm not sure if there is any more development in him.

 

[aronjudge11]

I KNEW he was an old rookie but 37, I had to go google that. 27 is the new 19 when it comes to islanders rookies

 

[Lame Lambert]

Fritz is 27

 

[Jester9881]

Fritz is 27

HA!

This whole time I've had him confused with Mitch Fritz.... haven't cared enough to notice.

 

[majormet]

HA!

This whole time I've had him confused with Mitch Fritz.... haven't cared enough to notice.

Yeah that Fritz was the least talented guy ever to suit up in the Blue and Orange for sure

The new Fritz looks like Beck Bennett on SNL

 

[Jester9881]

Yeah that Fritz was the least talented guy ever to suit up in the Blue and Orange for sure

The new Fritz looks like Beck Bennett on SNL

All I remember about him was that he bled easily.... and a lot.

 

[Jester9881]

Leddy is with boychuk in practice today! Now I’d love to pry Faulk from the Canes

Another option from the same team is Adam Fox.

 

[Disgraced Cosmonaut]

I’m gonna get killed, but swapping Josh and Brock may work. Hear me out: JB would only play the position after the face off. Lee would take the face offs. Little known fact: AL was a center way back and takes a good face off. Doesn’t have the chops to play the full position. But that’s where I think JB would come in. JB is a better distributor.