Stephen Gionta signs

[IslesNorway]

As per Capfriendly, Stephen Gionta has signed. Must be better than Kovar then....

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[Strait2thecup]

Aaaaand this is why we shouldn’t have cut Kovar. Major mistake on managements part

 

[IslesNorway]

If they wanted to give youth a chance in Bridgeport, why the hell sign a 35 year old in Kovar's place??

 

[The 29th Pick]

If they wanted to give youth a chance in Bridgeport, why the hell sign a 35 year old in Kovar's place??

Lou loves his old vets, get used to this

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Lou loves his old vets, get used to this

Gionta has been in our org for a bit, good guy. He's filling in for a few games and then going down to Bridgeport, no biggie.

 

[Newsworthy]

This move doesn't really make much sense.

 

[Islesfan22]

Gionta has been in our org for a bit, good guy. He's filling in for a few games and then going down to Bridgeport, no biggie.

Problem is he’s washed up. Waste of space on the ice.

 

[IslesNorway]

When they invited him to camp I always knew they'd sign him. Lou likes his old Jersey chums, which is why only Gomez were kept among the coaches too. Pointless signing and I wouldn't be surprised if they got Seidenberg as well now

 

[Macch]

This will be the move that wrecks our season.

 

[Macch]

Aaaaand this is why we shouldn’t have cut Kovar. Major mistake on managements part

This should help people realizes how little Trotz thought of Kovar.

Not a major mistake at all

 

[PWJunior]

Is there any info on Zeeker's injury? Is he out long term?

 

[Kevin27NYI]

When they invited him to camp I always knew they'd sign him. Lou likes his old Jersey chums, which is why only Gomez were kept among the coaches too. Pointless signing and I wouldn't be surprised if they got Seidenberg as well now

That's definitely why.. not the fact he coached the 6th best PP last year

 

[eoin92]

 

[CupHolders]

I like Gionta and I am glad that he has signed. He has been a solid fill-in his entire time as an Islander.

I'm going to speculate, that despite the reports, Kovar refused to go to Bridgeport; but LL wasn't going to let that sit within the organization. Just my hunch, I have no sources.

 

[MJF]

Lou loves his old vets, get used to this

It’s not just Lou. Barry Trotz favors vets. I’ll defer to their judgement.

 

[Brunomics]

I'm fine with Gionta on the fourth line. He's a nice fill in on that line with some jam.

Those that wanted kovar remember he refused to report to Bridport and his skating sucks.

 

[ScaredStreit]

If Gionta makes or breaks our next few games, we never had a chance to begin with.

 

[DerekKingSnipes]

I’m glad Lou acknowledged he will end up in Bridgeport as well. He is what he is a good pro depth player and can play defense and kill penalties and he isn’t taking a kids job as we do not have any young centers in Bridgeport. I’m fine with him signing.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

This should help people realizes how little Trotz thought of Kovar.

I don't know. It could just be more of a confluence of circumstances. Kovar was probably itchy to resolve the situation and the team couldn't sit on him forever. Bigger problem is the lack of depth at center which was never addressed, especially considering the likelihood of the Kovar situation going sideways was good.

No matter what, this isn't the best situation. What happens if another C gets banged up?

 

[IslesNorway]

Not a problem with this per se but It's strange they couldn't accommodate Kovar yet found room for Gionta, whose upside is zilch. A model pro, 4th line guy and Pk'er but surely not better than Kovar. He won't see much time with the Isles and has done okay for us the past two years so it doesn't matter much but it is a little weird

 

[PWJunior]

Not a problem with this per se but It's strange they couldn't accommodate Kovar yet found room for Gionta, whose upside is zilch. A model pro, 4th line guy and Pk'er but surely not better than Kovar. He won't see much time with the Isles and has done okay for us the past two years so it doesn't matter much but it is a little weird

Kovar is of no use on the 4th line or in a checking role. That's not the type of player that he is.

 

[13th Floor]

Not a problem with this per se but It's strange they couldn't accommodate Kovar yet found room for Gionta, whose upside is zilch. A model pro, 4th line guy and Pk'er but surely not better than Kovar. He won't see much time with the Isles and has done okay for us the past two years so it doesn't matter much but it is a little weird

Because people in Kovar's situation handcuff the team. It's an NHL regular or nothing -- that's pretty difficult for a player who has to transition from a completely different style of play and from another country. He needs 'developing' and it's known he won't go to the league created for development. So the other option is signing him and keeping him in the press box for the majority of the year and then expecting him to perform in spot duty. That isn't an equal situation to developing a player who's in it for the long haul. And it's probably why outside of guys like Panarin, we don't see a lot of these KHL transitions. It doesn't leave many options for the team.

Yes, there will be times this year that we will be thin at C due to injuries, but that doesn't necessarily change the decision at the point in time after training camp. With finite roster spots, it's revisionist to say we keep a spare transitioning center on our team for the unknown timing of when we could be thin at center. Which, to point out, isn't even right now since it looks like Cizikas will probably only miss one game.

Gionta is in there to do literally nothing else but not f*** up. I don't want any of our prospects in that spot. I'd rather a guy who grabs his lunch pail, puts in effort, follows orders, and then punches out. When Bellows cracks the line up, I want him pushing play and gaining confidence to take risks.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

Kovar is of no use on the 4th line or in a checking role. That's not the type of player that he is.

And the biggest part of the whole thing... gionta is only here till next Wednesday.

 

[Isles Junkie]

Gionta is like a cockroach

 

[Bronson]

Aaaaand this is why we shouldn’t have cut Kovar. Major mistake on managements part

More like: this is why Kovar should have reported to Bridgeport. He would easily have been called up had he been there.