The Full Tank (Part 1)

[Uncle Duke]

Been listening to a lot of podcasts and reading a lot of articles lately. The Isles specific podcasts/articles are generally hedging their bets and trying to find reason for hope and optimism, but the national podcasts and articles are almost universally convinced that the Isles are going to absolutely suck and that Lou is, based on some, if not all, of the moves he has made, intentionally making sure of it. Personally, I don't know what to think, though I have to admit, some of these moves are, uh, a bit curious. Anyway, wonder what you guys think he's doing?

***Remember, I'm not asking you what you think about tanking, I'm asking you to get inside Lou's head and try figure out what he's thinking.

Click to read more...

 

[And You Feel Shame]

I think the tank is "Plan B" and that the expectation to start the season is that structure and grit will make this team competitive. If the TDL rolls around and this hasn't happened, then I expect pieces to be moved and the Tank will be on.

BTW, the main thing the previous management of this team lacked was a Plan B. Everything they did, everything they tried was high risk, high reward, but there was never the fall-back for when something did not work out.

 

[Uncle Duke]

I think the tank is "Plan B" and that the expectation to start the season is that structure and grit will make this team competitive. If the TDL rolls around and this hasn't happened, then I expect pieces to be moved and the Tank will be on.

BTW, the main thing the previous management of this team lacked was a Plan B. Everything they did, everything they tried was high risk, high reward, but there was never the fall-back for when something did not work out.

Yeah, I had a TDL maybe choice in there but somehow I screwed up and posted the same question twice.

 

[Macch]

It's simple:

The islanders lost their best player. There are too many holes to fill within one off-season.

LL is working with Trotz to lay the foundation of becoming a tough team to play against, hence all the grinders.

These grinders are here to let the prospects develop at lower levels while Trotz creates a structured team. It's better to sprinkle in 1 or 2 young players at a time instead of having 3 or 4 all at the same time.

During the season, LL will look to move Lee, Eberle, and Nelson. That's why you've heard there's been no extension talks.

LL will stock up on picks/prospects and hope the Isles 2019 first round pick can be a another cornerstone player that can contribute sooner than later.

This is the present day tank. Isles will never say they're tanking, but they know they don't have talent to compete with true playoff teams.

 

[islesfan3913]

I went with the second option. I think this year is going to be a year of evaluations and most likely a fairly poor team. Not bottom five, but most likely bottom ten or just outside of there. We’ll probably deal off a few of our impending UFA’s at the deadline and then get a look at guys like Bellows, Ho-Sang, Toews, Dall Colle, Aho, Pelech, and Mayfield in the second half just to see what we have going forward.

 

[DerekKingSnipes]

It's simple:

The islanders lost their best player. There are too many holes to fill within one off-season.

LL is working with Trotz to lay the foundation of becoming a tough team to play against, hence all the grinders.

These grinders are here to let the prospects develop at lower levels while Trotz creates a structured team. It's better to sprinkle in 1 or 2 young players at a time instead of having 3 or 4 all at the same time.

During the season, LL will look to move Lee, Eberle, and Nelson. That's why you've heard there's been no extension talks.

LL will stock up on picks/prospects and hope the Isles 2019 first round pick can be a another cornerstone player that can contribute sooner than later.

This is the present day tank. Isles will never say they're tanking, but they know they don't have talent to compete with true playoff teams.

I can see Eberle and Nelson but I see Lee as possibility of being signed. I could see Lee signing and being assigned an “A” going forward.

 

[Macch]

I can see Eberle and Nelson but I see Lee as possibility of being signed. I could see Lee signing and being assigned an “A” going forward.

Lee should understand.

If he wants to be back here next year, we can sign him during the UFA period.

 

[aronjudge11]

Lee eberle and nelson are all gone by the trade deadline so yes it's a tank. In fact if the team is good Lou has to switch gears sign two of those players by Christmas the longer he waits the price goes up. LOU doesn't see those players in his plans unless the team becomes a playoff contender, just like JT didn't see the ISLES in his plans if they weren't going to be contenders.

 

[BelovedIsles]

The first choice is most aligned w what I think LL and co. perceive.

There’s a lot of conjecture out there that LL no longer knows how to build a modern, successful roster or that he’s intentionally tanking. I think there’s some validity to the first premise. I do think he favors veterans and old school style players, ala Komarov/Martin/Filp that may not fit the current trends of the game.

That said, JTraitor left LL blindly, he didn’t have time to cull together tangible backup plans, and FAs did not want to sign with a JT-less team. As a result, he was left w scraps, he needed to address the bottom 6, thus, he plugged HIS type of players for bottom 6ers into those roles.

This is how I make sense of what he did and forecasts. They’ll be better than most predict, not good enough for the playoffs, and LL and co. believe they can sneak into a spot.

 

[BrockLobster]

There is no tank. There are alot worse teams than them. I think theyll be better than last year. I know im in the minority.

 

[MYIslanders]

The tank is plan B. You don’t fill your roster with a bunch of former Alternate Captains and tough bastards to play against, not to mention one of the team’s most productive lines in recent history if you’re trying to tank.

 

[PWJunior]

The tank is plan B. You don’t fill your roster with a bunch of former Alternate Captains and tough bastards to play against, not to mention one of the team’s most productive lines in recent history if you’re trying to tank.

The door is open for a miracle run if everything comes together, the team is well positioned to 'tank' in the case where the team is not very good in the W-L column.

People are way too hung up on the 'tank' word. It's a course correction season, a transition season. Pinning our hopes on rainbows and unicorns, burying our heads in the sand is not going to help matters.

 

[Ori]

Isles started really strong in this pre season - I believe they will be better than some hockey magazine predicts earlier this year.

 

[Isles Junkie]

we're too good to be serious Hughes contenders, and we're probably too bad to make the playoffs. We're pretty much a purgatory team. Hopefully Lou and friends are actually able to bring us into actual contention within 2 years.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

I know it has no become the cliche of the lesser talent rosters to look at Vegas' run and say, "why not us?" but I don't care, I'm saying it.

Barzal
Trotz
Defensive Structure

"Why not us?"

 

[crasherino]

I think its a VERY rare occasion when a team - front office/players/coaching staff - even consider the concept of tanking. Now, there's the view point of "don't mortgage the future for a short term asset" but that's different from tanking. I think LL is trying to build this team to win this season - within reason of course. We lost our best player and we need to be conscious of that. This gritty/tough to play against team, sprinkled in with some talent is the best we can build for the '18-'19 season. So that's our team construction.

If this team goes south quick, the mindset goes from "lets do our damnest to make the playoffs" to lets maximize these assets that may not be here long term.

 

[JeffNYI]

If we traded Lee, Nelson and Eberle before the season started for futures we'd struggle with the cap floor the whole season... So by keeping those guys for a few months we actually give ourselves some flexibility later in the year or at the TDL..

I think Lou's plan is genuinely a wait-and-see approach.. I think he knows what he'll do if we're good, I think he knows what we'll do if we're a bubble team, and I think he knows what he'll do if we suck..

We just need to wait and see what we look like after 30-40 games and decide what we'll do.. but as others have mentioned, it's a mish-mash of possibilities with this team.... we have high end-pieces and a very high end coaching staff.. I think waiting to see who we are is the right approach versus selling off guys in the pre-season..

 

[Satan'sIsland81]

It's simple:

The islanders lost their best player. There are too many holes to fill within one off-season.

LL is working with Trotz to lay the foundation of becoming a tough team to play against, hence all the grinders.

These grinders are here to let the prospects develop at lower levels while Trotz creates a structured team. It's better to sprinkle in 1 or 2 young players at a time instead of having 3 or 4 all at the same time.

During the season, LL will look to move Lee, Eberle, and Nelson. That's why you've heard there's been no extension talks.

LL will stock up on picks/prospects and hope the Isles 2019 first round pick can be a another cornerstone player that can contribute sooner than later.

This is the present day tank. Isles will never say they're tanking, but they know they don't have talent to compete with true playoff teams.

Our third and fourth lines are already ugly enough, if we trade those three guys it will be the entire second line. If you take those three guys out of the lineup, it is not bottom 5 or bottom 3, it is THE worst team in the NHL. If our current third and fourth lines become the second and third lines, this team will have the number 1 pick next summer, no doubt.

 

[Uncle Duke]

we're too good to be serious Hughes contenders, and we're probably too bad to make the playoffs. We're pretty much a purgatory team. Hopefully Lou and friends are actually able to bring us into actual contention within 2 years.

That's a hard place to grow from, the mushy middle, which is why a lot of hockey minds think the full tank is what LL is trying to accomplish in the short run. Not saying they're right, but it's what they're saying almost across the board.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I'm hoping for Isles fans sake, it's a VGK tank that turned into a full blown cup run. Hockey is a funny game.

 

[crasherino]

I'm hoping for Isles fans sake, it's a VGK tank that turned into a full blown cup run. Hockey is a funny game.

I'll drink to that!

 

[Brunomics]

Team is too good to tank. I expect this team to be in the playoff race and to fall off late. Here are the reasons:

1)Trotz - This team during the Weight regime played a completely unstructured game. Just seeing them in the preseason says to me they will be tightening up on the defensive side of the puck and they will be much tougher to play against.

2)They will score goals. They lost one man. Everyone in the top six can still score and put up points(yes even Nelson)

3)Bottom six looks much better. They were putrid last year. Crap on the 1 year signings(and Komorov) all you want but it's night and day from last year.

4)Lehner/Greiss and the Korn effect. I believe that outside of last season with their track record our goalies at minimum will be league average.

5)Injuries will not kill this team. Once they happen they have suitable players that can fill every specific role on the team.

This is a team that will have few highs and few lows. I don't see any huge losing streaks on the horizon but I don't see them going off and winning 10 in a row.

Over/Under for me is about 90.5 points.

 

[Bones45]

Is this a serious poll?

Do people really think that Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz -- are going to tank the season?

Ill say 0% chance of that.

How is it still September and I'm ready to take a break due to dumb posts already?

We are going to suck this year (judging solely by the roster at this point) no doubt -- possibly more horrible than we expected, but Ill take LL and Trots making changes on this team every time over Snow and Weight.

Comon people, think!!

 

[CREW99AW]

I think Lou wants them to be as competitive as possible, even while trying to evaluate the roster and buy time for key youngsters to develop.

Hard to believe the isles will finish lower is the standings then a Sens team, starting a major rebuild or a Canucks team that finished lower last season and had the Sedins retire.

 

[Quickdraw2828]

I'm worried that Lou is trying to turn this franchise into a replica of his old New Jersey Devils who were without question the most boring team in the league to watch. No surprise he didn't jump at JHS and Bellows even though he talked about the importance of speed and youth. You can tell he wasn't the main architect in Toronto but now that he has the power it's going to be a slow, hard hitting, grinding team. Only problem is the refs are calling a closer game these days. Not to mention we don't have the hall of Fame goaltender who was necessary for all of New jersey's 2-1 or 3-2 wins.