The Isles are nasty

[WangMustGo]

Absolutely none of these things will happen, besides Tavares maybe reaching his expected point totals, even that's up in the air...

Many teams look good/great early, can the isles do it the whole season? don't see it happening IMO.

The Isles top 6 are very good, the top 4 defenseman are underrated. Leddy is still only 26 and just hitting his prime.

The goaltending will likely improve a bit, offense will likely regress a bit, overall it should balance out.

Leddy, Lee, Bailey, Eberle, and Barzal should all easily reach 50+, Tavares should eclipse 80+ points.

 

[Gargyn]

Would love to see the Isles go after a guy like Task and a dman like OEL. If they added a stud dman and a better goalie, I'd consider them a threat but for now, no, they need those things.

 

[Riseonfire]

f*** this thread. We suck, the Isles are trash. Nothing to see here.

 

[MikeyMike01]

Still don't trust their goaltending if we are talking about them competing for the cup.

Last time halak had a good playoff run was back with the Habs, so talking about a long time ago.

Halak was very good against the Capitals and Greiss was very good against the Panthers. They've both had slow starts, but have looked better lately. They're not good enough to drag a team to the Cup, but behind a high-powered offense and competent defense, I'd be comfortable with either.

 

[Kale Hulls]

Lee has been so good this season, you could tell by the second half of last season though that he was turning a corner.

 

[GrandmaSlices51631]

What? It’s funny that a top pairing defenseman wins a Norris trophy? Oh because he’s not your regular Norris contender...he’s only a top pairing D in the NHL...how lame.

Exactly this. Those who don't watch the Islanders belittle Leddy like he's some kind of scrub. Far from it, he has his defensive lapses but generally speaking, he plays a sound 200 ft game and has been great on the rush and zone entries going on 4 seasons.

Also good on the back check, has saved the Isles many times when up against an odd-man rush. He's one of the best skaters in the whole damn league, some of these trolls are ridiculous.

 

[danyhabsfan]

Pacioretty for Ho-Sang Beauvillier

 

[CornKicker]

the only thing missing from the isles is some 3C versatility.

eberle for ryan strome?

 

[davinhimself]

The award is for most proficient at the position. Regardless of the fact it’s somewhat become a d man scoring trophy, Nick Leddy isn’t winning the Norris. If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.

Leddy is excellent defensively. His skating ability makes him a really great fit for today's NHL. If anything, most Isles fans want him off the PP (or at least minutes reduced) because his minutes are more valuable at even strength. He's a true #1 in every sense of the term.

 

[BrockLobster]

The award is for most proficient at the position. Regardless of the fact it’s somewhat become a d man scoring trophy, Nick Leddy isn’t winning the Norris. If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.

Is the reason bc he is an islander? I think that's it.....

 

[Lacaar]

Stars are aligning for this team.
I bet even the water bottle guy is having a career year.

This team is motivated up the ass and they'll have a great year. That whole team is focus'd and works. I remember those days.
I hope Next year they don't the Oiler wtf do we care about hockey thing.

 

[Mr Misunderstood]

I don't care if it was by accident or on purpose, "Justin Bailey" made me laugh out loud.

 

[RMimagery]

This is the most complete team they've had since 2002.

Eleven 5 goal games already. This team generates chance after chance with their neutral zone play. Weight is doing something right.

And I like our goalies. They're a solid tandem. Look at what Halak did vs WAS in the playoffs and Greiss carried them on his back in the playoff round victory over FLA.

 

[Mrb1p]

How much the Isles wanna pay in futures for Plekanec and Lindgren ?

 

[QuadDeuces]

How much the Isles wanna pay in futures for Plekanec and Lindgren ?

Exactly zero. Plekanec has fallen off horribly and Lindgren is too unproven to replace either of our decent, but unspectacular tandem.

 

[sparxx87]

Is the reason bc he is an islander? I think that's it.....

Not at all. It’s because there’s guys like Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo and Victor Hedman who stand in his way.

You don’t have a case that Nick Leddy is more proficient at the position than those 3 listed. That’s just off the top of my head.

 

[Mrb1p]

Exactly zero. Plekanec has fallen off horribly and Lindgren is too unproven to replace either of our decent, but unspectacular tandem.

A mans gotta try.

 

[RMimagery]

Still don't trust their goaltending if we are talking about them competing for the cup.

Last time halak had a good playoff run was back with the Habs, so talking about a long time ago.

He was very, very good against the Capitals in 2015.

16 GA 7 games, .926. He was stellar against that crazy offense.

 

[CodeE]

Not at all. It’s because there’s guys like Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo and Victor Hedman who stand in his way.

You don’t have a case that Nick Leddy is more proficient at the position than those 3 listed. That’s just off the top of my head.

That's not how trophies work.

Did last year, they go "well Brent Burns had the best season for a defenseman but Drew Doughty is more proficient at the position so we can't give it to Burns"?

 

[Ainec]

I don't care if it was by accident or on purpose, "Justin Bailey" made me laugh out loud.

mans not hot

 

[sparxx87]

That's not how trophies work.

Did last year, they go "well Brent Burns had the best season for a defenseman but Drew Doughty is more proficient at the position so we can't give it to Burns"?

Are you aware of the criteria for the trophy? Voters deemed Burns to be that guy last year.

I don’t see Nick Leddy as a real candidate based on his competition. I also don’t wish to discuss it any further. I don’t value him like you do, obviously. So be it.

 

[CauZuki]

I think acquiring Eberle and Barzal has made all the difference. They knew what they were getting in Eberle but Barzal blossoming so early has really helped.

As a Habs fan , I know how a couple bad moves can make a big difference.

A GM can be mediocre but if he has a good base and doesn't make many changes a team can still do relatively well. However when you have an aggresive and mediocre GM , it's a recipe for disaster. (see Chiarelli/Bergevin and company).

Don't want to derail this thread but Habs could be icing :

Lekhonen - Galchenyuk - Gallagher
Pacioretty - Danault - Radulov
Byron - Plekanec - Hudon/Shaw

Sergachev - Subban
Markov - Petry
Jerabek - Benn

 

[Beautvillier]

Still don't trust their goaltending if we are talking about them competing for the cup.

Last time halak had a good playoff run was back with the Habs, so talking about a long time ago.


16 GA 7 games, .926. He was stellar against that crazy offense.

greiss was insane against the panthers as well.

 

[CodeE]

Are you aware of the criteria for the trophy? Voters deemed Burns to be that guy last year.

I don’t see Nick Leddy as a real candidate based on his competition. I also don’t wish to discuss it any further. I don’t value him like you do, obviously. So be it.

Am I aware of the criteria for the trophy? Yes, you seem to be the one who has trouble understanding its rewarded to the best defenseman of the previous season. The fact that "his competition" might have higher overalls in NHL 18 isn't the deciding factor you're claiming it is.

If the worst defenseman in the league - Brian Strait, Andrew MacDonald, Dan Girardi, whoever - had a defensively responsible 90-point season, they'd have a good shot at winning the Norris. It doesn't matter what they did in seasons past, all that matters is how good of a season you have. THAT'S the criteria for the trophy, not this "but I think Pietrangelo is better than Leddy therefore Leddy can never win the Norris over Pietrangelo and that's final" logic you seem to be working with.

 

[sparxx87]

Am I aware of the criteria for the trophy? Yes, you seem to be the one who has trouble understanding its rewarded to the best defenseman of the previous season. The fact that "his competition" might have higher overalls in NHL 18 isn't the deciding factor you're claiming it is.

If the worst defenseman in the league - Brian Strait, Andrew MacDonald, Dan Girardi, whoever - had a defensively responsible 90-point season, they'd have a good shot at winning the Norris. It doesn't matter what they did in seasons past, all that matters is how good of a season you have. THAT'S the criteria for the trophy, not this "but I think Pietrangelo is better than Leddy therefore Leddy can never win the Norris over Pietrangelo and that's final" logic you seem to be working with.

I don’t play video games so I don’t know, or care about the ratings of players.

You aren’t convincing someone who watches as much hockey as I do, that Nick Leddy should bump any of the 3 current front runners barring a nose dive from one of them. Even still, I don’t think he’s anywhere in the conversation. He’s not a top 10 defender and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Go make your Nick Leddy for Norris case to someone else.