Around the League 2018-19 Offseason Part II

[NJDevs26]

Despite some very questionable signings Lou is still way ahead of both just for his draft and the Lehner signing (which to me was one of the smarter FA signings any team made this offseason. No risk very high reward.

High reward for ‘one’ season where the Isles would need to massively overachieve just to be in the playoff hunt. If Lehner was gonna be there 3-4 years or if they were a win now team, that’s one thing but the only reward you’ll get on a one year deal with that team is if they can flip him for a pick at the deadline.

 

[sabremike]

High reward for ‘one’ season where the Isles would need to massively overachieve just to be in the playoff hunt. If Lehner was gonna be there 3-4 years or if they were a win now team, that’s one thing but the only reward you’ll get on a one year deal with that team is if they can flip him for a pick at the deadline.

You don't understand the logic: if he bombs they really don't lose anything, if he proves himself to be the solution the team can re-sign him. It's essentially a tryout. And I think there is a decent chance they suprise people this year. They are a team full of guys who are incredibly motivated to prove everyone wrong coached by arguably the best coach in the league. The telling story was that after pajama boy left Trots said that literally every player sent him texts saying that everything is going to be OK. They are all going to buy into what he wants them to do, hence they can overachieve.

 

[Camille the Eel]

I think the Isles will be quite competitive for the playoffs this year IF the can get goaltending. Even without JT they are stacked at forward. They will score plenty and play a much more disciplined team game under Trotz. They will undoubtedly do a better job of keeping the puck out of their own net. They can be 10 to 20 points better this season and that’s enough to put them in the hunt, I believe.

They will finish in front of the Rangers, Buffalo, and Carolina is my guess.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Losing JT is being underestimated here.

Plus their D is bad on top of goaltending issues. Even if those improve a bit they won’t be scoring goals at the same rate as last season.

Last in the Metro is a very real possibility. I would say likely (though the Rags might challenge for that).

 

[Camille the Eel]

Your take on it is certainly the mainstream wisdom. But, really, what have they really done with JT over his career? Have they had so much success with him? I haven’t checked but maybe made the postseason twice, maybe three times. Yeah he scored the goal a few years back that won a series for them, before they succumbed to the Caps in 6 games, after leading a series 2 games to one.

He’s a special player but a bigger acquisition for the Leafs then he is a loss for the Isles. They sucked last year with him on the club. They sucked a lot over the course of his career. You can’t say - based on his record - that he’s been a guy who necessarily has made the club around him better.

I think they can compensate for his loss with a team game. And Trotz has induced that everywhere he has coached. Always.

I hope to file this discussion and revisit it next April when the proof is in. This is one discussion where time will truly tell.

 

[thethinglonger]

Not to mention the off-ice effects of JT leaving the Isles. There are a bunch of high-caliber players turning UFA very soon...guys like Seguin, Karlsson, Panarin, Duchene, etc. that will be affected by the monumental amount of cash that JT got in the UFA market.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

Losing JT is being underestimated here.

Plus their D is bad on top of goaltending issues. Even if those improve a bit they won’t be scoring goals at the same rate as last season.

Last in the Metro is a very real possibility. I would say likely (though the Rags might challenge for that).

And they basically become a one line team, which is usually a disaster for a team. That’s why be better hope that Zacha is better this year.

 

[NJDevs26]

Your take on it is certainly the mainstream wisdom. But, really, what have they really done with JT over his career? Have they had so much success with him? I haven’t checked but maybe made the postseason twice, maybe three times. Yeah he scored the goal a few years back that won a series for them, before they succumbed to the Caps in 6 games, after leading a series 2 games to one.

He’s a special player but a bigger acquisition for the Leafs then he is a loss for the Isles. They sucked last year with him on the club. They sucked a lot over the course of his career. You can’t say - based on his record - that he’s been a guy who necessarily has made the club around him better.

Eh they did make the playoffs three times with him, and that was with a tire fire organization.

Besides this Metro is brutal...other than the Rangers you can't make the case for the Isles having better talent than anyone else. I know Trotz will improve the defense by himself and they'll try to muck up games and win 3-2, 2-1 but losing JT and playing a more defensive system takes away from their offense, which was their only strength. He's a great coach but like with his early Nashville teams that only goes so far.

 

[Tundra]

Isles losing Tavares is incredibly overblown in terms of an on-ice effect. Yes, it's travesty that they got nothing for him, but the analytics show that he's not exactly at the top of his game anymore. In fact, the Islanders nearly made the playoffs in 2016-2017 when Tavares went down for the remainder of the season. It's all going to come down to reducing the GA totals, which means getting GP out of Boychuk and better defensive play from Pelech and Pulock.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Team Line Combinations - Islanders

Count me in the group finding it hard to believe that this team will be any better than last year’s team that still missed the playoffs by more than 10 points.

Scoring depth is minimal, and defense/goaltending is still a question mark.

Ho-Sang is the wild card that could help them offensively, but the only way this team gets any better is if Trotz manages to get them to play a more structured defensive game. No way they survive playing last year’s style.

 

[MadDevil]

Trotz + league average goaltending will probably keep the Islanders at least relevant. If Lehner isn't good though they're completely f***ed.

 

[Tretyak 20]

I forget about that. Ho-Sang and Trot are gonna get along marvelously, I'm sure !

 

[Japam]

The Isles will be bottom feeders every year anyone with the last name Lamiorello (probably spelled it wrong and don't care because I hate him) is involved with the team.

 

[Tretyak 20]

The Isles will be bottom feeders every year anyone with the last name Lamiorello (probably spelled it wrong and don't care because I hate him) is involved with the team.

I definitely don't hate him. Lou was undeniably the architect of the '95, '00 and '03 teams. And those teams weren't just Marty, Scott and Patty, either. They ran like Swiss watches. Lou is to hockey what Enzo Ferrari was to Formula 1, a stubborn old genius who perfectly understood his own era, but got left behind by time.

 

[My3Sons]

Trotz + league average goaltending will probably keep the Islanders at least relevant. If Lehner isn't good though they're completely ****ed.

Nah, Lou will make his big play for Schneider to save the day.

 

[My3Sons]

I definitely don't hate him. Lou was undeniably the architect of the '95, '00 and '03 teams. And those teams weren't just Marty, Scott and Patty, either. They ran like Swiss watches. Lou is to hockey what Enzo Ferrari was to Formula 1, a stubborn old genius who perfectly understood his own era, but got left behind by time.

I prefer to think of him as being like Doc Brown from Back to the Future.

 

[Bleedred]

Trotz + league average goaltending will probably keep the Islanders at least relevant. If Lehner isn't good though they're completely ****ed.

I don't know, I feel like Trotz won't really be able to save them. Trotz and good goaltending might keep them good enough in the standings to finish as high as the 2013 to 2015-2016 Devils. Poor goaltending will have them finishing down there with the 16-17 Devils.

They could have been a playoff team with Tavares for sure, but looking at their roster, aside from Barzal, I think it might even be worse than some of our teams we've had this decade.

 

[billingtons ghost]

I don't know, I feel like Trotz won't really be able to save them. Trotz and good goaltending might keep them good enough in the standings to finish as high as the 2013 to 2015-2016 Devils. Poor goaltending will have them finishing down there with the 16-17 Devils.

They could have been a playoff team with Tavares for sure, but looking at their roster, aside from Barzal, I think it might even be worse than some of our teams we've had this decade.

I think a motivated team is the only thing that matters. The castoffs in Vegas are not ubertalented. They overachieved. Last year, Our squad outside of hall should've been picked to be last even before you get to Schneider not winning a game in 2018.

We won't know until the games are played.
Us against the world mentality buys you a lot in this league.

I think the isles will exceed expectations.

 

[Bleedred]

I think a motivated team is the only thing that matters. The castoffs in Vegas are not ubertalented. They overachieved. Last year, Our squad outside of hall should've been picked to be last even before you get to Schneider not winning a game in 2018.

We won't know until the games are played.
Us against the world mentality buys you a lot in this league.

I think the isles will exceed expectations.

I think the Islanders would really be doing a lot to have a 90 point season next year. That would take some really huge goaltending and probably some guys having big seasons offensively, with Barzal repeating his rookie season in his sophomore one.

 

[sabremike]

I don't know, I feel like Trotz won't really be able to save them. Trotz and good goaltending might keep them good enough in the standings to finish as high as the 2013 to 2015-2016 Devils. Poor goaltending will have them finishing down there with the 16-17 Devils.

They could have been a playoff team with Tavares for sure, but looking at their roster, aside from Barzal, I think it might even be worse than some of our teams we've had this decade.

You are aware they have another guy who scored 40 goals and when you look at the last few years his totals hang with the absolute elite goal scorers right? And people underestimate what a team where everyone has bought into what the coach wants can achieve.

 

[Nico the Draft Riser]

Dumba signed to 6m per for 5 years

 

[Emperoreddy]

Trotz + league average goaltending will probably keep the Islanders at least relevant. If Lehner isn't good though they're completely ****ed.

It is still a bad D with questionable goaltending.

They won’t play D like peewee players sure, but Weight’s style was part of the reason they also scored so many goals.

Even if JT stayed they would be scoring less due to just playing a more sound game. Now take him out, and they are a one line team with a bunch of Lou goons who will do...idk punch people?

Also how is Barzal going to handle being the guy and the number one target for all team’s top lines in his sophomore season.

They also should be trying to sell Eberle at the deadline if Lou is smart. They need to tank.

The best Trotz does is gets them to finish ahead of the Rangers and maybe Carolina depending how their goalie situation works out and if someone decides to score down there.

They won’t be sniffing playoffs.

An absolutely awful team lost their star player for nothing, but are somehow going to surprise the league because of Trotz and f***ing Lehner?

 

[Devils Dominion]

I think a motivated team is the only thing that matters. The castoffs in Vegas are not ubertalented. They overachieved. Last year, Our squad outside of hall should've been picked to be last even before you get to Schneider not winning a game in 2018.

We won't know until the games are played.
Us against the world mentality buys you a lot in this league.

I think the isles will exceed expectations.

Agree, they will be much better than last season if Barzal and other key players stay healthy.

Rawly will also be much improved

 

[Billdo]

Agree, they will be much better than last season if Barzal and other key players stay healthy.

Rawly will also be much improved

Carolina, sure. Isles? No shot.

 

[Alex NJD]

Dumba signed to 6m per for 5 years

Good deal. Especially considering the guy scored 50 points last season.