Change has to happen at the top. Unless ownership cleans house in the front office, the NYI are going to continue to more or less suck. "Bubble team" just cannot and should not be good enough — and that is all they are. And please — lets not pretend that if they somehow make the playoffs this year, they wont get crushed — just like they did the past 2 seasons.
No.
To win a championship, change is needed. WE DO NOT need a total rebuild. We do need to retool on the fly and only a smart, savvy GM can do that. Lou is NOT the guy for this. He has had enough time, and he just continues to vomit up the same roster and the same talk and it has gotten us nowhere.
2020-2021 shortened seasons were the ONLY reason the team over-performed and made back-to-back conference finals. The shortened seasons played a massive role in the results in the playoffs in both those years. Yes, they were a bit better with more depth — especially on the blue line. But Lou traded away the skaters and movers and we are left with slow and aging.
I love Nelson, but he MUST be traded along with Palm on March 7. YES — even if they are nibbling in or around the playoff picture. The Islanders MUST get younger, and fill up some draft and prospect assets. You want to end the "country club" mentality — then you need younger players pushing the vets out. Martin and Fasching should also be traded — and I don't care if its for a 6th round pick. Additional by subtraction.
The order should come from ownership now to direct Lou to move out the expiring UFAs for the best assets possible. As a result — we should — at bare minimum — have 2-3 new prospects AND at least 1 additional first round pick and 1 additional second round pick. The new GM can go into the draft with some assets to either use or trade, and head into July 1 with some flexibility.
Trading Lee and Pageau should also be on offering — IF — and ONLY IF they yield a quality return. We shouldn't force that.
This group will never get it done. That means CHANGE!!!
