Roster/Rumors/Speculation/Trade Talk - 2023-24: Hotel California

[Skidrow11]

So if we don't give him credit for the good things in the draft it isn't fair to discredit him for any bad picks.

Palmieri, Pageau, Lehner, Varlamov, Filpula, Dobson, Martin, Wahlstrom, were not here when Snow was here. Pelech and Nelson were on much different trajectories. Sorokin was not close to coming over.

He didn't make 1-2 additions in four years to the roster. I am not crazy about the offseason thus far if he doesn't get Kadri but man some of you act like Snow was a better GM than Lou is.

Lou is a painful GM to watch because his blueprint is of Charles Wang mentality, keep the core together , we all family, as little roster change as possible. A Yankee fan sees a GM who looks at all players as statistics, he would have no problem with a 100% turnover in middle of a season. LOU'S teams will win more than 80% of other teams over 10 years. But its tough to be patient for many of us. We want action. Don Maloney was opposite. He wanted his blue print on the team so bad he imploded the franchise by moving turgeon and malakhov. If they won with Bill torreys guys Maloney would of gotten no joy in it. He put himself 1st.

 

[MJF]

Lou is a painful GM to watch because his blueprint is of Charles Wang mentality, keep the core together , we all family, as little roster change as possible. A Yankee fan sees a GM who looks at all players as statistics, he would have no problem with a 100% turnover in middle of a season. LOU'S teams will win more than 80% of other teams over 10 years. But its tough to be patient for many of us. We want action. Don Maloney was opposite. He wanted his blue print on the team so bad he imploded the franchise by moving turgeon and malakhov. If they won with Bill torreys guys Maloney would of gotten no joy in it. He put himself 1st.

The Yankees throw more money at their mistakes to fix them. You can’t do that in the NHL. And up until last season, Lou’s Islanders had been on an upward trajectory, so Lou had a valid reason to keep the band together.

BTW, Why does Brian Cashman still have a job? He’s been BRUTAL.

 

[YearlyLottery]

Lou is a painful GM to watch because his blueprint is of Charles Wang mentality, keep the core together , we all family, as little roster change as possible. A Yankee fan sees a GM who looks at all players as statistics, he would have no problem with a 100% turnover in middle of a season. LOU'S teams will win more than 80% of other teams over 10 years. But its tough to be patient for many of us. We want action. Don Maloney was opposite. He wanted his blue print on the team so bad he imploded the franchise by moving turgeon and malakhov. If they won with Bill torreys guys Maloney would of gotten no joy in it. He put himself 1st.

A Yankee fan? Cashman and the Yankees were awful last season and decided to double down on the roster this season (close to what Lou is doing). Turned out pretty damn well for them.

 

[MarsTBOW]

A Yankee fan? Cashman and the Yankees were awful last season and decided to double down on the roster this season (close to what Lou is doing). Turned out pretty damn well for them.

Anybody who thought Gary Sanchez could be a starting Defensive Catcher (Cashman) should have been laughed out of the League!!!!!

 

[Lights911]

The crying about Barzal is hilarious, the organization has much bigger problems including the GM.

 

[Throttle]

The crying about Barzal is hilarious, the organization has much bigger problems including the GM.

The GM is the worst. He needs to go. We want the lotto again. Please, pretty please.

 

[Lights911]

The GM is the worst. He needs to go. We want the lotto again. Please, pretty please.

Didn't the current GM just lead the team to the lottery and then trade the pick for a borderline average defenseman?

 

[Mike C]

He admitted he allowed the scouts to handle the Dobson draft. Palms has not been that great at all. JGP def a good addition, but we are now saying one or two additions to a roster in four years deserves credit?

Palmieri had an excellent playoffs 2 seasons ago and had 7 goals disallowed last year as well as numerous posts, crossbars and great saves against. He played well after his son was born and scored 15 while missing 12/13 games. Add in a few from the bad breaks and he's got 20ish in a down year with the injury bug. I think he was a solid addition

 

[periferal]

Because trading our most talented player that is just entering his prime makrs no sense.

The islanders are not trading Barzal.

Just pay attention to trends...


Lou does NOT trade roster players unless he's forced to.


Toews, Leddy, and Ladd. Those are the only roster players Lou has traded, and in each case his hand was forced. Not to mention he's resigned every single notable UFA that hit the market since he took over.

I'm not even sure Lou would know how to rebuild even if it was the only choice.

Point is...Barzal ain't going anywhere.

 

[Mike C]

Just pay attention to trends...


Lou does NOT trade roster players unless he's forced to.


Toews, Leddy, and Ladd. Those are the only roster players Lou has traded, and in each case his hand was forced. Not to mention he's resigned every single notable UFA that hit the market since he took over.

I'm not even sure Lou would know how to rebuild even if it was the only choice.

Point is...Barzal ain't going anywhere.

Let's root for him to go to the net!

 

[periferal]

What I won't do is give him credit for our current success or value because he had years and years and years of opportunity to do exactly what Lou immediately did upon taking on the job, and most of the time he had the face of the franchise to work with. Lou didn't get that opportunity, which ultimately served as the straw that broke the Snow camel's back in the eyes of ownership.

In fact, having Tavares walk without replacement and then getting to the second round of the playoffs nonetheless immediately after Snow's dismissal was about as big a slap to the face of Snow's legacy as can be made. I mean, sheesh.

At the end of the day, Snow's decade as GM culminated in us seeing the second round of the playoffs just once. That feat was blown out of the water in three consecutive seasons after Snow's dismissal, despite much of the same personnel being at the core of that on-ice success.

That sure doesn't speak for Snow's body of work.

The only thing better than a poet...Is a poet who's 100% on target.

It still amazes me that people somehow look back at the Snow years and say "wow it would have worked if he had one more year!"

I found it annoying enough when we were in the middle of the snow years that those same people thought it was every going to work out.

 

[WangMustGo]

Again, if the Isles are out of it, then Barzal is part of the problem. He’s supposed to be most talented and best player according to the fanboys. If he can’t elevate his game and the team, then that’s an issue.

Ah yes, Barzal is the whole team, and its his fault the team missed the playoffs. It had nothing to do with playing 2x 40 year old defenseman that cant skate or move the puck up the ice. It had nothing to do with a 13 game road trip to start the season, the covid spree that tore through the locker room. It had nothing to do with the vast amount of injuries. It had nothing to do with Lou being unable to add top end talent. It was all Barzal.

This team needs more talent like Barzal, you dont get that by trading Barzal.

I guess we should also trade Pelech, Dobson, and Sorokin, because they must be part of the problem as well.

 

[periferal]

Or it's sarcasm. One of the two...

Since you're brand new here I'm going with "burner account" until I see more of your work.

 

[Lek]

OMG.....the start of the season can not get here fast enough.

 

[Mike C]

OMG.....the start of the season can not get here fast enough.

Amen to that!

 

[Throttle]

Didn't the current GM just lead the team to the lottery and then trade the pick for a borderline average defenseman?

Actually, the coach led them to the on ice failure.

He accelerated the development of first round pick in a super weak draft for an established top 4 cost controlled d-man. Pretty solid and underrated move.

 

[LeapOnOver]

No doubt that Snow drafted and brought in a boatload of good players.

It actually should have been a heck of a whole lot more in light of all the top 5 picks he had, but we ALL know that.

He killed it his first two drafts and then Tavares was a gimme, but he also drafted a number of players in later rounds who continue to eat important minutes for us. Turning Reinhart into Barzal and the boost needed to grab Beauvillier was his greatest coup.

What I won't do is give him credit for our current success or value because he had years and years and years of opportunity to do exactly what Lou immediately did upon taking on the job, and most of the time he had the face of the franchise to work with. Lou didn't get that opportunity, which ultimately served as the straw that broke the Snow camel's back in the eyes of ownership.

In fact, having Tavares walk without replacement and then getting to the second round of the playoffs nonetheless immediately after Snow's dismissal was about as big a slap to the face of Snow's legacy as can be made. I mean, sheesh.

At the end of the day, Snow's decade as GM culminated in us seeing the second round of the playoffs just once. That feat was blown out of the water in three consecutive seasons after Snow's dismissal, despite much of the same personnel being at the core of that on-ice success.

That sure doesn't speak for Snow's body of work.

Most of this is fair. Not giving him any credit is a personal preference, but far from logical. The team's success in the prior couple seasons highlights Snow's weakness, but also show that he was adding value and on the right track as far as roster building is concerned.

I think a lot of people overlook the fact that Isles paid a lot of importance to character and personality when drafting (all most too much) and part of that leads to high character loyal players like Pelech, Pulock and Lee. Whilst they don't always end up being superstars, they were easy to resign in an era where we didn't have a real home and needed to retain talent. You see how terrible we are at signing quality UFA's (something you espoused as our plan for the offseason and I told you it wouldn't happen) so that was a pretty important factor.

In the end Snow has tons of weaknesses, and wasn't a successful GM, but surprised you are going down the 'all or nothing' 'black and white no gray' path here which seems to be a solely American trait. The core was obtained primarily by Snow, and it'd be obtuse to not give him some credit for that. It's still well with in your rights to have an opinion like that, but it's not logical, purely emotional.

Lou is a painful GM to watch because his blueprint is of Charles Wang mentality, keep the core together , we all family, as little roster change as possible. A Yankee fan sees a GM who looks at all players as statistics, he would have no problem with a 100% turnover in middle of a season. LOU'S teams will win more than 80% of other teams over 10 years. But its tough to be patient for many of us. We want action. Don Maloney was opposite. He wanted his blue print on the team so bad he imploded the franchise by moving turgeon and malakhov. If they won with Bill torreys guys Maloney would of gotten no joy in it. He put himself 1st.

So you want them to be Vegas?

 

[Lights911]

Actually, the coach led them to the on ice failure.

He accelerated the development of first round pick in a super weak draft for an established top 4 cost controlled d-man. Pretty solid and underrated move.

Ahhh, it was the coach who led the team to on ice failure, not the GM who signed two 39+ year old defensemen to play every game for a team that was defensive oriented.

I'm also not too sure when 22 year old Romanov became "established" considering throughout his 133-game career nothing from his numbers or analytical stats proves "established" unless you're basing that off his hits and blocked shot totals. And I hope you don't further defend the trade based off Romanov's "potential" because you jump any poster who mentions Barzal's "potential".

 

[BelovedIsles]

Last year's 'failure' was a combination of factors. The road trip to start the season, COVID-IR, a flawed roster, coaching, and players not performing up to standard consistently. Everyone takes blame.

 

[Throttle]

Ahhh, it was the coach who led the team to on ice failure, not the GM who signed two 39+ year old defensemen to play every game for a team that was defensive oriented.

I'm also not too sure when 22 year old Romanov became "established" considering throughout his 133-game career nothing from his numbers or analytical stats proves "established" unless you're basing that off his hits and blocked shot totals. And I hope you don't further defend the trade based off Romanov's "potential" because you jump any poster who mentions Barzal's "potential".

Yeah, maybe Romonov is 22 and Barzal is not? Last I checked the Isles didn’t pay Barzal $7M for 1PPG or to disappear for 30+ games. I mean that 2PPG in over 125 GP is superstardom in the making. Watch out defenses, here comes Barzal! Hey Sonny Milano is a UFA - he scored 5PPG for the Lotto Ducks in 66 games - Lou should back up the Brinks truck for him. Kinda lame when non-qualified RFAs out score mr. Ice Capades.


Certainly seems that the GM went into last season wanting to go with a 100 year old Chara - his signing was in September kinda indicates that’s not what he wanted to do. Maybe the market was overpriced and he did not want to overpay in assets for a move. Maybe no move materialized to his liking. Maybe he’s so bad that’s what he really wanted - a 100 year old Chara playing. Good lord.

 

[Lights911]

Yeah, maybe Romonov is 22 and Barzal is not? Last I checked the Isles didn’t pay Barzal $7M for 1PPG or to disappear for 30+ games. I mean that 2PPG in over 125 GP is superstardom in the making. Watch out defenses, here comes Barzal! Hey Sonny Milano is a UFA - he scored 5PPG for the Lotto Ducks in 66 games - Lou should back up the Brinks truck for him. Kinda lame when non-qualified RFAs out score mr. Ice Capades.


Certainly seems that the GM went into last season wanting to go with a 100 year old Chara - his signing was in September kinda indicates that’s not what he wanted to do. Maybe the market was overpriced and he did not want to overpay in assets for a move. Maybe no move materialized to his liking. Maybe he’s so bad that’s what he really wanted - a 100 year old Chara playing. Good lord.

You're so right Barzal isn't 22, he's 25. But I'm not quite sure why you keep harping on his one power play goal. Is it ideal? No, but he finished second in PP points on a team that finished 12th in power play percentage. Doesn't seem like something to be freaking out about.

Unfortunately for Lou, it doesn't matter what plans he had pre Chara signing, he went into the season with Chara and Greene as two of his top 6 defensemen and the defense throughout the season looked exactly as you'd expect with the situation he got the team into. And boy, I hope his reasoning isn't the fact that the trade market was overpriced last offseason and he didn't want to overpay in assets because he sure as hell overpaid this offseason, perhaps in a panic move.

 

[Islanders4Cups]

Ah yes, Barzal is the whole team, and its his fault the team missed the playoffs. It had nothing to do with playing 2x 40 year old defenseman that cant skate or move the puck up the ice. It had nothing to do with a 13 game road trip to start the season, the covid spree that tore through the locker room. It had nothing to do with the vast amount of injuries. It had nothing to do with Lou being unable to add top end talent. It was all Barzal.

This team needs more talent like Barzal, you dont get that by trading Barzal.

I guess we should also trade Pelech, Dobson, and Sorokin, because they must be part of the problem as well.

Most of us are not saying Barzal is a part of the problem as much as Pat Lafontaine was not a problem. Some of us are saying Is we do not have a legitimate first line which is holding this team back from taking perhaps the next step. It may be all that is missing. Lou tried once again to fix that with Gaudreau like he tried with Panarin and came up empty. Blame Lou for that if you like. (I don’t)

Trading what was then a much better player than Barzal worked out because the team became better Instantly.

I will add Barzal has a contract situation coming soon.

It is suggested here that if you want to see a better team NOW like in 1-3 seasons, while the clock is ticking, then perhaps you entertain signing Kadri and trading Barzal for that elusive 30 goal scorer winger. Not sure what deals could be had, no one except perhaps Lou and only a few NHL GMs know.

Say for example Lou could sign Kadri and trade Barzal to say the Blues for Tarasenko and a top prospect, is Kadri with Tarasenko and say Wahlstrom or Beauvillier on the first line better than what we have now?

Now I am not saying that is the only potential deal out there. Tarasenko comes with his own problems. I have seen names like Connor and other names thrown out there. It is the concept that we are talking about So don’t climb all over the fact that a Taresenko deal is what I am suggesting is the only possibility, it is an example.

It seems the organization has been stuck going half way in with this first line situation for 3 seasons and would be better rebuilding which is next if they fail to win a cup the next 1-3 seasons which they have been built to do or going all in with a big change as suggested here. .

 

[TeamKidd]

I can't wait til Sept 1 to find out what we actually did this offseason

 

[mm11]

As the great Mr Hand used to say " What are you people on? Dope?" Lou is not trading Barzal

 

[IslandersFan17]

So if we don't give him credit for the good things in the draft it isn't fair to discredit him for any bad picks.

Palmieri, Pageau, Lehner, Varlamov, Filpula, Dobson, Martin, Wahlstrom, were not here when Snow was here. Pelech and Nelson were on much different trajectories. Sorokin was not close to coming over.

He didn't make 1-2 additions in four years to the roster. I am not crazy about the offseason thus far if he doesn't get Kadri but man some of you act like Snow was a better GM than Lou is.

The man said him self, he showed up late in the process for that draft and allowed the scouts to handle it, not sure what you are arguing here. It’s his own quote.

Again palms isn’t good and hasn’t lived up to what we needed him to be. Not a good example.

What does Filppula have to do with anything? One season here with 31 points, thanks Lou nailed it.

Lehner, you mean the guy he didn’t even allow time to think about the contract offer before moving onto Varly? One of the best stories in the league and one of the best reclamations in the league and Lou literally kicked his ass to the curb, again what kind of examples are these?

The team, as constructed is almost 90% Snow, sprinkled in with Lou unable to sign absolutely anyone of note and without being able to bring in anyone of legit note via trade.

So much so, people are willing to bring in an aging second line center for an absurd contract, and SHIFT NATURAL CENTERS out of position to try and fill the void Lou hasn’t been able to fill since arriving.

Can we also talk about the absolute miserable assessment of Toews? Or the moving out of Leddy with zero replacement ideas outside of Chara/Andy Greene?

Literally the best thing that man did was hire Trotz and subsequently fired him and hired a first time coach.

But sure go on and on about one year deals or mid performing acquisitions.

Palmieri had an excellent playoffs 2 seasons ago and had 7 goals disallowed last year as well as numerous posts, crossbars and great saves against. He played well after his son was born and scored 15 while missing 12/13 games. Add in a few from the bad breaks and he's got 20ish in a down year with the injury bug. I think he was a solid addition

Almost doesn’t count