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

[beach]

I think Pens and Caps have goaltending issues and they are older than the Isles!
Rags rely too much on Shesterkin and outside of their top 3 F and Fox they are very ordinary.
Devils have a young team, but they are small upfront.
Bluejackets can be a surprise, but in the end not good enough in net.

My prediction - Metro
Canes
Rangers
Isles
Pens
Jackets
Caps
Devils
Flyers

The Canes will not be as good as they were and I think the Devs will be in the mix:

Rangers
Canes
Jackets
Isles
Devs
Pens
Caps
Flyers

 

[leeroggy]

Yes my boy started 8/10. Yeesh I would of been bummed starting school in August as a kid on the mean streets of leafy massapequa.

As long as Alec Baldwin didn't have a pistol they weren't mean

Now, the Mean Street Posse . . .

Mean Street Posse Entrance Video

Check out Mean Street Posse's entrance video. WWE.com is your home for all your favorite WWE Superstar and Diva entrance videos.

www.wwe.com

 

[SI90]

Dennis Cholowski and Hudson Fasching signed. Good depth but will mostly play in the AHL.

 

[Mike C]

One of the best top fours in the East now signed for the next three years at 22% of the current cap.

Sorokin also a steal for two years at 4M per.

Time to go back to eating teams up alive defensively and get this team into the playoffs so GMLL can go out and acquire a high-end scorer at the deadline.

i can buy into that!

 

[mm11]

As long as Alec Baldwin didn't have a pistol they weren't mean

Now, the Mean Street Posse . . .

Mean Street Posse Entrance Video

Check out Mean Street Posse's entrance video. WWE.com is your home for all your favorite WWE Superstar and Diva entrance videos.

www.wwe.com

Brian Setzer was walking around with a guitar case all the time. Nerve racking man, very mean! Not to mention Jerry Seinfeld patrolling the streets and hallways........bad men, bad men

 

[crasherino]

The only positive I'll take from this situation of not improving our forward core is that Lou didn't do something that truly hampered our long term outlook. Granted, that's not much of a positive but considering that Lou's not here for the next 20+ years, one of my concerns would be that he'd mortgage the future for some short term benefit and then bail in the 1-2 years. Being that he is likely looking for a new contract at the end of this season, he has every incentive to make this team as good as it can be. If the team comes up short again, Lou is probably gone. Knowing that, he's stuck with the team he's got.

From an overall perspective, I'm not particularly pleased that we didn't improve our team, but that's probably related to the past several years of questionable deals that ultimately hamstrung us. Death by a thousand cuts that ultimately wouldn't allow us to sign the FA we want/needed.

JGP/Bailey/Lee/Palmieri/cizikas/Martin/clutter.....None of them are especially egregious on their own, but collectively they've taken up cap (and almost as importantly) roster spots that could have gone to cheaper players, and now we feel the brunt of those moves.

 

[xECK29x]

Stastny to the Canes

 

[xECK29x]

Dennis Cholowski and Hudson Fasching signed. Good depth but will mostly play in the AHL.

Original tweet updated

 

[doublechili]

Lou said in the "availability" yesterday that he has conversations with other GMs every day and things are always being discussed (probably more than we can all imagine). I assume this is ditto for agents during UFA time. He also said they determine that most deals aren't worth what you have to give up to get the player. I assume by "deal" he also means potential UFA signings, factoring in all costs. I think we can assume with Lou that he factors into that how the deal could impact the team cohesion that he seems to value so much.

So, for example with Kadri, would it have been a good "deal", and I'm making some of this up, to "trade" Bailey, potentially a 1st or 2nd or 3rd round pick (if necessary to move Bailey), cap space of $2M for 2 years, plus the commitment of $7M for an additional 5 years, for Nazem Kadri? That's the way they view these things, and I think they only make a deal if they decide it would be a clear win (otherwise they'd rather not rock the boat for a minor upgrade). We don't know if they even were serious players for Kadri (or JG), but that kind of analysis is what they probably do to decide whether they make an offer to a UFA, and what kind of offer they make. So maybe they decided that they thought it was a "deal" worth making at an offer to Kadri of 5 years at $6.5M, and he declined. Again, making this up, but since we don't know anything anyway....

On the other hand, it sounds like the Romanov deal popped up last minute at the draft and they jumped at it. I'm sure they know the player, and they made the fast calculation that trading the #13 overall pick was worth it for that player, at his age, position and likely cap hit (in the short term, anyway).

 

[Chardo]

Just saw Adam Fox was convicted. I got excited, then saw it was that Michigan kidnap plot. Oh well.

 

[seafoam]

From Chara and Greene to Romanov and CholoCop.

I'm not sure how much pull Lambert has with these transactions, but it's clear the Islanders are looking to make their blueline mobile again.

Plus Aho and Salo are older and more experienced to boot.

Pelech-Pulock
Romanov-Dobson
CholoCop-Mayfield
Salo-Hutton
Aho-LaDue

 

[Metnut]

Use the rest of the cap room to add a d-man. I’d be fine bringing back De Haan. I think that’s where the best remaining value is. Let’s make our D 1-6 among the best in the league with no weakness.

If the team is in the playoff position at the deadline then use our picks to try and upgrade the iffy (at best) forward situation.

 

[seafoam]

Use the rest of the cap room to add a d-man. I’d be fine bringing back De Haan. I think that’s where the best remaining value is. Let’s make our D 1-6 among the best in the league with no weakness.

If the team is in the playoff position at the deadline then use our picks to try and upgrade the iffy (at best) forward situation.

Islanders signed Cholowski today to compete with Aho and Salo.

 

[impaaaaaact]

Looking like it'll be a battle between Cholowski, Aho, and Salo - all three are mobile and offensive minded and will probably be paired with Mayfield. IMO Aho is the frontrunner out of the gate by a smidge being on the one way contract and having spent more time with the team, but Cholowski has played about twice as many games and is listed as being 3 inches taller and 20 lbs heavier. Could easily see him coming away with the job. Salo and Bolduc probably start in Bridgeport at this point.

 

[impaaaaaact]

Admittedly I don't know much about Cholowski. Looks like he was drafted the pick after Bellows and played a fair amount in Detroit - then ended up on Seattle who have a left side of Dunn, Oleksiak and Soucy and didn't play much. Probably a put up or shut up year for him, similar to Bellows. No risk pickup with some upside.

 

[MJF]

JGP/Bailey/Lee/Palmieri/cizikas/Martin/clutter.....None of them are especially egregious on their own, but collectively they've taken up cap (and almost as importantly) roster spots that could have gone to cheaper players, and now we feel the brunt of those moves

Well said.

 

[Skidrow11]

Lou said in the "availability" yesterday that he has conversations with other GMs every day and things are always being discussed (probably more than we can all imagine). I assume this is ditto for agents during UFA time. He also said they determine that most deals aren't worth what you have to give up to get the player. I assume by "deal" he also means potential UFA signings, factoring in all costs. I think we can assume with Lou that he factors into that how the deal could impact the team cohesion that he seems to value so much.

So, for example with Kadri, would it have been a good "deal", and I'm making some of this up, to "trade" Bailey, potentially a 1st or 2nd or 3rd round pick (if necessary to move Bailey), cap space of $2M for 2 years, plus the commitment of $7M for an additional 5 years, for Nazem Kadri? That's the way they view these things, and I think they only make a deal if they decide it would be a clear win (otherwise they'd rather not rock the boat for a minor upgrade). We don't know if they even were serious players for Kadri (or JG), but that kind of analysis is what they probably do to decide whether they make an offer to a UFA, and what kind of offer they make. So maybe they decided that they thought it was a "deal" worth making at an offer to Kadri of 5 years at $6.5M, and he declined. Again, making this up, but since we don't know anything anyway....

On the other hand, it sounds like the Romanov deal popped up last minute at the draft and they jumped at it. I'm sure they know the player, and they made the fast calculation that trading the #13 overall pick was worth it for that player, at his age, position and likely cap hit (in the short term, anyway).

Of course thus is how Lou has to look at things and also like you mentioned, he has to keep salary in line. Kadri can't get more than the capt. Kadri can't get 8 mil, because then barzal wants 9 mil. For many fans Lou being stuck with same team that couldn't win 2 games in a row through the 1st 50 games it felt like, is a disaster. But to Lou, he built a masterpiece and why ruin a masterpiece by moving players out if he doesn't have to. Lou is probably thrilled with this offseason. In my opinion trams should always have cap space, or valuable player that's tradable for cap space at all times, in order to land the next player that begs to join your team, Tavares, Breadman, johny hockey, Kadri, adding a player like this is the equivalent of 3 free 1st rounders, because that's the amount the Isles lost be sleeping at the wheel with Tavares.

 

[SI90]

Admittedly I don't know much about Cholowski. Looks like he was drafted the pick after Bellows and played a fair amount in Detroit - then ended up on Seattle who have a left side of Dunn, Oleksiak and Soucy and didn't play much. Probably a put up or shut up year for him, similar to Bellows. No risk pickup with some upside.

Defensive version of Bellows. Highly touted first round pick. Has had some cups of coffee and NHL play. Hasn’t reached potential yet. Plays well in the AHL. Could catch lightning in a bottle but maybe not. Low risk signing.


I say the #6 defensive spot needs to be an open competition. Only Dman in the organization should be considered. Let the best man win.

 

[leeroggy]

Original tweet updated

In Fasching's draft year some of us wanted to take him and Cholowski is a DARN good depth signing

 

[SI90]

Would have loved Statsny at that price. I know we don’t have much room on the roster for forward slots but that’s a pro 2way center who is definitely worth more than his $1.5 cap hit. Would be a good veteran to have for depth.

 

[impaaaaaact]

In Fasching's draft year some of us wanted to take him and Cholowski is a DARN good depth signing

Looks like he was captain of his AHL team last year. The Lou way.

 

[doublechili]

Would have loved Statsny at that price. I know we don’t have much room on the roster for forward slots but that’s a pro 2way center who is definitely worth more than his $1.5 cap hit. Would be a good veteran to have for depth.

CAR can offer him a regular spot though, something the Isles really can't with (I think) 14 Fs already. And at some point guys like Wahlstrom and Bellows need to play. And, I think Stastny is slow. We don't need to go out and get more slow.

 

[seafoam]

Admittedly I don't know much about Cholowski. Looks like he was drafted the pick after Bellows and played a fair amount in Detroit - then ended up on Seattle who have a left side of Dunn, Oleksiak and Soucy and didn't play much. Probably a put up or shut up year for him, similar to Bellows. No risk pickup with some upside.

I'd say CholoCop has the edge over Aho because of his experience, size, and draft pedigree. It will obviously come down to how they audition in camp at the end of the day, but CholoCop has played on some shit teams in his career and I'm curious to see if he can get back on track stashed behind a deep defense. He might even get PP minutes on the second unit with Pulock (with Dobson QB'ing the first unit along with four forward) that seems to be his bread & butter in any available highlights.

Aho's one-way contract simply means he gets paid his full salary regardless of whether he plays in the NHL or AHL.

Pelech-Pulock
Romanov-Dobson
CholoCop-Mayfield
Aho

Salo-Hutton
Bolduc-LaDue
Sevigny-MacKinnon
Cosgrove-McCarthy

 

[Throttle]

Lou said in the "availability" yesterday that he has conversations with other GMs every day and things are always being discussed (probably more than we can all imagine). I assume this is ditto for agents during UFA time. He also said they determine that most deals aren't worth what you have to give up to get the player. I assume by "deal" he also means potential UFA signings, factoring in all costs. I think we can assume with Lou that he factors into that how the deal could impact the team cohesion that he seems to value so much.

So, for example with Kadri, would it have been a good "deal", and I'm making some of this up, to "trade" Bailey, potentially a 1st or 2nd or 3rd round pick (if necessary to move Bailey), cap space of $2M for 2 years, plus the commitment of $7M for an additional 5 years, for Nazem Kadri? That's the way they view these things, and I think they only make a deal if they decide it would be a clear win (otherwise they'd rather not rock the boat for a minor upgrade). We don't know if they even were serious players for Kadri (or JG), but that kind of analysis is what they probably do to decide whether they make an offer to a UFA, and what kind of offer they make. So maybe they decided that they thought it was a "deal" worth making at an offer to Kadri of 5 years at $6.5M, and he declined. Again, making this up, but since we don't know anything anyway....

On the other hand, it sounds like the Romanov deal popped up last minute at the draft and they jumped at it. I'm sure they know the player, and they made the fast calculation that trading the #13 overall pick was worth it for that player, at his age, position and likely cap hit (in the short term, anyway).

Fans want churn like CAL. They did something. Yay!

The Romanov deal seems like it will be a gem. MON fell into hometown 'make some draft noise' - the Isles traded a 13OA for 22yr 133GP D-man with playoff experience, signed for $2.5M/3yrs and still a RFA in 3 years. Figuring the development time of this draft = 3-4yrs, money and production advanced, but still young and contributing.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

In Fasching's draft year some of us wanted to take him and Cholowski is a DARN good depth signing

You're right!

I was one of those people hoping Fasching would be one of the mid-round targets.

Saw him at the U18 in Sochi that year and thought he'd definitely turn into a grinder at the NHL level.

Hasn't happened. He continues to put up fairly solid numbers in the AHL and is built like a truck, but he just hasn't been able to do a thing in the NHL yet. Keeps getting depth looks though, granted only with Buffalo and Arizona, whatever we should read into that - or not.

But you're right. He was definitely a kid who looked like a solid mid-round pick his draft year.