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

[Lights911]

I agree with this. Lou and Barry had a team that was more than the sum of their parts; overachievers. Built to grind you down in a 7 game series, but will get outskated by the Wild on a random night in February.

As @PK Cronin has said, we’re a team built for the playoffs that struggles with the regular season.

Are we sure this team is even built for the playoffs anymore? Last years playoffs looked like a mirror of the regular season, lots of goals, power plays and little defense. If it continues to be like that, the league will be trending even further away from how the Islanders play.

 

[MJF]

Are we sure this team is even built for the playoffs anymore? Last years playoffs looked like a mirror of the regular season, lots of goals, power plays and little defense. If it continues to be like that, the league will be trending even further away from how the Islanders play.

There was an awful lot of bad goaltending on display in the postseason. A team won the cup with Darcy Kuemper in goal, ffs.

I don’t know if last year was an anomaly, but if goaltending and defense starts losing out to run and gun in the playoffs the Islanders are in a world of trouble.

 

[Mike C]

Great post Mike. The first part about being “taken in by the 2 runs prior to last season” sounds a little rough but we have to be honest with ourselves. In a few years that take may seem more accurate than many of us might admit to right now. That sounds like like a Rags’ fan talking so I’ll shut up now.

The Isles have plenty of talent on this roster so I’m still cautiously optimistic. Trouble is, I’d say the same thing about my NY Jets.

i did temper it by saying maybe!

i meant taken in with the concept of being able to play an 82 game season the same way as a shortened and/or travel restricted season

thanks for the kinds words. hope all is well with you and the family!

Are we sure this team is even built for the playoffs anymore? Last years playoffs looked like a mirror of the regular season, lots of goals, power plays and little defense. If it continues to be like that, the league will be trending even further away from how the Islanders play.

at least the East still plays more of the tight checking post season style moreso than the west so we have a shot vs some of those teams

 

[mm11]

Are we sure this team is even built for the playoffs anymore? Last years playoffs looked like a mirror of the regular season, lots of goals, power plays and little defense. If it continues to be like that, the league will be trending even further away from how the Islanders play.

The rags were carried the first half of the season by stellar goaltending.

 

[PK Cronin]

Are we sure this team is even built for the playoffs anymore? Last years playoffs looked like a mirror of the regular season, lots of goals, power plays and little defense. If it continues to be like that, the league will be trending even further away from how the Islanders play.

The Lightning made it back to the finals and were one of the most complete teams in the playoffs, so I'd say yes. They crushed that Florida team that relied on offense only and once they settled in they dismantled the Rags too. The Blues did fairly well too, until they lost their goalie. There was just such an abundance of mediocre to be goaltending in the playoffs I think that was the anomaly, Tampa Bay, Rags, Dallas, and maybe St. Louis were the only teams with good goaltending.

 

[The Real JT]

The rags were carried the first half of the season by stellar goaltending.

True but how can we ever duplicate that performance without any overrated underperforming #1 and #2 lottery picks on our roster?

 

[MJF]

The Lightning made it back to the finals and were one of the most complete teams in the playoffs, so I'd say yes. They crushed that Florida team that relied on offense only and once they settled in they dismantled the Rags too. The Blues did fairly well too, until they lost their goalie. There was just such an abundance of mediocre to be goaltending in the playoffs I think that was the anomaly, Tampa Bay, Rags, Dallas, and maybe St. Louis were the only teams with good goaltending.

I still believe that if not for Jakob Markstrom the Flames would have gotten to the SCF.

 

[leeroggy]

maybe Lou, and many of us, got a little taken in by the 2 runs prior to last season and felt that the team was better than it really is

in any short series, the style of play and players, with a coach like Barry can beat anyone. in an long 82 game season, this group doesn't have the legs and is susceptible to fatigue and injuries because of the age and mileage on them collectively to play that way for 6 months vs short series bursts.

with these guys, getting in and and hoping for the best, i think, is the best we can hope for. having a perennial contender will take better, younger and faster players.

as has been stated. I'm not sure Lou and a fledgling coach are the combo to give us that.

i think this season can go either way but back in the early 80s, when both teams sucked to beat the band, a player told me once "even the mets and cubs have hope in spring training"

everyone's tied for 1st going in.

Let's Go Islanders!!

Mike, didn't you just make the case about why Lou moved on from Barry?

Barry got what he could out of this team, but he chewed them up with the style. I made the point before (and got pushed back on here) that Barry's playoff record in Nashville was mediocre, and he only won the Cup with the talents he had in DC, which is better than we have - Ovie, Backstrom, Carlson, etc.

If there was no bubble, and full 82-game schedules, the likelihood we get to consecutive conference finals would have shrunk.

I think Lambert is going to be more lenient on a few things and try to not wear down the players at times (which could simply mean playing the first half more open before gauging whether to pull in the reins later).

Barry is likely not flexible about this, and Lou finally decided that the last step was not going to happen with BT still in place.

 

[Mike C]

Mike, didn't you just make the case about why Lou moved on from Barry?

Barry got what he could out of this team, but he chewed them up with the style. I made the point before (and got pushed back on here) that Barry's playoff record in Nashville was mediocre, and he only won the Cup with the talents he had in DC, which is better than we have - Ovie, Backstrom, Carlson, etc.

If there was no bubble, and full 82-game schedules, the likelihood we get to consecutive conference finals would have shrunk.

I think Lambert is going to be more lenient on a few things and try to not wear down the players at times (which could simply mean playing the first half more open before gauging whether to pull in the reins later).

Barry is likely not flexible about this, and Lou finally decided that the last step was not going to happen with BT still in place.

yes and no i guess!

it's a catch 22 but IF Lambert stays relatively close to Barry's defensive philosophy and does let barzal, beau and wally maximize their skill set offensively, then MAYBE things will fall nicely into place but i think because of this collection of guys, the isles have to thread the needle ever so fine. certain players can only do certain things so well no matter if trots, lambert, arbour or bowman is behind the bench

that's why i've said all along that i feel this season can go either way

i do think had pullock not gotten hurt so early and not taken a LONG time to recover, maybe greene and chara wouldn't have had to play every day but point well taken about barry playing the vets mucho minutes although he also needed to work with what he had. another catch 22


totally agree about Barry's lack of flexibility and posted early after he got dismissed that i felt that could have played a major part. i do not believe that Lou knew Barry needed to step away and allowed him to do so with 4 million bucks

 

[leeroggy]

totally agree about Barry's lack of flexibility and posted early after he got dismissed that i felt that could have played a major part. i do not believe that Lou knew Barry needed to step away and allowed him to do so with 4 million bucks

This is where I think people miss the boat on why Lou commands so much respect around the league . . . I think he knew it even more than Barry admitted it to himself.

Take the bullet on himself, give Barry the fully-paid final year as a thank you for what BT accomplished (that extra $4 million certainly was covered by the 2nd playoff run), all while knowing he had to make the move anyhow.

That's REAL class.

Has anyone heard of anyone in the top echelons of the league ever criticize Lou? It's always been media and fans . . . not those around the league. You heard it about Babcock and others, but not Lou.

 

[Seph]

It’s not the offense by committee that troubles me, although it does require every forward to be around their career bests. It’s the way we have trouble defending against fast skating teams. That was a problem for us long before Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara got here. It wasn’t the problem it is now in my eyes, because 3 seasons ago the only skating teams in our conference were the Pens, Bolts, Leafs and Habs. Now we have to contend with them (not so much the Lightning as they don’t excel at the transition like they used to, but still deadly enough) plus the Rags, CBJ, Sabres, Panthers, Hurricanes. Those are teams we’re going to see a lot of. Then there’s the teams from the Western Conference. Our forwards aren’t fast to begin with. I can’t imagine they got any faster while becoming a year older.Until I see that our forwards can get back against those teams and not get blown past at center ice, I have no reason to believe we’ll be able to bottle up teams.

If everyone is around their career bests, we'd have a top 5 offense, so i feel like that is an exaggeration. That said, your concerns about skating are valid, and agree that a lot will depend on how Lambert's system can slow down the faster teams. Will add though that adding a highly mobile defenseman jn Romanov should help here, as does having an elite goalie in Sorokin.

 

[Mike C]

This is where I think people miss the boat on why Lou commands so much respect around the league . . . I think he knew it even more than Barry admitted it to himself.

Take the bullet on himself, give Barry the fully-paid final year as a thank you for what BT accomplished (that extra $4 million certainly was covered by the 2nd playoff run), all while knowing he had to make the move anyhow.

That's REAL class.

Has anyone heard of anyone in the top echelons of the league ever criticize Lou? It's always been media and fans . . . not those around the league. You heard it about Babcock and others, but not Lou

indeed Lou is well regarded and highly spoken of by his peers and contemporaries for sure

 

[mm11]

True but how can we ever duplicate that performance without any overrated underperforming #1 and #2 lottery picks on our roster?

We can always buy a few URFA's whenever we wanted to fill in the gaps.

 

[MJF]

If everyone is around their career bests, we'd have a top 5 offense, so i feel like that is an exaggeration. That said, your concerns about skating are valid, and agree that a lot will depend on how Lambert's system can slow down the faster teams. Will add though that adding a highly mobile defenseman jn Romanov should help here, as does having an elite goalie in Sorokin.

Not as much as an exaggeration as you think. Bailey never cracked 20 goals, Beauvillier was only there once. Pageau was extended here for an offensive upside that Lou feels we haven’t seen yet, so I’d say his current career best is rather pedestrian. Of course if Casey Cizikas can find another 20 goal season like he had once, your top 5 offense thought would be more probable. But let’s not bet the house on him even being between 10-15 goals anymore.

 

[xECK29x]

So f***ing tired of Canucks fans telling us the value of our prospects, f*** that entire entitled fanbase.

 

[benedictTavares]

So f***ing tired of Canucks fans telling us the value of our prospects, f*** that entire entitled fanbase.

If it makes you feel better they are probably in a worse long term situation than we are. lol

 

[leeroggy]

So f***ing tired of Canucks fans telling us the value of our prospects, f*** that entire entitled fanbase.

It's a Canadian thing Eck, all that little brother inferiority stuff

 

[Seph]

Not as much as an exaggeration as you think. Bailey never cracked 20 goals, Beauvillier was only there once. Pageau was extended here for an offensive upside that Lou feels we haven’t seen yet, so I’d say his current career best is rather pedestrian. Of course if Casey Cizikas can find another 20 goal season like he had once, your top 5 offense thought would be more probable. But let’s not bet the house on him even being between 10-15 goals anymore.

If everyone hit their career bests, we'd score around 305 goals, which last year wouldve been tied for 5th in the league.

Breakdown would look like this:
~35 goals from Lee, Nelson and Parise
~30 goals from Palmieiri
~25 goals from Pageau
~20 goals from Barzal, Beauvillier, Cizikas and Clutterbuck
~15 goals from Bailey
~10 goals from Martin, Wahlstrom, Dobson and Pulock
~5 goals from Pelech and Mayfield

 

[xECK29x]

It's a Canadian thing Eck, all that little brother inferiority stuff

They are EASILY the worst fanbase to talk trade fits with on this forum. The Leafs fans are much easier to work with.

 

[MJF]

If everyone hit their career bests, we'd score around 305 goals, which last year wouldve been tied for 5th in the league.

Breakdown would look like this:
~35 goals from Lee, Nelson and Parise
~30 goals from Palmieiri
~25 goals from Pageau
~20 goals from Barzal, Beauvillier, Cizikas and Clutterbuck
~15 goals from Bailey
~10 goals from Martin, Wahlstrom, Dobson and Pulock
~5 goals from Pelech and Mayfield

Thank you for being literal. You must be a lot of fun at parties.

 

[Seph]

Thank you for being literal. You must be a lot of fun at parties.

I mean, I initially assumed you weren't being literal and were just exaggerating to make a point, but then you told me that wasn't the case.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I mentioned it recently, but I think we'll have plenty of offense for those tight 2-1, 3-2, 4-3 style victories if we get more or less the following realistic totals out of our guys:
60 points - Barzal, Nelson
45-50 points - Lee, Dobson
40 points - Bailey, Beauvillier, Pageau, Palmieri
35 points - Wahlstrom, Pulock, Parise
30 points - Pelech
25 points - Mayfield, Bellows
20 points - Cizikas
15 points - Clutterbuck, Romanov, one of Salo/Aho/Cholowski
5-10 points - Martin, Johnston

Team defense will be the name of the game, and in light of that, stats like these should have the team in a playoff spot and ready to do some damage in the playoffs, especially if the power play is in the top 15 in the league.

 

[Mike C]

Not as much as an exaggeration as you think. Bailey never cracked 20 goals, Beauvillier was only there once. Pageau was extended here for an offensive upside that Lou feels we haven’t seen yet, so I’d say his current career best is rather pedestrian. Of course if Casey Cizikas can find another 20 goal season like he had once, your top 5 offense thought would be more probable. But let’s not bet the house on him even being between 10-15 goals anymore.

Casey scoring 20 this season with Martin and Clutterbuck would certainly be a modern day sports feat!

 

[Mike C]

If everyone hit their career bests, we'd score around 305 goals, which last year wouldve been tied for 5th in the league.

Breakdown would look like this:
~35 goals from Lee, Nelson and Parise
~30 goals from Palmieiri
~25 goals from Pageau
~20 goals from Barzal, Beauvillier, Cizikas and Clutterbuck
~15 goals from Bailey
~10 goals from Martin, Wahlstrom, Dobson and Pulock
~5 goals from Pelech and Mayfield

10 goals from Martin after his 7 total points of last year would prompt Lou to go for another extension

I'm betting the under!

 

[Top Corner]

It's a Canadian thing Eck, all that little brother inferiority stuff

How is that a "Canadian Thing" ? They have their opinions and us Isles fans have our even from Canada and I'm pretty sure Dallas and Florida and maybe even Arizona have their opinions so
I don't think it's a "Canadian Thing"