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

[mm11]

Just win our Stanley cup games vrs the raggies this year then we are good fellas. In all seriousness winter soldier is right. Not enough guys in the fight so far. Gotta get some bruises, heck even some blood. LGI!

 

[Glorydays22]

They made no moves to improve the team, except for the move that I don't want to hear about.

So you are saying a defensive, defenseman makes the difference with this team? That was the answer to our problems? Does he score goals? and do you think he's going to prevent that large of a difference on the back end? He's a ok piece that's young and needs time. Certainly I don't think you can count on him being any sort of diference maker just yet.....

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Just win our Stanley cup games vrs the raggies this year then we are good fellas. In all seriousness winter soldier is right. Not enough guys in the fight so far. Gotta get some bruises, heck even some blood. LGI!

We lost our edge. Whatever shortcomings we had in our 3 hugely successful years when LouBar came in is now missing. Win battles all over the ice, hard to play against mentality that made us a team you did not want to play. It’s too easy now. Team is not talented enough to outskill the better teams. That’s when the Isles would outwill you. Sadly I have not seen this in a year and 6 games. last time I saw this was game 7 against TB in the conference finals or more specifically the game 6 OT winner by Beauvillier at Nassau.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Game is not just about skill. Sorry folks I keep seeing we need to add player x or z and things will be righted. Game has far more intangibles than this. I suggest Lou find a way to make this team harder to play against. In other words find players with emotion, that play an Isles style of game. To make it easier for fans to invest in the team. When the team gave a damn and played in all the hard places of the ice where talent in all right had them nowhere near a game or 2 games from the Cup finals, it was a team we were all proud of. This is why I knew while on the surface Komarov would look like a pretty meaningless deduction to the team. I saw differently. You need players like this that fit the puzzle. We are not playing EA sports poolie hockey here.

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Game is not just about skill. Sorry folks I keep seeing we need to add player x or z and things will be righted. Game has far more intangibles than this. I suggest Lou find a way to make this team harder to play against. In other words find players with emotion, that play an Isles style of game. To make it easier for fans to invest in the team. When the team gave a damn and played in all the hard places of the ice where talent in all right had them nowhere near a game or 2 games from the Cup finals, it was a team we were all proud of. This is why I knew while on the surface Komarov would look like a pretty meaningless deduction to the team. I saw differently. You need players like this that fit the puzzle. We are not playing EA sports poolie hockey here.

This team has plenty of leaders with character who care. What they need is skill to transition from defense to offense in the neutral zone and forwards who can put the puck in the net.

 

[mm11]

Game is not just about skill. Sorry folks I keep seeing we need to add player x or z and things will be righted. Game has far more intangibles than this. I suggest Lou find a way to make this team harder to play against. In other words find players with emotion, that play an Isles style of game. To make it easier for fans to invest in the team. When the team gave a damn and played in all the hard places of the ice where talent in all right had them nowhere near a game or 2 games from the Cup finals, it was a team we were all proud of. This is why I knew while on the surface Komarov would look like a pretty meaningless deduction to the team. I saw differently. You need players like this that fit the puzzle. We are not playing EA sports poolie hockey here.

Kadri to me, plus the addition of Romocop would have definitely helped. Trying to be optimistic here, but have seen many NYI seasons be toast by Thanksgiving

 

[Doshell Propivo]

Kadri to me, plus the addition of Romocop would have definitely helped. Trying to be optimistic here, but have seen many NYI seasons be toast by Thanksgiving

We need to be in the 20+ points range by Thanksgiving otherwise the season will be toast.

 

[Throttle]

Here are my thoughts on the Isles the past season and 6 games in, The Team has lost their Identity.

The first 3 years under Trotz, the Isles were a VERY difficult team to play against. Love him or not, Leo was a glue guy that had an agitator edge to his game. Coupled with that the ID line was at their best those 3 seasons. Due to wear and tear, subtractions of Komarov. This team has become too easy to play against. Now some may disagree with the impact of Komarov. It's not just about scoring, it's about being on the ice and not being scored on. It's about dragging your team with you into a fight. Game is still won on one on won battles. Something Komarov was very dependable at. I find there is often times we get too enamored with shiny stats. Not enough is paid in attention that everyone has a role on this team, This team lacks a Kadri, Tkachuk, Marchand, even a Uncle Leo. Team looks like they are not as emotionally invested now without the ID line at its best, APB on Casey. Is he still missing in action? That one element I thought set the Isles apart the first 3 seasons with Barry Trotz's team. Now it is nowhere to be found.

Isles fans wanted the following jettisoned: Komarov, Eberle, Ladd, and Leddy.

Barzal was to be unshackled and he would become a points machine, 1C, and Trotz style of play and his wingers were to blame for him.

Looking great so far…

 

[Glorydays22]

Game is not just about skill. Sorry folks I keep seeing we need to add player x or z and things will be righted. Game has far more intangibles than this. I suggest Lou find a way to make this team harder to play against. In other words find players with emotion, that play an Isles style of game. To make it easier for fans to invest in the team. When the team gave a damn and played in all the hard places of the ice where talent in all right had them nowhere near a game or 2 games from the Cup finals, it was a team we were all proud of. This is why I knew while on the surface Komarov would look like a pretty meaningless deduction to the team. I saw differently. You need players like this that fit the puzzle. We are not playing EA sports poolie hockey here.

I agree it's not just about skill. But with that said, you need to change the overall dyamanics of this team if we want to win. You can have all the heart in the world, but if you are older, limited talent, and slow as shit how successful can we be? I don't care how good our goalie is or our defense. This is a theme that happens game after game and they get worn down (mentally and physically).

Scoring is not our only issue. Team speed, getting stuck in our own zone. We have so many break downs on defense because we cannot keep up with other teams.

This roster had a nice run of 5-6 years, it's over. The core guys have a lot of mileage on there bodies. Lou took and Trotzs took a shot and it almost worked.

Time to stop looking at this roster with blue and orange glasses on. We have a nice young core with Brazal, Dobson, Sokorin. Let's build off of this. We don't need to do a tear down, but a good re-tooling.

Isles fans wanted the following jettisoned: Komarov, Eberle, Ladd, and Leddy.

Barzal was to be unshackled and he would become a points machine, 1C, and Trotz style of play and his wingers were to blame for him.

Looking great so far…

Are you saying the blame goes on Brazal? Not Lou bring in more talented players?

 

[mm11]

Isles fans wanted the following jettisoned: Komarov, Eberle, Ladd, and Leddy.

Barzal was to be unshackled and he would become a points machine, 1C, and Trotz style of play and his wingers were to blame for him.

Looking great so far…

to be fair #13 is at a point per game while playing like dog poop

 

[Mike C]

Game is not just about skill. Sorry folks I keep seeing we need to add player x or z and things will be righted. Game has far more intangibles than this. I suggest Lou find a way to make this team harder to play against. In other words find players with emotion, that play an Isles style of game. To make it easier for fans to invest in the team. When the team gave a damn and played in all the hard places of the ice where talent in all right had them nowhere near a game or 2 games from the Cup finals, it was a team we were all proud of. This is why I knew while on the surface Komarov would look like a pretty meaningless deduction to the team. I saw differently. You need players like this that fit the puzzle. We are not playing EA sports poolie hockey here.

in my opinion, that player is wearing number 91 in Calgary

 

[Glorydays22]

in my opinion, that player is wearing number 91 in Calgary

at 31, 7x$7 that's where he belongs. But agreed we need more players with an edge

 

[The Winter Soldier]

This team has plenty of leaders with character who care. What they need is skill to transition from defense to offense in the neutral zone and forwards who can put the puck in the net.

A Championship needs many ingredients. Not just the most obvious things, Just Like baking a cake, everyone loves the icing, but you need eggs, flour, and shortening to make a great cake. Just missing one, and you are stuck with a mediocre cake.

 

[Mike C]

This team has plenty of leaders with character who care. What they need is skill to transition from defense to offense in the neutral zone and forwards who can put the puck in the net.

Ah, the indie band from another day, The Churchills, said it apropos to many scenerios in life

"sometimes your best isn't good enough"

at 31, 7x$7 that's where he belongs. But agreed we need more players with an edge

if the goal was to win now, Kadri would have been a good add. he still has a few season's left and in 7 years we could all drop dead!

 

[Mike C]

A Championship needs many ingredients. Not just the most obvious things, Just Like baking a cake, everyone loves the icing, but you need eggs, flour, and shortening to make a great cake. Just missing one, and you are stuck with a mediocre cake.

or a shi**y one!

 

[mm11]

Ah, the indie band from another day, The Churchills, said it apropos to many scenerios in life

"sometimes your best isn't good enough"


if the goal was to win now, Kadri would have been a good add. he still has a few season's left and in 7 years we could all drop dead!

all we are is dust in the wind Just saying

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Isles fans wanted the following jettisoned: Komarov, Eberle, Ladd, and Leddy.

Barzal was to be unshackled and he would become a points machine, 1C, and Trotz style of play and his wingers were to blame for him.

Looking great so far…

I never wanted Leo to go last year. To me, I saw a player that was super dependable defensively, played a heavy agitating game, and great for team morale. He did a lot of things that helped the Isles win games. One was he was instrumental of the culture change here when Snow days came to an end. In short, winning just follows him around. I don't think its a coincidence.

As for Eberle, I will admit I thought Palmieri was an upgrade to him. Not sure where you stood on this, but agreed most wanted him gone. This looks like a mistake now, I would take Eberle over Palmieri, Bailey and Pageau right now. I can't criticize this move since I thought it was the right one at the time. But it looks like Eberle was one of our better skill guys, abeit he had a tendency to disappear at times.

Leddy was a logical cap dump, I think Dobson has filled his offensive role well. If he was a lesser cap hit I would have kept him, but with Salo and Romanov in now. He is not needed.

If there is any backseat driving here, It is the players that were supposed to be difference makers have all gone into malaise. I don't see the old Pageau when we first acquired him. Palmieri is trying hard but has been a colossal disappointment, Bailey is playing like a man that knows his days are numbered, and Cizikas, Clutterbuck, and Martin all went to the well one year too often.

Still we are only 6 games into the season. Things can change, but I don't like how it has looked for a year and 6 games now. It was easy to invest watching this team the first 3 seasons Lou took over, the last year and 6 games, not so much.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

to be fair #13 is at a point per game while playing like dog poop

True for all the critiques, Nelson and Barzal are both PPG. What is more glaring is none of our C's have a goal thus far this season. That's 21M+ of the cap goalless.

 

[Mike C]

to be fair #13 is at a point per game while playing like dog poop

maybe he'll get to 70-80 plus with single digit goals!

 

[TeamKidd]

The problem with opening up the defense on this team is that they are too slow to keep up with the younger, faster teams and so we give up more goals in transition....this team is constructed to play stifling defense. Yes they will score more goals this year, but not even Sorokin can keep all the chances out. Even with "opening it up" we failed to generate even 1 high danger chance last game.

The problem you have is how to untangle this and turn it around fast? You have multiple un-tradable assets in Palmieri, Bailey, Lee and multiple barely tradable assets in beau, parise, etc. It's going to take a while to unwind this mess, reach bottom and then build back up. We arent the Rangers, we cant just trade and sign our way into contention.

...and YES, they can turn it around and they might even be competitive for a Wild card spot, but....the fat lady is definitely warming up for this group....

 

[mm11]

maybe he'll get to 70-80 plus with single digit goals!

Can pretty much pencil him in for 20. Would not doubt he gets 2 next game.
There's a crazy world outside
We're not about to lose our pride

 

[The Winter Soldier]

The problem with opening up the defense on this team is that they are too slow to keep up with the younger, faster teams and so we give up more goals in transition....this team is constructed to play stifling defense. Yes they will score more goals this year, but not even Sorokin can keep all the chances out. Even with "opening it up" we failed to generate even 1 high danger chance last game.

The problem you have is how to untangle this and turn it around fast? You have multiple un-tradable assets in Palmieri, Bailey, Lee and multiple barely tradable assets in beau, parise, etc. It's going to take a while to unwind this mess, reach bottom and then build back up. We arent the Rangers, we cant just trade and sign our way into contention.

...and YES, they can turn it around and they might even be competitive for a Wild card spot, but....the fat lady is definitely warming up for this group....

Rangers are also a physical team now, they added players that are hard to play against last season to a coach that plays in your face hockey, Isles have more talent than given credit for, but they are not at the top in the league where they can trade chances. This team is built from the net out. The D and G are fine IMO. The fwds and combinations are not. We need 2 scoring lines, one versatile line that can feast on 3rd pairings, a 4th line that is bruising and pure energy that you are not afraid to play against anyone. As we can see, we are missing a bit on the fwd side of things,

 

[PK Cronin]

It's not sacrificing the future when you are dealing for a 24-year old, particularly when your 'futures' are not proven. When Bellows was 19, would you have had the same thought? He's 19, he's our future? We can't trade him because he's a great goal scorer.

It's not like I was offering Raty for a 30-year old

And yes, I do think Laine on Barzal's wing would mean a lot closer to a Cup. It also means Wahlstrom sees a lesser defense pairing too. These types of players are too rare at age 24.

Wahlstrom already sees lesser defense pairings though.

So you are saying a defensive, defenseman makes the difference with this team? That was the answer to our problems? Does he score goals? and do you think he's going to prevent that large of a difference on the back end? He's a ok piece that's young and needs time. Certainly I don't think you can count on him being any sort of diference maker just yet.....

I mostly thought it was funny you said the team didn't make any changes, then acknowledged the change they did make but said you didn't want to hear about it.

To answer your question, I do think Romanov helps the defense significantly. When the team won games he was able to clog up the neutral zone and he has good gap control. He's a little erratic, but that could be age or him coming to a new team. He's an upgrade over what we had last season for sure, I'm just not sure of his implementation so far (I think he and Dobson have been overused in the early going).

 

[Mike C]

Can pretty much pencil him in for 20. Would not doubt he gets 2 next game.
There's a crazy world outside
We're not about to lose our pride

crazy world indeed. i use that expression inside my 4 walls profusely. Barzal's 2nd biggest fan has to learn the cold hard truth early!

The problem with opening up the defense on this team is that they are too slow to keep up with the younger, faster teams and so we give up more goals in transition....this team is constructed to play stifling defense. Yes they will score more goals this year, but not even Sorokin can keep all the chances out. Even with "opening it up" we failed to generate even 1 high danger chance last game.

The problem you have is how to untangle this and turn it around fast? You have multiple un-tradable assets in Palmieri, Bailey, Lee and multiple barely tradable assets in beau, parise, etc. It's going to take a while to unwind this mess, reach bottom and then build back up. We arent the Rangers, we cant just trade and sign our way into contention.

...and YES, they can turn it around and they might even be competitive for a Wild card spot, but....the fat lady is definitely warming up for this group....

a lot of fat ladies down here in Indian Trail North Crackalack!

 

[JKP]

Hey, how 'bout that PK!

(Looking for the optimism...)