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

[Mike C]

ok, my prediction...by the end of the day 07.13.....three team deal...we send 3-4 players/prospects and receive two players in return....i have no idea who and who and who, but hell, not my job, just basic speculation, lol......but to some degree, only way i see a hockey trade happening is with three teams involved.

Or none

 

[GOLFWANG]

I think Lou is possibly looking to sign a free agent, don't forget we can go over the cap in the offseason and don't have to set our roster for a while, so even if we signed Johnny we don't have to trade anyone yet...It was also be pretty dumb to trade Bailey or Beau (unless we get what we want) until we figure out who we possibly could sign in the offseason.

 

[Mike C]

Whoa Lou- Either he has a shuffleboard tournament coming up or a Matlock marathon scheduled. This is like 2 months premature for these signings. Like the depth and it's about freaking time Bridgeport can start competing and have a good mix of vet and youth.

Hahahaha

Pretty funny!

 

[seabass45]

 

[CupHolders]

Interesting, Aho was set to be an UFA. Without waivers you figure he is now their 7th with a camp opportunity to be their 6th.

 

[periferal]

Looking over the Isles CapFriendly page I saw that going forward we literally have a "clean" draft pick inventory. In other words...For all future drafts we have all our picks, but none of anyone else's.

And as I was staring at this "clean inventory" of picks, I was thinking how Lou is going to be able to trade for an other impact player and it hit me...

If Lou makes another big trade this offseason I'd bet he's going to give up a lottery protected 2023 1st - Essentially if the Isles don't make the playoffs in 2023 then the 1st will transfer to 2024.

Just my 2 cents. Carry on.

 

[Tahoeblue]

I like the Hutton deal for 3 years.

 

[beach]

Lou was definitely after Miller, so he at least recognizes the need for a top line forward. My question is, he backed off of Miller and just has no plan B? I don’t see it.

To even have acquired Miller a body needed to be moved out, which we can reasonably surmise wasn’t going to be Beauvillier since he was at the draft table. Someone HAS to be on the block, Bailey is the only realistic option.

He apparently backed off because he wasn't given permission to talk with Miller's agent about extension numbers.

 

[periferal]

Will Lou ever trade a roster player (he's not forced to)?

 

[seabass45]

Check Capfriendly for full details but so far I see Aho and Salo getting one way deals, Koivula and Hutton getting two way deals that turn into one way deals after the first year.

 

[MJF]

at some point the piper will come to pay for both Washington and Pittsburgh. It feels inevitable.

It will, but it probably won’t happen until their HOFers retire. Same goes for Bergeron and Marchand on the Bruins.

 

[seafoam]

So the defense is set…

NHL:

Pelech-Dobson
Romanov-Pulock
Aho-Mayfield
Greene?

AHL:
Salo-Hutton
Bolduc-X

Safe to say Vande Sompel will not be retained, RFAs still without contracts are Dobson, Romanov, Bellows, Durandeau, Wotherspoon, Dal Colle. Don’t really want to lose Durandeau…

Check Capfriendly for full details but so far I see Aho and Salo getting one way deals, Koivula and Hutton getting two way deals that turn into one way deals after the first year.

Salo still doesn’t need waivers yet though, while the other three do.

I expect them to bring back Greene or some other depth defenseman to stash Salo in BPT.

 

[steveat]

Interesting, Aho was set to be an UFA. Without waivers you figure he is now their 7th with a camp opportunity to be their 6th.

I believe they see potential in him. His offensive mindset has a place and possibly under Lambert he will flourish...Hope so..I'm the last Aho fan standing!

Check Capfriendly for full details but so far I see Aho and Salo getting one way deals, Koivula and Hutton getting two way deals that turn into one way deals after the first year.

I'm thinking Mayfield might be on his way out so they'll need the extra D...possibly in a trade with a winger or something bigger?

 

[MJF]

So the defense is set…

NHL:

Pelech-Dobson
Romanov-Pulock
Aho-Mayfield
Greene?

AHL:
Salo-Hutton
Bolduc-X

Safe to say Vande Sompel will not be retained, RFAs still without contracts are Dobson, Romanov, Bellows, Durandeau, Wotherspoon, Dal Colle. Don’t really want to lose Durandeau…


Salo still doesn’t need waivers yet though, while the other three do.

I expect them to bring back Greene or some other depth defenseman to stash Salo in BPT.

Aho-Mayfield then Greene? You really want to hang Sorokin out to dry a lot.

Aho is brutal in his own end and Greene can’t skate anymore. If we’re going to have a coach put in a game plan that’s less defense oriented than what Trotz had, having defensive liabilities on the blue line is not the way to go.

Aho should be our 7th defenseman. Greene should retire.

 

[lafellaesobar]

Dobson and Romanov contracts soon

#insiderrrr

 

[GOLFWANG]

If Aho is our 6th dman we are doomed for sure.

we would have to get a top talent on fwd to even make that exchange.

 

[lafellaesobar]

If Aho is our 6th dman we are doomed for sure.

we would have to get a top talent on fwd to even make that exchange.

aho will not be a 6th defenseman

 

[isles55]

Kinda expected for Aho to go back to Europe. Really hope we sign a defensemen who can play; Aho/Salo aren’t good enough to be a #6 right now.

And not sure why Aho got two years.

 

[seafoam]

Aho-Mayfield then Greene? You really want to hang Sorokin out to dry a lot.

Aho is brutal in his own end and Greene can’t skate anymore. If we’re going to have a coach put in a game plan that’s less defense oriented than what Trotz had, having defensive liabilities on the blue line is not the way to go.

Aho should be our 7th defenseman. Greene should retire.

Just based on the contract handed out.

 

[SayItAintSoJohnny]

Lou is bringing on a veteran defender- relax. He has all but said as much already.

The more depressing news is it is very possible that is all he does and he runs it back with the same forwards and doesn't upgrade (again) with a difference maker and we get to hear the same Barzal isn't worth it crap. Not even considering moving Varlamov, Bailey and/or Beau to get one is just sad really....

Well all I ask is the only two wings who we know are capable to be a 30 goal scorer are on his right side next season. I feel pretty confident based on his last 40 games (14-11-25) that a Palmieri comeback is in the cards, and unlike many here I still think Wahlstrom is going to be a guy who shoots it 250 times and gets his close to 30 goals. 1000 minutes with one or the other is all I ask and then I will take the nonsense when it comes to anteing up for Maty's new deal....

I hope I am wrong and we still find a way to pluck one of Kane, Tarasenko or Miller away (and I agree with Periferal that he is likely to offer up that 2023 1st rounder if he does) but I just have a feeling that this off-season is going to be another snooze-fest, except for maybe a tweener LD. Yawn.

 

[MJF]

Just based on the contract handed out.

Based on the talent Aho has ue’s a 7th defenseman.

 

[Mike C]

Lou is bringing on a veteran defender- relax. He has all but said as much already.

The more depressing news is it is very possible that is all he does and he runs it back with the same forwards and doesn't upgrade (again) with a difference maker and we get to hear the same Barzal isn't worth it crap. Not even considering moving Varlamov, Bailey and/or Beau to get one is just sad really....

Well all I ask is the only two wings who we know are capable to be a 30 goal scorer are on his right side next season. I feel pretty confident based on his last 40 games (14-11-25) that a Palmieri comeback is in the cards, and unlike many here I still think Wahlstrom is going to be a guy who shoots it 250 times and gets his close to 30 goals. 1000 minutes with one or the other is all I ask and then I will take the nonsense when it comes to anteing up for Maty's new deal....

I hope I am wrong and we still find a way to pluck one of Kane, Tarasenko or Miller away (and I agree with Periferal that he is likely to offer up that 2023 1st rounder if he does) but I just have a feeling that this off-season is going to be another snooze-fest, except for maybe a tweener LD. Yawn.

I am in agreement about Palms and Wally. I really liked Wahlstrom's demeanor at the end of last season when he said he needed Barry's "tough love " and he was going to work on all aspects of his game from condition and nutrition to skating

I am not going to call a 22 year old with limited experience a bust, especially playing in the intricate Trotz system. I'm in the camp that says give him a chance.

Maybe the "new voice" is to stress the same D scheme more or less but to let the skill sets of players be prevalent also. That could prove huge to Barzal, Beau, and Wally

 

[LeapOnOver]

Can't really see them going after Miller now after the interest was leaked at the draft. You know, Lou's dumb rules.

No interest in Anderson and hope we stay far away from him.

If the truth is that the deal fell apart because there was no permission to talk to Miller's agent, Lou is definitely out.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Everyone is suggesting different players to sign but you do realize we need to move 2 forwards.
We currently have 14 forwards (including Bellows) So you bring in another, now we have 15....That's why Lou has to trade Bailey, I don't understand why he didn't move him during the draft. Unless Lou waives or convinces Martin to retire but that's not happening. Lou stated he still believes in this group. To me, that means we are standing pat again.

We do not have the cap space to sign Gaudreau. He is definitely going to get, if he leaves Calgary, 10-11M per. And even if we could, I believe he goes to Phily or NJ.

If you look at our current cap, we have 12M
- Dobson - 4.5M
-Romanov - 2M
-Bellows - 900K
-Salo - 800K

That around 8.2M - leaves us with under 4M.....

So if you want to improve the forwards, Bailey and Vary have to be on the chopping block. That's 10M in cap space, minus about 2M for a Goalie backup - 8M....now you are back up to 12M for a big FA signing.

He didn't move Bailey at the draft because he didn't have a deal in place to significantly upgrade him. You don't move Bailey prematurely thinking you'll be able to replace him. Regardless of what islander fans think, Bailey is a big piece of the puzzle. No need to argue the point. The only people who's opinion matter know this.

 

[Duanesutter12]

The Barzal talk in here is just completely insane! He hasn't gotten progressively worse under Trotz, he had a bad year. That's it! In fact before last year he's been remarkably consistent. And yeah it's true, his rookie season was a statistical outlier but it was a completely different system tailored to his game. Last year at this time we were all talking about his alpha dog playoffs where he was taking over games at clutch times. Provided we can get some help around him I would bet he's going to have a great season this year.