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

[Chardo]

Always my least favorite day of the year.

 

[YearlyLottery]

I do not want to see people go crazy over the Rags getting Kadri when virtually nobody wants him here. I for one would not mind it. I do not think his contract will age great but I do think for the next 2-3 seasons he will give the Islanders a great chance of winning the Cup.

 

[saintunspecified]

Would be nice to add another Russian as well and Tarasenko’s term is more favorable.

I don't think that's a factor. The truth is that LL has shown + made front office moves that show that NYI are no longer non-players wrt Russian players like they were in the Snow years.

The thing is, for me, when I look at JT Miller vs. Tarasenko, I see Miller as a player who has had more success on bad teams vs. good teams whereas Tarasenko, when healthy, is a consistent high-level performer.

 

[SayItAintSoJohnny]

Well, I can't say I am very optimistic about today. I understand Lou keeping things close to his chest and his insistence on secrecy, but let's recap what we do know:

1) Lou indicates he wants to make a "hockey trade"
2) Lou indicates wanting to repair the blueline and indicating that "ideally it would be 2, a puck mover and a defender"
3) Lou trades #1 pick to get D Romanov
4) Reports- although varying in it's substance- that Lou was inquiring about Canucks LW J.T. Miller at the Draft
5) After early reports of him being the odd man out, reports now are F Josh Bailey isn't even being shopped
6) Despite the goalie market being heightened and overpays across the board at the position, Lou continues to indicate a strong desire to keep Varlamov and keep his "tandem" together
7) Early reports of LW Anthony Beauvillier being on the block has softened and almost non-existent the last few weeks
8) No real indication how Islanders will clear cap space
9) No real strong indication the Islanders are wanting to trade anyone
10) Islanders enter free-agency with the following depth chart:

14 Forwards:
C Mathew Barzal (7 million)
LW Anders Lee (7 million)
C Brock Nelson (6)
RW Kyle Palmieri (5)
LW/RW Josh Bailey (5)
C Jean-Gabriel Pageau (5)
LW Anthony Beauvillier (4.15)
C Casey Cizikas (2.5)
RW Cal Clutterbuck (1.75)
LW Matt Martin (1.5)
LW Ross Johnston (1.1)
RW Oliver Wahlstrom (.9)
LW Zach Parise (.75)
LW Kieffer Bellows*

6 Defenseman:
RD Ryan Pulock (6.15 million)
LD Adam Pelech (5.75)
RD Scott Mayfield (1.45)
LD Sebastian Aho (.825)
LD Robin Salo (.8)
RD Noah Dobson *
LD Alexander Romanov*

2 Goalies:
G Ilya Sorokin (4 million)
G Semyon Varlamov (5)

1 Buried:
LW Richard Panik (,25)

Now, I know a lot of people in here are assuming the signing of Aho will mean both he and Salo take the 6th and 7th spots on the blueline, but I still think it is more likely than not that Lou brings in another veteran defender and only one of those two young blueliners make the roster, and they both carry close to the same cap hit of 800,000. You can also assume that one of Martin or Johnston is buried.

By doing that (I chose to keep Salo and Martin and buried both Aho and Johnston), the Islanders will have 12 forwards, 4 defenseman and 2 goalies and their cap will be at $70.2 million and giving them a tad over $12.3 million in cap space. That is 18 players and everyone knows that Dobson and Romanov will make the team, which puts us at 20 players. Best case is we are able to sign those two RFA's on bridge deals for 6.8 million, putting us at 77 million, leaving only 5.5 million in cap space to work with.

Yes, Bellows will get a contract, but it is going to be under a million, so whether he makes the final roster or not, he is a +/- player because his salary is so low. It is probably safe to say that another player (likely a forward) will in fact be making that million or less much like Wahlstrom...so now you are at 21 players with only 4,5 million in space.

Maybe their is 5-6 million there, but the bottom line is if the Islanders are going to sign a big fish (Gaudreau) or trade for one (Kane) then they are going to have to move some serious salary out, especially if Lou is still looking to spend 2-3 million on another defender.

Ideally, Bailey (5 million) and I still say Varlamov (also 5) are in fact traded and we have 15-16 million to play with to get that LD (2-3), that difference making forward (10) and a backup goalie (2-3) while finding Mr.23 for a cool million...

I am not overly optimistic.

 

[CupHolders]

My prediction...

We hear the Isles name involved heavily with Gaudreau. He signs elsewhere. We get a post/article from K.Kurz how there was interest, and it was close but they couldn't finalize it. Isles find and sign a solid depth d-man.


My hope...

The depth D-man they sign is Leddy on a team friendly deal

Sometime later this evening the Isles trade some salary and futures for either Kane or Tarasenko

 

[SayItAintSoJohnny]

I do not want to see people go crazy over the Rags getting Kadri when virtually nobody wants him here. I for one would not mind it. I do not think his contract will age great but I do think for the next 2-3 seasons he will give the Islanders a great chance of winning the Cup.

I will not lose any sleep.

Again, it is 100x more likely he reverts to the 50 point player he has always been then repeat his career season from last year, especially as he enters his mid-30's....

 

[BrockLobster]

Watch NYR sign Kadri and then, like they always manage to do, magically clear some space and trade for Patrick Kane.

They already have 60% of their cap on 6 guys without these 2. I dont get it. But youre probably right

 

[PWJunior]

My prediction...

We hear the Isles name involved heavily with Gaudreau. He signs elsewhere. We get a post/article from K.Kurz how there was interest, and it was close but they couldn't finalize it. Isles find and sign a solid depth d-man.


My hope...

The depth D-man they sign is Leddy on a team friendly deal

Sometime later this evening the Isles trade some salary and futures for either Kane or Tarasenko

This is realistic and I agree with you.

But people will be bitching and moaning regardless, need a ton of tampons stat for the drama club here.

 

[Satan'sIsland81]

I do not want to see people go crazy over the Rags getting Kadri when virtually nobody wants him here. I for one would not mind it. I do not think his contract will age great but I do think for the next 2-3 seasons he will give the Islanders a great chance of winning the Cup.

I hope the Rags get him. He will screw up their salary cap structure for years to come and not be anything better than all the other UFAs they will now lose and not be able to sign. But really I just pray it is not us who wastes our salary cap on this guy.

They already have 60% of their cap on 6 guys without these 2. I dont get it. But youre probably right

That is because somehow teams around the league continue to help them. It happens over and over again in my lifetime. Did you see the Brooks article yesterday? He says a third team could sign Kadri and then trade him to the Rags for 50% salary retained and then the Blackhawks could do the same with Kane. The Rags will have half their team's salary paid by the rest of the league. I dont even understand how a situation like that would be allowed, but moreso why teams always seem willing to help them.

 

[CupHolders]

This is realistic and I agree with you.

But people will be bitching and moaning regardless, need a ton of tampons stat for the drama club here.

Lol... I did have a line about everyone loosing their sh!t when Gaudreau signed elsewhere but decided to edit out. Also, if Lou does pull off a big deal for a scorer, it will be out of the blue and get announced right between a Ranger's signing and the Maple Leafs signing their backup... so we know that only we will be talking about it.

 

[SayItAintSoJohnny]

I think SL wants Leddy back and his camp is not wanting a "cheap deal", so I think a return here for any kind of discount is unrealistic.

If the goal is to get a serious player up front; and unless the Islanders are trading all 3 of Bailey, Beau and Varlamov (highly unlikely) the consensus needs to be a cheap signing for a veteran D to compete with Aho/Salo....

Also, I too am hoping for a Malkin-like change of course with the Blues concerning Perron and Tarasenko does in fact become available since they have other things to do (like re-signing Leddy or getting another D) and have cap concerns of their own....

 

[2ndGenIslander]

Hoping for A: Johnny Gaudreau
Expecting A : Marty Reasoner

 

[JJ18Sniper]

Hoping for A: Johnny Gaudreau
Expecting A : Marty Reasoner

or Jon Sim.

 

[SI90]

Someone I thought Lou might Target was Trocheck. Sounds like the rags will land him.

Also Giroux to the sens could happen.

 

[Satan'sIsland81]

Someone I thought Lou might Target was Trocheck. Sounds like the rags will land him.

Also Giroux to the sens could happen.

So the Rags are getting Trocheck, Kadri and possibly Kane with 10 million in cap space. How is this possible? Are they doing two sign and trades and a third trade, all three with 50% salary retention?

 

[seabass45]

Senators taking some big steps to move out of the rebuild, good for them.

 

[CupHolders]

I think SL wants Leddy back and his camp is not wanting a "cheap deal", so I think a return here for any kind of discount is unrealistic.

If the goal is to get a serious player up front; and unless the Islanders are trading all 3 of Bailey, Beau and Varlamov (highly unlikely) the consensus needs to be a cheap signing for a veteran D to compete with Aho/Salo....

Also, I too am hoping for a Malkin-like change of course with the Blues concerning Perron and Tarasenko does in fact become available since they have other things to do (like re-signing Leddy or getting another D) and have cap concerns of their own....

Makes sense. There are so few good LH Dmen this year. Maybe a one year, one million De Haan signing? If he get's hurt again, they could still work in Salo.

Senators taking some big steps to move out of the rebuild, good for them.

...and first round eliminating the Leafs next spring.

 

[JJ18Sniper]

Pacioretty is getting dangled, Miller is still out there and Tarasenko possibly as well. I'm at the point that I expect a quiet day and a possible trade later.

 

[JKP]

There's a strategy to UFA around value that is some teams practice (most typically in the NFL by the Ravens): Don't overspend on the big names, and wait for the prices to come down on the second tier and go value shopping. Be curious to see which way we go today. Big swings or value shopping.

 

[IslesNorway]

There's a strategy to UFA around value that is some teams practice (most typically in the NFL by the Ravens): Don't overspend on the big names, and wait for the prices to come down on the second tier and go value shopping. Be curious to see which way we go today. Big swings or value shopping.

Value shopping. Always value shopping, or dumpster diving. Nothing to get excited about at all.

 

[Mavericknyc1980]

This happens every year. We sign no one of substance and we talk ourselves into thinking their is a trade when their won’t be. We some how can’t get out of this vicious cycle.

 

[LeapOnOver]

I will not lose any sleep.

Again, it is 100x more likely he reverts to the 50 point player he has always been then repeat his career season from last year, especially as he enters his mid-30's....

You forgot Mackenzie will list us as favorites to land him to help drive the bidding up and get a kickback from JG's agent.

 

[SI90]

Patches is a consistent and really good goal scorer. Problem is his healthy is a gamble. The last 4 years he’s missed a lot of games.

 

[seafoam]

 

[BrockLobster]

Kane is off the table. As per severelli he is going to stay in Chicago.