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

[Nassau Revisited]

Interesting that you would think an actual NHL player wouldn't have improved this team in lieu of the Faschings and Gauthiers of the world. Team went about 50 games without a goal from the second PP unit. You run that out and every PP is less than two minutes. Beyond that our bottom six has been atrocious offensively. Absent Holmstrom's 5 shorties, we would have a player hit double digits this year.

You forgot about them being atrocious defensively as well.

 

[gordie43]

Interesting that you would think an actual NHL player wouldn't have improved this team in lieu of the Faschings and Gauthiers of the world. Team went about 50 games without a goal from the second PP unit. You run that out and every PP is less than two minutes. Beyond that our bottom six has been atrocious offensively. Absent Holmstrom's 5 shorties, we would have a player hit double digits this year.

Hard to see a guy like Tatar or JVR coming to Long Island as there really wasn’t any full time roster spots up for grabs. Hence the reason Lou ended op with Gauthier and Fashing, guys willing to play that 13th roster spot for a full time NHL contract.

The roster construction is a completely different discussion.

 

[MJF]

So who is in favor of a rebuild, and who is in favor of a retool/restructure? Let's have a dichotomous breakdown. Count me in the latter faction.

I'm in favor of a re-something.

The rebuild ship sailed the day Lou traded for Bo Horvat, so whatever comes after rebuild on the team reconstruction scale is what the Islanders should do.

 

[WangMustGo]

I love Nelson but we need a pretty big hole in the lineup. We need multiple big holes in the lineup. Look at Pittsburgh in years past. Getting Lemieux and Jagr, Crosby and Malkin didn’t come from being middle of the pack teams and getting middle of the pack draft picks every year. Chicago has Bedard and will likely get the first pick again…this thing needs to be torn down to the studs and built back slowly.

No it doesn’t. You don’t tear it all down when you have Sorokin, Barzal, and Dobson all in their primes. You build around them and shed the older guys. Maybe a 2 year retool. You move on from Nelson, recoup young assets/draft capital that can later be flipped for a younger top 6 forward.

Sure maybe next year is a down year, but it will be the perfect opportunity to flip JGP and Palms at the deadline. Opens up a lot of cap space to make moves. You flip Pelech and/or Pulock. This team can be completely reconstructed within 2 years.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

Team went about 50 games without a goal from the second PP unit.

He has 1 power play point this year.

 

[Kevin27NYI]

There is no rebuilding option, that shit doesn’t work. Not for us, not for anyone.

 

[Throttle]

A retool is 100% necessary but as long as Lou is in charge nothing is gonna happen. I bet he is more likely to extend Mike Reilly for 4 years than breaking anything down. Also, look for him to extend Nelson for six years in the summer. He will not be moved.

As I (and others) have pointed out many times, the Islanders have a shitload of players who are virtually impossible to move for value. You never see players with several years remaining and NTCs/NMC moved, so it's not gonna happen here either. Ideally $25-20 million should be moved but it won't happen as things stand. No team is going to move prospects, picks or young players for any of our contracts, so there will be similar contracts coming back. Also those players will mostly have NTCs and won't waive to come here for a retool.

If anything, they should sell off all UFAs and get some low picks. Sometimes you get lucky. In the summer look to deal Palmieri, and then try to make big trade involving dealing Pulock or Pelech for some offensive help. It's close to impossible, but maybe it can be done.

But the biggest change this team can make is getting rid of Lou. It's the only right thing to do.

It’s highly unlikely a team can shed $20-25M plus in one season whether that’s Lou or some young hot shot genius.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

I don't expect to rebuild, I was looking at Lou's past history of trades and his last trade of a name roster player he traded was Claude Lemieux for Steve Thomas that also involved Wendel Clark to the Isles in 1995. His other big trade was adding Kovalchuk in 2010 in what turned out to be a steal of sorts. Isles will be adding I suppose. If the Isles want to retool, rebuild, it won't be with Lou I surmise based on his past.

 

[seafoam]

The comments are gold.

 

[Nassau Revisited]

No it doesn’t. You don’t tear it all down when you have Sorokin, Barzal, and Dobson all in their primes. You build around them and shed the older guys. Maybe a 2 year retool. You move on from Nelson, recoup young assets/draft capital that can later be flipped for a younger top 6 forward.

Sure maybe next year is a down year, but it will be the perfect opportunity to flip JGP and Palms at the deadline. Opens up a lot of cap space to make moves. You flip Pelech and/or Pulock. This team can be completely reconstructed within 2 years.

That is what I would love to see. Let’s see if Lou is willing to do it

 

[Nassau Revisited]

It’s highly unlikely a team can shed $20-25M plus in one season whether that’s Lou or some young hot shot genius.

After next season Nelson and Palms are UFAs which frees up 11 million. Hate to lose Nelson but trading him for younger cost controlled assets is needed if we want to be more than 7th-10th place.

In 2 years we lose captain Lee and his horrible contract and JGP and his horrible contract freeing up 12 million. A re tool is possible but we need a better GM around to do it. Lou proved with Mayfield, Varly, and Engvall that he is clueless and not the right man for the job.

I would still love you know who Lou was competing against to sign those 3 contacts for years longer than they should be. I would imagine no other GM offered anything even close

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

I would still love you know who Lou was competing against to sign those 3 contacts for years longer than they should be. I would imagine no other GM offered anything even close

Theoretically, he was competing against the Islanders. This franchise isn't exactly a magnet for discerning players.

 

[crashthenet]

He has 1 power play point this year.

His 6 even strength goals since joining Seattle ( 24 games) would tie him for 7th on our team for the season (54 games). We don't do much of that 5v5 scoring either.

 

[IslesNorway]

Interesting that you would think an actual NHL player wouldn't have improved this team in lieu of the Faschings and Gauthiers of the world. Team went about 50 games without a goal from the second PP unit. You run that out and every PP is less than two minutes. Beyond that our bottom six has been atrocious offensively. Absent Holmstrom's 5 shorties, we would have a player hit double digits this year.

What needle would a guy like Tatar move? Seriously, this team needs so much more than the likes of him. Dime a dozen, middle sixers of whom we already have a ton. This team needs more, much more, than that. A trade for the likes him might would only cost us picks and get us preciously little back.

This team needs a big shakeup trade, if anything.

 

[xECK29x]

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[Glory Days]

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That stat shows just how bad the Isles have been at closing out games.

 

[Richie Daggers Crime]

His 6 even strength goals since joining Seattle ( 24 games) would tie him for 7th on our team for the season (54 games). We don't do much of that 5v5 scoring either.

Setting aside the merits of the 6 goal scorer, it's not like you can just choose players and automatically put them on your team.

 

[seafoam]

That stat shows just how bad the Isles have been at closing out games.

Sunday also showed that.

 

[doublechili]

So who is in favor of a rebuild, and who is in favor of a retool/restructure? Let's have a dichotomous breakdown. Count me in the latter faction.

Retool. I haven't changed that opinion for years, and in fact with a salary cap you need to constantly retool to maximize assets. My main gripe with Lou is that he's loyal to a fault and not proactive enough in making moves to maximize the roster and the value of assets.

BTW, I suppose another option would be to do virtually nothing. I'm not advocating this, but just throwing it out there as a sort of baseline of inactivity :

Summer 2024: let Martin, Clutterbuck and Aho walk with their $4,075,000 cap hits. Re-sign Reilly and maybe some other minor move. Use draft picks in rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 6;

Summer 2025: let Nelson, Palmieri and Fasching walk with their $11,775,000 cap hits (if not trading earlier). Use draft picks in all rounds (1-7);

Summer 2026: let Lee and JGP walking with their $12,000,000 cap hits (if not trading earlier). Use draft picks in rounds 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7;

The next summer Casey and Varlamov's contracts expire. At that point, with whatever other moves they make you have a mostly different team.

 

[doublechili]

He has 1 power play point this year.

You live with that kind of regular season production because you know you can cash in on his lifetime 13 points in 52 playoff games performance.

 

[seafoam]

Re: the Tatar thing…

The biggest issue is the fourth line doesn’t score (which is fine if your top three lines score), yet Holmstrom dried up and Wahlstrom was never wet.

Roy seriously needs to shakeup the lines to try and find some scoring. Clutterbuck looked good with Nelson on his snipe the other day, why can’t Roy just try Clutterbuck (who has 15 EV points this season) in the top nine?

 

[BrockLobster]

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So for 55 min theyre a top team in the NHL

 

[Nassau Revisited]

That stat shows just how bad the Isles have been at closing out games.

Makes you wonder why 2 coaches run Scott Mayfield out every game with under 2 minutes left. Only 6+years left boys

Re: the Tatar thing…

The biggest issue is the fourth line doesn’t score (which is fine if your top three lines score), yet Holmstrom dried up and Wahlstrom was never wet.

Roy seriously needs to shakeup the lines to try and find some scoring. Clutterbuck looked good with Nelson on his snipe the other day, why can’t Roy just try Clutterbuck (who has 15 EV points this season) in the top nine?

Definitely odd that Roy has not changed the lines at all since starting

 

[MJF]

Makes you wonder why 2 coaches run Scott Mayfield out every game with under 2 minutes left. Only 6+years left boys


Definitely odd that Roy has not changed the lines at all since starting

He tried Engvall on the top line for 3 shifts.

Then he noticed each shift ended with them in the D zone.

 

[leeroggy]

Definitely odd that Roy has not changed the lines at all since starting

Wahlstrom for Gauthier