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

[Throttle]

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

You can shake free of the cap space by sunseting UFAs over a series of years, not one season.

Is Lou really clueless? Maybe Sorokin says, I’m not resigning unless Varly sticks around. Lou says, nah, I’m gonna put my foot down here and bring in a 2B goalie for 850k, deal with it. Sorokin says, ok, thanks, but I’ll test the market as a UFA.

I’m sure Isles fans would have loved that result.

 

[Throttle]

Varly has been the best UFA signing in the past 25 years for a player that did not play on the team in his UFA season.

That’s how said the Isles are/were…

 

[doublechili]

Maybe Sorokin says, I’m not resigning unless Varly sticks around. Lou says, nah, I’m gonna put my foot down here and bring in a 2B goalie for 850k, deal with it. Sorokin says, ok, thanks, but I’ll test the market as a UFA.

I’m sure Isles fans would have loved that result.

Decent chance Sorokin would've ended up with the Devs - that wouldn't have been pretty.

 

[Nassau Revisited]

You can shake free of the cap space by sunseting UFAs over a series of years, not one season.

Is Lou really clueless? Maybe Sorokin says, I’m not resigning unless Varly sticks around. Lou says, nah, I’m gonna put my foot down here and bring in a 2B goalie for 850k, deal with it. Sorokin says, ok, thanks, but I’ll test the market as a UFA.

I’m sure Isles fans would have loved that result.

So who is the GM Sorokin or Lou? Lou had to sign Varly for 4 years until his age 39 season because he is friends with Sorokin??

It’s is a pattern with Lou to offer longer contracts than any other GM in the league. Varly at 2 years for an extra 500k a year is fine. Varly at age 38 and 39 will probably not end well.

He tried Engvall on the top line for 3 shifts.

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

Yea Engvall should be moved down the lineup not up.

 

[Nassau Revisited]

Wahlstrom for Gauthier

Shifting chairs on the titanic

 

[Throttle]

So who is the GM Sorokin or Lou? Lou had to sign Varly for 4 years until his age 39 season because he is friends with Sorokin??

It’s is a pattern with Lou to offer longer contracts than any other GM in the league. Varly at 2 years for an extra 500k a year is fine. Varly at age 38 and 39 will probably not end well.



Yea Engvall should be moved down the lineup not up.

Well, this is where fantasy fan land comes in. A vezina candidate heading into his UFA year has A LOT of power over ANY GM. If he wants to resign and part of that is to resign his net partner, 99% of GMs do it, especially one that probably had 3-5 UFA options.

Decent chance Sorokin would've ended up with the Devs - that wouldn't have been pretty.

And Lou should have been fired for letting THAT happen… round a round we go…

 

[Nassau Revisited]

Well, this is where fantasy fan land comes in. A vezina candidate heading into his UFA year has A LOT of power over ANY GM. If he wants to resign and part of that is to resign his net partner, 99% of GMs do it, especially one that probably had 3-5 UFA options.

Did Sorokin force Lou to give Varly 2 extra years? Did he force Lou to give Mayfield/ Engvall 4/5 extra years?? Most would be fine if Varly was overpaid this year and next, it is years 3/4 that are a killer.

The only guy you hold accountable in this organization is Barzal which is simply bizarre

 

[crashthenet]

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.

Fair however, he was available for mid-round pick and we needed something better than Fasching/Gauthier/Wahlstrom 20 games in.

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.

We don't actually. We have had a collection of AHL level players manning the wing on the third line.

 

[NC 1972]

This game is rock bottom.

There are 8 games before the deadline and if the results continue to be similar to what we have seen this month, then no Lou should not buy at the deadline. They should take the rest of the season as a step back and evaluate who belongs, what they have, who they keep, and who they bid adieu.

Again, if they do not make the playoffs, then IMO, Lou will make some changes.

I’m not sure changes are possible, this has been bandied about often. Many of the players on this team are overvalued by the fan base, combine that with over priced long term contracts movement seems quite difficult. I love Brock but he seems to be the only asset you could move and bring back some young prospects or picks. With most teams up against the cap who will be willing to help the NYI out of a bad situation?

 

[gordie43]

Did Sorokin force Lou to give Varly 2 extra years? Did he force Lou to give Mayfield/ Engvall 4/5 extra years?? Most would be fine if Varly was overpaid this year and next, it is years 3/4 that are a killer.

The only guy you hold accountable in this organization is Barzal which is simply bizarre

Varley got the years to keep his avg salary down.

Without that how could Engvall and Mayfield be fit under the cap?

 

[Nassau Revisited]

Varley got the years to keep his avg salary down.

Without that how could Engvall and Mayfield be fit under the cap?

At some point you pay guys more for a short term deal. Lou would rather lock them up until they are ready for social security

 

[Throttle]

Did Sorokin force Lou to give Varly 2 extra years? Did he force Lou to give Mayfield/ Engvall 4/5 extra years?? Most would be fine if Varly was overpaid this year and next, it is years 3/4 that are a killer.

The only guy you hold accountable in this organization is Barzal which is simply bizarre

Except, the Isles based on the cap would have not have been able to pay market value to Varly on a short term deal.

Lou has his faults, but the endless complaining about everything he has done is a bit disingenuous.

Lou partially overpays because you are the NY Islanders.

 

[Nassau Revisited]

Except, the Isles based on the cap would have not have been able to pay market value to Varly on a short term deal.

Lou has his faults, but the endless complaining about everything he has done is a bit disingenuous.

Lou partially overpays because you are the NY Islanders.

That is a bogus excuse that you are the NY Islanders. Thanks to Lou, Trotz, the new owners, and new arena I think that excuse is over. Lou does deserve credit for changing the reputation of this franchise, but he has done a poor job the last 2 years. Horvat and JGP are examples of 2 potential UFAs that signed before spending a week with team.

Lou could have found 500k to add to keep Varly out of blue and white for his age 37 and 38 seasons if that is what was needed to keep Sorokin

 

[MJF]

That is a bogus excuse that you are the NY Islanders. Thanks to Lou, Trotz, the new owners, and new arena I think that excuse is over. Lou does deserve credit for changing the reputation of this franchise, but he has done a poor job the last 2 years. Horvat and JGP are examples of 2 potential UFAs that signed before spending a week with team.

Lou could have found 500k to add to keep Varly out of blue and white for his age 37 and 38 seasons if that is what was needed to keep Sorokin

I say Lou’s done a poor job the last 3 years.

—Missed the playoffs
—Lost in the 1st round
—Currently 6 points behind the last playoff spot with 28 games remaining after firing his coach.

I don’t believe Lou drew it up this way.


This is more than “what have you done for me lately”, this is trending in the wrong direction. Lou is waiting for “sunsetting contracts” because he either held onto those guys for too long or couldn’t find a market for any of them, leaving him unable to make necessary improvements to his roster. Either way, Lou is failing to meet objectives and goals.

 

[Nassau Revisited]

I say Lou’s done a poor job the last 3 years.

—Missed the playoffs
—Lost in the 1st round
—Currently 6 points behind the last playoff spot with 28 games remaining after firing his coach.

I don’t believe Lou drew it up this way.


This is more than “what have you done for me lately”, this is trending in the wrong direction. Lou is waiting for “sunsetting contracts” because he either held onto those guys for too long or couldn’t find a market for any of them, leaving him unable to make necessary improvements to his roster. Either way, Lou is failing to meet objectives and goals.

Perfectly put. Also if he let Sorokin bully him into signing a 35 year old goalie for 4 years that should be immediate grounds for dismissal

 

[MJF]

Perfectly put. Also if he let Sorokin bully him into signing a 35 year old goalie for 4 years that should be immediate grounds for dismissal

If so it wouldn’t be the first time a star player leveraged what he wanted out of management.

Sometimes a star player even threatens to go UFA if a coach isn’t fired.

 

[Nassau Revisited]

If so it wouldn’t be the first time a star player leveraged what he wanted out of management.

Sometimes a star player even threatens to go UFA if a coach isn’t fired.

It happens all the time. Would be surprising if Lou allowed himself to be bullied given his reputation. We will never know what actually happened.

Either way I think most agree the time has come for a new GM

 

[periferal]

Well, this is where fantasy fan land comes in. A vezina candidate heading into his UFA year has A LOT of power over ANY GM. If he wants to resign and part of that is to resign his net partner, 99% of GMs do it, especially one that probably had 3-5 UFA options.

Meh. If a player isn't willing to resign here unless you make moves that don't serve your franchise in the big picture then that player has to go.

Personally I think Sorokin would've resigned without Varly resigning, but given how Lou operates Sorokin's agent just probably told Lou that he would like it if they could keep Varly...And then Lou went out and just got the deal done - Whatever it took.

Varley got the years to keep his avg salary down.

Without that how could Engvall and Mayfield be fit under the cap?

Still amazed that Lou gave Engvall & Mayfield extra years to "keep the salaries down," and yet...They aren't even worth the "down salaries."

 

[LeapOnOver]

I just spent a few minutes looking over the old threads that announced the Mayfield and Engvall signings last offseason.

Rather than publicly shame the majority who approved of those deals, I’d rather identify those who saw these deals for what they were from the onset.

These are my candidates for the mid season amateur GM awards.

Mayfield:
View attachment 822083

Engvall:
View attachment 822084
Engvall:
View attachment 822085

Are these the games we are going to play now, lol. Let me go back fine everyone who hated the Ladd signing. Oh, it was just me.

 

[doublechili]

"Pierre LeBrun: Kyle Dubas right now is listening on pretty much everyone on his roster other than his core guys. I hope I underline that part for everyone. But that still leaves a lot of players that he's listening on and for example, a player that he's listening on is Reilly Smith, who's not a pending UFA. He's got another year in his deal at $5M next year, but he's a Cup champion with playoff experience. And now I know that that may intrigue a few contenders somewhere on their list."

Granted it's LeBrun, but if there's any truth to that whatsoever, Smith has exactly the same remaining contract as Palmieri - this year and next at $5M per year, then UFA. Palmieri is 60 days older than Smith.

Smith: 46GP 10G 12A 22P
Palmieri: 54GP 15G 17A 32P

Yet Palmieri's contract is unmovable?

Insider Trading: Noah Hanifin expected to be dealt south of the border | TSN

TSN’s Hockey Insiders have more on Flames blueliner Noah Hanifin, how buyers are patiently waiting for the list of sellers to grow, and the latest on the Penguins, Stars and Panthers, the Coyotes in the market for more draft picks.

www.tsn.ca

 

[impaaaaaact]

delet

 

[Throttle]

"Pierre LeBrun: Kyle Dubas right now is listening on pretty much everyone on his roster other than his core guys. I hope I underline that part for everyone. But that still leaves a lot of players that he's listening on and for example, a player that he's listening on is Reilly Smith, who's not a pending UFA. He's got another year in his deal at $5M next year, but he's a Cup champion with playoff experience. And now I know that that may intrigue a few contenders somewhere on their list."

Granted it's LeBrun, but if there's any truth to that whatsoever, Smith has exactly the same remaining contract as Palmieri - this year and next at $5M per year, then UFA. Palmieri is 60 days older than Smith.

Smith: 46GP 10G 12A 22P
Palmieri: 54GP 15G 17A 32P

Yet Palmieri's contract is unmovable?

Insider Trading: Noah Hanifin expected to be dealt south of the border | TSN

TSN’s Hockey Insiders have more on Flames blueliner Noah Hanifin, how buyers are patiently waiting for the list of sellers to grow, and the latest on the Penguins, Stars and Panthers, the Coyotes in the market for more draft picks.

www.tsn.ca

Dubas is such a gong show. He’s gonna try to push out Sullivan this summer - he’s the first in his survival blame game.

 

[Isles72]

Did Sorokin force Lou to give Varly 2 extra years? Did he force Lou to give Mayfield/ Engvall 4/5 extra years?? Most would be fine if Varly was overpaid this year and next, it is years 3/4 that are a killer.

The only guy you hold accountable in this organization is Barzal which is simply bizarre

The way I saw it ; Sorokin probably could have asked for 9.0 - 9.5 and the Isles just sign a rando backup for league min . He takes a little less at 8.25 so the Isles can keep Varly around .

if anything , Varly should have taken a little less for the 4th year of security 2.0 m x 4

 

[Top Corner]

I say Lou’s done a poor job the last 3 years.

—Missed the playoffs
—Lost in the 1st round
—Currently 6 points behind the last playoff spot with 28 games remaining after firing his coach.

I don’t believe Lou drew it up this way.


This is more than “what have you done for me lately”, this is trending in the wrong direction. Lou is waiting for “sunsetting contracts” because he either held onto those guys for too long or couldn’t find a market for any of them, leaving him unable to make necessary improvements to his roster. Either way, Lou is failing to meet objectives and goals.

I think when Lou was quoted and I’m paraphrasing , “I believe in the guys in the locker room” I think he was saying “nobody’s is buying my crap and I have no other choice but to believe” I’ve always said and maintained, I liked him as president but not GM in todays game.

 

[saintunspecified]

Brock Nelson heating up approaching the deadline is a very good thing.

That's all I got.