Rumors/Speculation/Trade Talk - 2021-22 Pt. II - Expansion Draft Edition

[Seph]

my pick was him anyways. the next best was pelech also.

Pelech doesn't rush the puck very often, due to his conservative defensive game and not being nearly the skater Leddy is. If we are relying on him to be the primary puck rusher in the top 4, it will likely affect the offense.

 

[Osakahaus]

Pelech doesn't rush the puck very often, due to his conservative defensive game and not being nearly the skater Leddy is. If we are relying on him to be the primary puck rusher in the top 4, it will likely affect the offense.

I still think Lou wants to try and add in a new defenseman to try and replace leddy. It's probably gonna be Suter or Edler imo

 

[Seph]

I still think Lou wants to try and add in a new defenseman to try and replace leddy. It's probably gonna be Suter or Edler imo

Sure, and I am not saying his loss is irreplaceable, in fact, my original comment even mentioned that it was replaceable. Just saying if it isn't replaced, either with an addition or internally, it is likely to have an effect on the offense.

 

[KevFu]

Some are worried about the aging curve of Landeskog but let’s bring on a 46 year old Chara to replace a top 4 D.

I would prefer not turning to Chara at his age. Good as he has been historically, my gut tells me we should go with Suter.

1. I get what you're saying about the age factor, but you cannot deny that Chara is just a straight up physical freak. They had to change the rulebook for his height because they never envisioned a physical specimen of his type in the NHL.

As a general rule, I'm cool with my baseball teams saying "we never sign 34-year old starting pitchers because they break down and suck." That's a good rule. But sometimes, you say "Eff it, the rule is good but doesn't apply to Nolan Ryan." And I think Chara is an exception like Nolan Ryan, or in hockey terms Chris Chelios. If Chara wants to sign for a million or less, welcome back Big Z.


2. We absolutely cannot sign Suter or Chara and roll into the season relying on one of them and Greene as 1/3 of our D with Hickey as the 7th guy. We should sign BOTH Suter and Chara, and rely on the trio of Suter/Chara/Greene to split 164 regular season starts.

It's absolute insanity to expect two old guys coming off two shortened seasons to be able to go 82 regular season games each and then FOUR PLAYOFF SERIES. Suter can play 70, Chara/Green 47 each assuming everyone else is healthy.

 

[IslesNorway]

I'd be very vary of signing Landeskog to a huge 7 year deal. I mean, how often do those mega deals for sexy UFAs actually pay off or prove to be really worth it? It seems that more often than not teams end up regretting those deals, especially in the long run.

Therefore, I kinda hope they go for a different approach, if possible. For the first time in more than 30 years the Islanders are a top destination for free agents and wantaway players. We're no longer top of the "no trade" lists and very few players would be sorry for getting traded here. They are also very close to the winning the cup, but the window is closing a little. The "older core" probably has 1-2 more years before going into serious decline and need replacing, and the prospect pool is really quite shallow too, so they need to proceed with caution.

If Landy really wants to come here to win then offer him a 4-5 year at the most. He gets to play for the cup and doesn't have to be part of few years of a rebuild afterwards. If Suter and Parise want to come here they want to come here to win not to make a buck. 1-2 year deals to play for the cup before retirement.
The last thing we should do is offer tons of money and years to players who will decline in a short while, but we can offer them one real shot at the cup instead. For quite a few players that's more attractive than the money.

 

[KevFu]

I'd be very vary of signing Landeskog to a huge 7 year deal. I mean, how often do those mega deals for sexy UFAs actually pay off or prove to be really worth it? .

I totally agree with you and that as a policy/principle/general rule of thumb on roster construction.

But at the same time, I also feel like we are in 90/10 territory. 90 percent of the time, you follow the rules because they are smart rules made on years of examples and stats and truth and became rules because breaking them is dumb and leads to tragedy. And 10 percent of the time, you break the rule because no one can possibly make streadfast rules that work 100% of the time.


I feel like the Islanders are a contender that is constructed in a way like no other team before them, because our path was so unorthodox. Most teams are built through a "teardown-rebuild" process, and we straight up weren't. No other contender was ever built with a regime showed the door and... then proven kinda right? There have been coaching changes, there have been GM changes; who else had both, kept most the players and went from mediocre to second best team in hockey? Who's ever gone from "I'd never sign there" to "marquee guys listing them" in 2 years like us?

We have TWO CORES. And older core, and a younger core. And we can smoothly transition from half older to more younger and remain competitive and have a 10-year run where we make the 2nd round or ECF a lot.

Or we can seize the bizarre opportunity to go all-in with overlapping cores in 2021 after an expansion draft makes every team worse in 2021 except possibly those who jettisoned Andrew Ladd?

If we go all in right now, and go deep again, we can probably sell the old core members off instead of having them mostly walk if we're just "being competitive for a decade."

I have a 25-year history on a Mets message board of telling other fans that "All-in' is stupid, we've never been in position to go All In."

The Islanders, after trading Leddy and Ladd, are actually in a position to go all-in. Landeskog could be a terrible contract in 2024, sure. But we can win a Cup with the right move in the next three weeks. Being a "really good team for a decade that didn't win a Cup" is far better than what we've been the last 30 years.... but banners hang forever.

I honestly do not know much about Landeskog. I cannot make a qualified opinion about what signing him means. But if Lou thinks he's THE GUY, then get THE GUY. If Ovi is The Guy, go get The Guy. This is the time to get The Guy, go all in and worry about 2024 later.

I do NOT say that lightly. But overlapping cores like we have now are rare. Having an expansion draft hurt everyone else in the league, and only team we can definitively call better than us having wholesale changes is also rare.

Tampa is going to get worse, we purged Andrew Ladd; there is a new TV deal that's going to raise the cap, we finally have a new arena opening (I looked at the live cam again today, it's there!). I don't know that Landeskog is The Guy that we should go all-in for, but if there is a guy, NOW is when we should go get that guy, go all in and worry about the future later. The table will never be more set for us. I'm all in.

 

[Bronson]

It makes great sense to go all in on Landeskog now. We almost made it to the finals this season (and would probably have clobbered Montreal had we gotten there). Imagine this team with Palmieri, Landeskog and Lee.

 

[SI]

Best top 6 Wingers exposed in expansion. draft(no specific order)

1. Tank (Dunn makes this a difficult pick as well as his injury history and 7.5 price tag)
2. Voracek (JVR and Ghost are other options - options on the leftside are thin, so GHost could be the pick especially with more options at the W. JVR provides strong net presence and is 1.25 cheaper than Voracek, but 1 year older.)
3. Eberle (3 years at 5.5 - 31 years old, best RH Top 6 available)
4. JVR (see Voracek)
5. Bailey (3 years at 5 - 32 years old, can play both sides and offers lockerroom leadership).
6. Zucker (might be a pass with other options in the bottom 6 - Tanev and Aston-Reese).
7. Donskoi (clear pick unless you like Compher).
8. Palat (1-year deal - could be the pick, but you can not overlook Gourde's success in the playoffs and the need for C depth. Seattle is crazy if they. don't pick Gourde).
9. Killorn (2 years at 4.5 - a great leader and great net-front presence. 1 year less than Bailey and 3 m cheaper than JVR and has won. Again - Seattle is crazy if they don't take the younger C).
10. Domi (a gamble 1 year at a high price tag - the only other option is Stenlund or a fringe NHLd man like Carlsson - it's only 1 year.)
11. McCann ( a much stronger player than Kerfoot or anything else Toronto has to offer. I love how Dreger and Johnston tweeting their love for Kerfoot almost promoting him to Seattle for Toronto, so transparent. McCann is younger, cheaper, and a much stronger player than Kerfoot. It would be beautiful that Toronto gives up an asset like Hallander only to lose McCann and Hallander and be stuck with Kerfoot. Kerfoot is not a C and there are stronger C's Tierney, Duchene, Gourde to name a couple. Dermott could be the pick too, especially with the weak LH d available, but if they go with Dunn, no need for another small PMD man.
12. Dadanov - too old at 33 and would rather build the team with C's - Tierney (27 years old) all day.
13. Nino - 1 year left @ 5.25. Could be an option if Seattle selects Ghost instead of JVR or Voracek. I think Seattle will use the pick to select Hamilton and try to lock him up with an 8-year deal. jake Bean could be another alternative.
14. Kerfoot - see McCann
15. Drouin - not sure what is happening with Drouin - love his talent and is still only 26. Seattle may stay away take a safer pick.
16. Ritchie - Maybe more of a top 9 guy, but he has future 6 written all over him - he is who we wish MDC would be. I cannot believe Boston did not protect him. Selecting him may impact other F selections.

I can see Seattle selecting one of Eberle or Bailey (maybe selecting to flip after expansion draft). It is what Vegas did with d men, but with the lack of quality d available and the plethora of top 6 - Seattle may be flipping top 6 F's for picks.


EDIT - meant to put this in the Expansion Draft thread. Sorry for the double post.

 

[KevFu]

I don't see a difference between the two threads, and really haven't ever.

 

[Bronson]

I think there's a deal in place here: Seattle takes Eberle and flips him to the Kings for a pick and/or a prospect and Bailey sticks with us. Lou might send Bellows to Seattle as a compensation and get a late round draft pick back.

 

[KevFu]

Best top 6 Wingers exposed in expansion. draft(no specific order)

Like I said with periferal, I appreciate the mind at work.

The main thing I thought reading your list and assessments was "No specific order!?!??! ALL THAT MATTERS IS THE ORDER!"

Like, one of Donskoi/Compher, one of Kerfoot/McCann are going to be on the Kraken, right?
Are they taking Erik Johnson at age 33 for $6 million or Donskoi/Compher at 29/26 for 3.9/3.5 ? Donskoi/Compher 100 times of 100.

And even more of lock with Kerfoot/McCann because every other Leafs option is garbage as they have no depth.


I'd take Ghost over Voracheck/JVR, but I'd be 12-deep in Kraken D-men if I was Francis. So maybe Vorachek is a great pick (I just don't want to hand the Flyers cap space).

Zucker? Nah, I have a full blown man crush on ZAR and if we can trade Seattle to flip ZAR to us so we could put him with Pageau, I'd be erect until we skate the Cup (which we would). He's cheap because his skillset is undervalued.

I see Gourde over Palat as well, as a center spot; eliminating Killorn, who had like rods and screws in his leg and tried to play (while Kucherov spent six weeks on the sideline fully healthy. Yeah, they circumvented, dock them a pick).

Domi - high upside, short term risk. And really, who do you target from the 28th best team in hockey if not that? I would pencil him in on Seattle. (THAT'S THREE)

Dadanov - You like Tierney, you gave a good reason why. I accept that as I've watched zero Ottawa games against non-Islanders opponents the last... many many years. But also, $3.5 hit to take Tierney, as 2nd/3rd line center.

Nino - I think Francis takes Bean. He came from CAR and knows CAR.

Drouin - This freaking guy is like "Oh, he's really talented" but everyone hates him after 7 years. I'd avoid him like the plague unless I had a flip lined up.

Ritchie - I like him too, but I figured they take Lauzon.

Maybe they DO take one of our guys. Seems like Vorecek or one of our guys. But we'd have $5 million or more with to go shopping with.

Thanks for the list. Love the insight.

 

[Wanderson]

There is a smorgasbord of UFA's available this year. Black Friday shopping list.

Here are some fwds that particularly intrigued me besides are own Cizikas and Palmieri.

Ovie
Parise
Krejci
Getzlaf
Bozak
Hyman
Coleman
Bonino
Armia
F Gaudreau

Do you use the word “smörgåsbord” in the US?

 

[Wanderson]

Landeskog is not the type of player we need. It’s a big name, I get it, but he is still not a player we need. Give us some premium goal scorer instead.

 

[Duanesutter12]

No other contender was ever built with a regime showed the door and... then proven kinda right? There have been coaching changes, there have been GM changes; who else had both, kept most the players and went from mediocre to second best team in hockey? Who's ever gone from "I'd never sign there" to "marquee guys listing them" in 2 years like us?

That really is a great point although I'm not so sure they've been proven right as much as they have proven how inept they were with great parts already in place. And don't forget, that was with Tavares as well. Weight is probably more to blame with his run and gun system (especially considering Cappy had some success with the same team) But Garth's weirdo personality certainly didn't lend itself to a winning culture. If I recall correctly we literally went from worst in the league in defense to top three or something like that. The difference was insane!

 

[IslandersFan17]

It’s bananas how many people are under selling Landeskog here.

Landeskog would have lead the team in goals, assists, total points; would have been second in playoff points with 13 behind Barzals’ 14…in nine less games played.

I understand wanting a primer scorer but a top tier player is a top tier player, regardless if you like his style or not. Landeskog would be an incredible addition.

 

[Uncle Lou]

It’s bananas how many people are under selling Landeskog here.

Landeskog would have lead the team in goals, assists, total points; would have been second in playoff points with 13 behind Barzals’ 14…in nine less games played.

I understand wanting a primer scorer but a top tier player is a top tier player, regardless if you like his style or not. Landeskog would be an incredible addition.

^^^^this
He would be an amazing addition to this team. Fits Trotz style and would slot in very nicely on line one. Landeskog-Barzal-Wally allows you to throw Lee in line 3 with Pageau And you balance out the offense very nicely

 

[IslesNorway]

Do you use the word “smörgåsbord” in the US?

They do. They use it in the sense of having a lot to choose from

 

[MichaelK]

^^^^this
He would be an amazing addition to this team. Fits Trotz style and would slot in very nicely on line one. Landeskog-Barzal-Wally allows you to throw Lee in line 3 with Pageau And you balance out the offense very nicely

People are under selling Landeskog, but I wouldn’t go too crazy either. Barzal and Wahlstrom are not McKinnon and Rantanen. Not to mention do you have any faith that Trotz would play Wahlstrom with Barzal especially if Eberle is still on the team?

 

[Satan'sIsland81]

I still think Lou wants to try and add in a new defenseman to try and replace leddy. It's probably gonna be Suter or Edler imo

If it is Edler we are screwed. That guy fell off the deep end this past season. I think he is done. The opposite to Suter who still showed he can play 20 minutes a night for a playoff team.

 

[scott99]

Landeskog is not the type of player we need. It’s a big name, I get it, but he is still not a player we need. Give us some premium goal scorer instead.

I don’t understand this thought process. The last two seasons, 108 games, he scored 96 points. The last two seasons, in the playoffs, in 24 games, he scored 26 points. His last FULL season (he played 73 games), he scored 34 goals. Now add in his leadership, he’s one of the best leaders in hockey.

He’s EXACTLY the type of player we need.

 

[The Real JT]

I'm still surprised about Bailey being exposed.

I have no idea how GM discussions between teams go but I wonder if the phone conversation went something like this.

Francis: We know you'd like to shed salary so we'll take Eberle off your hands. We like Bailey even better so leave him exposed too. We won't select Bailey unless we have another piece to send you back that we both agree on.

Lamoriello: Who is this?

 

[YoureMyBoyLou]

I would take Landeskog in a heartbeat. We are in win now mode. He's a guy that can push us over the top. If you're going to wait for the perfect player, you'll be waiting forever.

 

[MikeyMike01]

I'd be very vary of signing Landeskog to a huge 7 year deal. I mean, how often do those mega deals for sexy UFAs actually pay off or prove to be really worth it? It seems that more often than not teams end up regretting those deals, especially in the long run.

Therefore, I kinda hope they go for a different approach, if possible. For the first time in more than 30 years the Islanders are a top destination for free agents and wantaway players. We're no longer top of the "no trade" lists and very few players would be sorry for getting traded here. They are also very close to the winning the cup, but the window is closing a little. The "older core" probably has 1-2 more years before going into serious decline and need replacing, and the prospect pool is really quite shallow too, so they need to proceed with caution.

If Landy really wants to come here to win then offer him a 4-5 year at the most. He gets to play for the cup and doesn't have to be part of few years of a rebuild afterwards. If Suter and Parise want to come here they want to come here to win not to make a buck. 1-2 year deals to play for the cup before retirement.
The last thing we should do is offer tons of money and years to players who will decline in a short while, but we can offer them one real shot at the cup instead. For quite a few players that's more attractive than the money.

Term doesn’t concern me at all. There’s no meaningful projections of the roster 5 years from now. They could be in a full rebuild then for all we know. If 7 years is what it takes to make it happen, then so be it.

 

[leeroggy]

Sign Suter/Parise as a package in a 3 yr deal and call it an offseason. If Seattle takes Bailey or Eberle (hope it's Eberle), sign Palmieri to replace him.

No, take one big shot.

A side deal with Seattle to take Tarasenko and flip him to us for Eberle & Bellows and they take Aho in the Expansion Draft.

If Eberle is taken go after Landeskog or see if Laine can be acquired.

We need a FINISHER besides Wahlstrom and Palmieri isn't the home run hitter.

 

[leeroggy]

And what about Zach Hyman? He'd fit in perfectly in Trotz system!

Someone is going to overpay him badly, thinking they're getting a scoring forward.