SJ what would they realistically offer for #1

[boredmale]

I think after starting this thread and getting a feel for what Islander fans want to do with the pick, we sometimes have to take a step back and ask , if I can take 2 nickels and turn it into a quarter,would I being doing the right thing? There can be a price to be paid for the number one , the question is will San Jose pay that price is a different story.

I think the analogy would be better saying if you could turn 1 quarter into 3 dimes

Way I look at it is if you believe Schaefer will be a perennial top 10 defenseman in the league go for the quarter if you see him more as 11+ the 3 dimes don't look so bad. it should be pointed out you are more likely to get a quicker rate of return with the forwards(even if Schaefer ends up a better player 10 years from now)

 

[Nyisles 13]

I think after starting this thread and getting a feel for what Islander fans want to do with the pick, we sometimes have to take a step back and ask , if I can take 2 nickels and turn it into a quarter,would I being doing the right thing? There can be a price to be paid for the number one , the question is will San Jose pay that price is a different story.

We need to realize we have a lot of bad contracts , not so great players and are kind of strapped when it comes to being able to right the ship so any good GM is going to take this opportunity and make the right play. Not very often do you get a get out of jail card free which the Islanders got by winning the lottery. I will ask , would anybody be upset if the Islanders select Misa ? probably not too many would be overly upset, but just imagine if you could pick up a very good player from San Jose, maybe even Rid yourself of a contract going the other way , it might be the right play.

If we stay at one we need to take Schaefer…but I agree with this if we can get a prospect like Quentin musty and maybe there late first this year I would probably do it. We can then take Misa or Hagens whoever we prefer. We need to keep adding to our prospect pool so we would be stacked at forward and then next year focus on defense with our first rounders.

 

[Rehabguy]

I think after starting this thread and getting a feel for what Islander fans want to do with the pick, we sometimes have to take a step back and ask , if I can take 2 nickels and turn it into a quarter,would I being doing the right thing? There can be a price to be paid for the number one , the question is will San Jose pay that price is a different story.

We need to realize we have a lot of bad contracts , not so great players and are kind of strapped when it comes to being able to right the ship so any good GM is going to take this opportunity and make the right play. Not very often do you get a get out of jail card free which the Islanders got by winning the lottery. I will ask , would anybody be upset if the Islanders select Misa ? probably not too many would be overly upset, but just imagine if you could pick up a very good player from San Jose, maybe even Rid yourself of a contract going the other way , it might be the right play.

There are many options that can be used to rid the team of bad contracts even if it means burying the player in the minors or buying him out. But you sell tickets by bringing in potential cornerstones of the franchise not getting rid of bad contracts. Don't waste a #1 pick that comes only once every few decades if at all worrying about bad contracts. Take the best player available. It's a gift.

 

[leeroggy]

There are many options that can be used to rid the team of bad contracts even if it means burying the player in the minors or buying him out. But you sell tickets by bringing in potential cornerstones of the franchise not getting rid of bad contracts. Don't waste a #1 pick that comes only once every few decades if at all worrying about bad contracts. Take the best player available. It's a gift.

I'll take the other side for the sake of the debate. If we decide that Schaefer isn't enough of a stud to make this easy:

#1
Duclair

for

#2
Halttunen
SJ's 2026 #2

I can't see San Jose blanching at this

***

Then you get to decide if you want Misa or Hagens, and if it is Hagens, you can do the same approach with Chicago. I know a lot of you here are not as high on Hagens, but Chapin and I corresponded yesterday, and he is going to give a deep analysis on Hagens that I think everyone here will find enlightening.

#2
Mayfield

for

#3
Rinzel
Chicago's 2026 #2

***

We get rid of two contracts, pick up extra 2026 picks, earn two solid prospects on wing and RD (both with great size) and still pick Hagens.

 

[Rehabguy]

I'll take the other side for the sake of the debate. If we decide that Schaefer isn't enough of a stud to make this easy:

#1
Duclair

for

#2
Halttunen
SJ's 2026 #2

I can't see San Jose blanching at this

***

Then you get to decide if you want Misa or Hagens, and if it is Hagens, you can do the same approach with Chicago. I know a lot of you here are not as high on Hagens, but Chapin and I corresponded yesterday, and he is going to give a deep analysis on Hagens that I think everyone here will find enlightening.

#2
Mayfield

for

#3
Rinzel
Chicago's 2026 #2

***

We get rid of two contracts, pick up extra 2026 picks, earn two solid prospects on wing and RD (both with great size) and still pick Hagens.

I'll give you my one word analysis of Hagens: "tiny"

I would love to have Hagens on the Island by via trade but not by trading the #1 pick overall. There are other options available to rid ourselves of less favorable contract over handing over a potential future cornerstone of this team. That's too much of a sacrifice simply for a couple of bad contracts.

I'm always in favor of quality over quantity. I'd rather have one game breaking player over a couple of middle of the road players. Mediocrity gets us to where we are today- status quo. Game breakers get us to Cup finals.

 

[leeroggy]

I'll give you my one word analysis of Hagens: "tiny"

I would love to have Hagens on the Island by via trade but not by trading the #1 pick overall. There are other options available to rid ourselves of less favorable contract over handing over a potential future cornerstone of this team. That's too much of a sacrifice simply for a couple of bad contracts.

I'm always in favor of quality over quantity. I'd rather have one game breaking player over a couple of middle of the road players. Mediocrity gets us to where we are today- status quo. Game breakers get us to Cup finals.

What if you are overvaluing Schaefer and undervaluing Hagens? As I mentioned in my post, wait for Chapins analysis so you have more data. I've seen it already and it is impressive.

 

[Rehabguy]

What if you are overvaluing Schaefer and undervaluing Hagens? As I mentioned in my post, wait for Chapins analysis so you have more data. I've seen it already and it is impressive.

Maybe. Should we give Darche a call and tell him to ignore all the guys that do this for a living and just let the local HFboards guru give him the inside scoop on Hagens?

 

[doublechili]

I don’t see this happening, the scouts have spoken, and they agree it’s Schafer by a country mile. Chasing a player because he’s an Islander fan over choosing the BAP signals to the league that nothing has changed and the franchise can’t be taken seriously. If they want Hagens work a trade but take Schafer at one.

I agree and definitely want them to stay at #1 and take Schaefer. Just throwing out a scenario (that I don't want to see happen).

 

[doublechili]

I will ask , would anybody be upset if the Islanders select Misa ?

yes

I would then root for him to be the best player to come out of the draft, but I would be upset.

 

[leeroggy]

Maybe. Should we give Darche a call and tell him to ignore all the guys that do this for a living and just let the local HFboards guru give him the inside scoop on Hagens?

You know Rehab, sometimes you need to drop a notch and stop being snarky. I do believe Chapin has professional experience too.

We're all here to have our opinions and believe it or not, I've found experts in many fields to get them wrong at times, including me in the lacrosse world, where people pay for my opinions as an 'expert'.

 

[doublechili]

I'll take the other side for the sake of the debate. If we decide that Schaefer isn't enough of a stud to make this easy:

#1
Duclair

for

#2
Halttunen
SJ's 2026 #2

I can't see San Jose blanching at this

***

Then you get to decide if you want Misa or Hagens, and if it is Hagens, you can do the same approach with Chicago. I know a lot of you here are not as high on Hagens, but Chapin and I corresponded yesterday, and he is going to give a deep analysis on Hagens that I think everyone here will find enlightening.

#2
Mayfield

for

#3
Rinzel
Chicago's 2026 #2

***

We get rid of two contracts, pick up extra 2026 picks, earn two solid prospects on wing and RD (both with great size) and still pick Hagens.

That all looks great, except if Schaefer ends up being as good as some people seem to think he will, it's a bad deal.

 

[Rehabguy]

You know Rehab, sometimes you need to drop a notch and stop being snarky. I do believe Chapin has professional experience too.

We're all here to have our opinions and believe it or not, I've found experts in many fields to get them wrong at times, including me in the lacrosse world, where people pay for my opinions as an 'expert'.

Hey don't take my snarky replies so seriously. I would love to hear what he has to say, but again I don't know how his opinion would differ that much from what others have had to say about the kid. I do hear a lot of good things about Hagens, I just don't know if it is enough to compromise a potential franchise cornerstone.

Also I've been known at to have a contrary opinion about things from time to time (well, pretty much always) when just about everybody disagrees with me on these boards even though I may be the only one who approved of Snow's performance and thought hiring Lou was a bad idea from the start). So I understand the importance of listening to the one guy. I'm just questioning if one opinion can really sway the opinion of the consensus but I'm not questioning Chapin's expertise.

 

[Throttle]

There’s nothing #1 about Duclair. That’s embarrassing to even have him near a deal trading back. He’s crap, even as a cap dump.

Just take Shaefer and call it a day - no need to get cute on this with a rookie GM at the helm.

 

[lazycop]

It's the perfect time for the Isles to take Schaefer. D take longer to develop. By the time he's ready, the Isles can be rid of some of these crap contracts(Lee, JG, ect) and will have hopefully replaced some of that dead wood with Nelson, Eiserman, Ritchie....ect.
I for one would be OK with the team struggling for a couple of years if it meant FINALLY having a young, fast, talented team that plays todays game and is built for sustained success.
Don't screw this up. Just take the stud D.

 

[NC 1972]

It's the perfect time for the Isles to take Schaefer. D take longer to develop. By the time he's ready, the Isles can be rid of some of these crap contracts(Lee, JG, ect) and will have hopefully replaced some of that dead wood with Nelson, Eiserman, Ritchie....ect.
I for one would be OK with the team struggling for a couple of years if it meant FINALLY having a young, fast, talented team that plays todays game and is built for sustained success.
Don't screw this up. Just take the stud D.

I think there are two camps here right, one wants us to be in the running for next year’s lottery and for the new GM to jettison some older players on bad contracts and collect a bunch of picks. The other believes if we aren’t competitive then UBS will be a ghost town and attendance may suffer dramatically for multiple years , so a slight roster change with a few key additions could lead us back to the playoffs. And once in anything could happen. It remains to be seen and with the Draft but 11 days off and FA shortly thereafter we won’t have long to wait to get some insight as to the direction Darche is moving towards.

 

[TeamKidd]

I think there are two camps here right, one wants us to be in the running for next year’s lottery and for the new GM to jettison some older players on bad contracts and collect a bunch of picks. The other believes if we aren’t competitive then UBS will be a ghost town and attendance may suffer dramatically for multiple years , so a slight roster change with a few key additions could lead us back to the playoffs. And once in anything could happen. It remains to be seen and with the Draft but 11 days off and FA shortly thereafter we won’t have long to wait to get some insight as to the direction Darche is moving towards.

Possibly.

But i do see Darche as more the latter than the former. I think he's relatively stuck with the contracts the LL handed out, has players with NMC's, a poor farm system, and his team isnt exactly a top destination for most players. So, I think he's planning more of a slower evolution of the roster rather than a gut job. There are some good pieces here, some hard to move pieces and some impossible to move pieces.

I see him holding the roster relatively steady this year, and assuming this team is not in playoff contention, he'll trade off expiring contracts and anyone else he can get a good return for without sacrificing the core. At that point the 2026 team gets somewhat younger, perhaps there is one more year of some deadline roster trimming and poorish play - which will add 2 to 3 draft lottery picks- and by that time Schaefer, Eiserman, Nelson et al are ready to take over and the youth movement is in full swing.

I think he's trying to thread the needle a bit between keeping the roster good enough to compete, but still turning it over, over the course of a few years. I dont honestly think he believes this team can compete with Florida or Edmonton, but this is the hand he has, so he's playing it.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I think there are two camps here right, one wants us to be in the running for next year’s lottery and for the new GM to jettison some older players on bad contracts and collect a bunch of picks. The other believes if we aren’t competitive then UBS will be a ghost town and attendance may suffer dramatically for multiple years , so a slight roster change with a few key additions could lead us back to the playoffs. And once in anything could happen. It remains to be seen and with the Draft but 11 days off and FA shortly thereafter we won’t have long to wait to get some insight as to the direction Darche is moving towards.

This is what Lou has been doing for at least 4 years now.

 

[NC 1972]

This is what Lou has been doing for at least 4 years now.

I wasn't saying that should be the direction taken only pointing out some here are offering this take. Yes agreed why hire a new GM if its running back the same philosophy.

 

[Throttle]

Possibly.

But i do see Darche as more the latter than the former. I think he's relatively stuck with the contracts the LL handed out, has players with NMC's, a poor farm system, and his team isnt exactly a top destination for most players. So, I think he's planning more of a slower evolution of the roster rather than a gut job. There are some good pieces here, some hard to move pieces and some impossible to move pieces.

I see him holding the roster relatively steady this year, and assuming this team is not in playoff contention, he'll trade off expiring contracts and anyone else he can get a good return for without sacrificing the core. At that point the 2026 team gets somewhat younger, perhaps there is one more year of some deadline roster trimming and poorish play - which will add 2 to 3 draft lottery picks- and by that time Schaefer, Eiserman, Nelson et al are ready to take over and the youth movement is in full swing.

I think he's trying to thread the needle a bit between keeping the roster good enough to compete, but still turning it over, over the course of a few years. I dont honestly think he believes this team can compete with Florida or Edmonton, but this is the hand he has, so he's playing it.

If Darche is threading the needle, then that’s HIS decision or management’s decision.

To believe he can’t amend the roster over the next 6 plus weeks, is a bit foolish.

 

[Chapin Landvogt]

I wasn't saying that should be the direction taken only pointing out some here are offering this take. Yes agreed why hire a new GM if its running back the same philosophy.

Yep. It's a sticky situation...

In many ways, it'd naturally be easiest for Darche to just tweak the bench (done) and front office (ongoing), re-sign the team's players (biggest job), maybe add a UFA or two that he and the staff like (between Morrow and Bowness, there are likely some unappreciated AHL cusp player candidates out there), and then tackle the season, seeing where things go with the current personnel, keeping an eye open for opportunities to move out contracts or make a sly waiver wire pick-up here and there.

All the while, the farm team will surely be getting a facelift.

Yep, that'd be the safe and careful route. I understand why some people want that, even if they know it's basically what Lou does every offseason, just now it's a different guy doing it for a different reason.

Of course, unless some crazy thing happens where the agents are incapable of truly representing their clients' interests, just re-signing our own guys will end up in severally handicapping the team's cap flexibility in the years to come, so people advocating for this path should keep this in mind.

What Darche has in the here and now is the option to move out some upcoming contract while the pieces have a certain level of market attractiveness.

For my part, of all the RFAs, the only one I want being seen as unmovable is Holmstrom. He needs to be part of this puzzle.

I hope the majority of us are feeling the need to sing his praises once a good piece of the work is done by mid-July or so.

 

[TeamKidd]

If Darche is threading the needle, then that’s HIS decision or management’s decision.

To believe he can’t amend the roster over the next 6 plus weeks, is a bit foolish.

I just meant he wouldn't. Of course he could. I'm not sure there is enough value in what we could trade to suddenly make us great tho. We will need a youth infusion over the next 2 drafts to significantly increase our talent base.

 

[Throttle]

I just meant he wouldn't. Of course he could. I'm not sure there is enough value in what we could trade to suddenly make us great tho. We will need a youth infusion over the next 2 drafts to significantly increase our talent base.

There’s plenty there to make some moves to start changing the roster in the right direction.

It still comes down to his decision-making over the next 6 weeks.

 

[boredmale]

There’s plenty there to make some moves to start changing the roster in the right direction.

It still comes down to his decision-making over the next 6 weeks.

6? More like 2 1/2. Free Agency is in 2 weeks and you basically have like 2-3 days to make any "big moves"

 

[Throttle]

6? More like 2 1/2. Free Agency is in 2 weeks and you basically have like 2-3 days to make any "big moves"

I think I’ve just been saying 6 weeks for the past several w/o considering the clock is to ticking closer.

The one area the Isles can also amend the roster is working with a team that’s looking to reduce cap space for an incoming UFA signing.

Let’s see what happens. I don’t think the Isles need ‘names’ - they need solid, smart acquisitions. Just like Lou did with Filpula and Lehner in year one, both worked out great.