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 Post subject: 2015 Off-Season Thread
PostPosted: Tue May 05, 2015 11:58 am 
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According to NHLnumbers.com, the Isles contracts are as follows. Bold players entering their UFA contract year. Italicized players entering their RFA contract year.

Under contract
Forwards
Tavares, Grabovski, Kulemin, Bailey, Grabner, Okposo, Clutterbuck, Nielsen, Strome, Cizikas, Martin.
Defense: Boychuk, Leddy, Hamonic, De Haan, Strait
Goal: Halak

The only one in there I'm not happy about is Strait, unless he's used properly: As the healthy scratch insurance in case of an injury to a top 6 D-man.

This year's RFAs.
Forward: Nelson, Lee
Defense: Donovan, Hickey
Goal: Poulin

Nelson & Lee will be re-signed, as they should be.
Donovan & Hickey are okay, not great. Hickey shows flashes of his #4 overall selection, but is not consistent enough. Donovan would get an incomplete if I was grading, because he only played 12 games + 2 playoff games.
Poulin can walk or start in Bridgeport, but until he sets the AHL on fire, the Isles need to bring in someone else to work with Halak.

This year's UFAs.
Forward: Boulton, Kennedy & McDonald. McDonald is the only one I'd like to see considered for keeping, and mainly for a healthy scratch/insurance type.
Defense: Carkner, Visnovsky. Both have serious injury concerns. Carkner had back surgery last year during camp & Visnovsky had his 7th concussion in the playoffs, 2nd of the year. Aaron Ness is a Group IV UFA. Several other D-men with no shot at the NHL team will be UFAs, but won't be listed here.
Goal: Neuvirth. They'd love to bring him back as the 1b, but I think he'll look for a #1 role somewhere first. Don't know if he'll get that.

Grabner battled injuries all year and may come back as good as before, or may be moved to bring in either a backup goalie or another reliable D-man. The D may come from within though, as Scott Mayfield showed he wasn't phased by the pressure of Games 6 & 7. Matt Donovan looked better than the coaching staff expected him to, although fans have been screaming all year that he's way better than Brian Strait, so I think the coaching staff were the only ones surprised by that. Pulock would help the PP, at least with a 2nd choice to Boychuk to shoot. Reinhart can't be as bad as he looked in Game 5 and may have a shot at making the team out of camp, but he'll have to do serious battle with Pulock & Mayfield. It may come down to the staff wanting an offensive D-man (Pulock) or defensive (Mayfield or Reinhart). A legit left wing for Tavares & Okposo would be great, although that could also possibly be filled from within. Lee & Strome both looked good there for short periods, and both gained good experience this year. Fans are looking for Dal Colle next year, but I think that's dumb. Give him another year in juniors, then a year in Bridgeport. Rushing kids isn't necessary with their current depth. Maybe give him the 9 game look & if they set the ice on fire, then worry about it.

Halak needs a backup who can be more of a 1b. I think Neuvirth could be that guy but don't see him settling for it. Few NHL goalies are willing to share the duties, thinking they're the legit #1. Hopefully they can work it out, but I doubt it.

I still think a healthy Hamonic would have turned the series for the Isles, but those are breaks. Or more correctly, the partial tears. But anything short of wining at least one round next year is unacceptable. They've got a new building to fill, a partially new fan base to fill out, old fans to entice to go a whopping 23 miles to the new arena... They've got their work cut out for them, but it should be possible with a few good moves and the luck of staying healthy.

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 2:57 pm 
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According to Islanders Point Blank, the Isles have not had any discussion with Neuvirth about returning yet. He's made it clear he wants to be a starter somewhere, but has also said he wouldn't rule out returning to the Isles. I still think he & Halak make a damn good tandem, since Neuvirth is good enough to be a 1b, and step in when Halak inevitably gets hurt.

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PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 3:50 pm 
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Chris18 wrote:
He's made it clear he wants to be a starter somewhere


:haha:


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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 12:16 pm 
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Av-merican wrote:
Chris18 wrote:
He's made it clear he wants to be a starter somewhere


:haha:

Hey, I didn't say he could be. I just said he said it...

I think he & Halak could be a very good 1a/1b tandem, if Capuano lets Halak rest by giving Neuvirth some starts. No matter what, they need a very good backup.

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PostPosted: Sun May 17, 2015 5:49 pm 
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Chris18 wrote:
Hey, I didn't say he could be. I just said he said it...

I think he & Halak could be a very good 1a/1b tandem, if Capuano lets Halak rest by giving Neuvirth some starts. No matter what, they need a very good backup.


I know, it's him I'm laughing at. He ain't gonna get a better gig than the one he has right now.


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PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 7:26 am 
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Av-merican wrote:
Chris18 wrote:
Hey, I didn't say he could be. I just said he said it...

I think he & Halak could be a very good 1a/1b tandem, if Capuano lets Halak rest by giving Neuvirth some starts. No matter what, they need a very good backup.


I know, it's him I'm laughing at. He ain't gonna get a better gig than the one he has right now.


The only way I could see it is if there's a rebuilding team with a young goalie they think is 1-2 years away from being NHL ready, and they view Neuvirth as a short term solution. And even that seems like a stretch. He's a good 1b in my opinion. Not a true #1. That said, I hope the Isles re-sign him, as he's a much better option than Poulin.

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PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 5:37 pm 
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The only goalie openings for free agents are the same situation as the Isles or the Sharks/Wild, and one of those is signing Dubnyk. The other might take Niemi or the guy Calgary doesn't take. I guess Edmonton is out there, too, but then the Sens have a goalie they're going to deal.

I guess there's always Buffalo again.

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PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 9:10 pm 
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saskhab wrote:
The only goalie openings for free agents are the same situation as the Isles or the Sharks/Wild, and one of those is signing Dubnyk. The other might take Niemi or the guy Calgary doesn't take. I guess Edmonton is out there, too, but then the Sens have a goalie they're going to deal.

I guess there's always Buffalo again.


I guess nobody is bolting for the KHL this year with the exchange rate situation. Maybe he made that statement before that happened?

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PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 9:18 pm 
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Longterm or bridge for Brock Nelson? 20 goals, 42 points is nothing to sneeze at for second season totals.

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PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2015 8:47 am 
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E.L. wrote:
Longterm or bridge for Brock Nelson? 20 goals, 42 points is nothing to sneeze at for second season totals.


He's better than those numbers too. He had a long slump after a hot start. He hits, is strong on the puck, makes good passes...
Lee is also an RFA, and had 25 G, 41 pts.

I personally think long term. Most of the guys currently under long term contracts on D - Hamonic has 6 years left, Leddy & Boychuk have 7. Tavares only has 3 left, which scares me, as do Kulemin, Grabovski & Bailey. They're the forwards with the longest remaining contracts, so I guess maybe signing Lee & Nelson to longer terms wouldn't be the worst idea. Especially if they can get them to sign long term cheaper now than doing bridges, and then have to pay big time later on. The current Isles are built around a young core that came up together and had some comfortable long term contracts to grow under, together. With so few forwards under contract beyond next year it would make some sense to sign these guys to longer than bridge deals, to maintain some consistency down the road.
It would also make a lot of sense to talk to Okposo & Nielsen about extending. Maybe even Martin as well. Grabner I'm not so sure of. They need to see how he heals during the summer. If he's healthy, I still say he should do nothing but breakaway drills all summer long.

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PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2015 11:05 am 
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They gave Bailey a long term deal, so can't see Snow no giving one to Nelson.

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PostPosted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:07 pm 
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Isles supposedly spoke to Babcock, just to see what he wanted. Okay.

According to a few sites the Isles main focus for this offseason is getting a top line winger to play with Tavares, who doesn't "need" Tavares to feed him. Lucic's name has been thrown around since the Bruins are still in cap hell. I don't like that idea. Eberle for Griffin Reinhart has also been mentioned a ton. Everyone in Edmonton loves Reinhart. He hasn't exactly impressed the hell out of the Isles so far, even with the disclaimer that D-men take longer to develop than forwards.

Also read that the coaching staff will be on a short leash this year. It's about time. They spent a lot of time in 1st and didn't even keep home ice advantage. Sure it was by a tie-breaker, but they might have pulled off winning a round if they played 4 at home.

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PostPosted: Mon May 25, 2015 8:46 pm 
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Visnovsky is supposedly very close to a 2 year deal to play in Austria. Best of luck to him. I hope his head can handle 2 more years of playing.

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PostPosted: Wed May 27, 2015 12:24 pm 
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Michael Dal Colle had 93 points in 56 regular season OHL games, and 32 points in 21 playoff games, including going to the Memorial Cup finals on Sunday. He doesn't turn 19 until June 20th, so he's got to go to the Isles or back to juniors next year. He may get a 9 game look with the Isles on Tavares' wing if they can't pull something off in free agency. I'd be fine with the 9 game look, but only keeping him if he's lighting the ice on fire. They don't need another Nino.

By comparison, Ho-Sang had 62 points in 49 regular season games, and 16 in 11 playoff games. Those were with Niagara. He also had 19 points in 11 games with Windsor. 81 points in 60 regular season games. Nice.

Both kids have a lot of filling out to do, but Dal Colle is bigger (+2" and 20 lbs) & on paper, better. Best of luck to him & the Generals on Sunday.

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PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2015 6:29 pm 
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Visnovsky's agent says Austria story is not true, that he's been talking with the Isles.
Grabner had another hernia surgery.

ECHO Echo echo echo echo echo

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PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2015 6:54 pm 
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Isles have plenty of trade chips if they want to go that route.


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PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2015 7:48 pm 
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Only one more year for Grabner, thankfully. For some reason I thought they had him for longer.

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PostPosted: Thu May 28, 2015 9:19 pm 
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E.L. wrote:
Only one more year for Grabner, thankfully. For some reason I thought they had him for longer.


He had signed a 5 year deal. I still think of him as a recent addition. (shrug)

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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 5:51 pm 
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No idea where this should really go, but it's amusing in many ways: http://www.lighthousehockey.com/2015/5/ ... n-sale-now

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 9:38 am 
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Dal Colle & the Generals win the Memorial Cup, in OT. Dal Colle didn't figure into either of Oshawa's goals in the final game, but he lead them in points for the playoffs. This is the 2nd year in a row an Isles prospect has won the Memorial Cup (Reinhart last year). :woop:

It was the last game played in Le Colisee before it's replaced with a "mega-arena". Goodbye Nordiques history. I hope your city gets a team before Vegas does.


The dropping ruble has finally enticed Kiril Petrov to come to NA and try out for the Isles. His numbers have been rather underwhelming in recent years (5 G, 10 A in 47 KHL games last year), but a new location/team may be exactly what he needs to restart his career. If he doesn't make the Isles, Bridgeport should gain an asset.

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