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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:50 pm 
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Isles sign Jan Kovar to a 1 year deal, $2 million deal. Overall he was a pt/game player in the KHL, but that was mostly with very good linemates and his production dipped after 1 of them left. Still a good player who can fill the 2C spot. And for the contract it's well worth the risk.

Rumor has it that Mitch Korn is very close to finalizing a deal to the the Isles goalie coach, or goalie development coach.... Depending on his travel schedule. He took a bit of a backseat in Washington last year because he didn't want to travel all the time with the team. Isles will need as many goalie coaches as possible with Lehner & Greiss.

Forwards are looking to be in better shape, although there are 15 now (not including the prospect of Ho-Sang and/or Bellows making the team), and no upgrades to the D yet. In fact, they lost de Haan, who was arguably their best D last year before getting hurt. Rathgeb? Toews? Aho?

Where's the spot for the third goalie? :lol:

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:44 pm 
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I think it's pretty clear that "Plan B" was a transition year, aka, they be tankin' it.

Which makes sense. They just lost their best forward and best player in a generation, so now they have a shot at a kid they're calling a potential generational talent in the 2019 draft, and even if they miss out on him this draft will reportedly yield a few really good players, especially forwards. I mean, at least they're not blatantly tanking it like the Sabres did in 2015. Lou isn't the type to do that anyway, and I doubt any franchise will do what they did ever again, seeing how badly it's gone for them since then.

As for Tavares, to paraphrase Robert Redford, I don't mind what he did, but I mind how he did it. I believe him when he said it came down to TO and NY, but I wish he hadn't dragged it out like he did. That said, I don't think he necessarily owes the franchise that essentially wasted a good number of years, a franchise he purposely took a cheaper five-year deal for, while they did virtually nothing to build a team around him, and especially whiffed at the draft. The only reason it wasn't worse is that Snow is light years smarter than Peter Chiarelli, which should say a lot about the Harvard-educated lawyer.

Also, while none of the moves he's made roster-wise will cripple them, it's fascinating to me how utterly horrid Lou Lamoriello continues to be at free agency. He was the inarguable master of the trade, but when the cap era came along and he needed to replenish his talent pool in NJ, he continually stunk the joint up. No difference here where he's doubling down on a whole slew of grinders on a roster that had too many to begin with. Whatever. I think Lou will show some of his savvy at the deadline where no doubt Jordan Eberle could fetch a high price on the trade market. But yeah, free agency for some weird reason is just not his bag.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:06 pm 
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Well, Lou continues to roll out the big hits. 4 year deal to Ross Johnston. No details yet. I'm sure it's a 2-way deal (fucking better be!), but it's like that Spiderman cartoon where he's looking at the other Spiderman... That's Johnston & Martin.

And I mostly agree about JT leaving. He was free to go. Snow and Ledecky/Malkin are idiots for not giving him an ultimatum to sign by or they'd trade him. Like 99.9% of Isles fans, they believed JT when he kept saying things like "that's never gonna happen" about signing in TO, how great players stick it out with one team, when he texted this year's draft picks that he looked forward to playing with them, etc.

But I think he's full of shit about being torn and almost crying over it. It just doesn't add up. Literally 2 minutes after saying that he went and tweeted the photo of himself in his TML sheets, saying it was a dream come true, 17 years in the making. Next day he said he didn't give the Isles the opportunity to pull a sign & trade or trade for negotiating rights because he didn't want to weaken the team he was going to. That just tells me he was leaving long ago, and that he doesn't give the slightest fuck about the Isles. And hey, he doesn't have to. I know. But he always roboticly (not a word- I don't care) said the right things. So it's mainly on Ledecky & Malkin for believing him. They really thought he was coming back. Apparently they were both furious over the news. And they should be. They let him walk for nothing, over a handshake that may not have even happened. Lou is making the media rounds saying that JT is a classy guy and has his respect... I don't know if that's legit or just face saving lip service, like JT gives.

No matter what, it all sucks for the Isles & us fans. It's going to take a few seasons to recover from that. And they were finally almost recovered from the dumb moves Snow made letting Nielsen & Okposo walk a few years ago. After almost recovering from the damage that Milbury did for a decade. And the damage he took over from Maloney... This team has been mismanaged for so long I wonder how the hell I'm still a fan sometimes. I'm either loyal to a fault or just stupid.

So yeah. Ross Johnston for 4 years. Culture change! Bring back face punchers.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 6:26 pm 
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I think if Kovar had come over last seaaon he would've made serious coin. But he's got average speed and below average size so I'm wondering if his down year turned people off. Still like him as a playmaking 2C though. Good signing.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 6:54 pm 
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I like Kovar as well, may as well give him a shot.

I really don't get that Johnston deal though. Why four years, and all one-way!?


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:00 am 
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Pokecheque wrote:
I like Kovar as well, may as well give him a shot.

I really don't get that Johnston deal though. Why four years, and all one-way!?


And it's for 1M a season. Just...why?

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:24 pm 
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Bosc wrote:
Pokecheque wrote:
I like Kovar as well, may as well give him a shot.

I really don't get that Johnston deal though. Why four years, and all one-way!?


And it's for 1M a season. Just...why?


Because Matt Martin is only signed for 2 more years, so umm, they, errr. I don't fucking know.

I have to admit, the old school asshole in me kind of likes having at least one face puncher around. The Isles got tossed around a lot the last few seasons. But you don't need Martin & Johnston. I think Johnston is going to be the big money man in Bridgeport, which is really scary in its own way. Bridgeport is a sketchy city overall. Being a millionaire there may attract a lot of bad attention.

I get wanting to keep people happy in Bridgeport though. And they probably told Johnston that he's going to be sent down with Martin back and 439 other 4th liners. So he probably got pissed, so Lou offered more money. Only thing I can think of. Or Johnston has photos of Lou in a tutu or something. As far as 4th liners go, he's decent. He's pretty good in the AHL. But yeah, 4 years @ $1million/year is too much. But there's no cap in the AHL and Malkin said improve the farm system... They've signed a bunch of other AHLers. Both Bourque brothers. I believe they're just AHL deals. No mention of them on the Isles site or Cap Friendly Isles page.

Luke Richardson is with the Habs now. Funny, I never heard he was let go by the Isles.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 12:49 pm 
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Kelly Buchberger is gone now too. I forget where he went, but they're not going to miss him. Weight's Oiler Crew have scattered already. Although I believe Gomez remains in tact. Hopefully Korn comes into the fold, but those rumors have died down in the last week.

The Sound Tigers look to be pretty stacked this year. It's about time they paid attention to them! Give a winning atmosphere in the AHL and kids will expect to win when they come up, not be content losing by 2 or 5... This is a very important change for the org, and I like it. Shows Malkin is concentrated on making the Isles a winning org, even if not for a year or three.

Isles fans have pointed out that in interviews, neither Trotz nor Lou have mentioned Ledecky's name at all. They only refer to Malkin. Up until Ledecky's odd post-season rants/press conferences about analyzing things, Malkin was totally behind the scenes. The general consensus is that Ledecky had drank Wang's Kool Aid and was content with Snow & Weight, while Malkin was fed up and was the one solely responsible for bringing in Lou, who then dropped the hammer on Snow & Weight. Ledecky also hasn't spoken publicly since the post-season rants that brought him lots of mocking. Maybe he's just gun shy, or maybe he's on the way out. Could also be pissed about the dick who wore 91 leaving, since he said re-signing was plans A-C and he's concerned he'll say something he'll regret. I don't know. These are all fan theories.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 18, 2018 3:00 pm 
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Isles have now hired John Gruden as an assistant. If he sounds familiar, he's the guy who was fired by the Flint Firebirds owner for not playing the owner's son enough, only for the entire team, including the owner's son, to quit and have Gruden brought back. (He was fired again the next year and the OHL took over the team). He did a great job for the Hamilton Bulldogs after that.
And now he's part of the culture change, or the Culture Club.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:17 pm 
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Nelson agrees to a 1 year deal for $4.25 million, avoiding arbitration. Not sure if the 1 year is good or bad. On the one hand, maybe Nelson is betting on himself to show them he deserves a lot more, or maybe he's planning on jetting as a UFA next summer. If they're not in a playoff spot, as many expect them to not be, he's a decent rental trade bait.

That sews up all their FAs for this year.
UFAs this coming year:
Up front- Eberle, Nelson, Lee, Fillpula, Kovar, Kuhnackl. Eberle & Lee are obviously keys to lock up, or move for younger players. Though I'd like to see them both stick around. Lee is going to get a huge raise after getting 40 goals last year. Although it remains to be seen how much pajama boy had to do with that production.
G- Lehner

RFA- Beauvillier is the only current Isle, but Ho-Sang and Dal Colle rank among the top of the AHL guys who will be due.

Read somewhere today that Boychuk is pissed off that everyone is predicting the Isles finish among the bottom feeders. Good! I don't know how long the "us against the world" motivation is sustainable for, but at least they're pissed about it. Years ago the Isles players would be like "yep, pretty much" about those predictions.

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 24, 2018 9:15 am 
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Lee is 28 now...I think you maximize the return and deal him now. But fuck...given Lou's moves so far...

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2018 8:12 pm 
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Bosc wrote:
Lee is 28 now...I think you maximize the return and deal him now. But fuck...given Lou's moves so far...


I don't know. People keep saying they should move all their potential "win now" guys for prospects, but A) they need to have a team this year B) they need to stay above the salary floor and C) if they just keep loading up on futures, why should guys like Barzal stick around when his turn comes up for a new contract? The same people saying the Isles should move all good players older than 23 are the ones saying tavares left because they wasted his prime years. So why should Barzal stick around then?

I think they should try to re-sign Eberle and Lee this year, but set a deadline of like a week before the trade deadline. If they don't sign by then, then trade them, even if by some monumental miracle they're in a playoff spot. That's about as likely as me winning the lottery.

I think Lee is the type of player who could probably play for a while at the same level. He's not a speed guy, not a guy with great moves. He hangs around the front of the net and is a bull along the boards, but isn't there that often. So I don't see his skill set diminishing that much in the next 4-5 years. Unless of course he looked as good as 40 goals simply due to playing with tavares. Time will tell.

In other news, Isles hired Piero Greco, former Marlies goalie coach and let Brathwaite go. If Greco can fix Greiss and/or Lehner, he'll look like a genius. If he can't, people will shrug and say that nobody can. Either way, he'll look like good. But I guess Mitch Korn isn't coming to the Isles, unless he take some sort of overall goalie development role.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:41 pm 
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And now the Isles have hired Mitch Korn as the "Director of Goaltending". That basically means he wants to keep a light travel schedule. I assume he'll be working with the goalies and Greco in practices. Trotz, Korn and Lambert have worked together a lot and obviously done well together. Gruden is w
ell respected as a good, young coach whose players liked him enough to quit the team when he was fired years ago. The assumptions all around are that Trotz will institute a defense first system that will work better with the Isles sub-par D players than the "let's watch the puck drop and see wtf happens" system of Weight and Cronin. Should really benefit Greiss and Lehner off the bat, and then having legit goalie coaches can't hurt. If they still fail, it'll be pretty obvious it's on them personally. If they improve a lot, one can be moved at the deadline and Soderstrom brought up for some seasoning before next year. Which goalie should be moved? I don't give a shit. Greiss makes has both twice the term and $ as Lehner. But he's also calming, versus Lehner who may duct tape a machete to his goalie stick on any given night and hack at his own D. Quite the difference between them in that respect. Similarities- they were both awful last year and will be expected to improve greatly.

Short of dickhead leaving for TO and the ensuing bad, but mostly short term, UFA signings, it's been a very good offseason for the Isles.

Minuses- dickhead leaving. 4 years for Komarov. Bringing back Martin, who is a great guy and really loves being an Islander, but they didn't need another 4th liner.
Pluses- Lou, Trotz, assistant coaches and others with respect around the league. Great draft. Signing all RFAs without any drama- all to short term "show me" deals. Belmont is supposedly moving along. I found a place that does replacement nameplates for jerseys, so I can get GORING patches for my kids' #91 jerseys, so they can represent a truly great Islander who won 4 Cups and is considered by many to be the #1 best trade ever for a team looking for the final piece to the puzzle. And I've got plans for the other guy's nameplates when I take them off. :twisted:

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 4:52 pm 
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So many grinders under contract...

It might be too late for them, but the Isles need Dal Colle and/or Ho Sang to provide cheap offence, because the salary structure of this team is inverted and bottom-heavy. They're not exactly rife with forward prospects: maybe Bellows and Wahlstrom will move up fast?

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 27, 2018 5:39 pm 
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E.L. wrote:
So many grinders under contract...

It might be too late for them, but the Isles need Dal Colle and/or Ho Sang to provide cheap offence, because the salary structure of this team is inverted and bottom-heavy. They're not exactly rife with forward prospects: maybe Bellows and Wahlstrom will move up fast?


I don't see Dal Colle ever becoming an NHL regular. Ho-Sang was told he's getting a completely clean slate with the new management, so he's being given a chance. However, some potential lines are (no particular order, largely because several are 4th lines):

Beauvillier-Barzal-Eberle
Lee-Kovar-Bailey
Ladd-Komarov-Nelson
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck
Kuhnackl-Filppula-Johnston

Five lines already, with 2.7 of them being 4th lines. :roll:

Ho-Sang and/or Bellows will have a hell of a time cracking the lineup, simply due to the number of NHL contracts. The only guys on here who don't need waivers to go to Bridgeport are Kovar, Beauvillier and Barzal. Obviously Barzal isn't going down. Beauvillier had 21 goals last year, so I don't see him going. Filppula has an NMC. I could see Johnston passing through waivers, simply because of his term.

Unless Lou has a move or two coming, there are just too many forwards.

Still only 6 d-men.
Leddy-Boychuk
Hickey-Pulock
Pelech-Mayfield

Could see Toews making the team.

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 8:39 pm 
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Noah Dobson signed his ELC. :viking: With the Isles D situation, I wouldn't be surprised if he got 9 games to show what he's got and soak up the "this is what it takes to make it as an NHLer. Well, actually, please be better than most of these stiffs on D" experience.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 3:43 pm 
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It'll depend on other factors like injuries, but it wouldn't shock me if Dobson gets more than 9 games next season. I think part of the reason why he fell is that he was a safe pick, pretty well-rounded already, which makes him a better candidate to play in the NHL right away compared to the defencemen drafted ahead of him.

Then again, he probably needs to add 15 pounds first.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 16, 2018 1:17 pm 
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E.L. wrote:
It'll depend on other factors like injuries, but it wouldn't shock me if Dobson gets more than 9 games next season. I think part of the reason why he fell is that he was a safe pick, pretty well-rounded already, which makes him a better candidate to play in the NHL right away compared to the defencemen drafted ahead of him.

Then again, he probably needs to add 15 pounds first.


He's listed at 6'3", 180 lbs. Pretty lanky, but it's not like he's 155 lbs. 180 was probably at the draft combine. Hopefully he's been hitting the weights more than the pizza.

Trotz was interviewed by Art Staple. I've only read excerpts, as it's in the Athletic, and I'm not an Athletic Supporter. :rimcrash:
From what I've seen, Trotz essentially said the Caps were among the lowest in shots last year, but among the highest in quality shots, which is something he preached. I already forget what else I saw. :lol: Fairly predictable, but promising for the future is what I thought.

Someone pointed out that Eklund has the Isles talking about Karlsson, Pacioretty and Panarin. :lol: Yeah, sure. The only way any of them would sign on to stay is if they obtained all 3, but that's as likely as me winning the lottery.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 5:48 pm 
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Isles are supposedly still in talks to get Panarin. I can't see it happening, but again- supposedly- he has named teams he'd go to: Rangers, Isles, Panthers, Stars, and Kings. While he doesn't have any sort of NTC, teams are all trying to make sure he'll sign with them before trading for him. Nobody wants to just rent him at this point. I especially can't see the Isles moving anything for him without a good promise that he'll stay. Losing TWO great players to UFA in a year would cause a fan uprising.

Lots being said about the players all being pissed off to read everyone writing them off. Wonderful. "Us against the World" typically lasts for like 2 months tops, then reality punches you in the mouth. Still, it should be interesting to see what they do with Lee & Eberle, who are both entering their walk years. Nelson too, but most fans want him gone at this point. Maybe he'll excel under Trotz and be more consistent. I'd like to see Lee & Eberle sign soon, but I highly doubt that. I think they'll wait to see how the season plays out and if the team is in the shitter they'll hope to be moved to a contender. If the team looks good somehow, maybe they'll re-sign.

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:23 pm 
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Eberle has said the Isles haven't reached out to him about an extension. I get that Lou is totally in evaluation mode and wants to see first hand what everyone brings to the table, but for fuck's sake, they can't even approach losing Eberle and/or Lee for nothing, which is what everyone is obviously going to say is happening. Wonder why people would say that? (Looks at kids' #91 jerseys...) I'm sure something will get done, but it's just not what Isles fans need to hear.

And has anyone seen these thirds? http://news.sportslogos.net/2018/09/02/new-york-islanders-new-third-uniform-leaks/
The color in the photo is off, they are the normal blue, but still, they suck. It's like a repeat of the stadium jerseys. Why re-do that? Fans didn't like them that much. Sure, they're not black, but did every creative person quit Adidas? They could have done something different. And the white shoulders on all the thirds- did Adidas score a free mile of white fabric, so they're using them on everyone's thirds? Fugly and boring.

Swiss F Pius Suter will be in training camp. PTO I guess? 5'9", 176. I guess Josh Ho-Sang needed competition his own size? He's only 22. Could be a great move for Bridgeport. Skill player. Sounds good to me. It's about time Bridgeport has some skill guys and not just face punchers.

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