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Lou said Bailey's time is up, basically: https://nyihockeynow.com/josh-bailey-do ... -slanders/

No surprise, we've talked about it. Just a question of trade or buyout.

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Yeah. I'd imagine Lou would take just about any deal, and if none come up, he'll buy Bailey out. It's a bit of a shame. Bailey has always been a "good" NHLer and seems like a great guy. Supposedly really smart and loyal team guy. He just never came anywhere near living up to his 9th overall draft position. Fans still try to hold him to that hype. If you ignore that, he's been a good player for them, even if he seems allergic to shooting sometimes when he's got a wide open net. I'm kind of bummed to see him go, being the longest tenured Islander in a while. But he's not worth anywhere near the $5M cap hit. Hopefully some team wants a mule.

No other Isles news in a while.

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Bailey is 7th in scoring from his draft year and 2nd in games played, so he's arguably better than 9th...

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Isles fans will never be happy with him. He could score a Cup winning goal and they'd still say he's soft or some dumb shit like that.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

He didn't turn into a star, but dude was pretty solid for a long time.

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I fully agree. I'm not a Bailey hater, although I do feel his $5M cap hit ($3.5M actual pay) for this coming season is too much for what he brings anymore. But I always thought he was a "good", not great, NHLer.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Bolduc signed for 2 years at $800k AAV. I like it.
Could be just signing their own guys, or could be an indication that Mayfield's days as an Islander are done.

Pelech-Pulock
Romanov-Dobson
Aho-Bolduc/Mayfield

Wotherspook/Salo

Not very good depth if Mayfield leaves, unless move moves come after that.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Draft begins tonight. Lou traded his first rounder since he wouldn't be picking until like 9:30, which is past his bed time.
Looking forward to seeing some trades tomorrow, just because it's entertaining.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Some "updates" from Lou Lam:

Cory Schneider has given up on getting back to the NHL and has gone to Europe.

That's it. The "updates" on the Isles' UFAs & RFAs is that there is no update. Sweet.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Lou sends longest tenured Islander Josh Bailey to Chicago along with the Isles' '26 2nd round pick for "future considerations". I don't mind seeing Bailey go. For what his cap hit is, he's just not good enough anymore. ***And Chicago immediately waived Bailey for a buyout. Wonder if Lou plans to take him back at a big discount.

Isles have about $9.5M in cap space right now, but also need a backup goalie (Varlamov?), RD (Mayfield?) and scoring (Engvall + Anyone!)

Also drafted C Danny Nelson in the 2nd round. 6'3", 203 lb MN kid, who idolizes Brock Nelson and is going to Notre Dame (where Anders Lee went). All adds up to success. I hope he makes the Isles soon so Butch Goring has to differentiate between Brock & Danny Nelson. That would be fun.

No 3rd round pick (part of Engvall trade).
4th rounder- Jessi Nurmi, LW, Kookoo Jr. (FINLAND-JR.). Kookoo.
5th rounder- Justin Gill, C. Overager. 6'1", 190 lbs. 93 points in the Q last year. Old enough to go straight to Bridgeport. I like it.
6th rounder- Zachary Schulz, D, USA U-18 (NTDP)
7th rounder- Dennis Good Bogg, D, Sweden. Won gold at U18 Junior Worlds, with 6 assists along the way.

Free agency starts just 2 days after the draft. Has it ever been that close before? Feels like there's usually at least a week in between. Seems like pure chaos for the GMs to have been working on drafting, potential trades, and talking to UFAs.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

The plot thickens a bit. Bailey is on a European golfing vacation with now-former Islander teammates. Lou called him yesterday morning to tell him he was traded and Lou told media it was a "difficult conversation". Nobody knows yet if Lou or Bailey had advance notice that the Blackhawks traded for Bailey with the intent of buying him out. Chicago says there's "no logical place for him in the lineup". So I guess they happily took a 2nd round pick and a bit of a cap mule? Weird. But Lou says it's "for the best" as Bailey is now a UFA for the first time in his career and can go where he wants. Would be kinda funny if Lou signed him to a cheap deal since Bailey has said so many times he wants to stay with the Isles his whole career and his family plans to stay there after he retires, etc. Prove it! Sign with the Isles for $1M. He'd be a really good pickup for money like that. Especially since it seems like Parise is retiring. It's not that Bailey is awful. It was just the contract.

Rumors have the Isles linked to both DeBrincat & Nylander. Both won't happen. One? Maybe. The Sens will hold onto DeBrincat for a king's ransom, as they should. The Leafs need to move Nylander (or someone) over the summer, so he may be cheaper in a trade. But also, typically if the Isles are publicly linked to a player, it's not happening. Lou has supposedly killed deals in the past because the other side went public with the info ahead of time.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Bailey isn't an Isle anymore, only in our hearts: Sens are interested in him. He and DJ Smith go back to Windsor days.

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I’m happy for him. I hope the Isles give him a great tribute video and fans really cheer for him. 15 years with a team is not common anymore.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Only Oliver Wahlstrom and Jakub Skarek received qualifying offers from the Islanders. Bode Wilde, Blade Jenkins, and Collin Adams did not. Parker Wotherspoon is a Group VI UFA. Wotherspoon was good in his callup. Not great, but good enough for a 3rd pairing.

Rumors are that Varlamov has already signed a 2 year deal with the Isles and teams calling about Mayfield were ignored, so it's thought that deal is done too. Engvall and Parise would be the only other important Isles UFAs then. Parise would be pretty easy to fit at a later time since he takes around league minimum. Engvall will likely get $3-4M/year.

One extension they've officially made- with their ECHL affiliate the Worcester Railers, through the 25-26 season. I always thought they'd do longer contracts with affiliates, but I guess that's life.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Monster extension for Sorokin: 8 x 8.25.

Engvall also back.

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Engvall is 7x$3M. Whoa.
Varlamov 4 years at $2.75M
Mayfield 7 x $3.5M. I love Mayfield but 7 years for a third pair d-man??? He’s not going to last anywhere near that long.

Leaves $1M in cap space for Wahlstrom.

So much for the “DeBrincat to the Isles” rumors unless they’re sending back a few guys.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Engvall and Mayfield get 7 year deals. Lou signing checks his successor will have to cash.

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Disagree. His son only exists as a body to put Lou’s brain into later in.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Now that Lou not only signed players, but he actually announced the contracts, he said he's looking to improve the team via "hockey trades". The rumor is Pageau going back to Ottawa for DeBrincat. Some say the Isles would have to throw in Wahlstrom. Isles would miss Pageau defensively. Offensively he's about a 0.5 point/game player, but I'd swear most of those came in garbage time either way for the past 2 years. Wahlstrom has size and skill but the hockey IQ of a potato. I keep hoping that he spent all his IR time last year sitting up in the press box learning the game. I wouldn't mind seeing him go. Pageau going also creates another issue as the Isles would then have 4 NHL centers, so you'd have to move Barzal back to C and break up that top line of him and Horvat, which is where you'd presumably want to see DeBrincat. Bit of a new conundrum, since having 5 Cs last year was one of their strong points.

DeBrincat-Horvat-Barzal
Engvall-Nelson-Palmieri
Lee-?????-Fasching/Holmstrom (neither of whom has played C). Lee is good on faceoffs, but doesn't have the speed to play C.
Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck

If the DeBrincat deal falls through (and any others), Isles have a hair over $1M in cap space to sign Wahlstrom, their last RFA. Then Parise is the only question mark. Holmstrom is waiver exempt so he'd likely find himself in Bridgeport if Parise re-signs. Heard he's talking to the Devils to bring his career full circle though.

Josh Bailey is not yet signed anywhere.

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.

Isles sign a few depth guys- Julien Gauthier (2 year deal) and Karson Kuhlman & Brian Pinho to 1-year, 2-way deals. Gauthier is big at 6'4", 220 lbs, but from what I've read has about the worst shot in the NHL. Some are wondering if he and DeBrincat are friends and Lou brought in Gauthier as a way to entice DeBrincat. I doubt it, but it's a good story. Others are wondering if Lou has a trade in the works and Gauthier will take the roster spot of someone who is moved out.

Or, Gauthier could be cheap insurance to stash in Bridgeport in case any other Fs get hurt during the year. That's what I think he was signed for. But that's just me...

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Posting your political views on social media is like sticking your head up your ass & whispering: You're just as likely to change someone's mind, and you'll always come out looking like a shithead.