Summer Plans
How many times a day can you check your computer, only to find that the Islanders' roster is the same as it was the day before? After a brief UFA extravaganza comprised of the signings of Guerin, Comrie, Fedotenko, and Sim, Isles GM Garth Snow has carefully let the summer progress without jumping into a contract he might regret in years to come. And that's the thing about Snow, he's sharp. He understands that long-term contracts burden a franchise for years. That is not to say if the right player came along, that Snow wouldn't offer up a bucket of years for the guarantee of that player sticking around. Snow offered 5 years to Smyth, and I have on good authority he offered more years to both Drury and Gomez. Those players might have been the "right" players during this UFA year, but Garth realizes that those 3 players, plus maybe Briere, just about round out the top UFAs available. He wisely signed Guerin and Comrie for only 2 and 1 years, respectively. If they click in the Isles system, we will have the cap space to lock them up for a longer period of time. Hopefully at that point they will choose to stay.
Hockey is a grueling sport. Many players get hurt for long stretches of the season. Some plainly watch their natural abilities decline as they age. The length of contracts offered this summer was rather astonishing. I, personally, would have loved to see the Isles bring back stalwart defenseman Roman Hamrlik back for a second go around the Island. But after seeing the length and price of his contract (4 years, $22 million) I understood why Garth refused to go there. Montreal is paying more than $5 million per season for an aging defenseman who's best years are certainly behind him. Other defenseman like Scott Hannan and Tom Preissing each got 4 year deals. But with every team struggling to fit their players under the cap, it seems smarter to wait and offer up shorter term deals for these "maybe" players. Hamrlik will not be good in 2 seasons, count on it. Hannan will probably sustain a long list of injuries due to the rugged style game he plays. It remains uncertain what Priessing can do outside the comfort of Ottawa. I'd rather lock a few "maybe" players up short term and have the opportunity to participate in the free-agent bonanza next season, a much deeper UFA pool.
But that still leaves us with the current roster. And the roster as it stands, probably will not go very far. But Charles Wang has given Snow the go-ahead to spend wisely, and I'm certain he will do so. With a little under $17 million to play with, Snow can really add a few quality players to the roster. In goal, we are set with Dipietro for the next 14 years. For now, the deal is genius because we have a top goaltender playing for less than top money. The key words there are "for now." On the blue line, Witt and Martinek are excellent defensively. Marc-Andre Bergeron is far from excellent defensively, but if he minimizes his turnovers and continues to rack up power-play points, then his value will be tremendous to this team. He averaged about a point per game since arriving on Long Island, and was only 1 of 3 players who had a plus rating in last year's playoff series with Buffalo. That brings us to the babies of the defense, Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais. Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than for these 2 to win a roster spot during training camp and prove to everyone that they are the real deal. Last year did not convince me that this was the case. Both were negative 'plus-minus' rated players last season. Gervais was a dismal minus-10, on a playoff team nonetheless. On that note, it is imperative that Snow bring in 2 quality proven NHL defenseman, so that the D unit may take the form of Witt, Martinek, MAB, 2 new defenseman, and 1 of either Campoli and Gervais. As defenseman tend to get injured (see Martinek's history) the other of either Campoli or Gervais should be able to step right in. Things will look bleak if a defenseman goes down and we are forced to bring in Boxin' Bootland, although he is a terrific boxer. Two new defenseman who I like are Morris (who can be had via trade) and Markov (who is a UFA).
Up front, the Isles are overloaded with 4th line players. On the Isles current roster, I would categorize Andy Hilbert, Richard Park, Sean Bergenheim, Pterri Nokelainen, Shawn Bates, Jeff Tambellini, Franz Nielson, and Chris Simon/Aron Asham (if re-singed) all as 4th line caliber players. That's way too many. The team is in dire need of at least two top-6 forwards in order to balance out the scoring. There aren't many of these type players available on the UFA market, so Snow might have to concoct a trade somewhere. Some strange names that might help us are Eric Lindros, Adam Hall, Jeff Friesen, and Patrik Stefan. This is hardly an attractive list, so hopefully Snow can swing a trade or two. Jeff and I will continue to monitor the Isles' situation and provide you with all the latest inside scoop on the Isles and their ongoing summer plans.
-Justin
Hockey is a grueling sport. Many players get hurt for long stretches of the season. Some plainly watch their natural abilities decline as they age. The length of contracts offered this summer was rather astonishing. I, personally, would have loved to see the Isles bring back stalwart defenseman Roman Hamrlik back for a second go around the Island. But after seeing the length and price of his contract (4 years, $22 million) I understood why Garth refused to go there. Montreal is paying more than $5 million per season for an aging defenseman who's best years are certainly behind him. Other defenseman like Scott Hannan and Tom Preissing each got 4 year deals. But with every team struggling to fit their players under the cap, it seems smarter to wait and offer up shorter term deals for these "maybe" players. Hamrlik will not be good in 2 seasons, count on it. Hannan will probably sustain a long list of injuries due to the rugged style game he plays. It remains uncertain what Priessing can do outside the comfort of Ottawa. I'd rather lock a few "maybe" players up short term and have the opportunity to participate in the free-agent bonanza next season, a much deeper UFA pool.
But that still leaves us with the current roster. And the roster as it stands, probably will not go very far. But Charles Wang has given Snow the go-ahead to spend wisely, and I'm certain he will do so. With a little under $17 million to play with, Snow can really add a few quality players to the roster. In goal, we are set with Dipietro for the next 14 years. For now, the deal is genius because we have a top goaltender playing for less than top money. The key words there are "for now." On the blue line, Witt and Martinek are excellent defensively. Marc-Andre Bergeron is far from excellent defensively, but if he minimizes his turnovers and continues to rack up power-play points, then his value will be tremendous to this team. He averaged about a point per game since arriving on Long Island, and was only 1 of 3 players who had a plus rating in last year's playoff series with Buffalo. That brings us to the babies of the defense, Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais. Don't get me wrong, I would love nothing more than for these 2 to win a roster spot during training camp and prove to everyone that they are the real deal. Last year did not convince me that this was the case. Both were negative 'plus-minus' rated players last season. Gervais was a dismal minus-10, on a playoff team nonetheless. On that note, it is imperative that Snow bring in 2 quality proven NHL defenseman, so that the D unit may take the form of Witt, Martinek, MAB, 2 new defenseman, and 1 of either Campoli and Gervais. As defenseman tend to get injured (see Martinek's history) the other of either Campoli or Gervais should be able to step right in. Things will look bleak if a defenseman goes down and we are forced to bring in Boxin' Bootland, although he is a terrific boxer. Two new defenseman who I like are Morris (who can be had via trade) and Markov (who is a UFA).
Up front, the Isles are overloaded with 4th line players. On the Isles current roster, I would categorize Andy Hilbert, Richard Park, Sean Bergenheim, Pterri Nokelainen, Shawn Bates, Jeff Tambellini, Franz Nielson, and Chris Simon/Aron Asham (if re-singed) all as 4th line caliber players. That's way too many. The team is in dire need of at least two top-6 forwards in order to balance out the scoring. There aren't many of these type players available on the UFA market, so Snow might have to concoct a trade somewhere. Some strange names that might help us are Eric Lindros, Adam Hall, Jeff Friesen, and Patrik Stefan. This is hardly an attractive list, so hopefully Snow can swing a trade or two. Jeff and I will continue to monitor the Isles' situation and provide you with all the latest inside scoop on the Isles and their ongoing summer plans.
-Justin
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5 comments:
Some great points made in your article. I think aside from a couple of stay at home d types, and at least one or two more 20 goal scorer types, I think right now there are two major questions....Firstly what are we going to do with Trent Hunter. Its pretty much out of the teams hands now, so we wont know anything till aug 6. Do u have any insider info on that? Secondly I thought Martinek was having a great year last year, and his injury really hurt us. Two years ago, he was turnover central, but last year he cut them down--How healthy do you think he will be? Keep up the blog I LOVE IT!!
hey by the way.....any work on if there going to charge this year for isle tv on the website? if so how much??? thnxx
Leafs,
First, regarding Hunter, all indications are that he will be back with the team. From what I've heard, Nolan really wants Trent on this team for the long haul. While I agree with Nolan's assessment, I don't want to over-value Hunter's ability. Hunter doesn't possess the foot speed to score more than 25 goals. He'll get his share of PP goals and defelction goals but he doesn't give himself an opportunity to score much more than that. He's a valueable grinder and has a good scoring touch, but probably shouldn't command more than $2.5 million.
As per Martinek, he was the only defenseman since Kenny Jonnson departed where I felt comfortable that the opposing team would not get wide open scoring chances. Marty had a +19 and missed a huge part of the season. Hopefully this year he can establish himself as one of the better defensive defenseman in the league. He frequently gets hurt by trying to play such a big game with such a small frame.
Regarding Isles TV, I believe it will have a fee. I will have the details about registration in the morning.
-J
According to hockeybuzz, looks like we're close to signing Markov (if not, Morris) and will be quick to "pounce" on Avery if he can't be kept due to cap restrictions. Hope Garth is able to follow through with these moves. They'd make 2 solid, physical additions that will make us tougher to play against. Your thoughts?
Danny Markov to the NY Islanders (e4).
Talking to sources it looks like the Isles may have found their man....I was told some time ago, that Comrie and Guerin were told that one of Markov, McCabe, Jovo, or Morris would be an Islander...If this happens I would expect Morris to go to Buffalo...looks like one will go to one, and one to the other....the only other team that I am hearing linked to Markov is Chicago....
Avery
The Habs also have interest in Avery, but more than a few other teams including Ottawa, Colorado, and the NY Islanders will be quick to pounce if Avery can't be kept due to cap restrictions..
4cups,
I think the hard-nosed Markov would be an excellent fit on this team. He brings Stanley Cup experience and could really help the development of guys like Gervais and Campoli. He would take the lineup spot of Sean Hill and would be quite an upgrade over him as well.
As much as I hate Avery, I would love to see the Rangers not be able to keep him. I'm not big on Avery's style of play. He's a whiner and a diver, but he is very effective and unsettling other teams. The Rangers know this and I can't imagine a scenario where they simply let Avery walk.
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