7:44 am: Well, I'm still not exactly happy and even more so after reading Dan Rosen's article on NHL.com. However, Rosen is correct. This trade, while looking good on paper, is filled with many 'IFs' and seems to be a 'win-win' for Buffalo and only a possible good gamble for the Isles.

I understand this is all business, and Garth Snow will do whatever it takes to make this team better. But the idea of adding 'an elite player' still doesn't seem to solve all the Islanders issues.

The NY Islanders are currently a 'good' team (on paper). They, in the opinions of many, are not a Stanley Cup team -- yet. And the addition of Vanek with the subtraction of Moulson, doesn't really seem to make that much of a difference.

But only time will tell if Garth Snow made a steal of a deal or just a lateral move. After all, as the stats man Stu Honig (@StuStatsMan) told me last night "At the GM level Hockey can be a chess game, with the players being pawns."



10:15 pm: My computer crashed and I had no idea this trade actually happened until my husband yelled up to me "We traded Moulson?"

WTF? I'm watching Once. What's going on?

I cheeck my phone, and there it is. Matt Moulson, our perpetual 30 goal scorer, and two picks have been traded for Thomas Vanek, a 6'2" left winger.

For certain, I AM NOT HAPPY.

Also, the statements coming through from Newsday's Art Staple from Garth Snow do not give me comfort. "I didn't like the way we'd been playing. We're better than our record indicates and we need to take the next step."

So... we trade the guy who has been scoring goals.

"Thomas is an elite player in this league and he'll help us now and in the future." Snow also said he has not spoken to Vanek about a contract extension since he is a UFA this year.

Now... what happens if he's just like Smyth? Did we just lose a key piece? What happened to Moulson being part of that 'core'? Ohhhhhh.... right.... he wasn't a draft pick of the Islanders. Expendable to the organization.

While Vanek is a 40 goal scorer, if the Islanders continue to give up more goals than they score each game -- it won't really matter much.

Vanek should be at practice tomorrow at the Coliseum.

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