The past ten days for the Islanders have been like a ride at Disney World. There was a solid combination of waiting, disappointment more waiting and finally some excitement. It all started with a very solid draft by the Isles as they addressed their organizational needs adding two promising forward and a pair of goalies to a solid prospect group. Then there was the 48 hours that was the start of free agency.
Free Agency started in typical fashion for the Islanders. A few small moves, no big splashes and a fan base that at the end of day one was disappointed as no top flight talent wanted to commit to Long Island. But then a funny thing happened on the way to training camp. Islanders General Manager Garth Snow was able to land two really good impact players in Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin. Yes, the Isles gave them one year too many and yes they over paid them about 1.5 million each, but when you desperately need legitimate free agents to sign, you do whatever is necessary. These contracts barely got the Islanders over the cap floor and with all the insane deals being thrown out on July 1st, I see little wrong with these two.
As we head into the dog days of summer this team now has something it hasn’t had in years, options and depth. The Islanders solidified their goaltending as Jaroslav Halak and Chad Johnson will give the Islanders the best goalie tandem that they have had in years. Garth Snow did a great job of bringing in legit veteran forwards who are good defensively and will take a lot of pressure off the kids. Ryan Strome, Brock Nelson and Anders Lee will not have to be depended on so desperately and can be nice complimentary pieces while they grow into more valuable roles.
This Islanders now have a surplus of one way contracts and will need to move some before the start of the season. The team still has to address the blue line and perhaps a Josh Bailey or Michael Grabner could yield a quality dman in return. If this team can add one talented dman, they will have a legit chance at competing for a playoff spot next season. They aren’t there yet, but wow, what a difference a week makes in the outlook of the team. If anything, management gave the fans a buzz that they sorely needed and provided hope that this team is trending upwards.
Between now and the start of training camp the Isles need to find that one dman. Perhaps it can be from a cap strapped team like the Blackhawks or Bruins. There has also been a lot of chatter from western Canada about teams like the Oilers, Jets and Flames all expressing interest in Josh Bailey. The Islanders actually have enough depth that they might be able to bring in two dman but I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Let’s start with one and go from there.
Regardless of what happens there is a sense of excitement and more importantly, hope for next season. This is the first time that Garth Snow has aggressively added quality veteran players to compliment the young core. There is still work to be done, but right now this team is moving in the right direction. One thing is for certain, if the Islanders go into training camp with a surplus of players, it will be a dogfight to win roster spots. Competition is always a good thing. The young players will be hungry and perhaps this will light a fire under some of the players who could be out of jobs if they don’t bring their A game to camp. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on twitter at @DanDanNoodles78.
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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