oh I know Moulson's trade value isn't high at all. Boyes not having signed anywhere yet is an indication the league seems to understand that Tavares makes everyone around him better, and in some cases, MUCH better than they actually are.
- Isles_since_6

Yeah, that really cost Parentau, didn't it?

bad news for dipietro...
- LetsGoIsles

Why is that bad news? It means Boston Collage has an opening in net!!!

XxNYIxX

Moulson is slow as molasses and cr*p defensively. Nielsen is a third-line center, and he's never going to bring back big return.....teams ALWAYS (often correctly) believe they can train one of those. I can pretty much guarantee you that WE are still at the point where other teams will tell Garth they view last year as a fluke.....to them, these are the same cr*ppy players we've had for the last five years, and they're not worth much. If you trade Pietrangelo (throwing a name out off the top of my head) for Reinhart and Strome, you can do a lot better job of selling that to your fans than trying to tell them that the likes of Moulson and Nielsen are actually superstars who will replace him.

We have three items with trade value: Tavares, Strome and Reinhart. The rest aren't worth a dime in a trade as far as I'm concerned, if I'm the opposing GM....it just is what it is.
- dcb1

That is the most important thing in this whole post... and that doesn't mean much.

XxNYIxX

the interesting thing will be to see if your defense and goaltending look as good without everyone on the team collapsing to the shooting lanes and blocking so many shots. AV may free up the offense, but in doing that he's also going to loosen up the defense. Interested to see how it works out.

That being said, I do really like a lot of the ranger's defensemen and obviously in goal they're rock solid. Offensively, there's some creativity and skill there but a whole season without Gaborik means they'd better hope Richards gets his groove back.
- Isles_since_6

Yea but it seemed like every time a team scored, it was mostly cuz hank was screened by his own team or it took a weird deflection cuz of all the bodies in front of the net. Our dmen are good on their own without the shot blocking so hopefully the defense wont be sacrificed oto much.

Our offense really depends on kreider panning out, stepan staying consistent, and richards refinding his game. Maybe hagelin can take the next step to become more of a goal scorer and hopefully a full season of mza adds some creativity. Cant wait for the puck to drop.

He got there, he just didn't have his damn stick on the ice. Frustrated me more than anything else last season...he and Boyes were both guilty of it. It's like they would just assume Tavares wasn't in position to make the pass, so they'd have their sticks casually off the ice. When playing with Tavares, expect to get the pass when you least expect it...he does have at least three defenders to fake out at any given time when making a play.

Edit -- That said, let's wait until we're actually drowning in 30-goal scorers before sending the only consistent one packing...
- UIF

drove me nuts, he could've had five or six more goals if he KEPT HIS DAMN STICK ON THE ICE!!!

I would say all of them till the season starts. I mean we really did not make a splash in free agency. It is basically the same team to me just a little tougher. If Nabby does not play well though it could be a long season.I felt we needed to upgrade in the department and we stayed staus quo
- kasperrko

you realize the isles finished in 3rd this past season- 1 point behind the rangers for 2nd.

(fwiw, 2 pts behind caps)

...i know, this past season doesnt count in kasper-world.

grabner is a much better talent than moulson.
- LetsGoIsles

I'm not arguing with you but the coaching staff doesn't seem to like Grabner...

Bingo!!!
- Vukota

Hey, he is what he is but there was a stretch last season when we all wanted him dead on here. He will become expendable soon

Not happening...Moulson is the 2nd best offensive player on the Islanders...look for another extension in January at 3 or 4 years at $4 mil per year...While I like Grabner, I see him traded for a veteran defenseman.
- kear20

Would be a beyond words stupid move

Yeah, that really cost Parentau, didn't it?
- PeteM

the guy moved from one situation into almost an identical one. He certainly didn't get them to the playoffs or improved the team. You could argue the avs were worse with him, even though he contributed offensively.

grabner is a much better talent than moulson.
- LetsGoIsles

In every sense

Would be a beyond words stupid move
- Cptmjl

Then why does Grabner play only 10 minutes a game?

I'm not arguing with you but the coaching staff doesn't seem to like Grabner...
- kear20

not talking about coaching staff...most people dont care about their opinion, why start now?

Name any team besides the Rags that are far and away better than us for that 2nd spot.
- mighty13duck

Was this tongue in cheek?

Then why does Grabner play only 10 minutes a game?
- kear20

Because our coach is a facking moron

That is the most important thing in this whole post... and that doesn't mean much.

XxNYIxX
- XxNYIxX

So what some of you are saying is that you honestly believe we can get a top four defenseman, a top flight goaltender, or a stud scoring winger straight up for either Moulson or Nielsen. Assume this isn't NHL13, and you can't use the commissioner override.....

You were better than the rags last season?

U guys have a great offense and good defensive prospects but our defense and goaltending is one of the best in the league and our offense is good enough/will be better with av as coach.
- rangerdanger94

More like you hope it will be... You hope Richards will learn how to play again, Stepan won't have a slump, and Nash will play. You traded arguably your best offensive player in Gaborik. I certainly don't think we'll be worse than the Rangers and we'll do it with subpar goaltending.

So what some of you are saying is that you honestly believe we can get a top four defenseman, a top flight goaltender, or a stud scoring winger straight up for either Moulson or Nielsen. Assume this isn't NHL13, and you can't use the commissioner override.....
- dcb1

these are all very vague terms...like i said, if the isles got the equivalent of a scuderi/ference for moulson, yes i think its doable

having said that, if moulson is dealt for a dman, id prefer add a 2nd tier prospect to the package and get someone a little younger from a cap-strapped team

More like you hope it will be... You hope Richards will learn how to play again, Stepan won't have a slump, and Nash will play. You traded arguably your best offensive player in Gaborik. I certainly don't think we'll be worse than the Rangers and we'll do it with subpar goaltending.
- Cptmjl

They were ever so slightly better than us last year.....that won't be the case going forward. Three years from now, we're going to be giving A LOT of teams an a$$ whipping, not just them.

That is the most important thing in this whole post... and that doesn't mean much.

XxNYIxX
- XxNYIxX

That's not very nice x

They were ever so slightly better than us last year.....that won't be the case going forward. Three years from now, we're going to be giving A LOT of teams an a$$ whipping, not just them.
- dcb1

I'm looking foward to watching Ranger/Isles games with the addition of Clutterbuck. If i were a Ranger fan I would've been like, "FACK"!!! When I saw that trade

Because our coach is a facking moron
- Cptmjl

Any news of us signing Jack? I have not heard anything

you realize the isles finished in 3rd this past season- 1 point behind the rangers for 2nd.

(fwiw, 2 pts behind caps)

...i know, this past season doesnt count in kasper-world.
- LetsGoIsles

Nope one shortened season proves nothing to me

Any news of us signing Jack? I have not heard anything
- kasperrko

Yeah, I hope Grabner gets more 5-on-5 ice time this season on whatever the second line turns out to be. He did a heck of a lot on the score sheet with limited even-strength ice time last season while playing with linemates who had limited offensive skills...he scored more goals than Moulson (and everyone else on the team not named Tavares) last season. Someone will probably point to a lazy defensive play he might have made this one time in this one game along the line, but he couldn't have been that bad defensively...he was one of only two regular forwards (Bailey was the other) to finish on the plus-side for the season. He's not a perfect player...but he brings a unique skill set to the table with his speed and ability to pick off passes that other teams have to respect...might as well find a way to get him out there more often.