The trade still blows me away. Why when you are talking about Vanek for a while do you settle for brining in PMB and Regin as the offseason moves?
- ses111

Snow is very big on replacing attributes. Keith Aucoin out, Regin in. Boyes out, PMB in. All are placeholders for prospects like Strome.

Snow is very big on replacing attributes. Keith Aucoin out, Regin in. Boyes out, PMB in. All are placeholders for prospects like Strome.
- keaner17

He was better off starting Strome in the NHL. Replacing attributes makes little sense to me.

Dedshark had a point about Schenn. I'd try it if its on the cheap.
...and I would take serviceable at this point, not impactful.
- potvin05

yes! thank you! I'm not saying we need to nail a top dman ( obviously eventually we do), but all I'm saying is look at schenn for a pick/prospect... or look at guys in the ahl. there can be borderline players on deeper teams that could be serviceable for this team at the time. picture like a keith aucoin version of defense. if it doesn't work, then oh well. nothing to lose since our defense can't get much worse.

As always, Snow will look for diamonds in the rough but not at the expense of his key prospects. Affordable placeholders are what he wants. If Strait and Vis are in the lineup, our defense is average as Carkner and Martinek watch from the press box. My feeling is Garth will take a few weeks and act based on needs. He obviously believes in Vis, Amac, Hamonic, Strait, Hickey and Donovan

yes! thank you! I'm not saying we need to nail a top dman ( obviously eventually we do), but all I'm saying is look at schenn for a pick/prospect... or look at guys in the ahl. there can be borderline players on deeper teams that could be serviceable for this team at the time. picture like a keith aucoin version of defense. if it doesn't work, then oh well. nothing to lose since our defense can't get much worse.
- Dedshark

you guys should try to go after tim erixon. he's NHL ready, but is blocked because of columbus' great defensive depth.

i don't think schenn is a real option. can't see philly trading one of their only young defenders when that's their main weakness, especially in the division.

He was better off starting Strome in the NHL. Replacing attributes makes little sense to me.
- ses111

Remember though, those placeholders are here to allow the prospects to develop at a safe pace. PMB is here so Strome can play in the A.

Remember though, those placeholders are here to allow the prospects to develop at a safe pace. PMB is here so Strome can play in the A.
- keaner17

True. While I think Strome would have been fine, more time cannot hurt. No more placeholders next year though. Has to be a top prospect like Strome and Reinhart or a quality vet. No placeholder coaches either.

Word is de Haan will be called up soon. Knowing Cappy he'll come up to watch a few games before returning

True. While I think Strome would have been fine, more time cannot hurt. No more placeholders next year though. Has to be a top prospect like Strome and Reinhart or a quality vet. No placeholder coaches either.
- ses111

I think Strome will be here by mid season.

Word is de Haan will be called up soon. Knowing Cappy he'll come up to watch a few games before returning
- keaner17

So he will get the Reinhart treatment?

I think Strome will be here by mid season.
- keaner17

Would not surprise me. Maybe Lee as well? If the wheels start to fall off it could be sooner.

He was better off starting Strome in the NHL. Replacing attributes makes little sense to me.
- ses111

No he wasnt

XxNYIxX

It is good to see that our players suck & the sky is falling once again.

That 2 game win streak had too many of us saying good things about this franchise. Thankfully the Caps came along and corrected that... imagine what a three game win streak would have done.

I shutter to think about it.


XxNYIxX

Nino doing well and Cal not so much.....its all a gamble however...kid is gonna be a stud. Perhaps we should have gave him more time.

Vanek is great player but our PP has gone south with MM gone....still think he would have resigned quicker than Vanek will...

Next move for goalie or d-man gonna have to be a great trade, here's hoping Garth gets it done!

Nino doing well and Cal not so much.....its all a gamble however...kid is gonna be a stud. Perhaps we should have gave him more time.

Vanek is great player but our PP has gone south with MM gone....still think he would have resigned quicker than Vanek will...

Next move for goalie or d-man gonna have to be a great trade, here's hoping Garth gets it done!
- BattleLevel

I associate our power play issues more with the absence of Vis than MM.

I associate our power play issues more with the absence of Vis than MM.
- keaner17

No doubt it does make a huge impact but I look at the last few games MM played and the PP goals he was knocking in.

It is good to see that our players suck & the sky is falling once again.

That 2 game win streak had too many of us saying good things about this franchise. Thankfully the Caps came along and corrected that... imagine what a three game win streak would have done.

I shutter to think about it.


XxNYIxX
- XxNYIxX

Only the defense sucks XX and our goalies suck some of the time and aren't good.

Get it right.

Nino doing well and Cal not so much.....its all a gamble however...kid is gonna be a stud. Perhaps we should have gave him more time.

Vanek is great player but our PP has gone south with MM gone....still think he would have resigned quicker than Vanek will...

Next move for goalie or d-man gonna have to be a great trade, here's hoping Garth gets it done!
- BattleLevel

The Nino thing still confuses me. His previous coaches and all the chatter around draft time always spoke glowingly of his character...right up until he was all of a sudden a disaster to the locker room and a perpetual whiner. Who knows. I was a pretty big fan of his throughout last season, so I'm trying not to judge that trade just yet based mostly on my initial disappointment with seeing him go...I'll give it a chance to see what each player brings to his respective team over time.

I do think Clutterbuck is virtually useless on a line with Regin and Grabner. None of them are on the same page and that line just doesn't seem to have any kind of set role that it can grab onto and build off of. Are they scoring support? A shutdown line? A checking line? Energy? They seem to just be out there to kill a minute of time until someone else is ready, which sucks because Clutterbuck and especially Grabner can obviously be very useful players if there was even a passing thought among the coaches about putting them in a role that takes advantage of their strengths.

As for the D, I think they may have to tough it out with what they have for a while. I'm sure Snow is making calls, and I'm sure other teams see the situation the Isles are in and are demanding outrageous prices for mediocre d-men. I don't want to see the Isles give up key pieces of the future for some middling d-man that we'll all hate for being shoehorned into a top-pairing role he's not suited for.

The Nino thing still confuses me. His previous coaches and all the chatter around draft time always spoke glowingly of his character...right up until he was all of a sudden a disaster to the locker room and a perpetual whiner. Who knows. I was a pretty big fan of his throughout last season, so I'm trying not to judge that trade just yet based mostly on my initial disappointment with seeing him go...I'll give it a chance to see what each player brings to his respective team over time.

I do think Clutterbuck is virtually useless on a line with Regin and Grabner. None of them are on the same page and that line just doesn't seem to have any kind of set role that it can grab onto and build off of. Are they scoring support? A shutdown line? A checking line? Energy? They seem to just be out there to kill a minute of time until someone else is ready, which sucks because Clutterbuck and especially Grabner can obviously be very useful players if there was even a passing thought among the coaches about putting them in a role that takes advantage of their strengths.

As for the D, I think they may have to tough it out with what they have for a while. I'm sure Snow is making calls, and I'm sure other teams see the situation the Isles are in and are demanding outrageous prices for mediocre d-men. I don't want to see the Isles give up key pieces of the future for some middling d-man that we'll all hate for being shoehorned into a top-pairing role he's not suited for.
- UIF

Neiddereiter was very unliked in Bridgeport for what it's worth. His agent didn't help matters.

My issue lately going back to the Neiderreiter trade is that any asset that Snow has finally been willing to part with hasn't brought us back pieces that strengthen weaknesses. Clutterbuck will help come playoff time if we ever see it but the Isles needed a goalie and a defensemen then and they do so now in the worst way. The Isles defense and goaltending is so terrible that a team with 3 guys in the top 20 in scoring in 15 games is only NHL .500. Basically they are 6-9 and are in the elite of the NHL in goal scoring. It's a big flipping problem that Snow hasn't been able to address. I'm all for building through the draft but there is a shelf life on how long you can keep a team's core together and right now offensively the Islanders are good enough to win the Stanley Cup. With an average defense and average goalie they could win a round in the playoffs. But no team with crap defense and crap goaltending every wins anything, so I'm still shaking my head that Neiderreiter, Moulson, a 1st round pick and 2nd round pick has brought us back Vanek and Clutterbuck. Rather have Moulson, Nino and a defensemen or goalie

The Nino thing still confuses me. His previous coaches and all the chatter around draft time always spoke glowingly of his character...right up until he was all of a sudden a disaster to the locker room and a perpetual whiner. Who knows. I was a pretty big fan of his throughout last season, so I'm trying not to judge that trade just yet based mostly on my initial disappointment with seeing him go...I'll give it a chance to see what each player brings to his respective team over time.

I do think Clutterbuck is virtually useless on a line with Regin and Grabner. None of them are on the same page and that line just doesn't seem to have any kind of set role that it can grab onto and build off of. Are they scoring support? A shutdown line? A checking line? Energy? They seem to just be out there to kill a minute of time until someone else is ready, which sucks because Clutterbuck and especially Grabner can obviously be very useful players if there was even a passing thought among the coaches about putting them in a role that takes advantage of their strengths.

As for the D, I think they may have to tough it out with what they have for a while. I'm sure Snow is making calls, and I'm sure other teams see the situation the Isles are in and are demanding outrageous prices for mediocre d-men. I don't want to see the Isles give up key pieces of the future for some middling d-man that we'll all hate for being shoehorned into a top-pairing role he's not suited for.
- UIF

I'll add to Clutterbuck with a comment that may be less than popular. I didn't like the trade for Clutterbuck in the first place since we already had a couple of Clutterbucks in the lineup with Cizikas and Martin. That didn't strike me as the type of player we needed to add during the offseason. Thus far Clutterbuck has had little to no impact on this team other than that of an agitator which I think Cizikas can do just fine.

In addition, Nino WAS the type of player we needed to add. Funny thing is, if Nino is in this organization still, Moulson likely would be as well and there would have been no need for Vanek, though Snow suggested this deal was rooted back prior to the seasons beginning. If it was a matter of 'settling' for Clutterbuck via trade because players like Ryan and Bernier couldn't be landed for Nino, than my question is, why not keep him around for the year and see where things go. Teams falling out of the playoff picture might have been willing to deal say Vanek for Nino and a 2nd straight up, while keeping Moulson.
There's no questioning that the Isles completely dropped the ball on Nno and for this team to move forward, mgmt needs to learn to communicate with their players better. We can't write people off because of one PR mishap that the team essentially caused themselves.

I'll add to Clutterbuck with a comment that may be less than popular. I didn't like the trade for Clutterbuck in the first place since we already had a couple of Clutterbucks in the lineup with Cizikas and Martin. That didn't strike me as the type of player we needed to add during the offseason. Thus far Clutterbuck has had little to no impact on this team other than that of an agitator which I think Cizikas can do just fine.

In addition, Nino WAS the type of player we needed to add. Funny thing is, if Nino is in this organization still, Moulson likely would be as well and there would have been no need for Vanek, though Snow suggested this deal was rooted back prior to the seasons beginning. If it was a matter of 'settling' for Clutterbuck via trade because players like Ryan and Bernier couldn't be landed for Nino, than my question is, why not keep him around for the year and see where things go. Teams falling out of the playoff picture might have been willing to deal say Vanek for Nino and a 2nd straight up, while keeping Moulson.
There's no questioning that the Isles completely dropped the ball on Nno and for this team to move forward, mgmt needs to learn to communicate with their players better. We can't write people off because of one PR mishap that the team essentially caused themselves.
- keaner17

I completely disagree

I completely disagree
- Isles316

well, consider this, while no one can obsolve Nino of playing a role in this matter, it appears rather clear that the plan for Nino was NOT made clear. Snow essentially admitted that himself when he went to BPT to speak with Nino and explain what the plan was AFTER Nino's agent made the trade demand.

From Nino's point of view. He went through camp on JT's wing and performed well until pulling a groin. After he returned from the injury, he was demoted to the 4th line playing next to nothing in terms of minutes with two guys who clearly didn't belong in the NHL at this stage. He was then sent to BPT and told he would spend the rest of the season there. Suddenly when camp came around he wasn't even invited. Your second highest rated prospect in the entire organization wasn't even invited to camp and was given NO explanation as to why. So while he rots away in the A despite being near the top of that league in points, the team has had no contact with him, he's passed over for callups and when Snow is interviewed about the future, he doesn't even mention Nino.
If I'm Nino, at that point I'm thinking "I'm making AHL money, with NHL talent and the team has written me off. Time to get out.

To me, the only mistake made by Nino's camp was allowing this news to leak out. However none of this would have happened if Snow mapped out Nino's future to him.

I support Snow as much as anyone on this site, but that was one SEVERE screw up.
So at this point the teams ultimate plans for Nino appeared highly clouded. He got burried for 60% of a season with scrubs, then burried in the AHL, then traded for a 3rd line agitator. Oh how the mighty had fallen

I'll add to Clutterbuck with a comment that may be less than popular. I didn't like the trade for Clutterbuck in the first place since we already had a couple of Clutterbucks in the lineup with Cizikas and Martin. That didn't strike me as the type of player we needed to add during the offseason. Thus far Clutterbuck has had little to no impact on this team other than that of an agitator which I think Cizikas can do just fine.

In addition, Nino WAS the type of player we needed to add. Funny thing is, if Nino is in this organization still, Moulson likely would be as well and there would have been no need for Vanek, though Snow suggested this deal was rooted back prior to the seasons beginning. If it was a matter of 'settling' for Clutterbuck via trade because players like Ryan and Bernier couldn't be landed for Nino, than my question is, why not keep him around for the year and see where things go. Teams falling out of the playoff picture might have been willing to deal say Vanek for Nino and a 2nd straight up, while keeping Moulson.
There's no questioning that the Isles completely dropped the ball on Nno and for this team to move forward, mgmt needs to learn to communicate with their players better. We can't write people off because of one PR mishap that the team essentially caused themselves.
- keaner17

Agreed for the most part on all points.

With the whole Vanek situation though...if the guy re-signs, so many other things fall into place. I disagree with some here (not you) who say it wasn't a need. A top-line player was a glaring need for years, which is why we've been substituting filler after filler there since Tavares was drafted, hoping that he could make gold out of lead. Just about all of us have talked about it at one time or another over the past few seasons. The scoring gets off to a hot start this year and we just dismiss it and say it wasn't necessary, but that move will pay dividends for the rest of this season, and hopefully for many more to come if they can sell Vanek on sticking around. Frankly, I'm not sure the Isles would have landed a defenseman of similar quality in exchange for Moulson+, but I guess we'll never know.

Agreed for the most part on all points.

With the whole Vanek situation though...if the guy re-signs, so many other things fall into place. I disagree with some here (not you) who say it wasn't a need. A top-line player was a glaring need for years, which is why we've been substituting filler after filler there since Tavares was drafted, hoping that he could make gold out of lead. Just about all of us have talked about it at one time or another over the past few seasons. The scoring gets off to a hot start this year and we just dismiss it and say it wasn't necessary, but that move will pay dividends for the rest of this season, and hopefully for many more to come if they can sell Vanek on sticking around. Frankly, I'm not sure the Isles would have landed a defenseman of similar quality in exchange for Moulson+, but I guess we'll never know.
- UIF

In a way, last seasons unexpected success forced the Snow to accelerate the growth process. As I've mentioned prior, Snow is very big on filling voids with players of similar skillsets. Rolo out, Nabby in. PA out Boyes in. Aucoin out, Regin in. Boyes out, PMB in. These guys are all supposed to be placeholders for the eventual prospects he had drafted. So these top line players like PMB are only meant to bide time for Strome and others. Guys like Carkner and even to a degree Hickey are simply meant to play roles until Reinhart, Pokka, Pedan and Pullock make their way here.
That said, while I get that folks loved Moulson and his knack for putting the puck in the net, Vanek was in this teams plans dating back to May. I think the teams desire to land him increased all the more when they decided to send Nino packing. Truth be told, we still have the same defense (minus Streit) as last year. From Snow's perspective, if they could match last years stretch play along with the addition of Vanek, Clutterbuck and PMB this team was clearly better on paper than last year. Unfortunately injuries to guys like Strait and Vis make a thin corps even thinner and sub NHL. I think they'll call de Haan or Ness up and hope for the best rather than trade anything else, especially considering the dry market for impact dmen.

The greater concern to me is our teams inability to defend against teams with aggressive forechecks. It's more of a coaching issue to me than personnel when you see our dmen back 25 feet into their own zone without challenging anyone at the blueline.

Grabner to Toronto for Franson....