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The New York Islanders are in a cap crunch and one reason for that is due to the money they have tied up in depth forwards. This offseason, the Islanders should look to rework the bottom-six in order to shed some money, while maintaining decent depth at the same time.
After the trade for Jean-Gabriel Pageau, here’s a version of what a healthy bottom-six looked like:
Brassard - Pageau - Komarov Martin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck
Right off the bat, we know that Jean-Gabriel Pageau (and likely Casey Cizikas) aren’t going anywhere, meaning the team should look the same down the middle. On the wings, however, the same can’t be said.
With Matt Martin likely heading to free agency, the probable scenario is that Ross Johnston will step in for Martin on the fourth line. After that though, it could get a bit more interesting. On the third line, Derick Brassard’s 40-point pace may be attractive enough for someone to give him a slight raise on a one-year deal and pry him away from New York. Plus, I’d imagine he didn’t love being scratched in the playoffs.
As for the other wingers, both Cal Clutterbuck and Leo Komarov are stuck on bad contracts. I’m not holding out hope, but if the Islanders could swing a deal to give up an asset or two in order to get rid of Clutterbuck’s $3.5 million contract, they’d be in a better spot cap-wise. If they’re able to, they could have two spots open in their bottom-six.
Kieffer Bellows is a name that comes to mind pretty quickly to fill one of those spots if Brassard leaves and I’d be on board with Bellows getting the chance. I thought he was pretty strong in his stint with the Islanders last season and putting him with Pageau on the third line could work quite well. This could leave one spot remaining (if the Islanders were actually able to move either Clutterbuck or Komarov) and I’d like to see them sign a cheap veteran if they do. I’ve been going over some cheap veteran free agents while covering the San Jose Sharks and someone like Patrick Maroon or Corey Perry could be a short-term solution.
Given New York’s cap situation, this could be a pretty decent bottom-six:
Bellows - Pageau - Veteran UFA Johnston - Cizikas - Komarov/Clutterbuck
This version would cost the Islanders roughly $14 or $14.5 million instead of the $18.5 million in the version above. A lot has to go into this, most notably moving either Clutterbuck or Komarov. Plus, if Brassard returns for nearly the same price, great, we have a solution for the third line. However, if the Islanders are able to create room in their lineup and on their payroll, this could be a cheaper, decent bottom-six.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
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