An Early Look at Islanders UFA Targets

Thanks for compiling this, mdelbags. I made a couple formatting tweaks before front-paging. Love the categories.

For starters, among those defensemen, I wouldn’t touch McKee or Strudwick, but I’d love going after any of the other three, particularly Volchenkov, of course. Agree that should be Garth’s first call.

In that grinder group I’d take Torres or Asham and tolerate Cooke (I hate him, oh how I hate him). I bet Torres will be pricing himself high after the goals he put in this year, but as long as it’s not a crazy contract it could be worth it. And of course I wouldn’t say no to Nystrom.

I’m curious, since you said No All-Stars for obvious reasons. If for some reason Garth could get a big name star and not destroy the whole cap in the process, what single all-star would you like to see him pickup?

Relevant to this topic: If you didn’t see it, Snow did an (actually informative!) interview with Howie on MSG. Chris Botta helpfully transcribed it.

I swear just when I get frustrated and whine, they throw us a bone. He discussed strategy going forward (he believes in Kohn), including adding two D-men over the summer.

Volcenkov should be the guy. As much as I would like to see us draft Nino, if Garth drafted Kabanov and was able to buy out Petrov’s contract and get him here, that might help convince A-Train to take the LIRR and hop on the bus to Uniondale.

Of course, a good draft AND good news about the Isles’ future (I’m lookin’ at you Charlie W.) would go a long way in luring FAs in any event, don’t doscount the possibility of some offseason Moulson no-name magic. One guy SI mentioned was Swiss national forward Roman Wick. If nothing else, signing Wick to join Streit and maybe Nino would go a long way toward making Toblerone and Emmenthaler the official Islander snack foods and would have made my Swiss grandmother smile were she still with us.

but I am not sure if it is better for a stay at home or ouck mover. If we go for Volcenkov then we are basically getting back a guy lik eSutton. we could always bring back Sutton. I think Gervais and Meyer and becoming good stay at home D. MacDonald also so this may not be the biggest problem, I would like to see Kohn and MacDonald add a few more Lbs.

I like Foster he has put up some points and maybe working with Stamkos helps him work with JT. If not Foster, I liked Colaiacovo last night. He seems like a good player the 2 or 3 times I have watched him. I think there is too much on Streit, and we could use a 2nd D at the point. Using Weight at the point is good but sometimes we need to change it up and give a different look.

I am happy if we stay with Roloson and bring up a guy from Bridgeport and then cut DP

Really sharp, mdelbags.

Looks like we have consensus: Volchenkov is at the top the wish list. (If I had the mad p-shop skillz of Down Goes Brown, I’d have a fake Amazon page up before you could hit “refresh”!) Either Halpern or Malhotra would be good additions (think Dave Scatchard-lite). You’d never have to worry about either of them in your own end, and they have more size and speed than most of what we’ve got on hand in those roles now. Also, either of them can play a wing or center, which gives you flexibility with Franz “Selke” Neilsen. ;) Add Matt Martin or Jesse Joensuu to that mix and we have the makings of a great shutdown line 5-on-5.

Dream scenario (new guys are bold):

G, Roloson, a healthy RDP (hey, I said dream, right?)
D, Volchenkov, – Streit; Hillen – Foster; MacDonald – Martinek; Kohn/Gervais/etc. as spares/inevitable Martinek injury sub
1st line: Moulson – Tavares – Okposo
2nd line: Bailey – RSH – uhmm… Comeau? (still just 23)
checkers: Halpern – Neilsen – Asham
4th line: Martin – Malhotra - Joensuu
spares: Sim, Jackman, Thompson, et als.

I think this would be a solid squad, competitive for the playoffs (and IN them), and not inflexible for the day that Hamonic and de Haan are ready. It is also unlikely that we could sign five FA’s, however. I mean, if that’s the dream scenario, then screw it, I want Kovalchuk on the top line. Moulson – “Detlef” Schremp – Bailey is just fine, and Comeau can drop to replace whomever else we didn’t actually sign over the offseason. But in any case, I think the shutdown D is the most important, followed by one of Halpern/Malhotra, who can play any forward spot and is reliable defensively. Franz needs the help, and especially if he starts playing PK instead of Park, whom I don’t see in the mix. If we could possibly find a taker for Trent Hunter, it would free up the necessary salary to afford the replacement.

Back-up/ 1B goaltender
Who knows what’s going to happen to DP but I’m ready to move on. Yes we’ve got some solid looking prospects but for the sake of next year we’ll need at least a competent back-up for Rollie if the Isles and Biron decide to part ways. So why not give a guy a (or another) chance that at one time was the future of some other teams’ goalie plans?
Dan Ellis: (29; 2 mil)
Chris Mason: (33; 3 mil)
Peter Budaj: (28; 1.250)
Curtis Sanford: (29; 0.600)

^ This is the one part of your informative post where I completely and totally disagree. The absolute last thing I think the Isles goaltending situation needs is another trio situation. Like it or not (and I take it you dont) the fact is that Rick WILL still be part of this orbganization for the forseeable future… and he WILL get starts. Bringing another goalie in will benefit nobody and improve nothing. This organization has a lot of promising players who can fill in as a backup if there is a time when Rick cant do it.

I really, REALLY hope that this organization does nothing except hold on to prospects like Poulin as far as goaltending goes. We have Roloson- and for that I am very, very thankful.

The stay-at-home defenseman is a must (as reflected in the poll results thus far)…

But, Volchenkov is THE guy when it comes to that category. As always when FA arguments come up I tout Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek as being good alternatives. Personally, I think Martin is better than Volchenkov, but Martin being injured this year throws a slight question mark about his future and also he plays for Lou in NJ – so I wouldn’t count on him getting to FA necessarily. Michalek plays in a small market and has many of the same skills as Volchenkov – and I think you could get him for a far cheaper price/term than others on the market.

As far as backups go on that list – Budaj is probably the way to go. Sanford lacks the talent that Budaj has and Ellis/Mason will likely want a starter slot rather than tandem-ing like they have previously.

The stay-at-home defenseman is a must (as reflected in the poll results thus far)…
But, Volchenkov is THE guy when it comes to that category.

He speaks Russian as well- and that will bode well if Petrov comes to North america and gets called up!

I’m not sure how a stay at home dman is the priority for a team that is almost dead last in scoring with NO prospects in that regard. Even if we keep losing and can secure Seguin or Hall, you have to think that a scoring wing to pair with Tavares needs to be the priority if we want him to have a Stamkos-like sophomore season.

Honestly, I don’t even think it’s close. Let’s see what we have with McDonald and HIllen. Maybe add a cheap depth defender. But first priority needs to be scoring. Take a serious run at Kovalchuk and see if you can get Frolov at a decent price. We should also look at another big time center, like Marleau or Plekanac. We need top 6 forwards who can put the puck in the net.

be it Hall, Seguine, or Nino.

Better yet, where can I find things like that out? I feel like every site I’ve found has been out-of-date or inaccurate.