Islanders Depth Chart: Snapshot of assets, needs...and wants

We need more elite talent at LW…draft Nino, sign Enver Lisin, make a play for Frolov, Torres, and / or Poni. And hey Tucker and Cooke are available….just saying!!!! We might also consider drafting Kabanov if he is available in round two.

We need more depth at RW. That should primarily be addressed through the draft. Some good options after the first round will include Charlie Coyle, Teemu Pulkkinen, and Yasin Cisse. Of course, all that can be done should be done to get KP over here.

We need more bodies with a pulse on defense now—unless Garth’s real plan is to Lose for Larsson. Yes, Garth will need to bring in a veteran physical and snarly blueliner…but that is not enough. With the fragility of Martinek, the lackagility of Boromir the Yukon Slayer, and depth quality of much of the Bridgeport talent, all options should be considered. If Spurgeon is signed, he, Hamonic, and DeHaan should all have legit shots at making the roster. It would probably be wise to bring Meyer back for at least one more year and one or more lesser veteran FA signings would probably be a good idea as well.

And then there’s DP. Yes, we will need another FA signing at G. I am hopeful that Mikko and maybe even Kevin will be NHL ready at some point this season and maybe they will be so awesome in exhibition that one of them will make the roster. What’s wrong with a little depth? Absolutely sign a backup.

i hope we sign weight again so he can play the teacher role again, and maybe someone like bertuzzi or another playoff veteran at wing for some help for dougie

Man if Tomas Marcinko and DiBo are the top of the depth in Bridgeport at center next season that’s rough. They’ve got four very good centers in Nielsen, JT, RSH and Bailey and if Weight returns that will help the depth when he’s healthy. But if any of those four go down we better start praying Marcinko figures it out in his 3rd year in the AHL. I heard Ullstrom played some center on HV 71’s 3-4th line during parts of this season but his future is on the wing.

to see Gervais or Martinek somewhere else. I see either harmonic or the #5 if it is used for a D in the line up and a FA. I am not sure who, i donot see us getting Vochenkov. The top FA D just seems liek he will end up on a team like NYR or Detroit. One of the usual high profile FA teams
I see us getting a Colaiacovo from STL or Foster from TB. someone maybe around $1.5 million.

I liked Bailey at wing, he put up nice numbers.

I hope we pick up a winger in the draft, Nino or Connolly

I do not seeing us spending the $$$ it would take for a top winger/forward like Kavalchuk or Frolov. again I see these guys with NYR or Det

I think it is silly to have Gillies instead of martin on the team. I think Martin showed a lot of upside, while Gillies took bad penalties.

I wouldn,t mind seeing Rob Niedermeyer in the Doug weight role as mentor, and also on the PK
maybe Kyle Wellwood
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Torres back

Keep Park, and bring up Martin. Keep your fingers crossed. We could use a second line forward and 3-4 d man from FA pool.
  I don’t think we will trade our first pick “unless something blows Snow away” But a second round pick could bring in some new blood.

  I remain optomistic and open minded about the off season. Nothing is written in stone, and there’s no doubt the Isles need help if they aren’t going to be bottom dwellers again.

I think we should bring Tambellini back for at least 1 more year. Early on he was scoring and playing with confidence, but then scott Gordon benched him for some reason i dont know

1. Isles have $15M to the floor. And one defensive hole filled when I give FL our first round pick, the late second round pick, Gervais and Tambellini for their #3 overall… to take Gudbranson. (It’s MY FANTASY!!!).. ok… we just don’t tender tambellini and we give up Comeau. (to be addressed later)
2. Let’s get the three RFA’s into camp and somewhat happy.
    A. Mat Moulson… 3YR… $1.8M/yr… this could be as much as $2.2M when his agent gets a copy of Trent Hunters pay stub.
    B. Sean Bergenheim… 1YR… $1.2M… hopefully to be followed by a longer deal next year…. but I doubt it.
    C. Rob Schremp [Hockey]… 1YR… $770K,,, same as above.. but I have a feeling RSH will have an offensive break out year..
    D. there are others, but they would be two way deals and won’t matter much against the cap.
3. ~$11M to the floor.
    A. I make a quick 3 year offer to Kovalchuk $8.5m/yr for 3 years… and a phat crib in Bath Beach… his agent hangs up… we move on.
   B. I make Volchenkov a $3.2M offer for 4 years… his agent says he’ll think about it… and on July 3 he counters with $3.5 for 5. I give him $3.5 for 4 and the phat crib….everybody is happy…
__________ $6.5M to the floor_________
In my fantasy Rick DiPietro and Oliver Perez both spend a year in the minors…
So I offer Peter Budaj $1.5M for 2 years… if all works out he is the #1 next year with Koskinen playing in the NHL behind him. But this is where DP gets in the way of a good fantasy…. Budaj takes the offer to be a 1A behind a 41 year old and understands that he’ll get 30+ games the following year to prove he’s a #1.
__________$5M to the floor_____________
Freddy Meyer’s agent has been calling non-stop. I promised him a deal, but I told him to weigh other offers and call me. He says he has a $1.1M deal on the table for 3 years… I tell him he went through waivers just a season ago, and he might really like the KHL… they make a very nutritious borsht…. He accepts 3 years for $750K and a promise that Wang will put a juice bar in the Lighthouse plans.
__________$4M to the floor_____________
Colby Armstrong…$2.7M… to be what we expected Comeau to be.

Moulson-Tavares-Okposo
Bergenhiem/Joensuu-Schremp-Armstrong
Joensuu/Martin-Bailey-Comeau (if FL takes Tambellini, Hunter if not)
Martin/Gillies-Nielsen-Hunter

Streit-Volchenko
Hillen-Meyer/Gudbranson(good camp, he stays up)
Martinek-MacDonald/Witt
_________________________
this is a pretty thin team, but that’s what you get at the Cap Floor… and only 4 years of not sleeping at the draft table.
Something could emerge from BP with Rakhshani and Ullstrom, but they are probably a year or two away if they can make the jump.
But defensively there are a lot more top prospects then we’ve had in a while… there may be a point where we don’t get completely disgusted when an Islander D (Marty, I’m talking to YOU) goes down.

Josh plays wing on the second line. Gillies is an AHLer most of time. We need two 3rd liners, give Adam Burish the raise he wants. Whisper sweet nothings in Aaron Ashams ear to see if wants to kiss and make up- he might as well play for everyone in the division twice. We need a couple big bodied NHL defensemen. Maybe Christoph Schubert is in our price range. Give Hamhuis what he wants. Bring in Budaj or Auld for 30-40 game back up roll and we have a team that can compete for a playoff position this year with out plugging up spots long term for our prospects that are 1-3 years away from contributing at tthis level. All without breaking wangs billfold.

Bailey was so much better on the Wing, and Schremp was so much better as a Center, I think you have to make those two moves.

By what we have now, the first line is obviously going to stay Moulson – JT – KO, the Second line Bailey – Schremp – Comeau, Third line Nielsen and Hunter with another Defensive forward (Wouldn’t mind seeing Sim or Park back) with the Fourth line being any cheap grinders we can pick up or another guy like Gillies (who I think will see a lot more of BP then LI next year)

On the defense, I think it’s going to be a youth movement. It’s time to say goodbye to Martinek if we can get someone to take him during the Draft. Obviously there’s issues with his health, but there’s always teams willing to gamble. So we’d have going into camp Streit, MacDonald, Hillen and Bruno as having spots. I prefer Meyer over Bruno personally, but I think Snow is willing to chance it for one more season to see if he can return to his old form.

That leaves 2 spots, maybe 3 if you want to carry 7. I think Snow doesn’t drop the big money on a UFA dman, instead he plucks another Streit/Moulson move. Do I know who? not at all, but I have faith. The final spot/s would be a battle between Witt (Who should be given a chance in case his injury was the root of his problems last year) Katic, Harmonic, De Hann, Kohn and Reese. If Witt can do okay in camp and the Islanders carry 7 dmen, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back but scratched a lot. I think the final spot would come down to Reese or Kohn, with the runner up being on Snow’s speed dial if Bruno Struggles.

The Goalie situation, well by now you know my thoughts on it. If they don’t bring back Biron, and plan to have a steady Vet to backup Rollie (who I think will be fine this season) then I wouldn’t mind Raycroft, Lalime or Boucher. Mikko’s been shot up the pole pretty quickly, but I think they still want to give him more time with BP.

None of this considers the Salary cap or the floor. So if my guess is like 10 mill under floor let me know. I just get the feeling that Garth likes the current core of forwards on the Island, and that this season he might be looking to go younger with the D and hope that they are ready.

The closest Comparison you can make to Rollie would be Tim Thomas. They are both older Goalies who didn’t solidify their position in the league until after the lockout. It could have been argued that Rollie was a system goalie during his time with the Wild, although his partner with the Wild is no longer playing hockey.

Rollie since the lockout, Saves
05-06 1,140
06-07 1,780
07-08 1,000
08-09 1,700
09-10 1,400
So about 7,000 saves since the Lockout

Thomas since the lockout
05-06 1,100
06-07 1,800
07-08 1,600
08-09 1,600
09-10 1,100
So that’s 7,200 saves since the lockout

Consider that Thomas definitely lost his starting job last season, and was greatly outplayed by Rask while playing in front of the same team. What am I trying to show by comparing the two?

You don’t give an older goalie absolutely no incentive. Tim Thomas is a nice guy, and was a feel good story, but it comes across as him cashing in. Rollie meanwhile played last season with a chip on his shoulder (basically showing that he was the only thing holding the Oilers together) and this season he will be playing to get one more payday or one more chance to win a cup. The league has seen what a hot Rollie can do, especially in the playoffs. I doubt that Rollie is going to come into the season anything less then tip top conditioning. He’s not going to fall apart due to his own mistakes.