The SBN/NHL Mock Expansion: Q-Q-Q-Quebec and the Jets
by mikb on Sep 1, 2010 2:30 PM EDT
in Islanders Hockey What If?
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PrintThe SBNation major-domo, Travis Hughes, is pleased to announce that the NHL is faux-spanding to Winnipeg and Quebec City, with the not-actual-return of the Jets and Nordiques to imaginary professional ice hockey.
To lead the franchises, Travis has selected stat maven Gabe Desjardins of Behind the Net for the Jets, and the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle for the Nordiques. (Note to James: do not dress the team in these. Not even at home. Thank you.)
The first order of business is to see which team immediately relocates. (Mirlte's already looking at Hamilton - maybe Ballsillie owns them?) Gabe - Seattle has a nice arena with no basketball tenant that could be refitted into a palace, befitting the first United States city to raise the Stanley Cup in triumph.
The second order is to see which (if any) of our unprotected vets is taken off that splendidly-constructed list we worked on last week.
The third - and we may as well stick to form around here and do this one first - is to speculate ourselves. Based on the most recent lists we have for each team (the links will be at the team pages), whom do you think goes first in the draft, and how does it all shake down? We'll assume for the purposes of this exercise that each team will make twenty picks, since I don't see the actual number of rounds anywhere around. (It may be more, but twenty each will be a good exercise, I think.) Be mindful of a few things:
- The salary cap for the upcoming year is $59.3 million.
- For the purpose of the exercise, no player will refuse to report.
- Likewise, no team will attempt to re-obtain any drafted player
- HOWEVER - if one of the bloggers from the other team sites really DOES want Player X back, and comes to the comments to say so - by all means, work it out!
What say you, Islanders Nation? What moves (besides out of their towns) should the new teams make?
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Just to reset...
After considering the conversations and the likelihood of the two GMs to pick over our scraps, I put DiPietro, Sim, Hilbert, Gervais and Jurcina on our unprotected list.
I need to look over the other teams, but I’m betting Tootoo and Kostitsyn are gone from Nashville, and Harding is one of the goalies (from Minnesota).
Lighthouse Hockey: An always-open repair shop for mikb's sarcasm module.
They do look to be the first to get picked…not
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!! Come, Get some respect a Professional team deserves!!
Heh, the list of unprotecteds is not pretty.
Lighthouse Hockey: An always-open repair shop for mikb's sarcasm module.
now that Niemi's in San Jose
The Islanders have lost one of their escape hatches in case of goalie injury. Do you think that makes RDP less expendable, and therefore worth protecting over Roli? Or do we go back to protecting both and exposing extra forwards and defenders?
Outsourcing all grammar and rhetoric repairs to Dominik.
I would argue that there are a number of goalies who are signed that the Islanders could trade for, Huet, Thomas and Clemmenson at the least. Also taking Huet or Thomas from their teams might also get us some more picks.
Dominik signed me for 20 years, and all I got was a press conference and a voided contract...
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
Yep, Average goalies are plentiful on the trade market during trade deadline time,
and I’m sure if need be we wouldn’t have a problem finding an ok/average starter replacement.
Go isles or Go home.
I still just refuse to plan on any major contribution from DP until I see it, and I’d think expansion teams would be the same way given the contract. So I’d rather not have DP’s knee be the only thing preventing a rookie goalie tandem.
Lighthouse Hockey: An always-open repair shop for mikb's sarcasm module.
Agreed
No one wants a has been(for now), injury plagued, nightmare contract goalie, unless he’s show some recent light (which he hasn’t).
Go isles or Go home.
depends on the alternative
Remember, each team is taking two or possibly three goalies, and can afford to take a flier on a guy.
First, eliminate the exposed goalies who are completely radioactive for whatever reason – Toskala, Khabibulin.
Then eliminate the F- and D- grade guys who teams are going to expose knowing they can get better in their own minor-league systems: Raycroft, Ersberg, Dubnyk, McIlhenny, Joey Mac
Then there’s the goalies who are likely not to be taken because there are stronger alternatives; goalies who are simply old, or injury risks, or pricey for their performance: Huet, Legace, Leclair, Garon, Greiss, Danis, Budaj. RDP will fit into this category.
Now you get to guys who are likely picks: Thomas, Osgood, Theodore, Lalime, Dan Ellis, Harding, Conklin, Clemmensen, Hedberg, maybe LaBarbara or Brent Johnson.
A healthy RDP is as good as anyone else on that likely list, even with his contract. He’s played behind some bad teams before, so you don’t worry about tossing him to the wolves for sixty games behind an expansion defense. It’s not like Huet, who’s more expensive and played himself out of the league while healthy.
I understand where you guys are coming from on this – BUT – I can also see a scenario where either Gabe or James decides that it’s worth it to see if the guy’s healthy, because if he IS completely healthy, then he is probably the first goalie from that list who comes off the board. You’d expose Rollie in a cold minute if you knew the Rick was physically sound.
It all hinges on that IF.
82 days into my latest contract approval process
If he can play,
he would be an adequate goalie with decent upside, but the problem is the contract. I don’t see a new expansion team burying themselves with a contract that kills and eats some of their cap room for future for a possible top 10 goalie whose injury prone and has only a couple good(1 great) seasons in his whole career. It’s like burying your team in the ground before they even get started. I see it as way too big a gamble for any expansion team to or would take. If a team really had that much faith and hope in RDP, then I think he would have been dealt to a different team by now.
Go isles or Go home.
i hear you
Still think that it’s different to trade assets for a guy you think is valuable, versus just picking him up for free in an expansion draft.
82 days into my latest contract approval process
You grab a DP in the Expansion draft with the same hope the Islanders have now. That if in the next 2-3 season he can’t play/preform in the NHL anymore he retires. Contract is off the books, Salary is paid mostly by insurance and nothing is lost.
I don’t expect us to be talking about whether DP will be back or not in 3-4 seasons. I think he’s the type of guy that is going to see the writing on the wall and retire if he can’t do it. DP has shown that if he thinks he can go out there and play he will. It’s the club that has been taking extra precautions with him. I could see the argument if DP continues to linger around claiming his knee hurts and sitting out. He appears to be trying everything he can to get back into the game.
Dominik signed me for 20 years, and all I got was a press conference and a voided contract...
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
These are compelling
And I do agree that DP probably won’t milk it forever if it turns out he can’t perform, so it’s not like he could both suck and command the extent of his deal for the next decade out of some poor expansion team.
…but that leads me back to: “Which hurts the Isles more this season?” If they lost Roloson, they’d be banking on DP’s health and/or Lawson/Mikko’s sudden readiness. If they lost DP, they’d be … about in the situation they must be half-expecting to be in anyway.
By the way, I freaking LOVE this thought exercise. It’s bringing back the fantasy/video game GM in me.
Lighthouse Hockey: An always-open repair shop for mikb's sarcasm module.
Oh this season definitely Rollie. I’m just thinking more long term because I think the Islanders are 50/50 on making the playoffs.
Trevor Gillies: Giving an all new meaning to "Mustache Ride"
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
If I had to make a guess or percentage of them making the playoffs,
50/50 would be just about my exact guess too, lol.
Go isles or Go home.
Good thoughts,
and then you say his injury lingers and he retires or, a big OR:
He comes back and sucks horribly. At that point, a team would have to buy out his salary with a $2mil/yr cap hit for the rest of his contract or deal with a $4mil/yr backup on their salary cap. That’s another possibility that should be thought over before picking him up, because let’s be honest, his few games back last season made him look like a backup or average goalie at best, but then again that could be him not at 100%.
Go isles or Go home.
""Mirlte's already looking at Hamilton""
Mirlte’s already looking at Hamilton
This is the quickest way to piss off the NHL.
NHL’s reply: Expletive deleted yourself.
LOL
Get out of the sticks, Charles, move to Queens!! Come, Get some respect a Professional team deserves!!
Teemu Selanne
Is he the last Jet left in the league?
I still think the Jets purposely traded Selanne before they moved just to screw over Phoenix.
Dominik signed me for 20 years, and all I got was a press conference and a voided contract...
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
Doan still with Coyotes
which i find very impressive. Hes a very underrated player and hes shown to be very loyal to his team
In Garth we trust!
Khabibulan holding onto an NHL Job by the smallest of margins.
Dominik signed me for 20 years, and all I got was a press conference and a voided contract...
Contributor to Lighthouse Hockey not sure if I'm the Sniper or the Enforcer.
ON topic,
there will be a lot of diamonds in the rough out there. I’m not naming names because it would be too complicated, but unproven mid-20 year olds and low-mid-30yr olds whom have potential or some stuff left in the tank will be plentiful. You could probably make a decent overall team with those players, but I’m not sure they’d be a playoff team due to lack of superstar players at all positions. You’d most likely have a roster of adequate players with a couple of nice surprises and a few budget guys. Either way, it would be interesting to see some of the better/more-depthy teams in the league lose some key role players and make the nhl a more competitive league with less super or great great teams out there.
Go isles or Go home.
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82 days into my latest contract approval process
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