So as my age slowly turns toward the old man stage of my life,  I have come to the state where I watch more hockey than I play.   Being born in bay shore long island I have had, along with many others, a great love for my local NY Islanders even in these desperate years.  I remember the start of this year and the great start and all those good feelings flying around, then the skid and the dreams of playoffs dying.  Now as we collectively look to next year something has struck me and it concerns Mr Bailey.  Since I doubt no one in this place has made this point thus far, I thought what the hell let me send this out and see how you guys think about it.       


Now remember the beginning of the year when Bailey was scoring, jezz he was even on the league leader board. Then came his inconsistent play and fans were left to deal with all that hope that lies in Bails.  What I want to point out is at the time when he was scoring JT was out and along with KO and The big S.  He became the leader, he was the go to guy, line 1, first power play unit.  JT comes back and boom, Bailey seems to give the reins over, I cant really blame him, because of JT's status as a number one pick and his place within Islander nation that is the way of things. Then he gets sent down and again he is number one guy again and sparkles. He comes back up has a good couple of games then hits the skids again.  So here we are, or here is Bailey.. Question is what if old Jack gave Josh the reins? Can he be the franchise player, can he be our next islander Hall of Famer?   I believe he can if the coach staff would realize the power dynamics going on in the team, if the coaching staff would understand that the best horse to bet on is Bailey.  I love JT and KO but they are those types of guys,  KO could be but I really don't think he has the potential that Bailey has.