The Four Letter Word All Islanders Fans Should Stop Using

Yandle would be an enormous upgrade and as a RFA is ripe for a nice Streit-type contract.

On the SBNation Mets blog, Amazin Avenue, there are always jokes about “traid teh core!” and that is mainly pointed at Wright and Reyes who are arguably in the top 5 of their respective positions. The Isles really only have Tavares, a #1 draft pick who is still developing, and Streit, who is entering the back end of his career. No one else really matches the bill, even with how much everyone loves Moulson, Grabner, and Nielsen…and based on Nielsens’ abilities I so want to place him in the so called “core.”

A-Mac, Hamonic
Tavares, Okposo, Moulson,
Grabner, Nielson,
Comeau, Bailey

Nino & Strome (Prospects that are not available)

I like to keep #1 picks but would listen to offers for Bailey after 3 seasons. It would have to be a good offer. I would prefer to hold him until trade deadline. He may fetch a decent return.

My Core is JT, MM, KO and Grabner then Hamonic and Amac on D
I would probably not look to trade Nino or De Haan until they have had a chance at the NHL level.

I say no one is completely untouchable still. I mean EDM traded 99. I mean if someone came up with a good enough trade for JT, maybe get them to take DP with him. I might take it. It woul dhave to be an awesome deal. I would prefer to see JT on the team for 12-15 seasons but if there were an offer that made the team better, that would have to be entertained

Everyone knows that it’s well-nigh impossible for every kid to hit big, if at all. Take the list of our prize futures: de Haan, Nelson, Niederreiter, Strome, the Kirills, Donovan, Cizikas, Lee, Koskinen, Nilsson, Poulin, ROSEN! ! 1 !, and Mayfield.

That’s fourteen kids. I’ve left off a few, obviously. We all know that all fourteen won’t be Islanders stars. Some might never make the league for more than a cup of coffee. A few I have left off might become good regulars – MacDonald was a sixth-rounder, after all.

Granted all that, it still makes sense to hold on to some of these kids and let them develop, rather than trading them all for established players. Out of the fourteen, it’s certain that a few WILL make it, and perhaps one or two will be very good. The point is to turn the picks into good NHL players, and while it may be more certain to do it through trading the picks for players, it’s very rare to find yourself cornerstone stars that way. The Isles traded for Goring, but they drafted their hall-of-famers themselves. Sure, PAP is a known quantity of 50-ish points… but that cuts both ways. It makes him perhaps more valuable to certain trading partners than a kid who could hit 75, or top out at 35. And it also means that, if we want to be serious contenders, we want to upgrade the production we get from that spot on our first line.

You named Nelson, Donovan, and a pick for Yandle. Sure, that’s completely defensible. None of them may ever be as good as Yandle is. But if Maloney asked for Nino, Poulin, and a first… I’d almost certainly decline. And a kid like Strome is untouchable. I’d rather lose PAP than Strome, even though he is a 53-point player. The point is that he’s not likely to ever be more than that, while in three years, Strome could be hitting for 75… at a lower cost and younger age.

In reality, there is a very very small list of “priceless/untradable” players on Garth’s list that include Tavares and a couple 1st round prospects/d-men(A-mac/Hamonic say). Other then that, every player has their price. Let’s be real. Very few players are untouchable. PAP/Bailey/Comeau all are likely players that can be moved for the right price. You may not want to hear their names in trade talk, but it’s gonna happen for good reason, they are the most likely nhl players on our team to move to bring in a better nhl player because of their value and because they are more expendable then the Okposo’s and Moulson’s of the team. Don’t be surprised if a trade Garth does this summer has one of them on the move, I too would prefer a top pairing d-man trade for prospects like De Haan + Nelson + 1st/2nd round pick for Yandle/Suter, but if Maloney/XXXXX responds with DeHaan + Comeau/Bailey/PAP + 1st/2nd round pick for Yandle/Suter, Garth isn’t holding up that trade for a 3rd liner who can likely be eventually replaced by a prospect. If it was Moulson/Okposo, that’s another thing, but a 3rd liner (Comeau/PAP/Bailey) with “possible, but say unlikely for now” 2nd line upside is definitely expendable longterm vs a top 6er, especially if the trade brings back a Streit-successor. Get what I’m trying to say? Frigging Mike Richards was untouchable to Philly, Mike Richards! Don’t be worrying about PAP/Bailey/Comeau in trade talks, when even the right trade proposal would pluck Moulson/Nielsen away(not highly likely, but it’s the truth).

but I don’t think it is a word we should avoid but really there is always one guy in my opinion who is untouchable- JT. Anyone else is fair game if we feel we can get upgrades by trading them. I might also put Grabner as untouchable only because his skill-set is so elite and he is still so young and cheap. Both he and JT both still have enormous upside. Yandle would be a nice addition although with Streit returning and having some blueline prospects moving up I wouldn’t commit too much money to signing him and I also would be leery about giving up more than one proven 20 goal scorer. We scored about league average last year but that was after years of being at the basement of scoring league-wide. We could easily regress next season and at least going into the season should keep proven scorers and then make them expandable if rookies or young guys prove themselves. Kabanov is someone I would only trade if it was a very good return. He probably has as much upside as any prospect- he is up there with Strome and Nino and might have an even higher ceiling. He is also unlikely to reach his full potential so that is something to keep in mind if a very good offer comes along- sell high to hedge against him busting.

It’s seven letters, not four, and it goes by TEH CORE124

Parenteau, Martin, Hillen, Koskinen = elite playmaker, bruising goal scorer, shut down dmen and all star goaltender. DYNASTY

So maybe I haven’t picked up on abuse of “TEH CORE,” but to me that term is pretty simple: Which players would you bother committing long-term deals to? Right now that includes guys like Nielsen, Tavares, Okposo, Grabner, A-Mac.

That doesn’t mean they are untouchable, and it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t shed them for futures if circumstances change later on. It just means that when you’re building/enhancing your team 1-3 years into the future, you have a pretty good idea these guys are bankable (important) parts of it.