It was a great playoff run but it sucks to lose that game 7. Whoever won that game was winning the Cup. The Canadiens may get a game or two but Tampa will win it and that could have been the Isles. Because of salary cap concerns I expect changes to this roster. Hopefully we can still have a good team that can make another run next season. Time will tell.
I guess I'm not sure why there's some hate for Trotz. The Islanders biggest problem is they need a top line scorer to pair with Barzal, not a strategic system issue. The only thing I saw in these playoffs (specifically this last series versus Tampa) is that they are victims of over-passing at times and don't shoot enough especially on the power play. They also struggle on down-low passing plays but that's again probably because they don't have any big time scorers.
Absolutely. The idea that Trotz is some sort of playoff choker is ludicrous. If the Lightning win the Cup again, 4 of Trotz’s last six playoff defeats will be against the only two teams in the last 20 years to repeat as Cup champs. That’s not underperforming, that’s simply bad luck of running into historic teams. The other defeat was against the Presidents Trophy winner who had gone to the Cup finals the year before. The only loss you could even argue was an underperformance was the Carolina loss his first year here. the idea that Trotz somehow held the Predators back because they made a Cup run several years after his departure is laughable, not to mention qualifying the Islanders last two trips to the conference finals as playoff failures.
It's really looking like Game 6 was the last Islanders game at the Old Barn. They've already announced that preseason games next year will be played in Bridgeport, and Lamoriello said at his press conference that they expect a schedule with a long road trip to start the season to accommodate the move to UBS (with games against the Rangers, Devils, and Flyers being a heavy component to cut down on travel and allow the team to be home during off days). The schedule should be announced by the NHL pretty soon.
Probably not going to happen given our cap situation and he is injured a lot but its nice to see we are 1 of 4 teams he would waive the no trade clause for. Just proves that the Isles are respected around the league again.
I don’t know if it makes me feel better that they are a historic team that shuts out everybody in clinching games, but I’ll tell myself that to cope.
Not sure why Kucherov had to be such an asshole after the game, but okay. Given that they only were able to do it because he got to play without counting against the cap because of them taking advantage of a technicality, why don't you enjoy the win and not be a jerk? And no, it's not a dynasty - that's 3 in a row or 4 in 5 years.
Agreed, not a dynasty but certainly the second best team in the last 20 years. The Blackhawks 3 Cups in 5 years is the best. I think they are ahead of the Penguins repeat winners simply based on their total success leading up to these two Cups, followed by the Kings 2 Cups in 3 years. Though head to head I’d take the Kings Cup winners against either of the Lightning winners.
New York Islanders Actively Shopping Players to Free Up Cap Space Both The Athletic and The Fourth Period reported that Lamoriello was actively trying to shop Jordan Eberle, Leo Komarov, Nick Leddy and Thomas Hickey. Andrew Ladd was also mentioned in The Athletic report. There appeared to be some urgency to move Leddy before the July 21 expansion draft with Seattle appearing to show interest in Leddy if he is left unprotected by the Islanders. Moving Leddy would help the team shed his $5.5 million cap hit and any deal would be easier to complete since the defenseman doesn’t have any trade protection in his contract.
Colorado will probably find a way to resign him but its nice seeing tweets like this. It at least proves the Isles are a desirable destination now with B2B ECF appearances. Andy Strickland on Twitter: "Teams Gabriel Ledeskog will have interest in signing with in the event he can’t come to terms with his current club, the #GoAvsGo. Fla, TB, Vegas, Toronto, NYI, St. Louis." / Twitter
Panik would look great in Seattle Kraken blue! More seriously, unless the Isles can find a trade partner in the next few days (taking into account his no-trade clause), I suspect that it's Eberle who will be wearing the Kraken blue. I have to think that the Isles view Cizikas and Palmieri as higher on their wish list.
At this point if the only criticism of Lou is that he simply hasn’t acquired a superstar, like that’s easy to do, then we should be ecstatic about him as our GM, because he’s done well in constructing the team in every other aspect. Getting rid of Ladd’s contract right after trading away a player the rest of the league knew we couldn’t keep, is just an amazing feat. The picks it cost simply don’t matter within the timeframe this team is trying to win the Cup. And if he sheds Eberle’s contract, as many expect, to the Krakens, Lou has everything he needs to sign the players he intends to keep and likely a little more.
I think what you will most likely see is Palmieri gets resigned. Lou brings in Parise and also gets Suter to replace Leddy. I wonder with all the cap room the Isles now have if they can resign Casey as well.
Looks like we are going to lose Eberle to Seattle. James Nichols on Twitter: "Sources are suggesting it’s indeed Eberle over Bailey to #SeaKraken. Waiting for confirmation. #isles" / Twitter
