Shameless Self-Indulgence

Équipe: 2022-23 Islanders de New York

Date de création initiale: 30 nov. 2022

Publié: 30 nov. 2022

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

Before I took an interest in hockey, I grew up watching the Chicago Blackhawks dynasty, so I have a lot of fond memories of Kane and Toews. So I’m not sure if the value is right here (I really, really don’t care), I realize Toews and Kane likely end up elsewhere, but for now, I just wanted to fantasize about the possibilities here.

I think that Top 6 is legitimately dangerous. Both lines and shoot, pass and play defense. I feel like a better faceoff percentage would help put the Isles into a true contending status. Toews has historically been a good faceoff guy. I’ve also often liked the idea of bringing over long time teammates simultaneously, I feel like it lets Kane and Toews ease in more nicely.

This Top 6 also gives us a ton of flexibility. I could see plenty of configurations of this working, Nelson and Lee could be switched, Kane and Toews could be reunited if that works out well. I really feel like there are a lot of good line combinations with this team.

In terms of what we give up, I feel like it’s a steep price but still worthwhile. As deep as the 2023 draft is, I feel like we’re not going to get a high enough pick to strike gold anyways. As promising as Iskhakov looks, Raty and Dufour both still look like they’re on track to be NHL forwards. Bolduc has been off to a hot start, but Salo and Aho soften the blow of losing an LHD prospect. I feel like Beauvillier would be a good fit in a faster system like Chicago and Top 6 forwards with term are always valuable. Bailey is admittedly part of the trade to balance the cap, but honestly, I’m not sure how Chicago moves Kane or Toews without taking cap back.