we miss leo k
Rejoint: févr. 2018
Messages: 5,973
Mentions "j'aime": 5,107
Since when is JG Pageau a "bad fit" for the Islanders? I feel like there's this bad narrative around JGP that, since he was on a crazy shooting streak with 24 goals when the Isles traded for him a few seasons back, the he's supposed to be a 25-30 goal scorer, instead of being the 0.5/PPG player with a strong defensive game who is one of your top PK guys. I honestly don't know many(if any) Islanders fans who are clamoring to get him off the team, especially not for a guy like Dvorak who scores less and grades out pretty poorly defensively. He's a bad fit on the Habs, but a worse fit on the Islanders. The added kick in the teeth is trading down from a pick that will probably be around 75ish to something near 125 in that trade - the Islanders need prospects, they shouldn't be downgrading *any* picks this year without getting a better pick back in the future!
I appreciate you at least putting fair value on the Islanders taking back Mrazek AND retaining some of Varlamov's deal, but it won't happen. He's got an NTC with Toronto strongly rumored to be on it; and as far as Mrazek, the obvious move is for Toronto to buy him out and keep those prospects & picks. If (huge, huge IF) Varly wanted to waive for Toronto, there's other deals to be had that won't involve Mrazek.
That Winnipeg deal is just, bad bad bad bad. Winnipeg got him for two 2nd round picks last summer, and here he's going for recent 2nd round pick Robin Salo and the 1st you had Toronto send for Varlamov. So, obviously, this trade wouldn't happen because that 1st would still be in Toronto because of the above reasons, but it's also a bad fit. I'm sure there's a deal there with Winnipeg if the Isles wanted to pick up Dillon, but this is a big overpayment.
I *do* like you having Ghost be acquired to play LD, he would work well paired with a strong defender like Mayfield who lets him play the puck a little more; I just wonder if Arizona can get a better deal without retention from another team looking for that type of player. Ghost has really rebuilt his value this season, IMO.
The Niederreiter signing doesn't make sense. You've moved out Josh Bailey because right now he's a 3rd liner making $5M and not living up to that cap hit, and you've replaced him with a guy who's primed to do the same - Nino will be 30 by the time the season starts, and the Islanders don't need another older winger with a big cap hit clogging up the middle six. Not to mention, I don't know if Nino himself has too many fond memories of the Island - I don't anticipate him rushing to come back here.
This team is better than the current in LD2/LD3, sure - but I think you've significantly downgraded 3C and the backup goalie positions, all while putting this team right up against the cap. I honestly think this team would have a worse season than the 2021-22 Islanders have had - if Sorokin missed any significant time, they are completely boned.