Yes, i did, and that's because Garth Snow decided to trade Hamonic, because was almost definitely their best defenseman, but now that he's gone i'm going with Hickey as their best defenseman and i seriously don't see what's so crazy about not thinking it's Leddy. You're allowed to think it's him, but i don't see what's so weird about taking Hickey over Leddy. I don't like how much Garth Snow gave up for Leddy, and Hickey's had a bit of a weird hockey career, where he was drafted 3rd overall or something by LA in 2007, and then it looked like he was just one of those guys who doesn't really turn into the player you think he's going to be, so they place him on waivers in 2013 (or whenever it was), and the Isles pick him up, and he didn't turn into the player they thought he was going to be when he was drafted, but he turned into a good player anyway, just not the level of 3rd overall. If you look at HERO charts (look them up if you haven't seen them), they have stats, and they tell who was better in those stats this year, and Nick Leddy's is better, but i don't look at those to decide who the better player is. I mean, it's part of it, but that's just stats. For example, Leddy gets more points but i think Hickey is the better defensively of the two. And about the HERO charts, William Karlsson's is as good as Bo Horvat's.

So yes, this is just my opinion, and it could be Leddy, but i don't think it's him, and we just disagree on this.

Leddy>Boychuck>Hamonic>De Haan>Hickey

I don't think they would make that trade but I liked Pominville back from when had him before he played in NHL as a fantasy player for my keeper league . Yeah the Kulemen having 30 goals on leafs then never more than half that on Islanders didn't pan out as hoped. Even the other guy they traded in expansion draft had like 3 years of 20 or more goals only to fail badly on Isles even before injury knocked him out. Thanks for taking time to contribute to the conversation as well . Duchesne or so didn't have the best season so he might not do much better on NYI, maybe they can sign a free agent like Hanzal who had won more than 56% of his faceoffs which in todays game can be a big deal. I was thinking the Islanders if possible could get Schultz from penguins on an offer sheet... IF do like 5.6M, compensation is like 1st/3rd round pick which is less than what got for Hamonic... If its next level below like 7.6M then its a 1st round pick, 2nd rounder, and 3rd... Either way I'm thinking they should try to get a free agent before flipping assets unless could get Pominville in the deal you mentioned. That seems like NYI would have a better chance keeping JT in that scenario to a long term contract since they probably would edge into Post Season hopefully .

Pominville has been traded, and i don't like this trade for Minnesota. They give up Scandella and don't get much for him, and Scandella is a top 4 defenseman, so it doesn't make sense to me. Now Buffalo has too many defensemen i think. They should re-sign Kulikov or Franson because if they do they'll be scratched for most games. But i guess it's pretty good for Buffalo though. I wonder if they're close to moving out a defenseman. Maybe they want Matt Duchene or something. But to me, this move comes later. But chances of a Matt Duchene trade aren't too high. Coming into this offseason i didn't think he'd be moved, but after the draft without him being moved yet, something tells me it is quite unlikely that they trade Matt Duchene. Obviously i don't think anyone should give up what Sakic wants. Apparently the Islanders offered Hamonic+ and Colorado didn't want to do it. The problem with Joe Sakic, i think, is that he overvalues his players way too much. He values his players much higher than others.

DavidBooth7, not trying to be mean, but did you say Boychuk is better than Hamonic (traded to Calgary anyway)? I would definitely disagree, but okay, you are allowed to think that. I would just disagree.

Oh Boychuck is superior to Hamonic. HERO charts, shot suppression, goals scored while player is on ice. Boychuck is better than Hamonic in every wat

I think Boychuk is underrated, but i guess not by you. I think the Islanders had a good defence, but now it's not as good because of the Hamonic trade. If Hickey's now their best d-man (i think he is), that's a problem. But maybe Pulock will come in and take Hamonic's spot. I think the Islanders will be cup contenders soon, but only if Garth Snow isn't stupid enough to lose JT for nothing or even trade him. Garth Snow, i think, needs to be fired. If they get a new GM Tavares will re-sign, but if they don't he might not. So if they re-sign Tavares i think they will be a cup contender in the next few years. Most GMs would give him 10M if he wants that much, Garth Snow might not. I am not a fan of Garth Snow as a GM, that's for sure.

Pelech and mayfield are pretty good prospects but i'm surprised they went 3-5-1 to protect Pelech, that seemed weird to me. I like the Eberle trade for both sides, but i don't like the Hamonic trade for the Isles. He's a very good defensive defenseman who can bring some offence as well. I think Travis Hamonic is a very good player. Now if he's the 4th best defenseman on the Flames now, that's a VERY good defence, kind of like Ellis being the 4th best defenseman on Nashville, which i think he is. Carolina, as well, has 4 #1 guys, which is just crazy. Whether Calgary has the best D in the league or not, they have a VERY good defence, that's for sure i'd have to say. So yes, i think the Isles should package De-Haan with a prospect for a #1 guy on D.

Leddy IS a number one guy on D. You guys already have a solid number one who can man the PP

I don't think so. I don't look at stats for defensemen. I mean, they tell a little bit, but for defensemen they don't tell much. For forwards they tell a lot more, but not very much for defensemen. Even for forwards they don't tell EVERYTHING. For example, i'd much rather have Tavares on my team than i would Patrick Kane, because Tavares plays way more of an all-round game. For example, if you look at points per game for defensemen, that would say that Andrei Markov is better than Drew Doughty, which nobody would say is true. For example, here are the top 10 d-men in points per game this original season in order: Burns, Karlsson, Hedman, Letang, Shattenkirk, Josi, Keith, Schultz/Byfuglien, Schultz/Byfuglien (the one who isn't 8th), Krug. If Doughty isn't on there that obviously says that stats don't tell much. If you look at +/- it doesn't tell much either. Orpik is top 5 in the league for +/-, which obviously says that it doesn't tell everything. Yes, he played on the Capitals, who were the best original season team, but for example, Dennis Seidenberg had a better +/- than Werenski, when Werenski played on a better team. Now Werenski got more points per game, but here's another one: Tyler Myers had a better +/- than Marc-Edouard Vlasic, while Vlasic was on the better team AND Myers had more points per game of the two. And there is probably not a single person in the world who would rather have Myers than Vlasic. And yes, there are all those other weird stats, but they don't tell much either, as they are mostly offensive stats, and often tell how good of a team you're on.

So if you're going to look at those other stats, they tell that Travis Hamonic is better than Chris Tanev. Now i'm not saying he is, but IF you think Leddy is better than Hickey and De-Haan only because of stats, Hamonic must be better than Chris Tanev. So yeah, i actually don't like the Hamonic trade for the Islanders, but i think it's great for Calgary.

I mean, look at the Flames' defence now with Stone re-signed. I doubt it, but i wonder if Hamilton gets moved with such a good defence. I didn't see Stone being re-signed. But do you think that after all they've done they'll beat the Oilers? I think their chances have got better, but i don't think they will to tell the truth. Edmonton's just too good. McDavid is the 1st or 2nd best player in the league already, and i could see him having a similar year to that Thornton year (without being traded during next season obviously) or that Crosby year. I could see him getting about the same number of assists is 17-18 as he did this year, but maybe with 50 goals or so. I think that is very possible. Whoever's better now, i think when their careers are over, i think McDavid will go down as a better player than Crosby, so that obviously says he's pretty good, that's for sure. But that's just my opinion, tough most would agree. Either way though, he's going to be an absolutely unbelievable player for years.

I'd like to see Franson end up on the Kings actually . I wanted them to trade for him years ago, Petry, Schultz but they did like Sekera tossing away a 1st rounder in that too . Franson even has a +11 Corsi so he should fit right in on Kings who led league 5 years in row in raw Corsi. They should have kept Schenn, then signed Franson as a Free agent if anything. I do like the trade for Buffalo getting Pominville along with Scandella who I had Vegas taking in my expansion draft thing on here, though I think Dumba was who maybe was a better option. I had to redo the draft since it wouldn't post so I tried to do it by memory but maybe failed a bit .

I saw rumors about Duchesne going to CBJ in some deal involving Murray or somebody like that? So it seems like he will be shipped though not 100% sure where even if it seems CBJ might be likely landing spot. I always liked Boychuk prior to him coming on Islanders... He has a hefty price tag but having him helped allow them to trade Hamonic even if the picks don't pan out or other moves they make. I don't like Kulikov, his 5 points isn't enough to get me excited . He also had a -7.1 Corsi which isn't good when guy on same team Franson is a +11 Corsi, Alzner was like a -14.7 on Caps, another guy I don't like already . I'd rather take my chances with Trevor Daley even, since Markov is too expensive and old . Minnesota probably did that trade to free up money, wonder if they will sign the RFA or let him walk unless they get a real low rate then try to flip in a trade or keep.

Today will see if Islanders sign anybody to start off free agency which will be interesting. Steve Mason seems like will be on Jets, Brian Elliot on Flyers from early mentions/leaks. Most seem to think Miller will be on Ducks, figure most the goalies will sign quick. Don't like the Rangers flirting with Pavelec think that is a mistake, never liked him when he was on Jets at all . Then again maybe not many goalies want to play on Rangers behind a guy who is likely to start unless injured. Wonder if he will miss some time since got hurt winning some Gold medal or whatever for Sweden. Real interested to see who lands Hanzal, Gagner, Bonino, and Boyle. Seen some rumors Islanders will sign Williams, wonder if they will make a play for Vrbata or somebody that was bought out like Cammalari or whatever spelling .

Well i think trading is mostly done. We'll probably see a few more deals, but not many before october i'm guessing. Remember last year when there were no trades on free agent day? Anyway, as much as it's still 12 hours until free agency starts, it's free agent day right now in the east. I'm obviously not commenting on where i live but wherever i live it's UFA day in the east which is what most things go by i believe, which means UFAs will likely be talking to teams a lot right now. I didn't think Duchene would get traded heading into the offseason, and i definitely don't think he'll be moved at this point.

I like this deal for the Sabres, but it DOES give them too many defensemen to fit into the lineup. This tells me Franson and Kulikov will be leaving. It's almost like you go and buy some magical bananas that never go bad, and you don't eat them too often. So you buy those magical bananas, and then you buy more, and more, and more and more and more until you don't really need them. This is what could happen here because they're good to have, but if you don't eat them a ton, maybe 1 every 2 days, you have a bunch of Bananas that you don't really need. This is what Buffalo's doing, but obviously with defensemen instead of magical bananas. They needed defence a while ago, as they were stuck with Ristolainen, McCabe, and Bogosian and their top 4 for next year, which is only 3 guys, so i guess their top 3 or their top 4 if you add a bottom pair guy like Gorges. Not good enough. So then they signed Victor/Viktor (however his first name is spelled) Antipin out of Russia, but they still needed a top pair guy, then they get Beaulieu, and now they got Scandella. They're still missing another top pair guy though. But they now have a bunch of top 4 guys.

I really like the trade the Islanders made to get the Latvian Sensation goalie from Tampa... He might not make the NHL this year, though I can see him being a backup or starter for them. Really had wanted Vegas to take this guy or take in the expansion draft... I mentioned i tin a thread about Budaj signing or so on here too... This might be one of the best trades Islanders made since he is a major upgrade over Berube if nothing else. Emelin got traded that was good for Knights to ditch his salary. WAnted them to ship him or Stoner, freeing up even more cap space I think is good move. Nashville I think was better off with Weber/Irwin as the 3rd pairing don't think this guy is an upgrade on Irwin... Though even if he is that is pricey for a 5th or 6th D-man, Weber was making like 650K or something real minimal. I'm real happy Kings signed Darcy Kuemper thought he would be out of their price range... You nailed the D-man they signed in Folin who heard they tried to trade for last year or so.

Well Kulikov got a big contract already, Franson I'm sure will be gone just not sure where he ends up. I even had Hunwick on my list until realized he was a left shot, Penguins got him. Pittsburgh made a lot of moves I think were good... Even getting Niemmi who that was only team in EAst I mentioned he might be a good fit for . Surprised by a few buyouts, seeing Cammalari end up there again for a cheap 1M deal with incentives isn't bad. They probably got Amadio coming in a year, a few others which this keeps the door open. JUmbo Joe used leverage to cash in on like 6.5M... You must be happy to have Captain Kirk after they pulled that story, think Devil had a 49M offer on table for him though . At least Buffalo has a beter GM from what they had prior who would overpay on deals like when shipped McNabb with 2 second round picks for the scrubs Kings sent them . You got me thinking of this White Rabbit intro or some song they did on the Smothers Brothers show I think it was. Have the videos they did a few songs, guy talked about Bannanas hehe. Used to be some weird show with them in pajamas too .

Hard to keep track who signed who today it was crazy. Almost all I had written down got contracts on the first day. If Stamkos can stay healthy I think Tampa has a nice shot to make a run. Its like they picked up Rangers from their last cup appearance heh. Weird to see Kunitz on there, didn't like the Vlasic contract the Sharks overpaid him. There a few deals today I think were a bit too pricey to be fair. Real shock for me was how many goalies signed for really cheap contracts... Only to have Pavelec get like 1.3M or whatever from Rangers, Darcy was like 650K, Niemmi was real cheap, lots of these players. Gagner got paid while many were thinking the Ducks overpaid Eaves who had 30+ goals while Gagner had 18 . While some sites laugh about it that trade Islanders made for goalie from TAmpa will pan out better than many .

Yeah, i think my example was kind of funny about the bananas. Anyway, there goes Shattenkirk. He's not an option any more. Now i think it makes sense that Buffalo didn't sign Shattenkirk, because if they had this would have been the banana story for sure. I mean, my example wasn't great but whatever. The Emelin trade doesn't make that much sense to me for either. NSH is good with their top 6 i think and VGK just shouldn't move out any more defensemen at this point. Horrible defence for the NHL in Vegas, that's for sure.

Vegas just signed six players today, i think they're making a full AHL team as well, while still having enough players for an NHL roster. I think they need to fix their D. I'm not a big fan of trading 1st overall picks, but if they win the draft lottery next year, they should consider moving the pick for a defenseman. Or they could just draft Dahlin. I think draft Dahlin though would still be the better option, as he is a defenseman who will be a very good player for years. But if they get the 2nd or 3rd pick they should likely move it for a defenseman, as Dahlin will definitely be drafted 1st (almost definitely). Anyway, i think those six guys signing in Vegas is the end of the singings for tonight.

I wonder if we'll see a trade involving Tyson Barrie. At this point, that doesn't seem to likely to me, but if it happens the Islanders could try for him, and see if he becomes that #1 guy, though i think they should see how Pulock does first. As i said, i think trading is pretty much done for now, though i like Casey Nelson to Edmonton, that makes sense to me. He could be a good replacement in the lineup for Sekera. I know he's a right shot but he could still get a top 6 role on D.

The B word is like Kryptonite to me since dyslexic its brutal to type anyways haha . Well it worked out for Penguins to have enough D-men when LEtang among others got hurt or were banged up... Even in net when Murray pulled a hamstring or whatever injury he had. Prior to that having Zatkoff along with Murray when Fleury went down.

I used to follow the minor leagues more, even the non pro ones back when got like hockey digest other mags . Used to watch Rinkside that covered like the AHL, still try to watch the All Star Game or least the Skills competition. Stopped paying as much attention to AHL after Manchester finally won Championship, mostly its the stupid schedule. Like the Western teams don't play a full season or less games so they do some BS its absurd. Spent a few hundred on gear when Manchester won, was on a message board for AHL or them years ago when had Hauser down there. Still will usually see how Reign do or Barrucuda, ECHL used to be a dead end. Like Steve Webb or somebody on Islanders was a goon who was one of the few to make it to NHL from there. Then they like combined with IHL which had some good teams back in day even the olympic goalie was it LEblanc or something weird. Think Quick played for Reading, even Reimer, always think of REading Railroad from Monopoly. Think Chicago is shared by VEgas or Blues maybe lost their AHL team? What a mess figured they would expand in AHL when Vegas came in. Not sure if they have ECHL team or not, just hope they add a team to AHL then restore teams all playing same amt of games again.

They used to have a Chess opening they called the Barry Attack . Barrie I'm not sure is good on defense though he was nice when it came to offense. Still time before season starts, heard Jumbo Joe is getting 8M for 1 year so that is insane . Barzel or whatever his name will probably get a chance to play who many seem to want to trade for. I sorta like Pulock, worry more about Mayfield or whatever his name is. Funny saw Steve Olesky signed with Ducks. So only a few left out of the right shot D-men had posted about for Kings to sign. Marleau got a nice David Clarkson type deal with a shorter term .

I read that a Tyson Barrie trade to Toronto is close, but i'm not sure how close. And if you watch junior could you tell me what you think of David Quenneville? Whenever i try to trade him in the GM Game, everyone seems to act like he's not a good prospect because he's small. For example, how is his defensive play? Have you watched him? Because i haven't. But he got over a point a game in junior. Barrie is a good defensive defenseman i'd say. San Jose could use a defenseman and i wonder if they should consider making an offer for Barrie. I'm guessing they've talked to Colorado but i'm not sure how much. Also it might be hard to fit him in with the cap after the Jumbo Joe signing, which i didn't like. I don't know why they gave him 8 million dollars. Either way, Barrie would cost a lot, so i could see him going to a team like Boston, who has a good prospect group. I thought Montreal could have used a defenseman, but they signed Alzer, so their D is fine with Weber, Petty, Alzner, and Davidson as their top 4. I'm still surprised they moved Beaulieu for a 3rd rounder just because of one bad playoff. It must have been because they weren't sure if they could sign him for the money he wanted. Maybe he wanted 5 million dollars which i don't think they should have given him. I think Buffalo could give him 3.5-4 million. After making that horrible trade with New Jersey, Washington could get a good defence by adding Barrie, though he'd cost a lot. Washington may have a lot of work to do right now, just without an Ovechkin trade, which to me, will not happen any time soon. I think this could be the year that the Capitals finally get it done and that Ovechkin shows everyone that he knows how to bring a team to a Stanley cup. Sure, they lost some key guys in Alzner and Shattenkirk, and Williams for sure too, and even Winnik was a pretty big loss. But they kept Oshie and have some good prospects who could be coming into the league in 2017-18 like Jakub Vrana for example. And they lose Johansson but i just think that this could be the year that they finally win the cup.

I don't like the Marleau signing. soon they'll be stuck with a 6.25 million dollar cap hit on a 40 year old with a NMC. Pulock is a very good prospect, and i think Mayfield has lots of potential too. I think the Islanders have a good prospect group and they could be cup contenders soon, but only if they sign Tavares, which they should do. I think if he wants 12 million, give him 12 million. I think they should do whatever it takes to keep John Tavares. Barzal is also a very good prospect and i think he will be a roster player for the Islanders in 17-18.

Sharks seem to have a fair amt of cap space though Barrie is a right shot D-man... They got a guy Heed who had a real good season in AHL like 50+ points along with double digit goals in 50ish games with a decent Post Season thrown in. So I think he can win the 3rd pair over DeMelo or split the time if anything. They could use an upgrade over Martin and Dillon... Though not sure they can get a left shot D-man who can get 10+ goals while grabbing like 40-50 points who has size and speed. Colorado don't seem in a rush trying to get all they can in every deal if possible. Heard they wanted 2 young D-men from Carolina for Duchense just to give an idea.

I always found it hard to make trades when did Fantasy Keeper leagues or anything like that. I couldn't trade Tim Thomas for a bag of pucks when I had him who ended up winning a Stanley Cup just to give an idea . Others would constantly want to make trades just to make trades while I couldn't trade for many if any I wanted. Hell I tried to get Palffy when he retired just to have on team as like a coach or some BS title... Guy still wouldn't trade me him claiming oh he might make a comeback haha. So I'd not let it stress out, not sure how that stuff works either. I used to get players that fit the scoring system like those who scored without taking penalties since we lost points for that. Goals meant more than assists so would focus on players who scored more than assisted too...

You can probably watch on yotuube, hard to watch much hockey with spinal issues Cervical/Lumbar just to sit watching with neck fused isn't fun or enjoyable . I don't get the channels I used to either, like NHL network who would show various games at times. Used to have some Boston channel that would show like a BeanPot tourney or so, don't like watching college at all which is on sometimes still. Once NHL started to draft kids out of HS that became a bit too much for me . Was this Hockey Future site that used to grade the players or prospects which helped make things easier to follow even had articles about the various leagues. They seem like stopped updating in 2016, though still have forums if really into that stuff where people talk about players they watch in the minor leagues or all leagues actually. Was great before they added all these hockey packages if had a sports channel or local station would show the games on them. Used to have a West Coast Channel that had Sharks/Kings maybe Ducks though don't like them, would watch all the games. Then it had an East Coast that showed Metro teams so saw Devils win all their Cups, Islanders, though Rangers were n MSG which was like a pay channel at times harder to get or watch. Think the first Wrestlemania was on there along with other Wrestling events wouldn't get to see unless had a descrambler or paid . Computer crashed watching a clip of some player Kings drafted last night so that sucked . Had a lot of files open,, can't remember them all or what place I was in PDFs then saw dog ate something again threw it up hopefully since just had surgery to get fabric out of stomach.

Yeah I think the Marleau deal was bad, sad he betrayed the Sharks guess they will just win Cup without him now . Its funny how they knock players around 30, yet these guys pushing 40 are cashing in. I don't think Tavares is greedy to point he wants 12M that is too much for him or anybody. Maybe 7-9M, don't think he should even get 10, most would say is 77M over 8 years for 9.625M cap hit. Burns took 8M a year who won Norris, Subban is like 9M, Stamkos around 8.5, Crosby near there, to be a Captain have to give team chance to win by not breaking bank like Kopitar did or McDavid wants to do . I kinda like Pulock from what seen of him, not as sold on Mayfield, Barzal supposedly is pretty good since read on Kings site somebody wanted to trade Jeff Carter for him .

Yeah, the Islanders have a good prospect group with Pulock, Barzal, Ho-Sang, Quenneville, Bellows, etc. And the thing is, about the Sharks and Barrie, San Jose's problem on D is the right side if you ask me. They have Burns, but not any more top 4 RHD. I believe Vlasic is a LHD, am i right? St. Louis also needs to fix they defence, so they could try to get Barrie, though he'd probably cost a lot. They could include Robby Fabric in the deal possibly, who i don't think is a future superstar like some do. Winnipeg could use some help on D though and could include Logan Stanley in this deal, though he is a defence prospect ... it's unknown how quickly he will take that spot in the top 4, but right now they could move him in a deal for Barrie if they add.

Winnipeg kind of needs to fix their defence. They have Trouba, Morrisey, Byfuglien, Kulikov, and Enstrom, but i think Byfuglien is super overrated, Enstrom isn't really a top 4 guy any more, and Kulikov is a good player, but not a great one (if you're talking at the NHL level). After those 5 guys and Chiarot, they don't really have anyone other than some extra defensemen. I might be forgetting someone else good they have but i don't think so.

Colorado could use some defence so i'm not sure if Barrie gets moved, but they're kind of rebuilding right now. we'll see.