Sun 24 Feb 2008
In my 15 plus years of watching the Islanders, I’ve usually found myself on the short end of the stick during the trading deadline. Seeing guys like Pierre Turgeon, Bryan McCabe, Todd Bertuzzi, Derek King, Marty McInnis and at least a half dozen more useful and talented players traded away for picks or players way past their prime has put a whole in my hockey loving heart and has been partly responsible for consistently getting my posterior partially stuck in the seats in Nassau Coliseum. It didn’t matter who the GM was, things just never went to see to go the Islanders way at the trading deadline.
Last season was different though. I know what I’m about to say may piss some people off, but let’s me honest, Robert Nilsson has seven goals and only 18 assists this season [Anyone else think the Isles should have drafted Zach Parise, Patrice Bergeron or Ryan Getzlaf instead?] and Ryan O’Marra can’t even average a point a game in the ECHL. For a while last season, the Isles rose above the mediocrity they’ve got themselves stick in and garnered more positive headlines than they had in years. Sure, they got into the playoffs on the last day of the season and didn’t exactly wow anyone once they got there, but I had the feeling that this team was building towards something besides another first place ouster.
That all changed this offseason though as guys like Tom Poti, Jason Blake, blah blah blah, you guys know this story already. So now, despite a month or two of thinking with the glass half-full, I have reverted to my glass-half empty approach. Nonetheless, I know that Snowie is doing what is best for the franchise and isn’t trying to make a huge splash like Milbury used to try to do, he’s trying to make this team better. It’s kind of like Milbury had the Isiah Thomas thing going on way before Zeke got the opportunity to become a GM in the NBA. Rather than develop talent, he would make a quick trade and before it was able to develop into something either disastrous or wonderful, he’d trade those guys for someone else.
Now with Snow, you at least get the feeling that he’s willing to wait until the pieces fall where they should. I think the way guys like Blake, Poti, Kozlov, Zednik, Asham, Hill, Robitaille and even Smyth have played this season [under expectations at inflated costs] has proven that Snow has made the best moves he could for the franchise. Despite still not having a first line and a legitimate number one defenseman, the Islanders are still in the mix. Again, are they gearing for a Stanley Cup run? No. However, that hasn’t stopped them from being competitive and playing hard. As a fan, that’s the most important thing to me. Winning would be great, but watching a team that doesn’t give up despite what ever obstacles stand in the way [the Isles have had plenty this season] has been a fun experience.
So what is the point of this whole diatribe? I think Snow is going to get rid of the players that he think he can’t keep in the offseason to avoid what happened to him last year. Then he’s going to tweak the defense. After that, he may make a small move to get another dependable forward. That’s a far cry from getting Ryan Smyth, but it’s going to be even farther from anything Milbury did before him. I really think Islander fans don’t have to be worried about this team being run like utter crap anymore and while they may be very far away from challenging for a Cup, they’re not dying a slow death. This may come to bite me in the arse later, but I’ll take the risk.
In Garth I trust.
February 25th, 2008 at 9:02 am
As I may or may not have said here before, I also like the Smyth trade, even in hindsight. Nilsson and O’Marra, as you say, are not particularly inspiring. (And yes, the Zach Parise thing is rather humiliating, especially since everyone wanted the Isles to take him ON DRAFT DAY; it’s not like this is Monday morning quarterbacking.)
But, yeah, this year is not the time to be buyers, obviously, but it made sense to go for it last year. I still don’t understand the “great trade if he signs, terrible if not” argument. They didn’t sign Smyth, but they got Guerin instead. I’m not exactly thrilled with Guerin’s production this year, but it’s hard to say how much better Smyth would’ve done in the situation we have here.
Most of the criticism of the Smyth trade seems very old NHL to me. It seems to be based on the idea that the worst thing you can ever do is let a player go for nothing and you should never take a risk that this could happen. Players are more replaceable than ever these days, so it’s a good idea to pull the trigger to try to make a run of it when the opportunity presents itself.
February 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
This summer’s draft is supposed to be deep. Snow has told GMs that if you want the Islanders to take a salary off your hands (i.e., McCabe) you have to send your first-round pick along with it. This is good policy. I for one, am tired of competing for the eighth seed every year with second-tier free agents. Go with the youth. If you can bring in young talent, I don’t think there is anyone better than Nolan to nurture them along. I wouldn’t mind having McCabe here. He would bolster what I think is a pretty good defense when everyone is healthy. But send that pick along with him or no dice.