Rather than waste time talking about last night’s game, which exemplified the fact that the Islanders need to finish more [especially on the powerplay], I figured I’d discuss the deals that went down yesterday.

First off, I, like my other people watching this team, knew that Marc-Andre Bergeron to be traded. He just had to go. Despite his impressive offensive numbers with the team, 15 goals and 39 points in 69 games, he needed to be on a team with a deeper defense that could cover up his mistakes. Sure it would have been nicer to get a second round pick for him, but Bergeron could flake out there as well and Anaheim could still end up the loser in the deal.

If anyone who thought the Isles could have gotten more for Bergeron, they had to be happy to get Rob Davison, a scrappy defenseman, who may remind some of a younger, tougher Brendan Witt, for a measly seventh round pick. He’s not the shot blocker and pest that Witt is, but this guy doesn’t have a problem dropping the gloves with anyone. With Blake Comeau and a few other players getting taken advantage of lately and Witt and Andy Sutton out of the lineup, the Isles needed another tough guy on the team. It also helps that Davison isn’t a bad stay at home defenseman in his own right. With all the injuries lately, he’s definitely an upgrade over Aaron Johnson and will provide the Isles team with some much needed depth.

Lastly, Chris Simon was also dealt today, making Minnesota a scarier team than ever. Now, in addition to Todd Fedoruk and Eric Boogaard, they now have another animal in Simon. Seems to me the Wild want to destroy every team that is in their way now and with Simon in the lineup, they have three heavyweights. How they are going to fit them into the lineup all at once seems like a big problem to me. Anyway, for the Islanders, this was another move that had to be made. There was a time last season where Simon was playing great hockey, but now, it seems his career is close to being over. His quick return wasn’t Ted Nolan showing faith in him. Rather, it was him being shopped. Luckily the Wild just got scammed out of a pick.

I’ll say it before the Islanders do: “No take backs!”

With Simon gone, Jeff Tambellini now has another opportunity to stick around. With the kid line playing a strong game and Sean Bergenheim getting there, the Isles youth movement is catching steam. With a healthy Chris Campoli back next season and hopefully Kyle Okposo getting a shot, the Isles should be younger and hungrier than ever. That is going to be fun to watch.

Like I said a few days ago, while I’d love to see this team make the playoffs, I’d rather let the youngsters develop so they can build a consistent winner.

Now that will be really fun to watch.