New York Islanders

[donpaulo]

I obviously don't know John Tavares but he actually comes off as a guy that respects the Islanders organization past generations.. He seems like the type of guy who wants to play for one team for his entire career.. That just might be me, but that is how I feel about the situation..

no doubt he has taken the high road

but the franchise just seems to be lacking any synergy

Snow must Go billboards are up and the team went into the deadline basically doing nothing

The picks garnered in the Hamonic deal are nice, but unless they draft another Barzal or two I don't see that as a pressing reason for the franchise man to stay

Especially when he can go somewhere like say ... San Jose or even Vegas

[donpaulo]

writeup over at the fishwrap otherwise known as the POST

https://nypost.com/2018/03/02/island...ing-like-this/

[Zorro]

Halak has had a save percentage of .792 and .885 the last two games against Montreal.. That is awful.. This team needs a goal who can stop some rubber!!

[butch]

the shit hitting the fan feels like its getting closer to reality .

[Zorro]

the shit hitting the fan feels like its getting closer to reality .

It is so unfortunate that this team has been forced to play in Brooklyn, the players obviously dislike it which just adds to the poop pile..

[Godin]

Halak has had a save percentage of .792 and .885 the last two games against Montreal.. That is awful.. This team needs a goal who can stop some rubber!!

Especially against Montreal.

[Zorro]

Especially against Montreal.

Ya, that hurts.. You see this so much at this time of year.. The Habs are playing loose, with nothing but pride to play for and the Islanders are gripping their sticks tight needing every pointvthey can get..

[islefan31]

Sigh

[Taco97]

Garth Snow needs to go. So much talent on this team, yet he (a former NHL goalie) can't manage to get anything resembling league-average goaltending for basically his entire tenure. He is probably costing the Isles franchise JT, I think he's leaving.

[Zorro]

Garth Snow needs to go. So much talent on this team, yet he (a former NHL goalie) can't manage to get anything resembling league-average goaltending for basically his entire tenure. He is probably costing the Isles franchise JT, I think he's leaving.

Is Charles Wong still the owner of the Islanders??

[donpaulo]

Is Charles Wong still the owner of the Islanders??

No he sold it to a couple of NY developers

So finance is not an issue

They also want to do it the right way. Stay in NY, build a competitive club, stay true to the history of the franchise

[butch]

Wang still owns a piece of the team and so does a fella named Dewey Shay -- obviously ledecky/malkin are the majority owners .

ledecky/malkin might have felt obligated to stand by Wangs golden boy Snow & theres all sorts of rumours of golden parachutes and poison pills should they decide to fire him and weight / clean house .

usually wang bows to outside pressure eventually so if in some weird way the majority owners need his blessing to fire snow then you'd have to think the time is nearing .

[donpaulo]

I believe Ledecky has his hands on the rudder, while Malkin who is based out of London is probably more of a "bean counter" than the former.

Ledecky is based out of Lexington Ave so he certainly has his pulse on the issues. Not to mention that his niece is an Olympian so the sports thing is in the blood so to speak.

Wang had his hands in a number of things related to hockey including the plan to spread the game to China.

Obviously an outsider, although I did live on the Island for a year but why would JT want to return ? what has the franchise done to show him they want to win ?

Moving to a terrible arena ?

Punting on the deadline prior to his UFA season ?

Trading Hamonic for picks ?

It just doesn't add up

Then again its not about the money as JT already has plenty of that. Yet one would think the competitive fire burns and the franchise has been on the outside looking in for decades

[butch]

I believe Ledecky has his hands on the rudder, while Malkin who is based out of London is probably more of a "bean counter" than the former.

Ledecky is based out of Lexington Ave so he certainly has his pulse on the issues. Not to mention that his niece is an Olympian so the sports thing is in the blood so to speak.

Wang had his hands in a number of things related to hockey including the plan to spread the game to China.

Obviously an outsider, although I did live on the Island for a year but why would JT want to return ? what has the franchise done to show him they want to win ?

Moving to a terrible arena ?

Punting on the deadline prior to his UFA season ?

Trading Hamonic for picks ?

It just doesn't add up

Then again its not about the money as JT already has plenty of that. Yet one would think the competitive fire burns and the franchise has been on the outside looking in for decades

Hamonic asked to be traded then rescinded the request and played the entire 16-17 season with isles fans assuming everything was allright then boom , dealt at the 2017 draft. If you read between the lines Hamonic probably still wanted out but gave Snow the green light to take his time and make the right trade .Hamonic + de Haan missing from the 17/18 lineup was a huge blow .

I think JT stays with the Isles for a contract similar to Kopitars (8 years x 10 m per) . I get that outsiders wonder why the heck he'd want to stay for a variety of reasons but he's a character guy who probably desires to be a part of the solution on the team he's been part of since he's 18 .

I think Brooklyn/Barclays could have worked had Wang partnered with the Nets during the planning stages which would have meant a more traditional bowl that suited hockey,hoops and concerts would have been built instead of the nba centric style setup thats not NHL friendly . Wang still had his eye on getting an arena in nassau at that time so he said no thanks .

I'm glad snow held on to his high draft picks because they're not ready to contend & although I'm confident JT resigns its a pretty good insurance policy to have a few 1st rounders in the top 14 to add to the prospect depth in case he decides to bolt .

[donpaulo]

I we agree that JT is not in it for the money.

The question is if he wants to win or not.

The lack of trades at the deadline strikes me as a kind of surrender and sends the wrong message to a top line kid like JT.

I think the top 4 defensemen for the Islanders ring hollow starting with 6 million for Boychuk and is yet another reason for the captain to leave. Yes they have some talent in Leddy, DaHaan but the balance strike me as either not top 4 or unproven. This is what JT has to base his calculation on.

The great thing about a thread like this is we just have to wait and see what happens.

I think he leaves