Nabokov next year?

[bernjean]

How has he fared so far in the Worlds?

[dyzfunctioned]

How has he fared so far in the Worlds?

Not well unfortunately.

0.88SV%, 3.60 GAA. The worst tender (stats-wise at least) in the tournament aside from USA's tandem.

[Jouko-Pouko]

Not well unfortunately.

0.88SV%, 3.60 GAA. The worst tender (stats-wise at least) in the tournament aside from USA's tandem.

I've watched all the games, and it's just not stats-wise. He has been terrible. Maybe it's because he hasn't played that much lately, I don't know. But he's injured now so he can't improve...

[agentzero]

Well to be fair, team Russia was playing like chickens with their heads cut off...no focus....

Nabokov was an elite goalie. Now he hasn't played in the NHL in quite a while, didn't steal the show at the Worlds. Snow can't expect a king's ransom for this guy and many teams are not DESPERATE for a starting goalie of his age and current ability. Then again, we mustn't be so quick to write off the guy. Goalies with that kind of skill and mental toughness can come back to surprise.

If Snow strikes while the iron is hot, then he may get a decent return, but he may just well produce the counter effect and see that there is no market for him, in which case Nabokov would be of no use to anyone, and would likely return to Russia. That's kind of the scenario I see playing out...

Too bad, Nabokov was one of my all time favourites as good as the Sharks were, they were that good because he was that good too. I wish he had a better exit to the NHL than he did, but the dollar signs pulled him to Russia...

[bernjean]

I have a hard time believing that Philly won't go hard after him. With 500 000$ cap hit for a year, he could allow Bob to develop one more year before becoming the starter.

Unless he lost all his skills, Philly with Nabokov in net would be a monster.

[agentzero]

I have a hard time believing that Philly won't go hard after him. With 500 000$ cap hit for a year, he could allow Bob to develop one more year before becoming the starter.

Unless he lost all his skills, Philly with Nabokov in net would be a monster.

Agreed, but if it's philly involved, you know the Isles are going to ask a lot since they'll know Philly is somewhat desperate. Philly would love it too much since they'd be getting Nabby at such a discount compared to when he was negotiating with them last year, as he priced himself out of there.....So I don't see it happening. Too perfect. Detroit may get involved again and would likely not require to give up too much, but just on principle, I think they would refuse to deal with long island. So in my mind, he either ends up on a team that isn't those 2 or heads home to mother russia....Phx could have some serious interest tho....Then again, the fact that they will be actively searching for a goalie means that the isles would want to squeeze them too...

I'm not sure how the isles will handle nabby....

[bernjean]

But then again, even if a team is desperate for goaltending, the isles are also desperate to at least get something in return for Nabokov.

I mean, if you are going to lose him for nothing, might as well get something even if it's not stellar, in return.

The isles are not going to content next year, so they shouldn't mind making any other team stronger for a 1 year span.

[agentzero]

Yes. That's what I'm getting at. There will be a curve along which trading Nabokov will go from useful to advantageous to optimal and then down to useful and then down to useless until they probably just stick him on waivers again....Snow will have to find that curve and see if he can ride it accordingly. I can see a lot of teams sour to dealing for something they could get on waivers tho....And Nabby would want to have to play there anyway...otherwise the acquiring team would waste an asset for a player not wanting to play, but something tells me they'd get some indications from Nabby of where he'd want to go anyway and just discuss with those teams. Otherwise they are naive and stupid, which I don't think they are....

[butch]

I still think Philly is the early contender.

If Hiller is still battling vertigo , maybe the Ducks take a stab.

Snow likes to have extra 2nd/3rd round picks to use on players that slide (Kabanov/Petrov for example)

I have no idea what Nabby can ultimately fetch the isles -but its not unreasonable to expect a 3rd round pick / late second .

[islefan31]

Yea, I don't think Snow will be holding anyone ransom with Nabby. He dealt Rolo for next to nothing to a desperate playoff team. And Rolo proved he could still play...Nabby hasn't. I could see him making a package deal for some offense, but I'm not convinced this is the year he grows balls. I think he'd be happy with a 2nd or 3rd round pick at this point. Plus I still feel Bryz is the guy Philly will target despite the cap hit...they'll make it work.

[Carcillo]

Remember that Nabokov has NMC so Snow can't trade or waive him without Nabokov's consent. So if Nabby don't like the team where Snow is trying to trade him he can decide not to waive his NMC and kill the deal. That limits the possibilities for Snow to trade Nabokov. If Nabokov don't want to play a 2nd fiddle to some elite goalie but wants to go some cup contender where he can be either 1A or 1B goalie then there's not many choices for Snow.

So I wouldn't expect a high return for Nabokov in a possible trade. Getting even a 2nd rounder in return for Nabby will be tough for the Islanders.

[loco man]

I did not get a chance to watch Nabby play in the Worlds, so I may be off the mark, but I really question his ability to be a #1 tender anymore.

I rode him to a money finish for a few years, but things change pretty quickly. He pretty much stunk up the KHL and may have lost it. Buyer beware

[A Watch]

looks like he plans on going to training camp:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey...camp-1.2885199

[butch]

looks like he plans on going to training camp:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/islanders/isles-files-1.812028/evgeni-nabokov-expected-for-training-camp-1.2885199

link doesnt work but I can confirm the story is true .

my interpretation of it is different though

I think he reports to camp ''if'' he and the isles havent found the right trade.

[A Watch]

Thanks, link fixed.

Ya, I think he will play next year but it may not be NYI. I feel like this is just to get the teams interested in trade negotiations. "Come look see!!! Nabokov isn't a total jerk and he wants to play hockey! anyone interested?"