Garth Snow made a couple of deals on Day 2 of
free agency. He signed C
Mikhail Grabovski & F Nikolai Kulemin to 4-year contracts. Solid work by the General Manager. Grabovski
gets $20 million over 4 years & Kulemin gets $16.75 million over 4
years. I can't wait for all the tweets
about how Snow overspent for these guys after some were claiming the
organization was cheap, despite big offers to unsuccessfully sign top guys
yesterday. And to happen just hours after Snow was
being bashed across twitter and in the hockey media for an incomplete showing
on Day 1. Not everything needs to be
done in the first day and Snow has shown in the past that he has the patience to wait for what he wants. A little too much patience if you ask me.
Garth Snow was quoted
as saying, "It's like fishing. You put your line in the water and you hope
for some nibbles. We got two big bites today." Both of these
forwards will give the Isles more punch and they will fill out the offensive
snarl quite nicely. Arthur Staple made
a good point when he said, "Both
Kulemin and Grabovski played for Isles asst. Greg Cronin with the Leafs. Have
to believe he pushed hard for both."
This probably had something to do with the signings. Neither contract has no-trade clauses from
what I understand. Even better.
Mikhail Grabovski, C - 4yrs @ $20M
The 30 yr old
Grabovski has scored 107g, 252 pts in 425 NHL games. He had 13g, 22a, 35 pts
+/- +6 last year for Washington. He has
had 3 20+goal seasons (29g in '10-11). Last was in '11-12 per Dan Savarino. Grabovski has represented Belarus 9 times in
international play and won a gold medal in the 2004 WJC.
Kulemin, age 27, scored 20 points (9 & 11)
in 70 games last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He has 195 points (84 goals, 111 assists in 421 career NHL games. His
career best came in 2010-11, when he recorded career highs in goals
(30), assists (27) and points (57) in 82 games. In International competition,
Kulemin represented Russia in this years' Olympic games & won a gold medal
in the 2014 WC. In six international
tournaments, he has two gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
Your New York Islanders have a much improved
team and will most likely use the next few weeks to deal for their missing
piece on defense. This can be
accomplished by using their surplus of veteran and prospect pieces. Their NHL line up has the most depth it has
seen in years, especially in goal. And
don't forget that with enough solid veteran presence, the BST's should be able
to concentrate on developing prospects and making a push for the Calder Cup instead of playing for the Islanders.
Day 2 was better than Day 1. I wonder what will happen
on Day 3?
Isles Notes:
Islanders announce mini-cap roster.
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