Noon ET on July
1st is the start of the NHL free agency period. So tomorrow afternoon, our
Islanders are on the clock to see if they make any more moves. Arthur Staple
mentioned that Snow would probably not be doing too much tomorrow. “The
Islanders’ eventful expansion and NHL Draft week has turned to a quiet week
after. Don’t expect much to change when the opening bell on NHL free agency
rings Saturday at noon.” I think the biggest question on adding a free agent
would be the worth the roster spot over a Barzal, Ho-Sang or Pulock as well as the
cost of a free agent acquisition against the Cap. One could also argue that the
Isles need to win this year and go past the 1st round to keep a Tavares in play
and that would mean a prospect should not be relied upon due to risk. A second
liner and veteran D are all the buzz.
After the
moves made at the expansion draft and the signing of Jordan Eberle, Snow has
around $9.4M (Cap Friendly) remaining under the Cap. That doesn’t include the
qualifying offers extended to Adam Pelech & Calvin de Haan (Connor Jones, Christopher Gibson.) What that means, is that Staple is probably more right than
not. It also means the Isles will need to make a trade or two to free up more
cap space if they want to add a “top 6” forward or veteran D-man after the bell
rings tomorrow. Rumors are present and names have been dropped, but the Isles
could do absolutely nothing until the season gets closer. Wouldn’t the fans
love that. They could wait until the right deal finds them or they can simply
announce contracts they need to fill before the season starts and ride out the
wave into the start of the 2017-18 season.
The John Tavares
announcement is rumored to be tied with a new arena in Belmont Park. It’s also
possible that JT waits to see a little more than just the Eberle addition to
commit long term. The Impending $13M McDavid extension rumor may add fuel to JT’s
salary fire, or Tavares may take his earlier report $8-10M rumored deal and
work with the organization to add more pieces than pad his pocket. A home-town
discount similar to what Steven Stamkos did in his last negotiation with Tampa
Bay. Only time will tell.
But IF
the Islanders do make a trade or two, adding a piece or two they feel will help
the Tavares signing and strengthen the team beyond its current incarnation, the
right fit in skill, personality and price is necessary. Not knowing, I can only
speculate on what is in Snows head. It’s safe to assume, the Duchene saga is
all but over, unless time will weaken Sakic’s resolve with an unhappy
distraction in his line up for Colorado. If that happens for the Isles, it must
be a deal without Barzal in play. With harmonic gone, I agree with the experts,
it’s a very unlikely probability Duchene becomes an Islander. Especially with
other teams actively in the mix as we speak. And with Hamonic gone to Calgary, it’s
even more unlikely.
This just in
per Brian Lawton:
“Working on 2
rumours involving @EdmontonOilers Draisaitl @Avalanche trade for Duchene & @SanJoseSharks interest in
him. Lot of moving parts!”
So there’s that.
That leaves
a select list in my mind. Valuable, lower cost, skilled players that will add
without taking too much back in return. That cannot be an easy deal to pull off
with a GM not named Peter Chiarelli. For me, only a few players would help the
Isles more than the players they already have without breaking the talent pool or
salary cap bank. Rumors of Isles showing interest in Justin Williams and Andrei
Markov are known, but what will they or anyone else cost them?
My unlikely,
but fun to speculate dark horses could be an aging 35 yr old Joe Throton ($6.7M)
or 45 yr old Jaromir Jagr ($4M) if they somehow agree to a greatly reduced, cap
friendly, 1 year deal. Both are older, but have the experience and could still
produce in the short term. Thorton (7 & 43 for 50pts in 79 games) &
Jagr (16 & 30 for 46 pts in 82 games) have the size and hands to still get
points. Radim Vrbata has always on my want list, but at 36, can he still (20
& 30 for 55 pts in 81 games last season and a -18 rating with ARZ) be a fit
with NY? Thomas Vanek scored 48 points with Florida last season, but former
Isles chemistry aside, it’s just not worth the distraction and drama in my
opinion.
Defensively,
my addition would be 38 yr old, All-Star and Cup winner, Brian Campbell.
Campbell (5 & 12 for 17 pts in 80 games with a +12) could be a stop gap on
defense, currently with a $1.5M cap hit. If a 1 year deal could be worked out,
he should be able to help the defensive scheme. I’ve always like Ron Hainsey,
but at a $2.8M hit last season, the 37 yr old isn’t as much of a value with 4 &
13 for 17 pts in 72 games with a -8 rating.
If trades
are made for cap space and the Isles want to add from outside the organization,
the following guys make the most sense to me, if they could get them signed
away in such a high-priced market:
#5 Minesota’s
6’6, 226# Martin Hanzal. At 30, Hanzal had a career high in goals (20) and 39
pts (Arizona & Minnesota.) Hanzal is hard to move off the puck and excels
in the faceoff circle. An area in which the Isles are desperate to improve.
Hanzal had a $3.1M cap hit last season.
#4 Pittsburgh’s
6’1, 196# Nick Bonino. Bonino had 18 & 19 for 37 pts last season and at 29,
is still ready to add to his game. He is a face off and PP specialist. Wouldn’t
that be a nice addition. But after coming off back-to-back Cup wins, Bonino may
be looking to also add to his $1.9M cap hit from last season.
#3 Columbus’
5’11, 200# Sam Gagner, 27 had a career high 18 & 32 for 50 pts in 81 games last
season. Gagner is a solid two-way player with an offensive flair. He will most
likely be looking for a big raise after his $650K pay day last season and
probably won’t want to leave CBJ if they want him back.
#2 Washington’s
6’1, 188# Justin Williams is a 3-time champion, known for his secondary scoring
touch and clutch play-off acumen. He had 24 & 24 for 48 pts last season in
80 games with a +14 rating. Williams, 35 had a $3.25M cap hit last season. B.D.
Gallof reminds us, “Both Ladd & Weight played for Carolina in 2005-2006
with Justin Williams. Chimera and Williams played on Caps 2015-16.”
#1 Montreal’s
6’1, 210# Alex Galchenyuk is 23 years old and had an off year last season,
going 17 & 27 for 44 pts in 61 games. Prior to that, he tallied 56 points
and with Montreal looking towards Markov and Radulov, there could be a way to
land Galchenyuk, who had a $2.8M cap hit last season. And New York is a big
sports market, but it’s not Montreal.
Let’s see
what the next few days bring.
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