Islanders Extend Josh Bailey

Bob McKenzie mentioned the Isles and Josh Bailey were close to an extension. Today, the 6 year, $5M AAV deal was made official. Prior to that, McKenzie added, “This obviously, assuming it’s concluded and made official, could be a potentially critical positive element in the efforts to re-sign pending UFA C John Tavares once the season is over and Tavares turns his attention towards his long-term future.” Say that Josh Bailey’s performance is indicative of playing on a line with John Tavares. Say that Tavares makes everyone around him better. OK. Anders Lee has also become a much better player, but all of it makes the Islanders a better team heading into next season. IMO, a $5M AAV for Bailey would probably be a discount as to what he might expect if he entered free agency this summer. Per Matt Larkin, “Bailey contract, Barzal breakout, Belmont…three B's that I believe will lead to John Tavares re-signing with Isles.”

The fact is that the Islander’s 2008, 9th overall pick has come into his own and has been a solid player for them over the last two years, making his first All-Star game this season along with his veteran All-Star line mate, Tavares. Bailey’s desire to remain in New York has been evident for some time. Per Brian Compton, Bailey: “I thought right from the beginning, I wanted to give it every opportunity to stay. It was something that going into the year was kind of my focus. I said that from the beginning and meant it … There’s lots of things that go into make those decisions, now especially having a family. It’s a great place to raise your kids, it’s a great place to live, so that side of it was easy. The hockey side was easy too; this is obviously all I know."

So the 28 year-old forward will remain an Islander until the 2013-24 season. Per Isles PR, “Now, in his 10th season with the Islanders, Bailey has totaled 368 points (121 goals, 247 assists) in 697 career regular-season games. He's added 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games.”

Josh Bailey has career highs in points (62) & assists (47) in 58 games this season, good enough for 3rd on the team in points. His 47 assists puts him 2nd on the Isles and tied for 7th in the NHL for assists this season. Per Isles PR, “Josh has become one of the core members of the New York Islanders," Islanders President and General Manager Garth Snow said. "He has developed within our system for several years and it's exciting to see him mature into the player we always had confidence he would become. To come into the past few seasons and see Josh set new career highs each year, has been impressive and we're excited to see him continue to do that with the organization as we move forward." 

Per Tony Stabile, “The fact that Josh Bailey signed this extension in the mist of his best offensive season is a tribute to the kind of Islander he is. We saw favorites like Martin, Nielsen and Okposo leave for bigger $$ and term, Bailey took less to stay. Respect.”

# # #

Our New York Islanders followed up a horrible 4-1 loss to Columbus with an impressive pair of shutouts against the Rangers & Hurricanes. It was the first time the Isles had back-to-back shutouts on consecutive nights in franchise history per Erick Hornick. Halak had a 50 save performance against NYR (2nd best in team history-Healy 51) and Greiss stopped 45 shots against Carolina. It also marks the first time in NHL history a team had consecutive 45+ shot shut outs. Greiss was injured and placed on IR after the game, necessitating a call up for BST goaltender, Christopher Gibson on 2/19 to back up pending UFA G, Jaroslav Halak for the immediate future.

Following the win vs CAR Stan Fischler commented, “For the second straight game #TannerFritz replaced #JasonChimera and proved that he belongs. Smart, solid game for TF.” Chimera’s (2 & 9 for 11pts, -11 rating in 58 GP) apparent decline, along with Seidenberg’s (0 & 5 for 5 pts, -6 rating in 22 GP) have shown the Isles play better without them in the line-up. The Isles had another disappointing let down against the Minnesota Wild, losing 5-3 and followed it up with a hard fought, but 4-3 O.T. losing effort in Toronto. As previously stated, they are still more than just a few call-ups away from being a serious threat IMO. Their defensive scheme has been better, but has also been compromised in recent games. That’s still a product of having young D-Men on a veteran team pushing to make the jump into playoff legitimacy. I think a trade needs to happen, just don’t know if it’s a realistic expectation with the way Garth Snow does things. Isles have just 1 game remaining until the trading deadline.

The Isles face forward, Michael Grabner with his New Jersey Devils tomorrow.

Isles Notes:

Per Mark Hermann, “Despite the recent drought (no 5-on-5 goals in 7 games, no assists in 6 games), JT still is `the best leader in the NHL,' says Mathew Barzal.”

Per Cory Wright, “Barzal now tied with Tavares for #Isles scoring lead with 64 points. Pulock in sole possession of second in goals for rookie defensemen (6) in the NHL.”

Per Arthur Staple, “Barzal's 60th point on that goal, third-most for an #Isles rookie. Might have trouble catching the top two: Bossy (91) in 1977-78 and Trottier (95) in 1975-76.”

"John Tavares joined a select group of #isles who have scored 30 goals in a season at least 4 times: 1Bryan Trottier*11 2Mike Bossy*10 3Clark Gillies*6 4Pat LaFontaine* 6 5John Tavares4 The other four are all in the HHOF, as their @hockey_ref "*" denote."

2/15 KoC Poll:

Who's at fault for the current state of the #Isles in your opinion?

Garth Snow: 65%

Ownership: 17%

Doug Weight: 11%

Players: 7%

Per @BrodskyRobert, “Exclusive: deal to move @NYIslanders temporarily back to Coliseum dependent on county lease amendment removing clauses penalizing operator $1 million for lack of games … myself and @jimbaumbach.”    

Per Arthur Staple, “Weight clarified his comment postgame about the atmosphere was directed at his team, not the fans. “There was no atmosphere in the building and there didn’t deserve to be. We didn’t create any.”

“Doug Weight: "It wasn't a good atmosphere, but we didn't deserve it to be a good atmosphere. That's not calling the fans out, that's calling our team out. We didn't play well enough to create an atmosphere. Our fans are great. That's my fault for wording it improperly." This was following the 4-1 loss to CBJ.

@TwoTurtleDuffs started a #SnowMustGo campaign to fund two billboards in Brooklyn. The goal was met and any additional funds were meant to go to Anders lee’s Kancer Jam.

“Our goal is to submit our design tomorrow, and the board will be up starting on Feb 26. We exceeded every expectation I had. Stay tuned for more, friends.”

Anders Lee denounced the movement, but the extra money would be well spent.

"Major notes include that in light of Anders Lee's decision, we will be donating overflow to the American Cancer Society. We encourage any fans with leftover money to donate to Anders' foundation, or a similar charitable cause.

Sound Tigers Notes:

First-year ECHL team, Sound Tigers affiliate, succeeding in Worcester.

2/13 TRANSACTION: Two-time Calder Cup Champion Andre Benoit (D) has been loaned to Bridgeport by @BlueJacketsNHL.

Team USA:

Women’s squad wins the 2018 gold medal against Canada. Men’s team lost 3-2 to Czech’s in quarter finals. Yannic Seidenberg, brother of Isles Dennis Seidenberg of Team Germany will play Team Russia in the gold medal game. Germany was awarded a bronze in 1932 and (West Germany) 1976, but even a silver medal would be the nation’s strongest finish in their nation’s hockey program history.