The cherry on top of the free agent class

It's talks like these that get Doug Weight the big bucks

On Tuesday the Islanders finally went and re-signed Doug Weight. They announced that they would bring him back shortly after the end of last season, but didn’t finalize a deal until now. The deal is for a base of 850k but could go over 1 million after bonuses.

Part of the reason for delaying the deal was so the Islanders could structure it to help the team solve their salary floor conundrum. Well, mission accomplished on that front as Capgeek has the Islander payroll at about 44.5 million. That puts them just barely over the salary floor of 43.4 million.

But other than some needed salary to put on the books Doug Weight will bring his leadership, and very little else. He claims to be in great shape following the torn labrum that ended his 2010 season. Hopefully this is true since his tenure on Long Island has been less than productive ( 11 goals, 44 assists in TWO seasons) at least in measurable terms.

I know he’s a great leader, which is what I am constantly told, but if he can’t at least be a little productive on the ice what can he really do for the younger Islanders? If he is that much use in the locker room, then make him an assistant coach. I thought the Islanders were going to try to move forward with their young core leading the way, but they have brought back a few older pieces that I can’t see helping this team. The Islanders probably aren’t a playoff team either way but how are they going to get the young players to mature if they will keep putting unproductive veterans out there to get in the way?

I really don’t like this move, but in any case the one thing we can be pretty sure of is that this signing means Garth Snow has pretty much put away the checkbook for this summer. Maybe there will be a useful player willing to sign for a bargain basement price when training camp starts up but barring that the Islanders are done with this free agent class.

For those of you who missed it the Islanders BIG signings of the summer:

D- Milan Jurcina

D-Mark Eaton

C- Doug Weight

W-Jon Sim

W- Zenon Konopka

W- P.A. Parentau

W/Enforcers- Trevor Gillies, Jeremy Yablonski

Not exactly an exciting bunch, although their biggest move of the summer James Wisniewski isn’t on that list (he was acquired in a trade with Anaheim). So with this free agent class the Islanders got a little bigger and certainly tougher, but I’m not sure how much better they got. After this summer its looking more and more clear that the Islanders are in a holding pattern until they get close enough to 2015 to figure out their arena situation.

Tags: Doug Weight, James Wisniewski, Jeremy Yablonski, Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina, New York Islanders, Trevor Gillies

Some Programming Notes

There is just some news regarding Islander broadcasts. After letting Billy Jaffe go last month because he wasn’t enthusiastic enough in his praise for the Islanders, they have announced that Butch Goring will move from his studio role to the booth to replace Jaffe during MSG telecasts.

The Versus and NBC nationaly televised hockey schedules were released this week, and not suprisingly the Islanders are not heavily represented. They will appear on versus on October 13th (at Washington, Versus exclusive) and  Febuary 2nd (at Pittsburgh). Coincidentally the Islanders two opponents are the most televised teams.

NBC’s NHL coverage kicks off with the Winter Classic (suprisingly its Washington against Pittsburgh) and will thereafter have their “game of the week”. This is a flexible schedule so they may or not be carried as part of the local coverage but they may been seen on only one day January 23rd (vs Buffalo).

This shouldn’t be a shock since the Islanders haven’t been very good the past few years, but at least the will be seen more than Edmonton (0 telecasts).

Tags: NBC, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Versus

Freddy Meyer gone and other notes

A few late summer notes:

Freddy Meyer will take his feisty game to Atlanta

Freddy Meyer officially gone- Feisty little Freddy Meyer wasn’t going to be re-signed after the Wisniewski trade and now he is gone to the Atlanta Thrashers on a one-year, two-way deal. While he didn’t really have  a spot on this Islanders team with all the additions on the blue line he was a very steady bottom pairing defenseman this past season.

Garth Snow a Genius? A pretty interesting article recapping most of Snow’s accomplishments as Islanders GM. He has done a good job but I think everyone needs to slow down on all the genius talk. Keep in mind that all of this so called “success” is assuming that these draft picks keep improving. John Tavares looked very good in his rookie season, but him, Josh Bailey, and Kyle Okposo need to get a lot better if this team will ever compete for a Stanley Cup. And while the build through the draft idea certainly is the way this team needs to go, lets get one thing straight, this is the only way the team could go. As pointed out in the article no free-agents want to come here due to the Coliseum/relocation situation. This may in the end play to the Islanders advantage since it will necessitate an extended youth movement.

Islanders Trade for Souray? If this were to happen it certainly would be a big blow to the idea of the last link. I can’t see this happening, and honestly haven’t heard too much about it anyway. It just seems that people think the Islanders are an easy place to dump their overpaid players. I mean if I’m over the salary cap, and the Islanders are under the salary cap floor why don’t I just send you an old player with a terrible contract and the Islanders send me some prospects/draft picks. Then everybody’s happy, right? We’ve heard rumors about this sort of thing before (remember when the Islanders were gonna take on Cristobal Huet’s contract) and they never happen. I’m not ready to call Garth Snow a genius, but he certainly isn’t stupid.

Tags: Cristobal Huet, Freddy Meyer, Garth Snow, James Wisniewski, John Tavares, Josh Bailey, Kyle Okposo

The NHL decides overtime needs some messing with, again

Only a few years after adopting the shootout to give fans something more exciting than tie games, the NHL is looking to find ways to avoid them.

This in addition to their attempts to devalue shootout wins. As reported by ESPN’s EJ Hradek starting this season the first tie-breaker for the playoffs will be regulation/overtime (shootout wins excluded). On the surface this seems like a really cheap way to try to make everyone happy, the casual fan who likes the shootout still gets to watch them, but the hockey purist gets to feel that they don’t really count that much. But this also will lead to making the standings even more confusing. Because now everyone has wins, losses and overtime/shootout losses, which gives the team a certain number of points, but team A who has more wins and the same amount of points as team B is actually behind team B beacause most of their wins came through the shootout.  Nothing like making things more convoluted to help get people into a sport.

But that’s not all because that  is in addition to some changes to the actual overtime play that may take place. I have mentioned before about the ridiculous 4 on 4 for two minutes, followed by 3 on 3 for two minutes, followed by 2 on 2 for two minutes idea that they tried out. It doesn’t seem that will make it to NHL play (thank God) but the idea of switching sides to create long line changes (like in the second period) seems like an idea that could increase scoring in overtime without really changing the game.

It is funny because the reason the shootout was first implemented was to appease fans, now once again to appease more fans they want to change it all over again. Maybe I am crazy and I know the reasons why they don’t do it, but why not just let them play hockey until someone scores and avoid all the fighting about ties and shootouts?

Tags: 2010 NHL research, and orientation camp, development

Some new rules gaining steam

While a lot of the proposed rules in the 2010 NHL Research, Development, and Orientation Camp are out there and not being given much thought (like the faceoff dot in the middle of the ice one). The one rule which seems to be appealing to the General Managers in attendance is the hybrid icing rule.

Brendan Shanahan and friends rules camp is off to a good start

With this rule referees could rule an icing and blow the whistle if they feel the defending player will reach the puck first at the time the players pass the face off dots. This of course is meant to eliminate usual icing touch followed by a crushing hit by the attacking player.

If this is the only rule that we can take out of this camp I will be happy. I don’t like a lot of the other ones (can we please stop with the crazy overtimes!) and this rule makes a lot of sense. It can help to speed up game, as well as prevent some fights and injuries to players. I like that the NHL is trying to innovate (Lord knows they could use it) but there is something to be said for letting hockey be hockey. People who don’t like hockey aren’t going to change their minds because you make the nets a different color, or have a 2 on 2 pickup game for overtime. And the people who like hockey don’t want to see it become something unrecognizable. As usual the best answer lies in the middle, fix what’s broken, not what works. The new icing is pretty good start.

A couple of minor signings

While the Islanders big club is nearing completion, they still have a lot of work to do putting together a decent AHL club and today they made a few signings to add some depth to Bridgeport’s forward corps.

Remember this guy? He's back whether you do or not

Andy Hilbert and Rob Hisey were both signed to one-year two-way contracts. Hilbert, if you remeber had most of his NHL experience with the Islanders for playing in 218 games over three seasons before playing for the Minnesota Wild organization last year(mostly in the AHL). At 29 years old Hilbert has already played for five NHL teams (and this is now his second go-round with the Islanders) if that’s not the definition of a journeyman, I don’t know what is.

Hisey is a little younger (turns 26 years old next month) but has played most of his hockey in Europe. Last year was his first season in North America since he left junior hockey on 04-05. He played for the CHL Tulsa Oilers (19 G, 21 A, in 24 games) and the AHL Springfield Falcons last year (11 G, 14 A, in 37 games.

This is good for Bridgeport, which was hurting for some offense, but hopefully neither one of these guys make an impact in the NHL next season. The Islanders still could use another forward, but neither one of these guys is what they need.

Tags: Andy Hilbert, Bridgeport Sound Tigers, New York Islanders, Rob Hisey

Isles news for the week

It’s been a slow week pretty much everywhere but in my life, so I haven’t really had a chance to sit down and do any real work, but there are a few news items worth noting as they relate to the Islanders.

Potential Rule Changes Being tested in Toronto- A lot of these potential rules are pretty benign or even somewhat useful (like a line change area, wider blue lines) but there are some that could radically change hockey (like a no-drop faceoff, or no icing allowed while on the penalty kill). I like the idea that the NHL is looking into adding an off-ice referee which is something that other sports should really look into as well.The NHL also seems to be continuing its quest for the perfect overtime setup but the bizarre 4 on 4, then 3 on 3, then 2 on 2 overtime is something that I really hope to never see in a real game.

More Wisniewski talk- The Islanders continue to hype up the big defensive get of the off-season. Its beginning to sound like he is going to be on a pairing with Mark Streit which would make the most skilled (although undersized) pairing they’ve had in years.

Islander Prospects Brock Nelson and Casey Cizkas putting some work in at their respective national junior teams (Nelson for USA, Cizkas for Canada). Its nice to see that they are both doing some things with their teams (Cizkas scored a goal in a intra-squad game, and Nelson had a goal in two games) hopefully they both make their final teams so we can see some real action out of them.

Tags: Brock Nelson, Casey Cizkas, James Wisniewski

Sim re-signed, who’s next Richard Park?

Jon Sim in a nutshell, getting in front of the net and being a pain for the other team

In what I would call a surprising move the Islanders brought back fourth line forward Jon Sim. He was signed to a one year two-way deal on Tuesday. As for why this move was made I’ll let Garth Snow answer that:

“Jon brings an unmatched work ethic and veteran leadership to our lineup and we’re excited to have him back for the upcoming season.”

Spoken truly like the leader of a still rebuilding team. I figured this off-season was where the Islanders were going to make a definitive move to become a playoff team lead by their young core with some capable veteran free agents brought in to help. But they do seem to be bringing back some more of the low skill “character” guys that they had last year. First the announce they’re bringing back their way over the hill captain Doug Weight (still not signed though) now they re-sign the 32 year old low-skill Sim. Looking at this signing I have to wonder if they are bringing back any of the other washed-up players they had last year.

But the one thing that keeps me from totally losing it about this signing is that it is a two-way deal, meaning they can very easily stash him in Bridgeport in case of an emergency. Its not that Sim was a bad player last year (13 goals, 9 assists in 77 games) because he actually did play pretty well. He goes to the front of the net and is willing to get into the face of opponents, two things we don’t see from a lot of other Islanders. Its just that it seemed that in Matt Martin the Islanders had a younger, bigger, faster, and all around better version of Jon Sim.

So thats what it really boils down to, there is nothing really wrong with Jon Sim or this signing. Sim is the type of low-talent,  max-effort  guys that regular people really pull for. Its just that there are younger, more talented players waiting in the wings who should be able to take Jon Sim’s job.

This year may not be the year that the young players are ready to take the helm of this team and Snow seems to really be hedging his bets with these re-signings. The goal this year once again is to make the playoffs, but lets not forget that this is a team that finished last and then fifth worst the past two seasons so it is very possible that this could be another bad season. So that’s why Weight and Sim will be around, and if we see more of those two than we do of Matt Martin and Kirill Petrov expect another one of those bad seasons.

Tags: Doug Weight, Garth Snow, Jon Sim, Kirill Petrov, Matt Martin, New York Islanders

Islander Notes for the week

Hey, its still the middle of summer, but with the Wisniewski trade its been fairly exciting in Islander land. Anyway, here is this week’s batch of Isles related links

• Islanders have one of the toughest back-to-back sets this year according to On the Forecheck- Our take: The set of games in questions is a afternoon Saturday game in Colorado followed by a Sunday night game in Chicago against the Stanley Cup champs. Yeah its tough, but when you are the Islanders you need to prove you can win games like these. What also makes these game especially tough is that they end a five-game road trip in the western conference. But on the bright side after those two games on  January 8th and 9th they don’t have any significant road trips (unless you count a five game trip with jaunts to MSG and New Jersey).

• Islanders get James Wisniewski- Our take: We talked about our view on the trade (love it, really) yesterday its good to see something other than news about charity golf outings on the official site. They also have some great Wisniewski highlights, and the more I see them the more excited I get about this addition.

• Antti Niemi gets awarded 2.75M in arbitration- Our take: Not really Islander related but the ruling further complicates the Blackhawks’ cap situation, and while most of the low lying fruit has been picked clean by other teams this means there still may be a way for the Islanders to acquire a player with some Stanley Cup experience. Until the Wisniewski trade the Islanders hadn’t used their floor space to their advantage and now they seem to be just about at the floor (right now about 1.1M short, according to Capgeek) and they still need to sign Doug Weight, who they seem to be saving for last. I don’t think they are going to take their salary any higher than they have to, but if they want to raise payroll the Islanders have plenty of options.


Brendan Witt and his 1,424 career penalty minutes are likely headed for retirement

• Brendan Witt clears waivers and gets bought out- Our take- It was inevitable, but sad as he was one of those players who always played with a passion. Now that his contract is out of the way he might be able to hook on with another team, but looking at the other defenseman currently available its probably all over for Witt at age 35.

Tags: Antti Niemi, Brendan Witt, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, James Wisniewski, New York Islanders

New Developments on the Blue Line

The Islanders, who still had a lot of work to get done this summer took a few big steps. First off they placed Brendan Witt on unconditional waivers. After spending the latter half of last season in the AHL, it seems the Islanders are going to let him go.  If he doesn’t get claimed by another team the Islanders seem ready to buy him out. This would also allow them to clam about 1.3M of his 2.5M salary against the cap (as per capgeek), which would help the Islanders get closer to that floor they’ve been aiming at.

Just when I was saying the Islanders need more defense, look what Garth Snow does

But that is more or less just salary cap management and won’t affect the on-ice product since Witt wasn’t going to be on this team this year anyway. A much bigger deal is the trade that Garth Snow completed friday night. He sent a conditional third round pick (they have until June 1st to decide if its theirs or Colorado’s that they acquired at the draft) to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman James Wisniewski.

Wisnewski is only 26 years old and was just signed to a one year 3.2M contract hours before being sent to the Islanders. He is a quality defenseman who despite not having great size (5′11″, 200 pounds) has some toughness about him, (not unlike Freddy Meyer who certainly won’t be resigned now) leading the Ducks in blocked shots with 102 and he also had 129 hits. He also has some scoring ability with 3 goals and 27 assists in 69 games while averaging over 24 minutes a game.

While he isn’t the top pairing guy the Islanders could use he certainly is a very good defenseman and will be a huge help to the team. A great move by Snow who has stocked the team with a number of solid defenseman once they struck out on big names. Wisniewski could become another young building block for this team, if they can keep him. He becomes an unrestricted free agent after this year and it seems like he may difficult to deal with. The Ducks had tried to sign him long term, but they couldn’t agree on a price tag, apparently wanting even more than the 3.25m he will be getting this year.  That could be worrisome once he hits free agency, but overall a great weekend of work for Garth Snow, who finally used the Islanders cap space to his advantage with this steal. Now  the Islanders are starting to look like a real team.

Hits like this are just what the Islanders need

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Freddy Meyer, Garth Snow, James Wisniewski, New York Islanders