New York Islanders Question

[mattola]

when I was young I had the Isles as my second Favorite team until 82.... yep thats right bitter fan here.......

Im sad to see where this franchise went and was never as sad when this happened

but was pretty happy when this happened

anyway back to my question which is for any islander fan.. (DaBoltsNIsles?)

Where do you rank your Islanders team today in terms of rebuilding and who do you compare them to in the last few years for that (similar to how the Hawks were built? The Ducks? The Penguins or the Kings?)

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

The complete rebuild began in 2008. If I had to compare them to any team it would be the Coyotes. The Islanders are at least 2 years behind them in the rebuilding curve at this point.

The following is a list of players who could make some noise for the Islanders within the next 2 seasons.

2006 draft
D Shane Sims They almost signed him over the summer. Both sides decided another year at Ohio St. would be good for him.

2007 draft
D Mark Katic he was an AHL All Star his first year in Bridgeport.
D Blake Kessel Phil's younger brother could be a solid all around defender. He'll be a junior at New Hampshire this season.
F Jason Gregoire reminds me a bit of Frans Nielsen.

2008 draft
2nd round D Travis Hamonic is going to be a stud. He'll probably play this season in Bridgeport though
3rd round F Kirill Petrov he would be in the lineup as a top 6 forward right now if they could get him out of Russia.
4th round F David Ullstrom has probably made the team out of camp. Good size 6-3 & skating ability.
4th round D Matt Donovan played great at last years WJC for the USA. He'll be a sophomore at Denver this season.
5th round F Matt Martin might have made the roster this season. He's not afraid to drop the gloves. He will do whatever is asked of him. Has some nice skill too. Was a captain at Sarnia in the OHL.
5th round G Kevin Poulin will split time in Bridgeport. Patrick Roy called him the best goalie in the Q last season

2009
1st round Calvin De Haan. He's going to be good. Probably needs one more year in Oshawa OHL
2nd round G Mikko Koskinen He's huge at least 6-5. He's going to split time with Poulin in Bridgeport this year.
3rd round G Anders Nilsson This will be his final year in the Swedish League. Another big guy 6-5.
4th round F Casey Cizakis very good all around forward. He's playing for Mississauga this year, which means he's going to the Memorial Cup.
6th round F Anders Lee this Minnesota high schooler led the USHL in goals last year with 35. He was the playoff MVP leading the Green Bay Gamblers to the USHL Championship. The 6-2 216 Center will be at Notre Dame this year.

It's tough to say anything about the 2010 crop. It's too early. Niederreiter has a good shot at making this years team.

I think the Islanders are 2 years away from contending for a playoff spot. However that could change this coming offseason because the Islanders will have almost 17 million coming off the books. Since right now they're around 2 million or so over the cap floor Charles Wang is going to have to spend some serious dough just to reach the floor next year.

 

[mattola]

nice breakdown of your youth. hows your patience for Wang and Snow? Going the right way? Right Speed? I like some of the current crop for sure Moulson, Tavares (no doubt), Schremp, Comeau, Okposo.

I hope your goalies come through soon with them. Dipetro is just getting older and is always so injured (such a shame), I saw you had Manny Legace on your roster? was this a PTO? or something I missed last season. I know nothing of the players on your Defense under the age of 30

thanks

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

My patience is fine with management. I think they're building it the right way. The problem is this is New York. Most fans want a quick fix. I'd like to know why Ryan Jankowski was let go. The Isles currently don't have an Assistant GM.

Legace was a late training camp invite because they needed another goalie due to some minor injuries at the time to Poulin & Koskinen. Ricky has his own schedule. He doesn't practice everyday.

Moulson is an interesting case. He will be an UFA at the end of the year. So if he has a repeat performance he's probably going to get a lot more than the 2.4 million he gets this year. If not the Islanders I'm sure somebody else will give him a nice contract.

Getting Wisniewski from the Ducks for a 3rd round pick was huge, especially with the loss of Streit for the year. The young guys in the top 6 are Andrew MacDonald & Jack Hillen

MacDonald was a 6th round pick in 2006. He emerged last year & played very well. He just continues to improve his game. He was rewarded with a multi-year deal after the holidays last year.
Hillen was a college free agent signing a couple of years ago. He's not the biggest guy in the world but he's a smooth skater with very good puck skills.

As of right now the Islanders defense looks like this"
Wisniewski MacDonald
Mark Eaton Hillen
Radek Martinek Milan Jurcina
Mike Mottau Bruno Gervais

They will miss Streit big time.

Roloson is the oldest goalie in the league. This is the final year of his contract. Dipietro has been healthy thus far. I'm not going to hold my breath though. They really like Koskinen. He's a late blumer but could definately be the answer next year. Poulin will be given a lot of games to prove himself in his first pro season this year. I expect the Islanders to sign an UFA goalie come July 1st just to be on the safe side.