The first order of business for the Isles in this offseason is to attract anybody possible to bring in some scoring. Even as an Isles fan, it was nauseating watching that offense last season. One player with a realistic shot at landing on the Island is centermen Daymond Langkow from theCalgary Flames. Langkow would give depth to an extremely thin center position and allow Comrie to become that No.2 center he was with the Sen's, and do his toe drag every 2min.
The other player i think the Isles should go after is Kristian Huselius also from the Flames. Huselius would give the isles speed on the wing and his goal scoring ability on the Island would make him look like Gretzky.
I'd personally love for the Isles to say goodbye to Ruslan Fedotenko and Josef Vasicek. We already lost our chance to deal them away at the deadline (I was praying they'd be gone) (I cringe, thinking we could have gotten a 2nd rd pick for Feds) for some future picks in a deep upcoming draft. I say let them walk, and bring up Tambellini, who has speed and showed he can score in Bridgeport. Give him some time and see what he can do instead of sending him and down every other week. Both Vasicek and Feds started off great but then tailed off towards the latter part of the season, as expected. Instead of knowing your going to be mediocre, roll the dice with some young kids and see what happens.
Happy trails to Andy Hilbert as well. I know the guy puts 1587430982570 X effort into everything he does, but the kid just doesn't cut it. I cant remember how many times he had a scoring chance on the doorstep and he pushed it wide. Everytime he touches the puck it looks like he's handling a grenade.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get rid of Bryan Berard. I have never seen another player be so confused than Berard. As for his PP quarterback ability, its NOT THAT GOOD. Then combine that with his turnstile defense, he just doesn't work with the Isles.
With that said, i think with 1/2 free agent signings & barring any injuries that we provide a better than avg. defense for Ricky. Witt is a stonewall. Martinek is one of the most underated players in the NHL. Sutton really grew into his own towards the end of the year. And Campoli is developing into a solid Top 4 defensmen.
Two defensmen that could fit with the Isles and are REALISTIC SIGNINGS (not Wade Redden or Lidstrom) John Michawl Liles from Colorado and Mark Streit from the Habs. Both of these defensmen are great Powerplay QB's and are reliable in their own zone. Trust me, they are ALOT better than Marc Andre Bergeron. Looking back on last season, i think the Isles had a better chance of scoring 5x5 than w/ a man advantage.
Next, we will look at the Draft: Due to our ridiculous 6-game winning streak, we lost out on Steven Stamkos in this years draft. (I was tearing the hair out of my head) However we do have the fifth pick of the draft. Right now, our farm system is pretty depleted due to the trade of Ryan "Crybaby" Smyth (It kills me to see Nillson getting minutes in Edmonton). This draft is laden with defensive prospects such as Drew Doughty, Alex Pietrangelo, and Zach Bogosian. The Isles haven't had a defensmen like these prospects since the early 80's. But is this the right time to draft a defensmen. RIGHT NOW, the Isles need an infussion of scoring and speed. Nobody fits the bill, better than foward Nikita Filatov from Moscow. Filatov is probably the fastest skater in the draft, and if you look at his Highlight videos on Youtube, you'll be wowed. If the Isles take Kyle Beach i will cry.
So what would i like the Isles to look like next year?
Offense:
Huselius - Langkow - Guerin
Satan - Comrie - Okposo
Bergenheim - Sillinger - Hunter
Tambellini - Neilsen - Park
Defense:
Witt - Streit
Martinek - Sutton
Campoli - Meyer
Goalies:
Dipietro
Dubie
LETS GO ISLES
Keywords: Draft, Geurin, Isles, Matthew Sadis, New York Islanders, NHL, Okposo
