SAY GOODBYE TO BAILEY…FOR NOW
No reason to keep him from junior club
6:20 pm - The more I thought about it today, the more I realized there’s a good chance tonight will be Josh Bailey‘s last game for a while in an Islanders uniform.
This is no reflection on the kid’s play, and certainly not on the attitude of the 2008 first round pick. The numbers simply do not add up, and when they don’t you’re completely out of reasons to keep him around for the first nine games of the NHL season.
Bailey is a true center. That’s why the Islanders drafted him and where he’ll play whenever he is really ready. Scott Gordon said it the other day: for Bailey to be here, he needs to play top-3 line minutes.
The Islanders depth chart at his position currently looks like this…
Mike Comrie
Doug Weight
Richard Park
Frans Nielsen
If injuries happen, they have the option of moving Andy Hilbert to the middle. If Jeremy Colliton doesn’t start the season on the NHL roster, he is 70 miles away in Bridgeport. Then there’s the matter of 1,000 NHL game milestoner Mike Sillinger warming up in the bullpen.
The more you think of it, even if Josh Bailey had set the world on fire these last two weeks, there’s little compelling reason to keep him on the Island for the opening of the NHL season - other than to send some weak PR message that says, “See, the kid is good.”
That’s not necessary, and the Islanders know it. We know he’s good. The Islanders are happy with their pick. Bailey is signed. Pretty soon, expect him to be sealed and delivered back to Windsor, where he can properly continue his development as a captain in the Ontario Hockey League.
I’ll be back in a little while for modified-live blogging of Rick DiPietro’s pre-season debut at the bank-sponsored arena in Sunrise, Florida
2 Responses to SAY GOODBYE TO BAILEY…FOR NOW
No reason to keep him from junior club
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ny711ot says:
im curious is filatov making the colombus roster this year? if he comes out and wins the calder can we then agree that this was a dumb move?
That’s the second time you’ve called him the 2009 draft pick (the first was on the radio show). Unless I missed something, I thought the draft was held in June of ’08. But … I’ve been wrong before.