Comments on: COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSEOilers did not maximize Ryan Smyth deal

By: DP's Hip

DP's Hip — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:05:29 +0000

Well, as said before….Okposo has only 2 goals, Bailey none and Bergy is looking more and more like Steve Webb (which I’ll take – I like anything Bergy gives us with his brawn). We draft spottily, too often picking the lesser guy and missing the gem one or two spots behind us. Fine. But the deal is this:

We are not getting anything out of the guys we picked compared to what another team would. I dare say Bailey on another team with Okposo and Bergenheim on his line produces far more than the three on a line in NY. Coaching? Yes. Grooming? Definitely. Just spotty development and utilization, I’d say.

Unless you can tell me it’s the clubhouse demeanor? Long Island influencing them? Discontent with the franchise (I highly doubt)?

We just do an awful job bringing our prospects along. I wish I knew why. Maybe we could have left Okposo in college with qualified people, Bailey in juniors with qualified people and been rewarded by not touching them at all until someone better finished with them?

I mean seriously, which touted Islander prospects have gone through our system and been differencemakers instead of disappointments?

By: Hurrapop

Hurrapop — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:51:27 +0000

Snow has been a decent GM so far. A step up from Milbury, everyone gots to agree about that.

Well, 2009 Draft is looking good boys. If Snowman gets us Hedman (and Kovalchuk ) I’ll drink that kool aid… I’m just saying

By: dalcy

dalcy — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:47:58 +0000

it was a great trade. Smyth is just another player in Colorado. he would have been to the Isles what he was to the Oilers. besides how great is it that Snow jettisoned Milbury’s nilsson schmilsson blunder.

By: James

James — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:47:35 +0000

Honestly, there’s only a couple of trades Snow has made that I haven’t been happy with:

(1) Trading Alexei Zhitnik to Philadelphia for [someone]. It was either Freddy Meyer or Randy Robitaille. Fine, fair, whatever. But Philly somehow parlayed that into a straight-up trade for Braydon Coburn. Which says to me Snow could’ve traded Zhitnik straight up for Coburn.

(2) Trading a 2nd round pick for Richard Zednik. The price seemed high at the time, and it still seems high.

The Smyth trade? I’d do it again and again and again… Now if the Isles weren’t so headstrong a few years earlier and had actually drafted Parise instead of Nilsson? Then, we’d have a different story…

By: Dmarie

Dmarie — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:43:35 +0000

Tuxtax? you’re not kidding when you said it’s a tough time to be a NY fan, not only am I an Islander fan but I’m a Met fan as well, and need I say more about the past two years they’ve had.
I don’t know what to make of the Islanders and the future of this team anymore, I’m just hoping we make some moves in the trade/draft that’ll help us make the next few season better and bring brighter years ahead.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:37:35 +0000

And (sorry) I meant drafting Nilsson was a terrible move. I’m fully on board with the Smyth trade, I was then and I am now.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:36:57 +0000

Let’s remember, Edmonton originally wanted Okposo to be part of the package.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:32:16 +0000

I think Milbury and his team were the only ones in that room who didn’t think it was a given they would draft Parise. I remember they had shots of Parise as the Islanders were coming to the table, and I was ready for it too….After the pick was announced, my girlfriend called (it was her birthday and I was watching the draft instead of spending time with her). I answered the phone with “ROBERT NILSSON?! WHYYYYYYYYYYYY????” I was in the doghouse for a long time for that one….

We all know that was a terrible move, however, as I’ve said before, what’s done is done. At least the Islanders were able to make a bid on a great player like Smyth without taking anyone off the NHL roster or sacrificing any future pieces. I will always defend that trade because it was the right move at the time, just like changing course after it went up in flames was the right move.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 03:32:08 +0000

I think the main complaint isn’t that Snow dumped Nilsson and O’Marra. The complaint is that in choosing to dump them for a rental, the team didn’t get any pieces back that would help build for the future. Either of them could have brought back prospects that might be shining now on a rebuilding team, a couple of seasons later.

Even so, Snow made the right move in context. The team had a ton of energy, and winning just one playoff series then would still be paying dividends now in terms of attendance and media respect.

By: guerin13

guerin13 — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:33:14 +0000

nyi really didn’t give up much for smyth. o’marra isn’t an nhl player and nilsson is a 3rd liner with an attitude problem. it remains to be seen what esposito amounts to, whom i believe the isles would have chosen with that pick. the going rate for a player like smyth was a lot higher than that at the time of the trade. i believe that nyi made big changes to their scouting department once snow came on board so a lot of the scouts that chose nilssen and o’marra might not even be here now. passing on parise was really unforgivable. jankowski seems to be doing good job.

By: TuxTax

TuxTax — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:23:18 +0000

Hmmm, the Islanders suck and the Jets suck while the Bruins and the Pats are kicking ass…tough time to be blue collar NY fan

By: Dmarie

Dmarie — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:58:44 +0000

Clearly we all have our views on whether or not Snow is a good GM, and it’s true sometimes we all take chances an sometimes they don’t work out, I’ll give that to him, but for the most part I don’t think he’s really the right person for such a job, but again that’s just my opinion.