Monthly Archives: February 2009
The announcement of Doug Weight‘s injury only reinforces our hunch that the March 4 trade deadline day, somewhat unfortunately, is not going to bring back a bonanza of draft picks and prospects. We’ll continue to do segments of True Value each week, but here’s our latest perspective after Thursday’s news.
Doug Weight: Credit to the Islanders for their honesty today, basically eliminating the notion that the 38-year center will be traded before the March 4 deadline. Since the Islanders like Weight very much, perhaps he will be this year’s deadline version of Mike Comrie and receive a one-year contract offer. Will Weight accept, or will he choose to talk it over with his family in the offseason?
Bill Guerin: The captain has a no-move clause. As of this writing, Point Blank is unaware of any teams in hot pursuit of the 38-year old right wing with a team-leading 15 goals. The rest of the NHL may understand Guerin won’t move far – if he consents to move at all. We don’t see an offer of a contract extension for Guerin in the near future, but that could change based on the play of the captain and his team down the stretch.
Mike Comrie: It’s ultimately up to a player to perform, but Comrie certainly was not showcased when he played all of 12:30 on Wednesday. If the Islanders want to get something of value for the second-line center – a UFA on July 1 – he needs to play his best and the team has to put him in the best situation to succeed.
Brendan Witt: Scouts polled after the last two Islanders games told Point Blank they didn’t expect a serious bidding war for the 34-year old defenseman who is not quite thriving in the Islanders’ system. Those fans who yearned for the fan favorite to be back next season may get their wish. We maintain our position that a trade would be best for both Witt and the Islanders.
Richard Park, Andy Hilbert, Radek Martinek: Three players respected by management and the coaching staff, three players on very fair contracts. None of them would bring back a major piece in a trade. Expect the Islanders to try and re-sign Hilbert.
- (Amazing how much better these jerseys are)
Trent Hunter: Same as the trio above, and with four years left on his contract. Not going anywhere.
Joey MacDonald, Yann Danis: For the mid-round pick they might get for one of them from teams in search of goaltending depth, the Islanders are better served just letting them battle the rest of the season.
Chris Campoli, Sean Bergenheim: This is where it could get interesting. The Islanders are in a rebuild, so why would they trade either or both of these young home-grown players? Most likely they will not, but consider this. They are the two young Islanders who both a) once again, are having up-and-down seasons with a new coach and b) are skilled enough to garner interest around the league. If the Islanders make the hard decision that this is as far as these two players can go on this team, they could decide the sell high.
To be clear, we would not recommend trading Campoli or Bergenheim and would instead like to see the organization continue attempts to maximize their talents. But from what we’ve seen, it’s impossible to sit here and declare there’s no chance they will be dealt.
Comments.
Doug Weight out 6 weeks with MCL sprain.
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Looks like we will continue this conversation on the rebuild into the night. While I commented twice in the rebuild thread, I figured I’d move this one up to the top in case you don’t read those.
To the fans looking for someone to pay or at least explain themselves for this 30th-place season, when it comes to ownership/management, remember something. The Islanders hosted monthly Open Houses from last May – September where they told anyone who’d listen exactly what they were going to do. I was still working there for the first one. (Okay, so was Ted Nolan).
The Islanders said they were going to build around the draft and develop players. They said they would augment with free agents (they signed Streit and Weight), but were not going to patch holes when times got rough – injuries, poor play. Their one mistake was showing a video at early open houses of the top draft prospects available, giving die-hard fans the impression they were delighted to be locked in at 5. I know I fell for it (I like Josh Bailey, but I’m still not sold on the move).
The entire enterprise was so uniquely up-front and direct, anyone watching Teddy’s body language at the first one – and then noticed he wasn’t there for a few – wasn’t shocked when he didn’t return for a third season.
While I’m sure they didn’t plan on all the injuries and being in the mix for the first draft pick, it is completely fair to kill the Islanders all you want for this season. Cripes, they have won 6 of their last 34 games; I don’t think even the Islanders Ice Girls will argue against you.
Some of the Open House footage may still be archived on Islanders TV if you weren’t there. You can’t say the Islanders didn’t come out and tell you exactly what they were going to do. We will get a better indication on March 4, at the June draft and again the first week of July, but so far you can’t say the Islanders have strayed from their publicly-stated plan.
Can we do another 100? Comments. Thanks to islesblogger for the photo.
UPDATE - In Comments is my reaction at 11:00 am and 12:45 pm to yours and we will continue throughout the day. Please be mindful of the Guidelines so everyone has their say. Thanks…CB
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The Islanders currently have only two home-grown youngsters in their lineup considered to have the potential to become top forwards on a future contender. They, of course, are Kyle Okposo (first round, 2006) and Josh Bailey (first round, 2008).
Otherwise, as the Islanders enter Year 2 of their complete overhaul in 2009-2010, there should no confusion about the state of the organizational depth chart.
- There is not a single player on the current Bridgeport roster that will magically develop into a scoring forward or top-5 defenseman in next season’s Islanders lineup. (Our Sound Tigers top prospects list arrives later this week).
- There is not one top-9 forward or top-5 defenseman joining the Islanders’ opening night lineup next season directly from Europe or the college or junior ranks. That is, unless they sign an upstart European or collegiate (Matt Gilroy?) free agent.
- The season after that, and the season after that, the Islanders could have plenty of skilled players emerge from the AHL and elsewhere.
The wild card, naturally, is the Islanders’ first round pick in 2009, but it is pointless today to put an 18-year old’s name on the GM’s dry-erase board. Not with 30% of this season still remaining. Not with Scott Gordon still coaching an aggressive style, but lining up the left wing next to two defensemen in the neutral zone. Not with the Islanders subsequently winning more games lately than they did in December and January.
Why is the well so dry? More than any other reasons, look no further than a horrendous run of four consecutive first round picks.
2002 – Sean Bergenheim (22nd overall): Love the kid, but let’s be real. After yet another season of stops and starts and chipping away at the hairlines of his coaching staff, Bergenheim does not seem destined to be a front-line NHL forward. At least not with the Islanders.
2003 – Robert Nilsson (15th overall): First round tools, sixth round drive and determination now driving Craig MacTavish nuts in Edmonton after becoming an Oiler in the Ryan Smyth trade. In related news, J.P.’s kid scored his 33rd and 34th against the Islanders last night.
2004 – Petteri Nokelainen (16th overall): More than a year of knee tendinitis has hurt his career, projected by most teams to max out as a third-liner. This season, he has 0 goals as a fourth-line forward and sometimes healthy scratch with the dynamo Bruins.
2005 – Ryan O’Marra (15th overall): The miss of all misses. Garth Snow didn’t think twice about including him in the Smyth trade. Four years later, he is a grinder in Springfield (AHL), his career already on shaky ground.
That is an almost impossible-to-fathom string of failures by a scouting staff directed by former general manager Mike Milbury. Four consecutive first round picks, not even a second-line forward in the group 4-7 years later. Bergenheim and Nilsson could figure it out and have a love connection with their coaches down the road, but it’s getting late early.
We can waste a lot of space listing the dozens of players missed with these picks, but that would really be missing the point. All you need to know is that Milbury and company had four swings at the best hockey talent in the world in the first round four years in a row. They whiffed.
And from those four drafts between 2002-2005 they have a mere six players as possible pieces to the rebuild: Frans Nielsen, forgotten Jeremy Colliton, Bruno Gervais, Blake Comeau, Chris Campoli and Dustin Kohn. Of that group, only Nielsen (ceiling: No. 2 center) and Campoli (No. 4 dman) appear to have a chance to develop into more than just good soldiers.
This is why the painful art of scouting has beaten down good hockey men in every organization. It’s why there is turnover in the scouting community all over the league every year. This, in part, is why only Ryan Jankowski (now assistant GM) and Anders Kallur (a bird-dog in Europe who fought for Frans Nielsen) remain from the Islanders’ staff that was there for the quartet of stud-less first round picks. It’s why the Islanders in 2006 stepped up their investment in scouting resources and player development and revamped how they analyze draft prospects, and why the process needs to continue.
And this, more than anything else, is why the rebuild is going to take more than just this season and next. For perspective, Washington – with Alexander Ovechkin – took three years.
Comments. Guidelines.
Topics in the Comments chat include Howie and The Jaff, a good-for-the-soul goal by Kyle Okposo, Doug Weight’s injury, Mike Komisarek and a personal story of the day Jason Blake was acquired. My hope is these road game chats down the stretch are insightful enough that they are better reads than a typical recap. You never know what I might say or report, so please read if you have the time…CB
I encourage your feedback in Comments. 170 and counting? Thanks, everyone.
Last May, I wrote the following piece on the old blog about Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts. For her coverage on Alex Rodriquez, the former New York Times columnist is the biggest name in sports media this week. I’ve decided to “re-purpose” my article because Roberts has now become a big story herself and most of you probably did not see my entry when it first ran.
It is intended not to undermine her A-Rod coverage (which clearly checks out) but simply to show that sometimes even sportswriters can be full of it. Like when Roberts said on WFAN yesterday that she doesn’t have a good barometer on what makes a bombshell story. Or when her upcoming A-Rod biography is marketed not on scandal but on what she described to Neil Best as the Yankee’s ”interesting life arc.” Funny stuff…CB
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May 18, 2008 - Selena Roberts is a brilliant sports columnist, formerly of The New York Times and currently on the last page of Sports Illustrated. Like a lot of extraordinary writers before her, she recently went on television and made the mistake of acting like a phony talking head instead of a brilliant sports columnist.
On the “Costas Now” town hall on the future of media, showing all this month on all 139 versions of HBO, Roberts bemoaned the lack of real media access to athletes these days. She cited how she has to go through layers of people – PR flaks, agents, team management – to interview a professional athlete. Roberts shared her frustration of working on a piece on Lebron James and not being able to get anywhere near him. In the end, Roberts emailed her questions to Lebron’s camp, James recorded his answers on tape and those answers were transcribed back in an email to Roberts.
Selena Roberts talked about wanting “to have a connection with the athlete,” about truly getting to know the athlete and “what’s inside him” before writing her story. Oh, for the good old days of having a beer with Mickey Mantle and not having to deal with all those silly bloggers.
It all sounded lovely on the SI writer’s part…except, of course, that it was all a load of made-for-TV crap. This is what happens when even a singular talent agrees to go on HBO and tell Bob Costas exactly what she thinks Bob Costas wants her to say.
In her five years as a columnist at The New York Times, Selena wrote one article on the New York Islanders.
Game 1 of the first round of the 2004 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Islanders at Lightning. Islanders defenseman Eric Cairns has a nightmarish pair of shifts, with two giveaways leading to two goals and a Tampa Bay win. To be clear, Eric had a horrible game at the worst possible time. To be fair, there isn’t a defenseman in the history of the game that hasn’t had one just like it.
For the record, Selena Roberts was not at the game. In the aftermath – her column ran two days later – she did not contact anyone at the Islanders to request Cairns or his head coach on the phone. She did not travel to Tampa Bay for Game 2. You could say Eric Cairns is not Lebron James, but that really wouldn’t be the point, would it? Cairns would have spoken with Roberts on the phone for as long as she would have needed him. I would not have written, or emailed, the answers for him. That’s not how we do it in hockey.
Without speaking to anyone, Roberts decided to use Eric Cairns as Exhibit 1-A for her theory that “the playoffs prove that the embrace of goons is borne of historic habit, not necessity.” Read the whole thing here.
Roberts wrote that Cairns’ performance in the game was “a singular example of goon liability, of enforcer irrelevance, of a sport’s cultural ambivalence.”
And yet, Roberts never took the time to meet Cairns, to “have a connection” with him, to see “what’s inside him.” Ever.
Too bad. If nothing else, she would have made a connection with a real unique, loyal and kind person. She would have gotten inside the head of a gentleman who battled from the lowest of the minor leagues to play defense for both the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers.
Selena Roberts didn’t even try to get to know Eric Cairns, despite the journalism sermon she served on HBO for Bob Costas.
Comments.
He is 6-2, 205 pounds and has the ability to zip around the ice with plenty of speed and tenacity to excel in the Islanders’ forecheck. In Bridgeport, he centers the line that matches up against the opponents’ best. The coach of his undermanned AHL team thinks enough of his ability to send him over the boards in all situations, including the top power play and penalty killing units. And yet, on the rebuilding-with-youth Islanders, he has received the call for six games this season – only when the big club’s injury plague warranted it.
He is Jeremy Colliton, the Islanders’ prospect who seems to have fallen through the cracks.
The determined but humble good ol’ Western Canadian kid would be the first to try and put the breaks on this story. In fact, when I called the 23-year old forward yesterday, his only motivation was not to pump himself up but to underline (about a half-dozen times) that he’s happy to be with teammates and a coaching staff he likes in Bridgeport while fighting for a regular chance in the NHL. So let us do the bloviating:
Somehow, someway, the Islanders need to find the room in their lineup to give Jeremy Colliton at least the final 20 games of this NHL season. Isn’t that what rebuilding teams do?
Colliton was taken by the Islanders in the second round of 2003 and remains as advertised: a heart-and-soul, tenacious, big-bodied potential No. 3 center you can build teams with. (He also wins faceoffs!) He earned the honor of a roster spot for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships not once, but twice. Colliton won a gold medal at 17 as a depth center. Before his injury-shortened second term, Colliton was so highly-regarded by Team Canada coach Brent Sutter that he was placed on a line with Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron.
After an excellent first year of pro in Bridgeport (21-32-53 in 66 games), Colliton’s next two seasons included injuries and inconsistent play. This season, he has excelled in the new franchise-wide system and has been the Sound Tigers’ best two-way player. In limited icetime, he did not look out of place in his six games for Scott Gordon. “Scott’s style is fun to play and I think it’s a great fit for my game,” said Colliton. “Generating speed on the forecheck…I enjoy playing our system in Bridgeport and hope to get the chance to play it some more with the big club.”
With the Islanders already scratching two forwards nightly – Jon Sim and Jeff Tambellini – Colliton’s opportunity does not seem near. Another 4-6 week injury for hard luck fourth-line center Nate Thompson – whose waiver wire acquisition dropped Colliton down the depth chart – doesn’t appear to alter the outlook. It may seem odd to think there’s a logjam at forward with the league’s last-place team, but for now the reality is that there is.
Nevertheless, if the Islanders want to look like a rebuilding team, act like a rebuilding team, a roster spot for Colliton should be cleared by the March 4 trade deadline. We’re not saying a regular shift for Colliton is a season-saver, nor are we proclaiming him to be the next Brent Sutter. Colliton is what he is: a home-grown Islanders prospect who would bring size to a disturbingly small NHL team, has worked hard, fits the system and deserves an opportunity. He hopes it is in New York.
“My attitude is that you control what you can control,” said Colliton, who signed his one-year qualifier last summer and will be a very-restricted free agent again in July. “For me, that means doing the best I can for my team in Bridgeport. We have struggled to score goals the last few weeks, but that’s going to change. I really like our team , so – unless I’m fortunate enough to get the call – my complete focus and dedication is with the Sound Tigers.”
Discuss Colliton and other prospects in Comments. Our first response to the inevitable: Trevor Smith can wait. He’s a second-year pro who played in the ECHL last season and still needs to show consistent effort. Colliton is a fourth-year pro who brings it every night. Comment Guidelines.
By Kevin Schultz
Point Blank guest contributor
The other day we took a look at some of the candidates closely related to the Islanders that are in the running for the backup/1A netminder position next year. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the options around the league (followed by the post-game).
Option C: Ray Emery
No, no, no, a thousand times NO.
There’s a reason Ray Emery is playing in Europe this year and it’s different than Dubie’s. Dubie wanted more money and the chance to prove himself as a #1. Emery is there because no NHL teams wanted to bring him on board. He’s a head case and can be trouble in the locker room. Need proof? He gave us some a couple weeks ago and a little more in the last couple days when he left his Russian team over a contract dispute. Furthermore, he would likely cost more than any of the aforementioned options.
With a young locker room and (what seems like) a cohesive one, there’s no reason to bring in someone who could jeopardize that (*cough* Sean Avery *cough*). Especially when his NHL numbers are nothing to write home about.
Option D: Stephen Valiquette
Quietly, this former Islander is doing a great job backing up Henrik Lundqvist at the Garden. He’ll be unrestricted this summer and he isn’t likely to be someone the Rangers will be concerned with re-signing. The Rangers have approximately $40 million already committed to 10 players next year and only four of them are forwards. The last thing they will be able to worry about is a backup netminder. That doesn’t mean they won’t re-sign him, but if he asks for more $, they likely can’t give it to him.
In limited action, Valiqeutte had a 2.17 GAA with a save percentage near 930 before he got hung out to dry on Friday night in a 10-2 loss. Why not take a flyer on him?
Option E: The Field
There are a lot of other names that will likely be on the market this summer. In Boston, both Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez will be unrestricted. Tukka Rask is still under contract. Fernandez is likely the odd man out and would be a very expensive back up and that’s assuming he would be interested in doing so. Still, someone to consider.
Philadelphia will have a similar situation. Marty Biron and Antero Niittymaki are both UFAs and, given their play, the Flyers would likely want to hold onto Niittymaki. The most recent rumors out of Philly seem to confirm this idea. Biron’s story is the same as Fernandez’s. Would he take a pay cut to be a backup? Probably not. Worth a shot if you can get him, but he has struggled a bit this year.
Let’s narrow down the rest of the field.
We can weed out the following for suspect play. I’d take any of options A, B or D over any of these: Fredrik Norrena, Andrew Raycroft, Mathieu Garon and Marc Denis.
The following are aging and/or have injury concerns:Olaf Kolzig, Curtis Joseph and Manny Legace (attitude may also be a question).
These guys have probably played their way into a starting job somewhere or will garner a contract offer that is out of the Islanders’ price range (i.e. not worth the $ or the fight):Scott Clemmensen, Dwayne Roloson and Ty Conklin.
The rest of the field that looks remotely interesting consists of Kevin Weekes, Dany Sabourin, Craig Anderson, Jason LaBarbera, Martin Gerber, Mikael Tellqvist and Brian Boucher. All viable options. None with the familiarity to the situation or, potentially, the willingness to accept their role as some of the aforementioned options.
The Verdict: Personally, I’d take MacDonald if he can shake off this injury and resume his impressive play. If Mac falters and Danis shines down the stretch, then go in that direction. As you can probably tell, I wouldn’t mind seeing Valley or Dubie in an Islander uniform again. Outside of that, there’s no reason to poke around too much in free agency when you have 2-4 solid players who are familiar with the organization, three of which are already in your good graces. That’s not to say free agency isn’t worth a look, but these four are nice selection and free agency would only further complicate things.
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KINGS 4, ISLANDERS 3 (SO)
I feel like I’ve said this a lot recently, but tonight’s game was a good effort by the Isles that ended with a loss. There was no first period slump this time, but the Kings proved to be too much in the end. And I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t have any great story lines with which to weave a story for you after this one. So, let’s take this recap a bit differently. With bullets!
- As you may have noticed, Scott Gordon’s shootout choices were interesting. He sent out three young kids: Okposo, Nielsen and Bailey. The first two made nice moves that got stopped and it looked from my angle like Bailey lost control of the puck. Probably the last thing you want to do in a shootout. None of them were able to score, and you’ve got to wonder how that’s going to sit in the dressing room with the vets.
- Both teams really played a spirited game for the first two periods, and it seemed like both lost their legs a bit in the third, more so the Islanders than the Kings.
- Yann Danis looked good in goal, but not great. Certainly wasn’t his best game and his rebound control was a bit suspect. However, he was the victim of some poor defense…
- …As a pair Jack Hillen and Joe Callahan looked very shaky in their own end. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it appeared as though they got split up for most of the second period. Not sure if that was coincidental or a purposeful move from SG. Obviously, I don’t expect these guys to come up and be game breakers, but it wasn’t pretty especially early on.
How about Sean Bergenheim? A heck of a game from the kid. He looked like he was shot out of a cannon the whole night and made some great moves in the offensive zone. Same goes for Kyle Okposo.
- Bill Guerin’s set up of Doug Weight’s first period goal was b-e-a-u-tiful! He must have eyes in the back of his head.
- For those of you on full throttle Tavheduch watch, take a deep breath, the Thrashers won tonight. The Islanders lead in the race is now five points. Ottawa is six back.
Your observations are welcomed in comment form.
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