SNOW CONFIRMS HE CALLED ABOUT KOVALEV
But wouldn’t the vet have taken some kid’s icetime?
5:30 pm - Garth Snow acknowledged to Point Blank and Ira Podell of the AP this afternoon that he “made a few calls” about the availability of UFA Alexei Kovalev before the forward signed with Ottawa. Makes you wonder how the NYI thought a moody 36-year old Russian would have fit in their rebuilding plans. Also makes you wonder about all that talk of not wanting UFAs to take away icetime from younger players. (To be clear, that’s a philosophy we call BS on. How many roster spots for potential Grade A talents are we talking about?). The positive side: there may not be much left, but the Islanders are shopping. A trade also remains a possibility. Comments on UFA.
75 Responses to “SNOW CONFIRMS HE CALLED ABOUT KOVALEV
But wouldn’t the vet have taken some kid’s icetime?”
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Kovalev = Yashin…no thanks
Tanguay please
about time he starts shopping and trade talks should arise. good good news
Chicago’s got cap problems, made worse by having to sign the players that didn’t get timely QO’s to higher deals this year…maybe they’d deal with us, an out-of-conference, non-playoff team, rather than send one or two of their young expendables where thwey could immediately come back and haunt them
Trade?
oh boy here comes the “other web site” trade rumors now lol.
CB,
Tell Snowy to take a two week vacation. We’ll take over for him and get him a few NHL caliber players and we’ll let him take all the credit…
Is it time to start tracking the 2010 top 10 draft eligibles yet? Seems like after #1, it is packed with defensemen. If we get 75 goals combined from Okposo, Bailey, and Tavares the season is a success regardless of the record?
JT has already resigned himself to the long road ahead.
Taylor Hall is listed as a left wing….
I heard Chicago is looking for a stay at home defenseman. They would offer Sharp for him. Sharp had 25 goals last year…how about Sharp for either Sutton or Witt?
Its about time.. I feel like we will sign a few players within the next week or so. Lets see what Snowy’s got.
#1
isles should only take bad contracts if they get draft picks or prospects to sweeten the deal. Pheonix is not a team that can afford to “bury” players in the minors.
Throw in Kyle Turris or Peter Mueller and we have a deal. (never happen)
The obvious FA forward targets at this point would be Ales Kotalik and Alex Tanguay. In theory, it would be good to get one of these guys to bolster our offensive production and relieve some of the pressure on the kids. But what if they want long-term deals? Tanguay is coming off injury and back-to-back mediocre seasons, so it would not make sense to give him more than 2 years.
Chicago is the obvious trade partner at this point given their cap fiasco and desire for a physical dman (Witt?). There are rumblings that Sharp may be available, and I think he could be a great pickup. Byfuglien and Barker may also be available, but I would pass on both. Both are very slow skaters and pretty lazy. Barker is a one-trick pony with the heavy slapshot on the PP. He is basically a bigger and slower version of MAB. (I live in Chicago, and most Hawks fans do not seem impressed with either of these guys.)
Garth, please make some sort of effort to sign Tanguay and Mara. I realize we have young kids who we want to see prove themselves, but is it really the best thing for these kids’ development to have absolutely no scoring support and get blown out every game?
If Garth doesn’t want to sign a forward I can at least understand it. There are 9 young kids who can theoretically take a top 9 spot. My view is that guys like Bailey, Okposo, and JT will all benefit from having another scoring threat up front. One of those top 9 will be injured by November anyway.
The bigger concern is the defense. There is no excuse for not signing another defenseman, other than if Wang has told Garth not to spend money (which I believe is what is going on here). There is no way Garth is stupid enough to think the current top 6 is competitive OR going to stay healthy. 4 out of the 6 guys can NEVER stay healthy, plus they aren’t even that good when healthy. AND, its not like FMIV, Sutton, or Martinek are “young kids” who we want to see develop. These 3, as well as Witt, are NOT going to be here if this team ever gets good. Once again, I believe charles has told Garth not to spend. There is no other explanation for starting the season with that defense.
Keep up the good work CB
the Islanders could trade with a team with some cap problems for a foward who may also fit into our future plans. all due respect to jeff tambellini, your time has come and gone.
Personnally, I think Snow is waiting his time because he knows alot of the big spenders are near the cap and probably aren’t gettin much interest else where…therefore is he waits a week or 2…he can probably get some of the better guys avaiable….especially since guys like tanguay are not worth 5.25 mil
Tell Snow to make some calls to a UFA 7 years younger than Kovalev named Tanguay, also a good solid D that is only 27 years old named Seidenberg should be receiving phone calls… make offers you know they can’t say no to! LETS GO ISLES
One more thing also to those saying we have no heavy hitter goto youtube and type in jeremy reich the guy can brawl
“abnout time he starts”? give me a break. Obviously the front office has been hard at work. The lack of results probably has more to do with the status of the organization than with the amount of work the Isles have done.
CB, at some point you’re going to stop beating that dead horse right? I’m sure Snow called about a lot of older vets to see if he could get one in on the cheap. He wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t. The people like me who are saying they should stay the course and be patient aren’t arguing against one forward or one D signing, we’re arguing against the notion of having to sign 5 guys so that the Isles can be competitive in the short term. This is what a fair amount of posters in here have been wanting and it doesn’t make sense for the long term development of this team. I still say it’s about wanting to keep payroll low until they get an okay on a new arena and Wangs development deal but that’s just my opinion.
I’m never upset when my GM resists going spend-crazy with the rest of the drunken sailors on July 1. But I am outright relieved he didn’t plunk down $5M per on AK27. Wrong guy, wrong temperament for this team.
Maybe if we were close to the top I’d bite, but 15 years of evidence is enough to predict he’d be a poor fit on a rebuilding team.
If Kovalev was willing to take a one year deal it would have been a good move, if only for having another asset to trade at the deadline to a contender, the only reason i can think of to even approach him.
I don’t see any thing on the FA market worth getting at this point. I think trades is what this team needs. There are plenty of spots on this roster that need upgrading and no one is talking about the spots occupied by the youngsters. Snow needs to upgrade 2-4 fwd spots and 2-4 d spots. Thankfully the goalie situation appears set.
I like the patrick sharp idea
wow, i’m glad kovelev turned him down, that would be a horrible signing and you don’t want that cancer in the locker room. i do agree with those here that would like to package either sutton, witt or tabellini in a trade for a scorer.
way to CB..everything snow says is bs..why on earth call about that baby..should have called about orr and buech..we cant let J.T. and Kyle get there buts kicked and give them no talent to play with..and in 3 years there gonna run for the hills
Im in for Seidenberg.. Sharp sounds good too.. I know it wouldnt be a huge difference with those 2 names but It would def help..
The majority of us clearly believes we can’t stay pat with the hand were are holding. In poker parlance You can pass, discard some cards or fold. Right now Snow appears to be holding with the guys he now has. I think he should throw out Tamby and acouple of others and pik a few new cards from the ufa/trade pile. When the season gets going and other show their hands we will have the worst team in the league. Then wait for the next deal or season and start over. This maybe a rotton analogy but I think you get the point. Let’s not pass or fold lets get some NHL caliber help NOW!!!
Tanguay’s garbage not a chance this canadian y version of yashin goes on the isles soft floats yellow injury prone forget this guy i keep hering talk about him and he’s wrong for this team
The isles should inquire about about Gagne from the flyers.
No to Tanguay. Asking/expecting too much. Seidenberg and speedy Afinogenov (at $1M/1year) are worth a shot.
I like Afinogenov. It would make a sense to take a shot.
Tim #26 - you are dead on! Guy is charmin soft.
Sign Robert Lang for Veteran Scoring & Sign Jon Mirasty for toughness!
I agree with you 15 — Reich looks like a legitimate tough guy. Knowing Gordon’s affinity for his old P-Bruin guys (see Nate Thompson), I wouldn’t be surprised to see Reich up with the Isles most of the season. Perhaps not a bad thing.
I understand the frustration most fans are showing but it needs to be understood that the isles are in a rebuilding phase and that overpriced ufa’s like kovalev are not what we need. I would love to see garth go after guys like afinagenov and tanguay and kotalik but you have to remember that the isles have some great guys in their system like blake kessel and aaron ness on d and forwards like justin dibenidetto. The name of the game is patience and some fans need a lot of it.
Brett:
with all due respect, the young players you mentioned are no where near ready to play in the NHL. Signing a free agent or two for no more than 2 years will not hinder the rebuilding phase of this team. Rather it will do two things, 1. Add to a team that has a few holes to fill in, and 2. give players like the ones you mentioned time to develop so that when it’s there time, they will be up for the long haul.
Brett the guys you just named are in the minors because they are still developing, very few players have the talent to jump straight to the NHL the rest spend several years in juniors and then some more time in the AHL. DiBenedetto could be ready in a year since he’ll hit the AHL but more likely 2-3 years.
The Islanders need to get an offensive winger to work w/ Tavares to help get him going. It worked for Crosby and Ovechkin.
I am really hoping for Tanguay I think he fits well with us since he wants $$ and we have it and he can produce. We can take the risk AND I feel that a 3 year deal for a guy his age is beneficial if he can put up big points with Tavares then hit the FA market again.
#33 I hear what you’re saying but I can’t see why any 27 to 30 year old player would sign a 2 year contract to play on a team that won’t be in the playoffs in that time. That doesn’t seem to make sense for the players in question as they’re probably looking for 3 to 5 year deals and some big bucks.
Botta calls out Snow…Id love to hear Garths response
Reich is a solid AHL MIDDLEWEIGHT, i dont think anyone questions that. He will NOT stand up to NHL Enforcers and will not be as effective against NHL middleweights. (He is not fighting anybody overly tough other than Asham on Youtube). Solid depth guy but NOT the answer for the heavies. If they play Rechlitz on a line with Reich it should lead to some fun games.
You can’t chastise Snow for not signing UFAs, and then chastise him for inquiring about a UFA. He didn’t break with his plan, so no harm in inquiring.
Ask Sabres fans what they think of Afinogenov and the answer you’ll get is what older Rangers fans once said of Kovalev — a world of talent they’re still waiting to see develop.
Afinogenov will not make Tavares better. A true finisher will. I have no idea who that is or could be at this point, but I do know one day his name will be Okposo.
I think a healthy and motivated Tanguay could be a nice signing because the guy is a winner with skill. There’s no arguing that.
I think Grier would be a good fit. Tough guy, with a bit of skill. And trade for Van Ryn from Toronto…He was having a nice season last year until his face was crushed.
Then hope for the best. The entire Eastern Conference looks really tough.
I agree with most of what you say CB but you wrote a previous article about how you think Tanguay would help, not hurt. Tanguay would have taken up a spot as well.
sign lang and tanguay.. makes have have some fire power for onec upfront… take some scoring pressure of tavares and okposo.. we still ave bad 4th liners why not sign a couple guys it does nothing to hurt our rebuilding… actually helps… we are a joke!!
Kovalev should have been the last UFA call we made. Way too much like Yashin. I think Andre Roy should be a target.
Plan or no plan, this team needs a talent upgrade for this season.
Seidenberg would be a nice addition. He’s solid, young, and relatively cheap. Looked great in the playoffs. Afinaganov might be worth a flyer at a million. Kovalev? He’s a quitter.
#38 what is Snow’s plan and how does signing Mark Streit a 31 year old defenseman fit into those plans? If Steit fits the “plan” why do no other FA’s fit the “plan” Besides drafting what is the “plan”. If we can sign one last year we can sign one this year and NOT lose focus on the “plan”, whatever the “plan” is??? How does an almost 40 year old Russian fit into those plans? I think Snow’s plan focuses on drafting and playing the young guys and trying to hit homeruns on “cheap” older players. I just think we can expedite the process by signing a couple of younger players more in their prime.
The taking PT from the kids nonsense is protection against the UFA’s that go elsewhere, IMO. We’ll get something done.
At what moment do we determine that some of the young guns have had their chance, and it’s time to move on?
Seidenberg would be a good addition and would not break the bank by ANY means. Also it would allow you to part with Andy Sutton - maybe to Chicago for Patrick Sharp.
So what would it take to get Vinny Lecav from the lightining??? CB knows something…he has a source somewhere!
Wouldnt mind Tanguay. Would be a good setup man for Tavares. I think an interesting situation to watch is Zherdev’s. Very good chance the Rangers wont be able to keep him. He likes NY. Hes a guy with loads of talent and is only 24 years old. Hes still a project as he needs to shake his “yashinness”. I feel hes a much better option than Tanguay. Obviously need a true tough guy. Dont know if a free agent can fit that bill right now. Try to trade for Laraque. Laraque vs. Brashear!!! If we’re going to sign a random player i wouldnt mind a couple of 1 year deals so we can trade them at the deadline.
Seidenberg is the right d-man for us - can play some pp with Streit.
Lecavalier has 11 years left on his contract, no thank you
Sharp has scored 62 goals combined the past two seasons. I think it would take a lot more than Sutton to get that deal done. I really don’t see Chicago moving him anyway. I know they up against the cap but I would think they could find another lesser player to move.
I agree with Seidenberg also. He would help this defence and is only 27 years old. If the Isles what to make a trade with Chicago they better do it fast. The Leafs are loaded with defencemen and may be looking to dump one off to Chicago for some front line help. Burke has said he has an offer on the table that is very good. Don’t wait too long Snowy. We all know you are waiting for a bargain, but to get Stanley it usually means spending a little also.
#51 - good post. Zherdev is going to be UFA and is only 24 and was a top 5 pick. Ive heard he has a bad attitude which is a red flag for the type of team Snow is building but the talent is there. Very interesting to see how that plays out. I think it’s worth a shot because of his age.
I agree with Mike 8 and Streit 02. I’m a fan of Zherdev and a young 70 point player doesn’t come around every offseason. I’m pretty sure the Rangers wont sign him, and if Snow was inquiring about Kovy, I’m sure he will inquire about Nik. He may throw Antropov money at him.
I say get JT some protection and let the kids roll this next season. see what you have and then in the following year start filling a few holes. first thing is getting a little bigger then see which of the 44 goalies we have works out! ; )
Mike L, Mike 8 & Streit 02. I’m on board with trying to acquire Zherdev, he is young and he puts the puck in the net. Exactly what the Isles are looking for & NEED!!! The rumor is the Rangers will walk away from the deal if it is over $4M. Why wait until the hearing? Make a offer to the NYR and go from there. If the Rangers were to walk away…some team will outbid the Isles for Zherdev. So why wait, trade for his rights and sign him to a multi year deal. How about this for a top line Okposo, Tavares & Zherdev. Then add some NHL toughness to protect the kids.
Lets Go ISLANDERS!!!!!!!!
Bingo CB… The Isles lack of UFA signings has nothing to do w/the Isles not pursuing (although they’re clearly not willing to make people offers they can’t refuse) and moreso to do w/players not wanting to be here.
Isles will need to take players off cap strapped team’s hands as there’s slim pickings in this year’s UFA market. Lots of garbage out there.
Good UFA Fits for this team are:
RW - Kotalik - 1yr - 1.8
LW - Moen - 2 yrs - 1.2 per
D - Seidenberg - 3 yrs - 3.2 per
If you sign these 3 players and the team is healthy this year…look at the eastern conf its not that deep anymore, so you cannot rule out competition for a playoff spot.
Possible trade targets:
CHI:
D - Barker 3 yrs - 3.1 per
C/W - Sharp 3 yrs - 4.1 per
LW - Ladd - 1 yr - 1.7
RW - Byfuglein - yrs - 3 mil per
RW - Skille - 1 yr - 850
D - Ian White (Tor) - 1 yr - 950
#46 I can only speak from what I observe, and in my opinion Garth’s plan seems to be sprinkling in UFAs that will help the team. I am not for signing Kovalev (moot point anyway), I just don’t see what CB’s point of chastising Snow for asking about him. If you can’t see how Mark Streit fits into the rebuild at this point after watching a whole season of his fantastic play, then I’m not sure what justification you want. Every team needs older players to help the youngsters, plus to provide some competitive edge. Signing a couple of players over 30 doesn’t invalidate any plan to go younger.
Kovalev was in a weird situation for a number of reasons. One of the best players in the game at his role, he was incredibly inconsistent last year. You look at the season he had and figure that being sent home to get his head screwed on straight would have lowered his value, then the Sens panic and drop $5m per year on his head. At that price, given the two years he was probably demanding, the contract’s not worth it. Sens paid it because their fanbase is hungry and Murray needed to show some sort of progress to distract from the Heatley fiasco.
Garth kicking the tires to see if skilled vets want to play here doesn’t contravene anything he’s said about The Plan. If they can get good value with their signings, they’ll bite. If not, they won’t. That seems like a reasonable attitude to take.
Look…it’s simple. We have a habit here of looking and expressing interest in all the free agents out there. But the fact remains we are the leagues true bottom feeders. We only sign the remaining guys who are left out there at the end of their careers with little choice of places to go…for minimum wages. Or we sign a teams player who can’t quite crack the lineup and pray he’s a winner…like the way we got lucky with Mark Streit. But to think we are “players” in free agency is a real chuckle.
hope snow understands that once JT signs the contarct the clock is ticking…IF he is as good as the hype no way he want to stick around if we still suck big time into his 2nd year here
We area a building team with some youngs chips up and most still developing. We need to level set the expectatations of this years team and make it a good learning experience.
1) Accept a bottom 10 finish.
2) Allow nothing but all out effort every night. (KO sets that bar) Gordo needs to grow as a coach and be willing to discipline slackers.
3) Don’t allow frustrtaion to set in.
4) Sign a vet to compliment Weight (yes make Weight captain). This vet should be willing to play with limited ice time but be a go to guy during key face offs and end of games. This guy should also understand that by game 40 that role will slowly go away by the end of the season. He needs to set an example on and off the ice for these kids. Kinda sounds like Guerin…hummmmm… I still think that was a bad move.
5) Garth needs to take advantage of Chicago’s mistake and grab Sharp. It will cost Witt, but he is almost end of life hockey wise so who cares. Not to mention our sworn enemy Burke wants Sharp as well.
6) Line up goons and just have other teams understand that if you mess with Bailey or JT you will get an ass whoopin’.
7) Buy a 50 gallon barrel of mineral ice. Unless we make a move Rolo is going to end up hockeys version of a pin cushion. He will see pucks in his sleep, while driving, etc.
I had a dream we signed Briere,which is weird cause i dont like him…Yet if it comes true just remmmeber i can predict the future haha
ps i know it would have to be a trade but dreams are weird
Why is it that they’ll pay 4-5 mil for over the hill players but won’t pay for a guy that can give them long term results?
Stick with the plan. Good logic.
Especially if the plan is the have this young team getting the crap beaten out of them on a regular basis; especially if the plan is to get them used to losing on a regular basis.
When young players spend their games turtling, fearing their turns on the ice, and KNOWING that there’s nobody on the team who has their backs, I don’t see that as doing anything except stunting their development, if not destroying their careers forever.
This team, as presently constructed, most certainly IS in the running for Taylor Hall next season. Wake me up when this season is over, because like me, it’s gonna be UHG-LEE!
64 i had the same dream…spooky
CB makes a good point. This is the reason I stated earlier why people are surprised and upset over no FA signings despite Garth saying there would be no FA signings. Because the man “bluffs” his own fan base virtually every time he speaks to the media. It’s not really worth taking him at his word about these things. I don’t know if that’s a criticism as much as just an observation. I take everything Garth says with a grain of salt.
UIF makes a good point about CB making a good point. nevermind what the g.m. says. we already know that. he does business the way a lot of g.m.’s in sports do business. most in fact. i didn’t expect any big UFA signings and don’t understand why anyone did. i thought maybe he’d go for orr or brashear or neil (who got way more than anyone thought), but that was all. that he hasn’t obtained a tough yet is no big deal at this point. one can still be had by trade, maybe even 2. and maybe rechlicz’s boxing lessons will pay off.
61-I was thinking Jack Skille as well….wether a change of scenery deal for Tambellini or trading Sutton(when did he ever play)
or maybe it takes both. Decent Size….2nd/3rd liner?
Sign someone! Jeez!