Monthly Archives: July 2009
Nate Thompson. Probably looking for a one-way deal, since he was up all last season with the big club – 43 games in, 39 out with injuries. This may not even make it to a hearing. I prefer to blame the decision to go to arbitration on his agent (j/k). As I’ve written before, Thompson could be an effective fourth-line player, scrapper, faceoff guy. Might even get better with health. I know this is a wasted plea, but please stay classy, Islanders Country. Tavares and UFA talk continues in following threads.
I will be at the John Tavares press conference on Wednesday at 12:30 pm at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum and hope you will join me.
Johnaroo II should be neat. Won’t have 10,000 like the Draft Party, since it’s a Wednesday afternoon. But it should be a good crowd an a unique show. This time, you don’t need any tickets.
Who knows, maybe John’s 3-year, Entry Level contract will be finalized between Garth Snow and Pat Brisson by then.
RSVP in Comments if you can make it. UFA discussion continues in next thread.
UPDATED at 11:30 pm - Garth Snow re-iterates to Greg Logan why he is staying the course:
“We have the flexibility to make additions to the lineup, but I’m leery of bringing in players who are going to take ice time and compromise the development of our young players. The path we’re taking is building through the draft. The best situation for our team is if some young player comes to camp and earns a spot on our roster. I don’t think I’ve deviated from the plan we made public a year ago.”
My reaction: Fine and dandy. I just don’t think the addition of one skilled forward and one skilled defenseman – both younger than 30 – deviates from the plan or compromises the development of young players. Have Jesse Joensuu (39 points in 71 AHL games) or Trevor Smith (1 goal in 7 NHL games) shown enough? Robin Figren and Justin DiBenedetto were scratched from some games in the AHL playoffs. The Islanders’ roster has a long way to go before you could consider it bursting with young NHL-ready (or NHL-close) talent.
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Francois Beauchemin and Alex Tanguay, the top-4 defenseman and top-6 forward Point Blank identified as smart, reasonable, affordable and perfect fits for your rebuilding Islanders, are still available. 72 96 hours after the market opened, these two 29-year old skilled performers can still be added to your team.
They may not be around for long. There are rumblings Tanguay may return to the Avs. There’s also a rumor Beauchemin has a nod and a wink with Toronto and is just waiting for the Maple Leafs to clear some cap space.
Still, we thought Tanguay was an ideal semi-reclamation project with wicked offensive skills to make John Tavares feel at home. (Look at him with his head up, threading that perfect pass!) Beauchemin could make it back-to-back summers the Islanders inked the best value defenseman.
Neither would mess up the payroll. Neither would take valuable icetime away. Beauchemin’s arrival might cost the Fantastic IVth some starts. Tanguay might move fellow finesse forward Jeff Tambellini to the 13th spot.
Did I mention Beauchemin and Tanguay are a decade younger than Doug Weight and Dwayne Roloson? Did I mention they’re younger than Mark Streit, Richard Park, Radek Martinek, Brendan Witt and Jon Sim?
Or how about this? Let’s say Tanguay ends up only getting a year or two on his contract. Heaven forbid he plays well but the Islanders are not in the playoff race. You could move him for a late first round pick. Value, people!
Look, the John Tavares coronation on Wednesday at the Coliseum will be a lovely, inspired public event. There will be plenty of press there – the Canadian crew we haven’t seen since the arrival of Ryan (Oops, Here Come Those Tears Again) Smyth will be back. Many fans will give up their lunch hours and maybe their days to be there. But you know darn well it would be a far happier place if this rebuild was nudged along a tad faster than just by the arrival of an 18-year old goal scorer.
There’s rebuilding and there’s patience. And then there’s giving your fans a little hope, your team a little skill – all without messing up the grand plan.
About That Chicago Fire: Came home late last night to a few dozen emails about the Blackhawks possibly losing Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, Ben Eager and a few other chips because they may have screwed up some RFA paperwork. Everyone figures that if the Chicago Six become unrestricted free agents, the Islanders would have to jump all over some of them.
Let me ask you something. I know Scott Gordon coached Versteeg, who is only 23. I get that Barker (also just 23) is a real good dman and Eager (25) would add the required toughness. But Jay Bouwmeester is 25, Marian Gaborik and Mike Komisarek 27, Martin Havlat and Jordan Leopold 28.
The Islanders have not been serious players this week for any of the excellent and young UFAs because they want to provide icetime and development to the players they already have. Those are their words. So why would you think they would be among the top bidders for Versteeg, Barker and Eager?
Comments. Comment Guidelines. Happy 4th of July to all fellow Americans out there. And a huge thank you to the Point Blank readers who in June broke March’s record for daily unique visits.
Just as another storm hit Long Island on Friday, word came the Islanders had signed two-way defense prospect Mark Flood. Put this one in the category of Ken Morrow pro scouting department “try” because the 24-year old Flood is a right-shot dman with ability that hasn’t gotten his NHL chance but will with the Islanders.
The 6-1, 200-pound former Peterborough Pete possesses some Gordo Guy skills – heady, desire to push the puck up ice, big shot on the power play. Flood played the last three seasons with the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate in Albany. Last season the former 6th round of the Canadiens was 6-15-31 in 76 games with the River Rats. He had 10 goals in 53 games in ’07-08. The NYI also signed AHL Binghamton’s Greg Mauldin, a speedy right wing with a good release who could get 20-25 goals for the Sound Tigers. Comments.
After four weeks off for Tavaresmania and the free agent un-frenzy, we jump back in with a major Lighthouse Project update because right after this holiday weekend it heats up again. Put a circle around these dates.
July 7: On Tuesday at around 10:30 am at Hempstead Town Hall, Supervisor Kate Murray and the ToH will approve the Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement. Don’t mean to dissuade anyone from going, but it’s not exactly going to have the buzz of Tavares last Friday. If you are a supporter of the Lighthouse Project it’s more important you clear time for…
Early August (date TBD): Probably during the first week of August, the Town of Hempstead will host a massive public hearing on the arena project. Do not lump this one in with all the meetings that already happened. If you are an advocate for the Islanders and/or the Lighthouse and there’s only one day you could ever give up to show your support, this is the all-day extravaganza you must attend. The proponents need to blow away the opponents.
The parties will negotiate a location. Count out the Coliseum for fear of home-ice advantage. Somewhere on the Hofstra grounds sounds about right. Stay tuned for details in the days after the July 7 meeting.
September 22: Islanders vs. Los Angeles at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Fascinating how that brilliant PR salvo of almost six months ago has kind of been forgotten about, don’t you think? This is a reminder that the exhibition game is actually happening. Best way to tell how Charles Wang is feeling about Lighthouse negotiations: whether he shows up in Kansas City or not.
October 3: It’s the start of the Islanders’ 2009-10 regular season and Wang’s deadline for “certainty” from the Town of Hempstead. “Just tell me ‘Yes’ or ‘No,’” Wang has said a lot.
As I wrote on May 21, there’s still almost no way the Town of Hempstead gives Wang a “yes” by October 3. Because the first six months of this year were wasted by posturing, there’s so much work to be done, and it’s impossible to imagine the ToH meeting Wang’s deadline. (By the way, whatever happened to that document of responsibilities Tom Suozzi said he would make public “10 days” after the June 5 hand-holding meeting?).
When Oct. 3 passes without any Town certainty, all eyes will be on Wang’s next move. But hey – it’s too early to be so darn cynical. Let’s see what happens July 7, and do not miss the big public hearing in early August.
Comments on the Lighthouse in this thread only. Let us know if you will show at the major hearing.
UFA discussion continues below. Again, I do not expect anything other than maybe more AHL signings today.
Class move by Billy Guerin. Instead of using his one day with the Stanley Cup this summer to bring it home to Massachusetts, he’s delivering it to a place dear to his family’s heart: Long Island.
“I have four kids, and all their friends are there,” the former Islanders captain told The Republican. “This is their turn to celebrate.”
Comments on Bill Guerin’s decision.
Point Blank on Twitter
Yep, that day went as expected. Our understanding is that the Islanders do not have any serious negotiations at this point with any NHL players. They could get in the mix for a UFA slipper or two, but we wouldn’t change those 4th of July weekend plans.
I’d love to tease you with some info that might drive hits between now and the Tavares press conference, but that would be deceitful. Count on seeing a few more fringe players in Transactions. You’ll have to excuse my use of the phrase “depth player” in earlier posts. In the old PR job, that was a euphemism for “AHL player who could get in a few games when the groin pulls and hip flexors pile up.”
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UPDATED at 1:46 pm: As we figured this morning, here comes the depth.
Islanders just sent out a press release announcing one-year, two-way contracts for the below-mentioned Scott Munroe, left wing Jeremy Reich and defenseman Brett Westgarth.
In our UFA previews we said the Islanders would sign a fringe player their pro scouts or Scott Gordon might personally believe in. Fitting that category would be Reich, the team captain in Providence last season who played 90 games for the Bruins between 2006-08. Reich is 6-1, 200 pounds and 30 years old, but get this: last season he had 21 goals and 161 penalty minutes. So there.
Westgarth is a tough stay-at-home defenseman who played for Worcester (AHL) last season.
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11:48 am: As predicted, the depth signings begin. We have confirmed a report by the reliable Andy Strickland that the Islanders have signed AHL Philadelphia goaltender Scott Munroe to a one-year contract.
We listed Munroe as a top 3-2 candidate in a post two months ago. If Rick DiPietro can’t play, Munroe is a capable backup to Dwayne Roloson. He played 56 games for the Phantoms last season, with a 31-19-4 record, 2.46 GAA and .926 save percentage. Kudos to Strickland for the scoop.
If DiPietro can play, Munroe is a lock for Bridgeport. That leaves potentially one spot for Nathan Lawson and 2009 second round pick Mikko Koskinen. This is not a problem, certainly not a problem worth thinking about on July 2.
Then again, it’s becoming more and more impossible not to see the arrivals of Roloson, Munroe and drafting of Koskinen and Anders Nilsson as a sign of how much the Islanders are counting on DiPietro.
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Islanders: Most likely candidate to be this year’s “Mark Streit signing,” whether he lands with the Islanders or not - Francois Beauchemin. He even fights a little.
Also available: Defensemen Paul Mara, Rob Scuderi and Jordan Leopold. Plus some top-end forwards the Islanders will not sign (Saku Koivu, Alexei Kovalev), one they could look at to get the puck to the kids (Alex Tanguay) and a whole bunch of gritty-gutty role players (Chad Larose, Travis Moen, Mike Grier). There could even be another depth goalie.
Eric Godard may be available in Pittsburgh. Consider it future considerations for Billy G.
If the Islanders didn’t sign an impact forward or defenseman on day one, as expected, I wouldn’t expect them to sign one on July 2. If you’re one of the folks holding out hope for a free agent goal scorer or top-4 dman, your best bet may be to see who falls through the cracks of July and into August. (Remember the summer of 2007 and the great Andy Sutton vs Dani Markov debate?).
Again, you have been warned.
A Word on the Wrecker: Love Joel Rechlicz. Big heart, great energy. Had a long talk with him after a game in April. Sincere, determined, proud. But let’s slow down a bit. The Wrecker played half last season in the ECHL and sat in the stands in Bridgeport as a healthy AHL scratch almost as many times as he suited up for the Islanders (17 games). At one point, Scott Gordon even told the press some Bridgeport depth players were up for a few meaningless end-of-Islanders season games because he wanted to respect the Sound Tigers’ run for the playoffs.
I have no doubt Rechlicz will continue to develop under his mentor, the outstanding former heavyweight Eric Cairns. But remember: he was signed last May 5 as a project, a very worthy one. Just as you would hope the Islanders would not rush the development of a goal scorer or a puck-moving defenseman, I don’t see why they would force a fighter-agitator into the lineup ahead of schedule.
Sound Tigers: The inevitable “I can’t believe they signed those guys with Tanguay still on the board” should arrive in the next day or two. That’s when the great Mike Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post will break the news that the Islanders have signed an American Leaguer or three for Bridgeport.
For Jack Capuano‘s crew to win a few games next season, the Islanders are going to have to start adding pieces. One or two will be in the category of NHL “tries,” while others will be AHLers. So far, the Sound Tigers have lost their best two-way center (Jeremy Colliton, off to Europe), one of their top defensemen (Joe Callahan), their third and fourth-leading scorers (Kurtis McLean and Ben Walter) and are likely saying bon voyage to No. 1 (Mike Iggulden). They have added Tony Romano, the Long Islander by way of Peterborough and Jason Dale, a 43-point forward with Brampton as a 20-year old last season.
Expect some AHLers in the Transactions over the next week. Yup, I hear ya. No one cares. You want NHLers. Got it. Understood.
With the Day One Free Agent Frenzy over, Comment Guidelines are back on. No more than 3 posts per reader per thread, and the rest of the usual rules. Thank you.
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