How to fix the New York Islanders
The Islanders, losers of their last 5 games, need some fixing and tweaking in their lineup in order to be competitive for this season and seasons to comeThis season was one, that at least I considered to be a “throw-away” year for the Isles. They signed a bunch of one-year deals to under-achievers possibly hoping to lock them up to longer deals, or move them at the deadline to replenish a depleted farm system thanks to last seasons Ryan Smyth trade. So when the Isles jumped out of the gate it appeared that Ted Nolan and Garth Snow knew a lot better than me, however over the past 2 months, the season I thought was going to happen has started to come true. So how can we fix the Islanders? I have 5 suggestions.
1. Trade Ruslan Fedotenko to Toronto for Jason Blake and a draft pick. The Leafs are clearly in start-over mode and by acquiring the one year deal of Fedotenko it allows them to get out of the cap-heavy deal that JFJ signed the former Isle Blake to back over the summer. Blake, who netted a career best 40 goals last season with the Islanders would be a welcome sight for Islander fans who never wanted to lose Blake. The Isles have the cap room and the draft pick could help a team who has found a few gems in the later rounds.
2. Trade Miro Satan. So far, Satan has a career worst 12 goals and is in the last year of his deal. if the Isles decide to be sellers, Satan could have a lot of value for teams looking for a top-6 sniper. For those who miss out on Marian Hossa, they could give up a lot less for this rental player. I see him with the Red Wings who would be willing to part with at least the 2nd round pick Garth Snow would demand.
3. Bring up Kyle Okposo NOW! Snow lured Okposo out of the University of Minnesota in the middle of the season to sign a 3 year deal. Currently he is averaging over a point per game in the AHL for Bridgeport, and could be the Islanders best chance of a budding superstar. Allow him to get NHL experience to find chemistry with someone for next season. I feel like with Okposo’s hard nose sniper style of play, he could fit in very nicely with Mike Comrie, who despite at times looks like hes dancing on the ice, could find Okposo in key scoring areas
4. Jeff Tambelini is not as good as people think. Yeah he leads the AHL in scoring, but he only has 3 NHL goals in over 40 games with the Islanders. The main piece in the deadline deal for Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel, Tambellini has not panned out the way the Islanders had hoped and maybe its time to move on. I would like to see him moved for a top-4 defenseman who is not over 30. The Islanders have some good budding young stars on Defense, but they are missing a reliable veteran defenseman apart from Brendan Witt.
5. Trade Bill Guerin before his contract expires at the end of next season. Guerin, the captain, could draw a lot of attention from teams at the deadline as he has over the past few years. Despite being 36, Guerin is still a legitimate threat to score every time he has the puck. Guerin could probably command the most in terms of draft picks and prospects in return for his services for a playoff bound team. The former all-star game MVP could easily go back to the west (possibly Calgary) in which I would like to see a few picks come back for him or Alex Tanguay, which I wouldn’t mind either.