Since Isles Realist and Donald Blake don't understand math bc of their blinding hatred for the team they supposedly root for
Assumptions:
Salary Cap expansion to 80 million: this is not my assumption this is Donald Blake's
Tavares will sign higher than I believe he will sign for, 11 million
Bailey will sign for higher than I believe he will sign for, 6 million
Team is not bringing back halak
Team is not bringing back Nelson
After JT and Bailey Signings:
(1) Top 4 D
(1) Starting Goalie
(2) 3rd Line wingers
(1) 3rd Line Center
(1) 4th line Winger
(2) 2 Bottom pairing D
Like every Team in the NHL, although Islander fake fans and haters of the team like Isles Realist and donald Blake would never admit that islanders do things that most teams do, The islanders will fill some of these needs through prospects and RFAs. Those needs are
Bottom Pair D: Mayfield, RFA no arbitration rights. less than Pelech contract
Bottom Pair D: Pulock, Arbitration rights, poor leverage in arbitration hearings. the same or less then Pelech.
3rd line Wingers: 2 of 3: Bellows, Beauviller, and Ho-sang. all three of these players are on ELC. for people like Islesrealist who dont understand that terminology, that means entry level contract.
assume that Mayfield and Pulock total 3 million between the two of them recieving bridge deals
This leaves:
(1) Starting Goalie
(1) Top 4 D
(1) 4th line winger
(1) 3rd line center
Starting Goalie
Targets: Annti Raanta, Aaron Dell, Robin Lehner-(Trade required).
All three a startinfgquality goalies. I can hear uneducated "hockey fan" Islesrealist saying none of those will help the islanders. because in his fantasy land head he believes that there is some elite, vezina goalie available in UFA. With Isles goalie prospects Soderstrom and Sorokin not that far off, I believe the Islanders go after a shorter term more money. either Raanta or Dell at 4 x 4
Top 4 D
UFA Targets: Jack Johnson, Tobias Enstrom, Kevin Bieksa, Alexei Emelin, Mike Green.
Most top D available in UFA are defensive minute eaters over 30. Isles have a ton of prospects on D as is, so really they only need a short term deal. Alexei Emelin would be my pick at 4.5 million at 3 yrs. probably could sign for less given that many teams will be waiting on the 2019 UFA class of OEL, Karlsson and Doughty.
4th line Winger
UFA class with a ton of wingers both top 6 and bottom 6. too many to name, not enough demand. I can see the Islanders signing a Benoit Pouliot for 1.75 million for 2 yrs
The cheapest of these players would be Leteestu. the most expensive would be Bozak. There are an unusual amount of Centers available this year. the big names like Sedin, Statsny, Thorton, Backlund maybe even Bozak will see 5 million plus ( 2C) money. at most the Isles will be spend 4.5 million on a 3rd center either a strong offesnive or strong defensive center will solidify the middle of this line up
Depth players
easy Tanner Fritz, Bernier as depth players on Forward. Sign a depth defender on 2 way deal worth 900,000 aka what most teams do to fill out their depth positions
And there you go. A 23 man roster, that hits all the needs and has 1.6 million to in cap room. I know Donald and Islesrealists blind hatred for the team they claim to root for disables them from thinking things out rationally but hey what can you do delusional people find ways to justify their delusions.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
CapFriendly
CapFriendly