A bit rich on the AAV in my opinion, but not hating anything Toews has done since he got here. Would be wise to lock up ASAP

We need to get one of him or Pulock done sson so we Lou can put more focus on figuring out where Barzy's contract ends up

Giving him an AAV that high would cause some issues for the Isles, but letting go of Toews would be more catastrophic. I think he has elite potential as an offensive defenseman, and it's getting harder and harder to argue against that. But consider this:

Toews likely gets 5m+ aav
Pulock likely gets 6m+ aav
Barzal likely gets 10m+ aav

On top of adding about 21m in entirely necessary cap hit next year, the Isles should have about 14m in cap space next year assuming Martin, Brassard and Greiss all leave. The Isles also desperately need an addition to their Top 6; their current offense just isn't cutting it.

So I'd argue that the Isles need to find a way to unload some of our more problematic contracts as soon as they can. Boychuk has been playing great hockey lately and hasn't shown his age yet. I could see a bubble team taking a chance on him if we're willing to include a 1st rounder. Leddy could get traded for assets without needing a bribe, so that trade should also happen ASAP.

I know Leddy and Boychuk are playing well right now, but it's going to be ten times harder moving them in July when everyone will know we're desperate to make space for Barzal/Toews/Pulock and will demand a gigantic bounty of picks. And the emergence of Toews and Dobson should also mean this move won't doom the team's chances this year.

Toews is also very underrated in the Dzone - he’s 26 years old and if for some reason Lou lamoriello decides to do a 2 year 3 mill AAV (unlikely) to bring him to his age 28 season, I have no doubt the market for him would be 7 mill +. Anything between 5-5.5 mill over 7-8 years is a win for the isles.

Although boychuk has been playing well, I doubt Lou has the creativity to trade his contract. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leddy/mayfield are both traded, and they go with pelech-pulock, toews-Dobson, aho-boychuk, hickey 7D next season.

I made a post about trading Boychuk. The idea is to trade Leddy for as many picks as possible (I'm guessing 2 2nds and a 3rd) and then send those picks along with some extra assets (Bellows/Ho-Sang) and a 1st to get a bubble team to take the entirety of Boychuk's contract. I explain it better on the post itself though.

I hate to say it, but you're probably right about Lou not having the creativity to pull off a trade that unloads Boychuk. He's more of a builder than a deal maker.

I like Lou as president of hockey ops, I just wish he hired someone to be the GM

Gotta also remember it takes two GMs to make a deal. Everyone is complaining about Lou not making moves, but other GMs need to be willing to part with what Lou deems his players value is. If teams aren't willing to do that, then I'm glad Lou has stood pat. The team is on a 7 game win streak and are actually scoring goals this year and all people can do is complain about how Lou isn't making any moves. GMs are probably low-balling on Leddy because of his year last year, but he's shown early on this year, last year may have been a fluke... I applaud Lou for standing his ground here.

Now is not the time to sell low on Leddy or Boychuk. Come the TDL or Offseason, then you can move them for less than value to clear CAP, but right now, you hold off till someone meets your asking price... simple as that.

Also, about this post, I have no issues with Toews being signed to a Sam Girard type deal, as I think he'll be better over that time. The real question to start asking is... and I'm going to preference this by saying, this is not something I WANT to do, but could be more of a necessity given the 3 RFAs this offseason... could it be time to move Pulock, with Toews now being a very close behind #2 D who can easily slot into that #1 spot??

With our RD as deep as it is, Boychuk playing well (and not easy to be moved), Mayfield being a solid 2nd pairing D on a cheap contract, Dobson certainly looking like he's NHL ready and Wilde likely ready to stop in next season... could Pulock be moved to help the CAP situation next year AND bring in a legit Top 6 or a haul of picks/prospects.... Again, not saying I want go this route, but could be an interesting option in the offseason.

I can see your point on Leddy but not making any moves at all (although the team has done well scoring goals the last few games) is still a failure By Lou considering he stated he would address the top 6 and Barry Trotz said that the top 6 needs more “pop”. Erik Haula went for a prospect and a conditional pick and he has 7 goals in 11 games, JT Miller (who lou was in on according to verified sources) went for a 1st and a 3rd (13 pts in 11 games). The goal here should be to win the Stanley cup, not exceed expectations and get eliminated in the 2nd round again. Currently the team as constructed cannot win a playoff series against Carolina or Boston. Isles have lost their last 6 games against the canes and their last 5 against Boston. They play a similar style with more skilled forwards.

Pelech had the 7th best defensive impact among defenseman with tough usage last season. He’s the top pairing LHD unless he gets traded (big mistake). So it would have to be pelech-Dobson , toews-mayfield. If the islanders are going to break up one of the best top pairings in the NHL and trade pulock, the return better be an elite sniper.

Ok, first, Erik Haula is not a Top 6 player. He's a 3rd line center who was hurt most of last year, I don't blame Lou for not wanting to give up a prospect and a pick for another bottom 6 guy. Yes, he's having a good year, so far, for Carolina in their system, but let's not kid ourselves and think ANYONE would have predicted his start this year. As for Miller, I agree he could have helped, but he's also signed for 5m+ for 3 years after this one. If Lou traded for him the Isles would be over the CAP and forced to make another move, and seeing as TPA couldn't take any salary back they couldn't have offset that way. And, honestly, I think a 1st and a 3rd is a little high a price for Miller, given the situation it would have put the Isles in, so I'm glad Lou prevailed in that one and didn't go higher.

As for not making moves, it's not like Lou hasn't tried. He had the biggest offer out there for Panarin by 1m dollars and Panarin chose to go a rebuilding team instead of a playoff team... simply can NOT blame Lou for that. He's dangled Leddy, a Top 4 puck moving LHD all offseason for a Top 6 winger and got nothing because most people think Leddy is washed up after last season.

Lou did everything right this offseason, he went after the biggest FA available and decided to bet on Leddy and hold onto him for him to rebound (which he has) in order to maximize his trade value. I'm also fairly certain the Isles were one of the teams who reached out to Marner regarding a OS, but it's clear now he didn't want to sign one. Lets not also forget that last year Lou could have Mark Stone, but it would have cost the Isles Dobson, should he have made that move just to say he made a move??

Making a move simply for the sake of making one is NEVER a smart idea. The team has gelled over the last 2 seasons and this year they are looking much better offensively now that they have adjusted to Trotz' system. While a Top 6 FW would be great, it also has to be balanced against blocking giving young guys (like Wahlstrom and Dobson - who both look NHL ready) a chance along the way.

Lastly, Pelech, while a solid defenseman, is not someone you lose sleep over losing, especially if he's going to command 4-5+ million per season. He's easily replaceable in the Isles D core, especially right now with Leddy, Toews, Hickey and Aho all under contract and guys like Vande Sompel, Bolduc, Wotherspoon, etc on the way.

We disagree on a lot , and that’s fine - you give him credit for trying to make moves, the fact is he failed to get the job done. Erik haula is not a 3rd line quality F, he had 29 goals in 17-18, was injured most of last season and now he’s fully healthy and contributing at a borderline elite rate.

It’s evident this team needs another top 6 forward to take that next step. Like I said, right now they are headed towards a 2nd round exit, there’s like a 1% we can beat Carolina or Boston in a 7 game series.

Pelech is elite defensively and he has the best xGF% out of all the regulars - I wouldn’t call a player of his caliber replaceable. Trotz loves him and he’s the exact defenseman Lou lamoriello covets. He’s a core player and will be given an extension.

I'm not saying the Isles don't NEED a Top 6 FW, because they do. What I'm saying is I have no problem with Lou striking out on players he's tried for if it means he doesn't need to mortgage the future of this team, like most on this board want him to do or he's a failure. Vegas went to the Cup Finals 2 years ago and last year traded a haul for Stone and didn't make it back to the finals. Would you have wanted Lou to trade Dobson, dal Colle and a 2nd in a deal for Stone (that's what it would have taken to get him) because the team NEEDS a Top 6 FW? No, I don't think any Isles fan with a brain would make that trade.

Lou has been rumored to be in on everyone (Stone, Panarin, Miller, etc) yet not one of those players have made their team better or won them a Cup. In fact, you could arguably say the Isles are better than Vegas (Stone), NYR (Panarin) and Vancouver (Miller) at this stage. My point is, when you're team is playing well, which the Isles are, you don't rush into making a trade just because... that's the kind of short-sighted thinking that landed us with Andrew Ladd for 7 years.

For the record, the team right now is completely different than the team that played Carolina a few weeks ago. They've looked much better offensively and defensively over the last 2 weeks and have scored 13 goals in the last 3 games. Before we right them off on a 2nd round exit 6 months from now, why not see how they play CAR and BOS a few times before hand. And for the record, that CAR team that swept us in the playoffs, we beat 3 out of 4 times in the regular season last year... so this team CAN beat them and have shown they can.

Haula IS a 3rd line players. Before his 29 goal season with Vegas 2 years ago he had NEVER eclipsed 15 goals or 35 points in a season. He played 3C for Vegas and plays 3C for Carolina now, not to mention that 97% of this board (including you, IIRC) were clamoring for him to be our 3C this year... definition of a 3rd liner.

Finally, Pelech is an excellent defender, but I wouldn't call him elite. And don't get me wrong, I like Pelech, but if it comes down to paying him 4-5m (or more) per year, he'll either be let to walk or traded in his final year. Max Pelech and Mayfield should get in their next deals should be 3-3.5m AAV, otherwise Dobson, Wilde, Bolduc, Vande Sompel, Aho, Wotherspoon can all replace them both for much cheaper.

First of all, Vegas was absolutely robbed in the 1st round against the sharks (who had no business winning that series, shout out to the refs) and I have no doubt they would have beaten the avs. Who knows if they would beaten the blues but they had a much better shot than the sharks. Mark stone definitely made them a more dangerous team - he had 12 points in 7 games, 6 of those points were goals. He's a PPG player in the regular season and the best defensive winger in the NHL. You can make the argument for trading dobson for him - it depends if you want a two way elite defenseman for the next 10 years or a 35 goal 80+ pt (if he stays healthy) winger to play with Barzal. Stone is 27 and will likely give you that production for at least the first 6 years. I don't think you can make the argument that the Islanders a better team than Vegas, who have arguably the best forward corps in the NHL and an above average defense. They are tied for 8th in PP % and 2nd in the league PK%. Marc Andre Fleury is also once again proving he is still an elite goaltender.

Mark stone and JT miller have definitely made their teams better. There was just an article on the Athletic website on why jT miller has been the Canucks best forward (this is on a team that has Elias Pettersson and Brock boeser). He's fast, great on the PP, above average defensively, and has a great shot. Exactly the type of player the islanders could use. He's only 26 and he is locked up until he's 29 (prime years) at a very reasonable cap hit. Of course Lou would have had to make other moves to make it work, but that's what he's paid to do. He has not proven that he can be creative in the salary cap era. He's a great POHO, he changed the culture, and hired trotz, but his personnel decisions have been pretty underwhelming. The fact that he offered panarin 12.5 mill and had no plan B is very concerning - he acknowledged he needed to upgrade the top 6, offered panarin a bunch of money, and then said "we're happy with the guys we have, I don't worry about goals). It reminds of something Garth Snow would say. You can die on the hill of "he tried" but he didn't do what he said he was going to do. That's the reality of it. Garth Snow paid Andrew Ladd like a franchise player when he was already on the decline (age 31) because he had to make up for losing Frans Nielsen and okposo to free agency. Much different situation - that was a panic move. Overpaying old veterans on July 1st is never a good move.

Pelech's defensive numbers are elite though. I just mentioned he had the 7th best defensive impact in the NHL last season among defenseman with tough usage. That is extremely impressive. He's also been the islanders best overall defenseman to start this season, metrics from Natural stat trick if you want to look them up. He's not flashy, but he's cemented himself as a legitimate top pairing defenseman. Mayfield and pelech shouldn't even be in the same cconversation. Mayfield is solid, but he does not face the same quality of competition as pelech, isn't as good on the PK, and also doesn't have the level of hockey IQ that pelech has. Mayfield is a #4, #5 defenseman, pelech is a #2. Dobson, Wilde are both RHD, Bolduc is a project (likely 3-5 years away), Vande Sompel and Wotherspoon ceiling is likely 3rd pairing. Aho is the only LHD that can become a top 4 D in the near future, but unless that actually comes to fruition, pelech is in the islanders long term plans.

I agree that the team has been playing very well recently, but the problem with Carolina + Boston is they play a similar style. They forecheck extremely well with more skilled players. Carolina is a much different team than they were when the islanders beat them in Fall 2018. Their 2018 #2 pick came into his own in the 2nd half of the season (has 10 pts in 11 games this season), they traded for Nino Niederreiter (nino-aho-teruvainen became one of the most effective 1st lines in the NHL). They improved during the offseason adding dzingel (27 goals last season), haula , and their blue chip prospect Martin Necas, who was top 10 in Corey pronman top 100 prospects. Also Jake Gardiner > de Haan.

At least we were able to beat Carolina at some point last season. Islanders have been outscored 20-5 against Boston in their last 5 games. I feel like every time we play Boston we look outmatched.

So my point is, although we have playing well, Lou should not be complacent. He should always be looking to make the team better and not be content with making the playoffs and winning a round.

You're assuming that just because Lou hasn't made a move, that he's complacent?? There is no way to know what goes on behind the scenes when he's engaging other GMs for Trades, or FAs to sign. It's become pretty evident that top tier FA won't come here, and that's fine but to assume that Lou has failed just because he hasn't made a trade to address the Top 6 is laughable. The people (coaches and players) we brought in have turned the Isles into a playoff contender. He brought in coaches and players last year to turn the worst defensive team in the league, into the best and they have continued on that route this season. Lou job is to bring a sustained winning atmosphere to the Isles and bring home a cup, not to do all that in ONE season, not to appease an impatient fan base and I'd say he's done a pretty damn good job of doing that so far. EVERYONE expected the Isles to crash and burn last year when JT left and EVERYONE expected them to regress and miss the playoffs this year. Last year they finished second in the Metro and so far this year, while the defense has regressed slightly, the offense (their biggest issue last season) has actually gotten better.

Yes, Stone is a great player and he's improved Vegas' forward core even more but he still hasn't put them over the top, however given that the cost for him would have been too high. Dobson, another roster player and a 2nd round pick PLUS having to sign him to a deal north of 9m was not something they should have done. Anyone who has watched Dobson play this season can see this kid is going to be a Top 2-way defenseman in this league for years to come, and anyone who says they would have given him up for Stone is a joke. As for Miller, again, yes he's made VAN better, but no one is claiming they are Cup contenders even with that move.

Lou could have probably traded Leddy this offseason (heck, several teams needed and still need a D like him) but coming off last season teams probably aren't offering much for Leddy. By your logic, Lou should have moved him regardless, for less of a return, just so fans can say he's doing something?? Or he should have overpaid and used Leddy and additional assets, to get a Top 6 FW, again, just so the fans can say he did something?? OR, maybe he held onto Leddy in the hopes he'd rebound (which he has) and he could actually get proper value for him... seems like the smart and RIGHT thing to do.

We could argue this all day, everyday, but I'll take the side of the guy who's been working in hockey and building championship teams everywhere he's been for decades, then the side of impatient Isles fans everyday. Just remember, as you pointed out in the Ladd situation, overreacting to save face and appease a fan base rarely works out for the better, so I'll take Lou's level headed approach and ability to wait things out for the deal that BEST suites the Isles, over the reactionary GM who wheels and deals just to appease fans 10 out of 10 times.

Isles fans just need to have a little patience and let Lou do is job. This team has a SOLID foundation right now and an influx of talented prospects in the system that aren't too far off. Wahlstrom could end up being the Top 6 FW to play on Barzal's wing by the end of the season or next season and we wouldn't have even needed to trade anyone away to get that... hmmm....