He should've just come to San Jose. Would have solved both our problems

You guys don't get what NTC means do you. He doesn't want to leave and the Leafs aren't interested in trading him.

I think the Islanders are doing ok without him anyways

I think getting cup champ Barry Trotz behind the bench, living Legend Lou in the front office, and a goaltending tandem that posted 930SV% and 927SV% as opposed to 908 and 892 probably had a tad bit more of an impact than Tavares leaving.

The islanders were a dumpster fire for decades and they only cleaned up their act and got some competent management/coaching after Tavares left. 100% if they did that before he left, he prob stays and they are a much better team than they even are now.

Still, props to them and I literally hope they win the cup, cause they are such huge underdogs and I have massive respect for them

Hell, the islanders might not be able to afford barzal now, they surely couldn't with tavares

they offered him 100m over 8 years. Would’ve decimated the team. Nelson would’ve been the first player gone, might not find the money for Lee or get his leadership as an actual captain not a lead by example one, Pageau definitely isn’t here. No chip on the shoulder. They could’ve afforded him, but they’re happy they didn’t.

That's fair, Tavares would've eaten a hell of a lot of cap space. But he also would've maybe scored more goals, thus not needing some extra depth guys to step up. Lou built the team the way he did with the contracts he did because they have no big 10M+ stars - it prob would've been different but equal with Tavares, where the bottom 6 prob wouldn't have gotten paid so much

Or lou just woildnt have been able to waste money on leo komarov and matt martin.
The islanders would be a better team with him, and even if it cost them pageau, tavares is better and theyd Still have their first.

Lou has basically hooped them for the cap past this year. Even Without tavares they dont have enough room for their best forward and best d. They better hope they win the cup this season or its all gonna hit the fan after.

Lou is kind of infamous for those luxurious bottom 6 contracts - Dubas had to cleanse them from the roster this year

Yeap. Something people love to gloss over when waxing poetic about him. Lots of landmines needed to be cleared

The islanders will have no problem creating cap space to sign their 3 RFA. They need to trade two of Leddy/bailey/cizikas and buyout clutterbuck. That gives them more than enough cap space.

Yeah, it's super easy to trade bad contracts that no one wants

Oh yeah, trading a 2nd pairing pairing defenseman who’s top 10 in the league at leading the rush is going to be super hard. His advanced stats are a result of being saddled with boychuk in trotz system. There will likely be multiple GM’s interested in Leddy due to his flashy skill set and even if we did have to add a mid rd pick (highly unlikely) so be it. GM’s also like players on good teams , he won’t be hard to move.

Bailey is a consistent 50 pt winger and has 17 pts in 16 playoff games. Recency bias would definitely be a factor. He would be the easiest player to move.

Cizikas is one of the best 3Cs in the league with 1 year left on his contract.

It seems like you’re eager to see things hit the fan, even if that’s most likely not going to happen.

2 guys with lots of term at 30ish years old making 5 mill+ in a flat cap world won't be easy to move at all. Especially Bailey,
I thought cizikas had more term so he isnt as bad as I thought, however he's a mid range 3c at best.
As far as wanting to see it hit the fan? I guess people can only talk about the leafs cap troubles

Leddy has 2 years left, I wouldn’t call that a lot of term. If he was a UFA, he’d probably get somewhere around 5 mill x 3-4 years. Regardless, he’s not a cap dump. He has value - if in a flat cap world a team wants a sweetener, it wouldn’t take more than a mid rd pick. So either way he’s gone.

GM’s overpay older players as well as replacement level players in free agency every year. Bailey is an average 2nd line winger having an incredible playoffs which definitely increases his value. The flat cap affects how much they’ll be able to get in return for him.

Worst case scenario : Leddy + 3rd for a 7th rd pick, cizikas for a 3rd rd pick. Clutterbuck buyout saves 1.667 mill which leaves the isles with 18.61 mill in cap space.

It’s not a secret Leafs fans want to see lou lamoriello in cap trouble because of the zaitsev/Marleau signings.

I mean, if you have to move useful players for crap returns because you need cap room you are in cap trouble. At least thats what everyone tells leaf fans every day on here

Well Josh Bailey is elite obviously it's gonna be hard for teams to give all those first rounders to the isles

Wouldn’t have Nelson, probably wouldn’t have Lee.

Right over your head here. It's a jab at "el disappearo/ta da" Tavares and the "depthless/4 headed/non playoff/next dynasty team" TML...

It's not over my head you're just wrong about what the problem with this team is.