laine and trotz would be at eachothers throats lul

Yeah I don't think Maurice is ever winning a cup, I just don't buy into the systems he runs and his lineup decisions are self sabotaging, I know all fan bases **** about the choices the coach makes sometimes but with Maurice it's just literally the same thing over and over and over with the same results.

I know they don't have a defense core to win a cup with but I do think that a different coach could get more out of this group.

Well yeah, defence gets arguably worse (I say arguably because Mr Tuba and Myers were overrated) and then he goes “hey I got a great idea! Let’s play a boring lazy defensive system when we hardly have any good defensive players instead of playing fast paced possession hockey!” He literally tells the players to do the opposite of what they should be doing. Although since we finished middle of the pack In terms of GA (literally all thanks to Helle) he will now run the same systems again, and again, and again. I can’t wait to see a change.

If I were WPG GM, I would trade vesalainen and a 1st for danault and extend him. Trade ehlers/Connor for pulock and re-sign demelo.

Fire PM and hire gallant. Cup contenders

The sacrificing offense cause they were so worried about the dmen was pretty dumb, like really that D core wasn't good but it got by, had they turned up the offense a bit it would of been less of a concern.

I could write a novel about everything that was wrong with their systems/strategies but I don't feel like it.. Lol

What trotz (or any of the isles coaches) has been able to get out of that lineup is impressive. Metrics aside, the coaching staff took a team that wouldn’t have even made the playoffs if this were a normal year, to 2 wins away from the SCF. Not to mention out coaching Sullivan last year in 2019 vs pit. He has been great for them.

JPG had a great playoff run sure, but his regular season metrics have been average at best. Will he continue his success this season; or will he regress to being a below average 3C like he’s been in the past? Maybe the isles system will help him succeed, but I’d still be very hesitant to pay him that big money, especially with a cap crunch incoming

No doubt Trotz is a very good coach, but they would have made the playoffs with another coach such as gallant or DJ smith. I don't think those coaches would stubbornly play a bottom 5 defenseman in the league (boychuk) instead of dobson who proved he was NHL ready back in October. I don't think some fans realize how much one awful player can negatively impact a team- giving boychuk more minutes after pelechs injury in January singlehandedly put the isles season on life support. That's on trotz. Fans who don't follow the isles closely just assume that he carries a bunch of fringe NHLers to the playoffs, when that isn't the case.

Most of his career pageau has been a borderline 2C. His counting numbers have never been great, but his rate/underlying numbers have always been solid when you take into account quality of teammates and deployment (mostly defensive zone starts, yet is a strong play driver 5v5). Pageau is known for carrying below replacement level players and still being able to have a positive impact in terms of expected goals %.

as a pens fan... I know too well.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/brandon.holmes#!/vizhome/NHLIMPACTComparisonCharts/IMPACTCharts

just looking at his numbers on this website through the years, yeah his offensive zone starts is very low like you said, but besides 2020, his 5v5 numbers haven't looked great at all. Im sure quality of teammates is definitely an issue, but I still would never view him as a 2C on a cup team.

For sure, Pens should fire Jack Johnson into the sun.

If you look at micahs (@ineffectivemath) isolated impact for pageau , it has him as a very strong 5v5 play driver. Quality of teammates are a major factor , especially when you’re playing tough minutes against elite competition. I’m not saying pageau is some above average 2C, but he’s definitely a high end 3C, low end 2C.
The bruins and Blues both pay 5 mill+ for their 3rd line centers. Lou has given out some questionable contracts (komarov, hickey) but pageau isn’t it when you look at the team context + pageau’s fit.

Given our cap situation, what happened with the RFAs last summer, and his playoffs being excellent but not perfect, yes he should take a bridge deal. I think he will, Lou will play hardball with him and Barzal doesn't seem like the type that would hold out, even if he does want his money now. I don't know who his agent is, but I imagine it won't be an awful negotiation.



Trotz doesn't seem to mind young talent with us. Granted, he doesn't have a lot (Barzal, Beau, Dobson), but that hasn't been a sore spot in Trotz's time here. Dobson played in the final minutes of regulation and some of OT last night and looked really really good.



Pageau is incredible. Trotz may have made him a better player, but I don't think any Isles fan would call him overrated or say he's overpaid. I'm a big believer in center depth winning you championships. If you're going to overpay at any position, it's your centers and top pairing defensemen.



I said this in another thread, but it's so funny how the Jets and Islanders are great trading partners, but only if they want to do a blockbuster. I would absolutely love a deal for Laine, but it'd be hard to trade Pulock for him.



While I agree Barzal needs modest improvement and maturity (I kept saying during the playoffs he just needs to calm down and be a little more predictable), Tavares leaving did a lot more good than bad. We wouldn't be in a better spot with Tavares in the lineup or the locker room right now.

They said the same thing about Trotz and Ovechkin. Look how that turned out.

Yeah I actually think the pandemic in an odd way has played out well for the NYI. Honestly, this team probably does not make the playoffs in a full year. Now they take a way better and deeper TB team to six games in the eastern final. They can look to build on that. They I guess will try to sell to Barzal that the cap is flat, and if he wants to win, he will have to take a bit less. I would not buy that as a player personally, and would point to some of those bad contracts and ask why they did not take haircuts. Pageau was great in this playoffs. Absolutely worth the trade. But that contract with where he is positioned on this team, I don't know. If they sell Barzal on a bridge, I think you take it, hope the cap goes up the next time he is up. If not, NYI are going to be like every other team that learns that in a cap world, you can't be deep everywhere.

The one benefit for the islanders is that the flat cap will force them to play their NHL ready prospects - Lou and trotz can’t afford to be overly patient, which will benefit the isles because trotz relying on grinders like boychuk and kuhnhackl has held this team back.