Explanations for every blessed move: (also, side note, I won't be using hindsight in this scenario, because it would be pretty unfair if I did)
Players not signed/different contract:
Leo Komorav- never signed, do I rly have to explain this one
Lee- different contract, probably could’ve gotten him for less if we weren’t so desperate for scoring after failing to sign Panarin. A 6x6.5AAV contract probably would’ve suited him well. I gave him 5 years in the ACGM cuz he’d have 5 years left.
Hickey- never extended to a 30 year contract. Let’s say he was signed at a fair 3x1.5AAV contract. He’d have one year left at this point.
Ross Johnston- never signed
Matt Martin- not resigned after this season, didn’t mind the move to bring him in initially though
Pulock- with more cap flexibility, we sign him to a longer term deal. I think a 7 year deal with a 6.75mil AAV fits the bill.
Pageau- I might get flack for this one, but here’s my thought process: He’s probably the best 3C in the league, and you could argue he’s worth his lofty contract, but I personally don't believe you need the best 3C to win. You need depth, star power and cap flexibility to keep your cup window open as long as possible. I feel like a 5mil 3C is counter-intuitive to my cap space point. I also think the team should be young, which extends the window and makes more sense for a rebuild, which is what I would would have went through after JTs departure. I'll get to who I would have rather gone for instead in a bit.
Draft Changes (only doing changes for the first 3 rounds, also, this is what I would have done at the time, leaving hindsight out of this):
2018: loved the first 3 picks (Wahlstrom, Dobson, Wilde,) but I'd change the Ishkakov pick. Who knows what he could become, but at the time the guy I wanted was Kirill Marchenko. He's a guy whos got a lot of potential and I've always been a fan of guys in later rounds from Russia (I realize that's exactly what Ishkakov is, but I didn't know who he was when we were drafting that year, but I liked Marchenko.)
2019: Oh boy did we botch this draft. I remember it was the isles turn to pick, and I was really hoping for one of Tomasino or McMichael and both ended up being in there, I was so excited. Alas, they took some kid I've never heard of. Of course, Tomasino and McMichael look like studs while Holmstrom struggled in the AHL this year. Now, if I were GM, i probably would have went Tomasino, so that's who I'm going for. A guy I was gunning the Isles to take was Michal Teply, who went round 3 to the hawks. While Bolduc could be a player, this ACGM is not using any hindsight, so at the time Teply would have been my pick.
2020: Without the Pageau trade, we got out 1st and 2nd round picks back, great! I highly doubt we have the 28th pick in this case, so I'm just gonna put my pick at 18 to be fair. The best player at 18 IMO was either Lapierre or Schnieder. I'm gonna go Lapierre because our RHD is already stacked for the future (Pulock, Dobson, Wilde.) With my second round pick, I would have taken Yan Kuznetzov, considering the LHD prospect pool is quite shallow with me not drafting Bolduc in this scenario. I would not have taken Alex Ljungkrantz with my third round pick, as he has almost no offensive upside. I would instead draft Zion Nybeck.
Goalie Switch: Me, just like very other isles fan, would have brought back Lehner instead of Varly. And yes, I likely would have signed Lehner in the first place, as their wasn't much else on the market at the time. Some people think Sorokin would only sign if Varlamov was on the team, but I don't think that's the case. Imagine how amazing a tandem of Sorokin/Lehner would be.
Reversed trades/restructured trades (and disclaimer on Timashov/Greer):
Pageau trade- explained above
Toews trade- since I don't sign below replacement level guys to lucrative deals we'd have the cap for him
Greene trade- Lets say Pelech still gets injured, I probably do go for Greene, but I doubt I'd have to trade a 2nd. Instead, lets go a 2022 3rd, Ho-Sang and Quenville (the guy who was already in the Greene trade)
Timashov trade- Just wanna say, if I knew he was available for future considerations, I would have bit on the trade too, so I'm gonna keep it)
Greer trade- if Colorado offered me Burroughs for Greer, I'd take it, so I'm keeping it
Trades I would have made:
Tyson Jost- I believe he was available during the 2018-19 season he was available. Point being, He could have been gotten. At the time, Colorado would have probably accepted a Leddy+2020 5th for Tyson Jost. (I realize they wouldn't accept that now, but back in 2018-19 Leddy was still pretty highly regarded. Jost gives us a very versatile player who could be a 3rd liner for us for a while. 3C ideally, but if any of our prospects play 3C, he could easily shift to wing.
UFA signings that I haven't mentioned yet:
Schnieder- I'd still sign him because we need a 3rd goalie
Del Zotto- a good taxi squad guy
Gauthier- would sign him too, a good scratch guy and possible 4C candidate once Cizikas leaves if Koivula looks good on the wing
Bowey- another depth dman
Future trades/plans:
In this scenario, this team looks like it's in a prime position to trade for one of Winnipeg's good wingers. I'd like any one of them (Laine, Ehlers, Connor.) With all the prospects we have and cap flexibility I think it would be a smart move for NEXT OFFSEASON. I think a package could look something like a 2021 (or 2022) 1st, Josh Bailey, Bode Wilde and a 2021 (or 2022 2nd.) A package like that should suffice and it would set up for a fantastic future. A move like this could make cap tight with Sorokin, Pelech, Jost and Beauvillier all to sign. Honestly, if need be, trade Sorokin. I get he's amazing but we have Lehner and a guy who could possibly be the backup in 2021-22 in Skarek. Eberle would also be taken in the expansion draft to make room for Tomasino. This should help with cap as Bailey would be a part of the Winnipeg deal. 2021-22 would look like ideally:
Laine/Ehlers/Connor-Barzal-Wahlstrom
Beavillier-Nelson-Tomasino
Lee-Jost-Bellows
Dal Colle/Gauthier/Czarnik/Greer/Timashov-Koivula-Clutterbuck
Pelech-Pulock
Toews-Dobson
Aho-Mayfield/Wilde (if Wilde is ready we could either trade Mayfield or keep him as our 7d)
Hickey/Mayfield/other 7d
Lehner
Skarek/other cheap backup
I think this would be when we start become real dangerous threats as Stanley Cup contenderes
2021 Line explanations:
Beauvillier-Barzal-Wahlstrom: Hopefully Beau and Barzal could rekindle their chemistry from the 2017-18 season. Wahlstrom has a dangerous shot and I'm sure Barzal would love to be feeding him pucks. They would be dangerous on both ends of the ice.
Bellows-Nelson-Eberle: Bellows needs to be given a real shot, so thats what I do here. He's got great offensive instints. Any one of these guys could score at any time so teams should have a tough time playing against them.
Lee-Jost-Bailey: Bailey and Lee complement each other and Jost is the young guy in the middle who can benefit from their great leadership. Should be a super strong 2-way line with a decent scoring punch
Koivula-Cizikas-Clutterbuck: I think Koivula is ready to be a super solid bottom sixer, and who better to learn that from than Cizikas. Clutter is on the line because of his contract and he has a tendency to make clutch plays once in a while
Pelech-Pulock: Amazing shutdown pair, also Pulock has an amazing clapper from the point
Toews-Dobson: Two super mobile dmen who are threats on both ends of the ice. This honestly could be the first pair
Aho-Mayfield: Pretty similar to the Toews-Mayfield pair the isles ran a year back. Their completely opposite play styles should complement each other
I realize this is pretty optimistic but I had a good time doing this and I think a scenario like this would have set the isles up for current and long term success. Also, please no, "ThIs RoStEr Is ToO yOuNg fOr TrOtZ" (looking at you Isles777) and let me have my fun. I'd also like to know if you think the Islanders would be in a better position in this scenario than their real life selves (the answer is probably yes.) If you've made it this far claim your gold star in the comments
I tried to leave it out or this, just making moves I would’ve made at the time. Doesn’t take a genius to know a 4 year contract for Komorav would be a bad idea
I tried to leave it out or this, just making moves I would’ve made at the time. Doesn’t take a genius to know a 4 year contract for Komorav would be a bad idea
i really wanted Kaliyev in the 2019 draft but other than that I just about agree. I love jost and wanted him as the 3C real bad.. I’d also have traded for duchene or stone tho so we’d have had reaaaaaal different timelines
i really wanted Kaliyev in the 2019 draft but other than that I just about agree. I love jost and wanted him as the 3C real bad.. I’d also have traded for duchene or stone tho so we’d have had reaaaaaal different timelines
Kaliyev was definitely someone I like but I alway rly rly liked Tomasino. I’m still so salty we didn’t nab him. And I would’ve wanted Stone too, but I think reports said Ottawa wanted Dobson, Beauvillier and a pick from us and that’s A LOT imo, although I’m sure Ottawa would’ve wanted that deal instead
Kaliyev was definitely someone I like but I alway rly rly liked Tomasino. I’m still so salty we didn’t nab him. And I would’ve wanted Stone too, but I think reports said Ottawa wanted Dobson, Beauvillier and a pick from us and that’s A LOT imo, although I’m sure Ottawa would’ve wanted that deal instead
I remember sitting there thinking “no way they mess this up so many guys on the board” then went with a guy I knew nothing about hahaha. And yeah I remember that feel like he could’ve been had for wahlstrom+ at that time too which I would’ve done no doubt but we’ll never know at this point (wouldn’t have packaged Dobson away let alone w beau regardless)
I remember sitting there thinking “no way they mess this up so many guys on the board” then went with a guy I knew nothing about hahaha. And yeah I remember that feel like he could’ve been had for wahlstrom+ at that time too which I would’ve done no doubt but we’ll never know at this point (wouldn’t have packaged Dobson away let alone w beau regardless)
Yup, I think the 2019 draft is the day I realized lou sucks as gm
Yup, I think the 2019 draft is the day I realized lou sucks as gm
I still don’t think he *sucks* I think he’s painfully average who has hits and misses but I also get the argument that he sucks.. would be much better as pres of hockey ops at this point
I still don’t think he *sucks* I think he’s painfully average who has hits and misses but I also get the argument that he sucks.. would be much better as pres of hockey ops at this point
This. He’s a great POHO but this team would benefit from a more modern GM...and a new coach as well IMO. Need a different philosophy. The toews trade and picking Holmstrom over tomasino still makes me mad 😂
This. He’s a great POHO but this team would benefit from a more modern GM...and a new coach as well IMO. Need a different philosophy. The toews trade and picking Holmstrom over tomasino still makes me mad 😂
Same here, mind boggling. Ofc they should have j hired me when I was 14 to be gm
Garth Snow would of stayed with Doug Weight so you would not have gotten Barry Trotz. Our defense system would still be trash and Sorokin did not like Garth’s organization so he would not have come over to USA
Garth Snow would of stayed with Doug Weight so you would not have gotten Barry Trotz. Our defense system would still be trash and Sorokin did not like Garth’s organization so he would not have come over to USA
No if I took over when Garth was fired instead of lou lol not Garth still being gm
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