we miss leo k
Joined: Feb. 2018
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Crazy underpayment for Varlamov. First: Islanders are not in a cap situation any longer, and I'm not sure where people keep getting that from? They have guys on higher AAVs they'd like to move, sure, but without making a single move they have nearly $14M in cap space this summer, with Noah Dobson being the only player who needs a significant raise. Plenty of room to shop for the LD2 & scoring winger they want - if they go 2 for 2 there, then *maybe* they need to move someone. But nobody's on the chopping block yet.
Second - Varlamov was top 5 in Vezina voting last year, putting up a .929 SV%, 2.04 GAA, and led the league with 22.0 GSAA. This year, he was recovering from offseason surgery and missed the whole preseason and first month of the season. Even with that, he's got a .912 SV%, 2.85 GAA, and 2.1 GSAA - numbers that look better since December 1st (about 3 weeks after his season debut, or about the same amount of PT he would've had in a preseason) with a .921 SV% & 2.65 GAA, and numbers that overall are still better than both Mike Smith (.891, 3.57, -7.7) and Mikko Koskinen (.904, 3.04, -4.4). He's an obvious upgrade in goal for the Oilers, and is worth *at least* a prospect and a 2nd.
You've given Mike Smith - as mentioned, a subpar backup with another year at $2.2M, and a guy Edmonton needs to move for cap purposes; Slaeter Koekkoek, a 7th/8th D at best; and a 3rd & 5th two years from now. And, cherry on top, you're asking the Islanders to retain $1.2M this year and next - something I would say is worth a 3rd on its own.
So your package for Varlamov basically boils down to dumping Mike Smith, an AHL tweener, and a 5th rounder. Would you take that?
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