Joined: Jan. 2017
Posts: 199
Likes: 11
I am undoubtedly going to be in the minority on this and probably made fun of to some extent but Josh Bailey gets a seriously bad rap. Is he as good as his draft status? Of course not. Did the Islanders grossly mismanage him at the start of his career? Absolutely. But sometimes players take longer to develop; player development isn't linear. And because he's a lead by example, quieter dude that doesn't show a ton of emotion people RAIL on him and most of it is unwarranted. Has he had the best year? No. But he's not terrible. He's exactly what Barry Trotz wants him to be: reliable, defensively responsible and a passer. Josh Bailey is probably the second-best passer on the team behind Barzal. He's best suited as a third-line winger that can move up to the second line when necessary; so that's to say he's a great 3rd line winger and a fine/good enough second-line winger. He kills penalties and is a 200-foot player. I don't think Bailey is going to get traded in the offseason; he's valuable to Trotz.
Debate away...