Retaining 50% on Bailey to add Kerfoot doesn’t make much sense to me. Especially if ur trading a pick to do so. At that point I’d rather keep him cause I think he can bounce back this year without Chara and Greene on the blue line.

The Leafs are doing the Islanders a favor here. They could flip Kerfoot for more than a 3rd and Bailey sucks

Btw I don’t think this is a bad offer — I just don’t think it makes sense cap wise for NY.

Moving Bailey is going to cost quite a bit though. He's just not good anymore and makes too much for 2 full seasons. It will cost as high as a 1st to move him without retention.

I think Bailey gets a bad rap. I think a lot of the isles Forward core sucked because of Chara/Greene last year. It’s hard to generate offense when those two anchors r stopping u from moving up ice.

You could flip Kerfoot though to get more assets than you are giving up. Bailey is not easy to move

Coming off a down year after two good post season runs. I’m willing to bet Romanov and salo make that entire forward group look WAY better.

No, the Islanders just aren't a well constructed team for the era of hockey we are in.

I agree with that assessment based on his contract. I just wouldn’t do it.

At his age, and with his skating, it's not likely it's going to get better. I think you are very optimistic here. The aging wingers you have are going to get you in trouble sooner than you think. How the roster reacts to a new system is going to be interesting. I think the lack of speed you have is going to hurt you more than you think.

I certainly wouldn't do this trade either. Bailey is a downgrade over Kerfoot and has 2 more years of term. Even if he isn't declining as fast as I predict, I don't see where he fits in TO. He's an offensive RW, does he bump Nylander out of position? No. Does he fit with the shutdown 3rd line? Certainly not. So he's a 4th liner, making 2.5 million? No thanks

The isles defense is better constructed for the modern era than the leafs. The leafs have 3 defenseman 32 or older with 0 offense to give at this point in their careers.

Palmieri is an underrated skater. All four centers can skate. Bellows and Wally r at least league average as is Lee. Their slowest winger is probably Bailey —- but that’s more about pace of play than actual speed. He’s always played like this u know lol. Nothing has changed in his game for about 15 years lol.

He can play 3rd line pretty easily and he’s still decent on the 2nd unit PP. He’s overpaid, but not enough to pay to dump him imo.

He plays both sides… and his numbers were better at left wing with Palmieri and Pageau.

Except his age. I am pretty clear about my dislike of Lou. Even when he was with the Leafs I didn't like him. Made a lot of moves that just didn't make any sense. He's an old man that believes he's a legend and there for his way is the only way. Babcock was the same and anyone who gets into that mindset just can't see beyond their own ego.

Then the hope would be he finds magic with JT but I think his skating would be an anchor for the line. They need two guys who can get up the ice fast for that line. Nylander and whoever is on the left side. Bailey certainly wouldn't be better than Kerfoot

Then I think riding him out for another year is really the only option.

it’s not worth it to pay a 1st to get rid of him, he’s still a serviceable 3rd line player even if overpaid not to mention a really respected guy in the room. they need the pick a lot more than they need to get rid of him IMO

Agreed

I think you are refering to the wrong Bailey. Josh Bailey plays forward.

It's cap sapce today for cap space tomorrow. The players have the same skill set roughly. Even if they re-sign Kerfoot, there is no way it is for anything close to what they are paying Bailey.

I do not know enbough about Salo to say, but Romanov's calling card is his defense, not his offense.

Bailey plays both sides, not just the right. Keep in mind he was drafted as a center. He is basically just an older, slightly bigger, better version of Kerfoot in terms of skill package. In fact he might be a hair faster as his speed was his calling card coming out of junior. If you can put Kerfoot there, you can put Bailey there. This buys the Leafs cap space today at the price of cap space tomorrow while still leaving them clear for when Matthews contract is up.

Chara & Greene were both sub-replacement level offensively & defensively last year, so even getting replacement level offense from Romanov & Salo would be an improvement.