Tonight the Pittsburgh Penguins will play who I believe is their biggest threat to a divisional title this year, the New York Islanders.
The Islanders got their superstar #1 center a few years back and since then have been trying to build around John Tavares. This offseason appears to have gotten the Islanders into the conversation as one of the best teams in the division.
They did so by doing a few different things. The biggest moves were the ones that addressed their weaknesses. Out is the over the hill Evgeni Nabokov and in comes the more than competent Jaro Halak. They also picked up a backup goaltender in Chad Johnson that is more than capable of providing better goaltending than they had gotten from Nabokov. Remember, this is an Islanders team that should have beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs but they had one of few goalies who played worse than Marc Andre Fleury and didn't have a Tomas Vokoun to bail them out.
Their defense corp. was also weak. Their remedy was to take advantage of two Cup caliber teams that were having some cap issues. In come Johnny Boychuck and NIck Leddy. Both players are ready for bigger roles and both players have done well in their small sample size on the Island.
Not only did their weaknesses get better but they strengthened a part of their team that was already pretty good, their forward depth. Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin are great pickups for the Islanders and will provide them with responsibility all 200 feet of the ice surface.
Young Islanders forward Brock Nelson has had a hot hand in the dice game to start the season. He started the year with a two goal two assist performance on opening night. He had two points in the second game, one point in the third game, and no points against the Sharks. He now has seven points in four games, that is pretty awesome. Now his point totals have decreased each game the Islanders have played and he was never going to keep that kind of scoring pace up, but one does still have to wonder if he can be a consistent offensive threat for the Islanders.
It's been a while but the most interesting team in the New York area is officially the Islanders.
Some other Islander related notes:
Reports from Newsday say the Islanders have sold for 485M
After getting blown up by John Scott with a legal hit Mikhail Grabovski did not make the trip to Pittsburgh for tonight's game.
The Islanders are 4-0, their best start to a season since 2001. The Islanders have yet to start a season 5-0.
I made a bet with a
close friend in August that the Islanders would make the playoffs, he is a Sabres fan and was still holding out hope for that high draft pick. Needless to say I wasn't too upset with the Boychuck and Leddy trades. That bet was over before it began. See, analytics do pay dividends.
Some Penguins notes:
Beau Bennett skated before the morning skate today with Mike Kadar. Scott Harrington and Robert Bortuzzo were also out there for the session. That is a good sign. It is a step in the right direction.
Sidney Crosby has seven points in three games, that is not a surprise because I believe he will set a career high in points this year, but he does presently have more goals than assists (4 to 3). Could he set a career high in goals which was 51 in 2009-10? He is on pace to shatter Wayne Gretky's all time single season goal record of 92, his pace has him scoring 109 times this season haha. It is going to be a crazy year because Mikkel Boedker is on pace for 136 goals(!).
Seriously though, it will be interesting to track Crosby's goal scoring as the year moves on. He scores a lot of goals in tight and so do his two current linemates.
Crosby only has two even strength points out of his seven so far this year but that will change given how this trio has played together.
Pascal Dupuis was in full equipment today at the morning skate and taking his place on the wing with Sutter and Malkin. Really great to see that he avoided serious injury on that scary play from the other night. The Penguins have had the worst luck on the injury front the past few years but you can chalk this one up on the fortunate side. It could have been much worse, but it wasn't.
#RobScuderi4Life
Rumblings out of Edmonton that they are desperate to trade for a center.
Via Darren Dreger:
““And if they had the luxury, if they had the depth up the middle of the ice, I think they’d send Leon Draisaitl down as well. But they just don’t.
And MacTavish is looking for a centre via trade. He can’t find one. All the managers know that they’re in dire straits and are trying to pick his pocket. Edmonton has the horses, but they’ve got to find a way to get them to run here.”
Oilers have one of the best analytical minds on their payroll, but do they actually listen to his advice? I'd float the idea of Sutter to them with the intent of David Perron or Nail Yakupov coming back. Test the waters, see how desperate they actually are. Worst thing that can happen is they say no. Sutter playing with Malkin has certainly upped his perceived value. Penguins would have to add, how much, who knows? Oilers are a tough team to figure out. They draft a skilled player #1 overall and bury him in roles that aren't conducive to offensive production. The people running the show in Edmonton aren't as bad as Nonis/Carlyle (I don't think) but they aren't far off either.
Enjoy the game, Penguins get another quality opponent in the Islanders tonight.
Thanks for reading!
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