It doesn't matter how good the chef is if the ingredients are rotten.
- BINGO!

In Trotz We Trust

@Rinosaur: While I certainly do not like the Johnson signing, I think the Reaves signing is comparable and the two Canucks signings are worse. We didn't have a good free agency, but we are far from the worst.
- Victoro311

Is it really that bad though? 3.25 isn't that much and he has the ability to work out. Considering the market, you guys could have done way worse.

Canucks signings are not ideal but they are not that bad considering the team is still at least 2 years away from competing for a playoff spot. I think the Islanders have had the worst start to free agency followed by St. Louis who handed out a ton of money and made a terrible trade for Ryan O'Reilly.
- deuce22

St. Louis was 1 point out of playoffs. This off-season, they've swapped Sobotka, Berglund, and Brodziak for O'Reilly, Perron, and Bozak; have Fabbri healthy after missing all last year; and kept top prospects like Thomas and Kyrou who look ready for next year as well. Blues are probably the second most improved team this off-season.

St. Louis was 1 point out of playoffs. This off-season, they've swapped Sobotka, Berglund, and Brodziak for O'Reilly, Perron, and Bozak; have Fabbri healthy after missing all last year; and kept top prospects like Thomas and Kyrou who look ready for next year as well. Blues are probably the second most improved team this off-season.
- Antilles

Good luck the coming season, will be a fun team to watch.

If you are asking that as a question, the answer is absolutely. If you are saying we should use it as our slogan this year, we prefer Lose for Hughes!
- chazpet

Please let the Senators win the lottery so we can all sit back and enjoy as they are forced to hand it over to the Avs.

Please let the Senators win the lottery so we can all sit back and enjoy as they are forced to hand it over to the Avs.
- justmike

Already handed over.

St. Louis was 1 point out of playoffs. This off-season, they've swapped Sobotka, Berglund, and Brodziak for O'Reilly, Perron, and Bozak; have Fabbri healthy after missing all last year; and kept top prospects like Thomas and Kyrou who look ready for next year as well. Blues are probably the second most improved team this off-season.
- Antilles

They missed the playoffs last year because of poor goaltending. They addressed that by signing Chad Johnson?

They missed the playoffs last year because of poor goaltending. They addressed that by signing Chad Johnson?
- Hunkulese

I would think that if they didn't trade Statsny at the TDL, they would have made the playoffs

I would think that if they didn't trade Statsny at the TDL, they would have made the playoffs
- jimi james

If Allen wasn't poo all year, they wouldn't have traded Statsny.

They missed the playoffs last year because of poor goaltending. They addressed that by signing Chad Johnson?
- Hunkulese

Ville Husso is their solution in case Allen has struggles this year. Chad Johnson was only signed in case Allen plays well all year, so Husso can be getting ice time in the minors.

Oilers. Simply because they are the Oilers.

Oilers. Simply because they are the Oilers.
- Steven_Seagull

strong post, cant disagree

Man, a recently promising Islander team just completely torn apart. That's honestly painful to watch happen from any fans perspective.

Is it really that bad though? 3.25 isn't that much and he has the ability to work out. Considering the market, you guys could have done way worse.
- mgriffen

I agree with this. And, I just posted this on the pens thread. Johnson is a prototype of what you would want out of a defenseman in the pens system. A freak athlete, good zone exit passing, low turn over rates...he's just mentally a wreck in the D zone. But, the net could be positive passing to the forwards that the pens have. Plus, the pens love going low to high for a point shot in the o zone. Johnson has a good shot. It's not as bad as it looks.

When one player lost sets your franchise back 5 years? Isles need to be exempt from these lists this year. Snow (frank)ed up when he didn't put JT's feet in the fire. 'Sign here or I'm trading you.' It was that easy. The worst part about JT leaving is now it sets a precedent for other star players drafted by the franchise, especially if the Leafs win a cup. 'Do your time on the Island and hit UFA status asap so you can win.' We all know they can't get free agents of note to sign there. History tells us that much. So, their (frank)ed now. They can't build from within, they can't build from without. If the Belmont deal falls through, NY loses a franchise and people will point to this moment as the death knell.

Agreed. Even if tavares stayed and we made these moves we would've had the worst offseason league wide. Not even a debate.
- Cptmjl

I remember quite a few arrogant and just really abrasive posts by this guy all over Eastern Conference threads over the past couple years here once the Isles showed a glimmer of decency. Now that Tavares bailed and this awful team is signing fringe NHL’ers to multi-year deals it’s really satisfying to see your smug commentary silenced. No one wants to come to play for a team without a city, run by a senile old man, that plays in 2 arenas where neither is built for hockey. This whole scenario is a real treat for me, especially because this team is going to literally depress you over the next decade, especially when JT brings a title to TO. Karma is cruel.

They missed the playoffs last year because of poor goaltending. They addressed that by signing Chad Johnson?
- Hunkulese

Allen had a decent career so far, more likely that this year was an outlier than his 4 years before. He will be fine.

Pretty awful result for the Islanders, they probably win by a wide margin due to their franchise player leaving by his own decision showing he wanted to play somewhere else more.

I'd give the Blackhawks a solid attempt of trying to get to the top as well.

I remember quite a few arrogant and just really abrasive posts by this guy all over Eastern Conference threads over the past couple years here once the Isles showed a glimmer of decency. Now that Tavares bailed and this awful team is signing fringe NHL’ers to multi-year deals it’s really satisfying to see your smug commentary silenced. No one wants to come to play for a team without a city, run by a senile old man, that plays in 2 arenas where neither is built for hockey. This whole scenario is a real treat for me, especially because this team is going to literally depress you over the next decade, especially when JT brings a title to TO. Karma is cruel.
- jimmy mcnaulty

You're completely out of your mind. I've never bought into our past management or believed we were a power house in the making as anyone can attest to besides you evidently. You're just the typical troll that pops into a thread to drop a pot stirring post not to he heard from again In a couple months to just do it again. That's what you do. Thanks for this long winded post dedicated to me its appreciated so early in the morning

No doubt, Isles by a landslide. However, they were not good the past few years with Tavares due to lackluster ownership and a whopper of a GM. If they resigned Tavares, are they an automatic playoff team? Probably not. The bad part is losing him for nothing - but if they signed him long term for 10m plus a year they are still not very good. The team needs a cleaning out and rebuild, which actually had a decent start at the draft. Lets face it, they need a 2 or 3 year tank phase during which they can hopefully draft well. All of this leading up to a new home at Belmont....

Ville Husso is their solution in case Allen has struggles this year. Chad Johnson was only signed in case Allen plays well all year, so Husso can be getting ice time in the minors.
- Antilles

If the solution is a goalie who's played 0 NHL minutes, that's not a great solution. If he was NHL ready he'd be backing up. Teams want backups who can play now. Getting to play in the minors doesn't mean much. We've seen numerous young goaltenders thrive as backups and transition easily to starters recently.

Allen had a decent career so far, more likely that this year was an outlier than his 4 years before. He will be fine.
- DutchSenators

He's an extremely volatile goalie who can look like the best goalie in the league some nights and the worst on others. He's also prone to lengthy slumps and it wasn't just last year. The biggest reason Hitchcock was fired was Allen's play.

The truly awful signings have been covered ad nauseam: Jack Johnson (???), Ryan Reaves, Leo Komarov, Roussel and Beagle, etc. But how about giving Tyler Bozak $5M per season??? St Louis has some really nice pieces in place, but that contract is gonna be an absolute killer for them

I feel bad for the Isles, and losing Tavares can hardly be blamed on current management, so I'll give this award to Vancouver. Just mind-boggling how dumb Jim Benning is

The truly awful signings have been covered ad nauseam: Jack Johnson (???), Ryan Reaves, Leo Komarov, Roussel and Beagle, etc. But how about giving Tyler Bozak $5M per season??? St Louis has some really nice pieces in place, but that contract is gonna be an absolute killer for them

I feel bad for the Isles, and losing Tavares can hardly be blamed on current management, so I'll give this award to Vancouver. Just mind-boggling how dumb Jim Benning is
- AxlRose91

The Bozak deal isn't that bad. It's only 3 years, and he's consistently been a 40-50 point guy. Don't forget the cap keeps going up pretty much every year. 5M a season is like what 3.5M a season would get you only a couple years ago.

The Bozak deal isn't that bad. It's only 3 years, and he's consistently been a 40-50 point guy. Don't forget the cap keeps going up pretty much every year. 5M a season is like what 3.5M a season would get you only a couple years ago.
- Hunkulese

I don't think you understand mathematic