If your talking about head to head Player comparison then you CAN NOT INCLUDE line mates into the equation! If that were the case. How do you think Giroux would perform on the Islander's playing with KO or Grabner as his linemates?

That being said. Then by your philosophy the edge should go to JT because Giroux plays with a much more talented and experienced team.

JT's play and points speak for themselves. The guy his on the Cusp of being an elite NHL player. There are only a few of them in the NHL.

Regardless of what other fans like, say or want. JT is a Rising Star in this league and will exceed original expectations.
- SCLI

I'll disagree with this. i think he'll meet his expectations. Coming out of junior he did something few do. He broke a Gretzky record (for most goals for a 16 year old in one season). He was on his way to superstar status before he even got drafted. He won't reach top 10 players of all time status, but he'll be in the conversation of one of the best players during his time, which is on par with where most people, like myself, figured he'd be while watching him destroy the OHL.

RNH will join them in that battle.


- robin_steele264

The more the merrier

malkin, crosby, stamkos, giroux, sedins, weber............nope sorry
- nocupslugs

Tavares > Sedins, Weber, Giroux...so he's pretty close. And get off the Islanders blog, Sabre fan. How's your season going? I know Tavares will probably end up nothing like Ville Leino right? LOL

Kid is an F'in Animal!!!

He very well may be the most talented Center this franchise has ever had.

Yes i know.. Turgeon, LaFontaine, Trottier... but as much as I love LaFontaine, Tavares just seems to have that next gear that will take him from Star to Super star. I dont think he is the most talented player the Isles have ever had.. that is Mike Bossy's spot & i dont think he will ever be challenged. But Tavares is a rare breed & I am so happy to have him on this team.

Now Snow has to sell JT... "hey you.. free agent top line wing... how would you like to play with JT??" "forget the arena... forget the team record... both will correct themselfs" How would you like to ride shotgun with the most electric young gun in the league??? Sign right there!!!"

XxNYIxX
- XxNYIxX

Tavares is great, but he's nowhere in Trottier's league. Not even the same sport. Trottier is arguably the best two-way center in NHL history.

Bailey is crab, Grabner is doing nothing this year and so is Nielsen.

It's hard for Nino to pick up the slack when he's on the fourth line every game
- i_Evaluate2

Bailey= not crap. Watch the games. The guy is fantastic defensively and is a great penalty killer. Can't say I'd be upset if he stuck as a third line center for his career. The vast majority of drafted players never even make it to the pros.

tavaras is great, i wasnt trying to troll or anything

but i believe malkin is the best player when crosby is out
stamkos is on pace for 50
weber is the best dman (and the list said players)
giroux//tavaras is pretty even but id have to go with giroux due to line mates
sedins are always tops in points
datsyuk

tavaras is def top 15 if not top 10
- nocupslugs

WTF does line mates have to do with anything? If anything, that proves JT is better because he's doing the same amount/more with less talented players.

Tavares is great, but he's nowhere in Trottier's league. Not even the same sport. Trottier is arguably the best two-way center in NHL history.
- isles10289

huh?

Tavares is unbelieavable... It really is too bad for him hes stuck in NY
- SameOld

yeah I mean the poor bastid could be winning cup after cup in Toronto. Poor poor John

I agree, if isles fall out of making playoffs. Trade Moulson. sure he a 30 goal scorer. But Zach Parise on Tavares wing equals 40 Goals.
- Spartiarti

under no circumstance should the Islanders trade Matt Moulson. He is indeed a 30 goal scorer.. this will be 3 years in a row. He is also a very good friend of JT AND he is signed for 2 more years at a good price.

Both probably will correct themselves when they move to Quebec
- SameOld

Nah phoenix is gonna go there. Oh and by the way, nice job by your team blowing a 3 goal lead to the banged up penguins in the 3rd period last night

Here is the problem. You and others sit here and say Moulson is a 30 goal scorer because of JT but yet you think you can get a great young D-man for him without including JT in the deal. You see what i'm saying? You can't have it both ways
- Vukota

good point...
Jason Blake scored a ton of goals with Yashin.. hasn't done sht since and it cost a couple of teams a fortune to find that out.

the 2 words "great" and "wishart" CAN be in the same sentence when the word "trade" is included.....dont get me wrong. wishart isnt great....the trade was great.

its a trade id do all over again...he plays soft right now at 23...but roloson is a 42 year old goalie on his way out....think about it...the islanders got a monsterous (granted not very physical...(YET)) 23 year old defenseman for a 42 year old goalie. last year roloson was on a team that was out of the playoff race by the deadline and the organization has a few goalie prospects (& RDP) and there was just about zero % chance he was going to sign once the year was over.....what else were you expecting? if garth waiting to pull the trigger on the deal, we would have had another comeau situation...THAT would be a waste.

The only problem with this is Wishart is a UFA after this year. I can't see the Isles spending anything on him so it then becomes a Bad trade. (hopefully someone will tell me I am wrong on this .. )

yes, "great" "trade"
- LetsGoIsles

I'll disagree with this. i think he'll meet his expectations. Coming out of junior he did something few do. He broke a Gretzky record (for most goals for a 16 year old in one season). He was on his way to superstar status before he even got drafted. He won't reach top 10 players of all time status, but he'll be in the conversation of one of the best players during his time, which is on par with where most people, like myself, figured he'd be while watching him destroy the OHL.
- Lohaus

OK I hear you. While he was considered a blossoming Super Star in Jr's and was considered the top prize in the draft by many. There were still some who said he'd never be more then a ONE DIMENSIONAL goal scorer! Others who said, that Hedman and Dueshane were the better choices. And still others who said he cant Skate and wont be the guy you build a team around.

These are the expectations I refer to. JT will be, as you say one of the best players during his time.

I just wanted to clarify that for you.

New York City or Long Island?
- SameOld

proving your ignorance.. most people would love to live in Long Island. Go away.. you are an idiot.

The trade of Wishart for Roli was not good or great. It was okay. The Isles moved a guy who wasn't coming back anyway for a d-man that Tampa gave up on. Wishart hasn't done anything to warrant anyone saying he's going to be great or even above-average. Like you said, he's tall. THat's about it. He's a gentle giant. He hits nobody and has no mean streak. Therefore, his size is really irrelevant.
- Jethro09

He probably will never be on an NHL team for a full season... which would make it a terrible trade.

so you would trade moulsons 30 goals and keep baileys few and far between scoring...MAN YOUR SWEET ON THE GUY ...
- cmimbri

Bailey isn't getting moved only b/c no one wants him. you couldn't get a 3rd round pick for him right now.

Bailey= not crap. Watch the games. The guy is fantastic defensively and is a great penalty killer. Can't say I'd be upset if he stuck as a third line center for his career. The vast majority of drafted players never even make it to the pros.
- isles10289

Guys taken 9th overall in the draft should not top out as third line defensive specialists. Especially when they were taken at 9 overall as a reach, with the team selecting them trading down twice and passing on higher ranked players to take that player at #9 overall. Maybe "crap" is a harsh description, but its not too far off. Rolston and Reasoner are "crap". Bailey is a major underachiever who has not developed into close to what he was and is projected to be.

I'll disagree with this. i think he'll meet his expectations. Coming out of junior he did something few do. He broke a Gretzky record (for most goals for a 16 year old in one season). He was on his way to superstar status before he even got drafted. He won't reach top 10 players of all time status, but he'll be in the conversation of one of the best players during his time, which is on par with where most people, like myself, figured he'd be while watching him destroy the OHL.
- Lohaus

I'll take it.

Guys taken 9th overall in the draft should not top out as third line defensive specialists. Especially when they were taken at 9 overall as a reach, with the team selecting them trading down twice and passing on higher ranked players to take that player at #9 overall. Maybe "crap" is a harsh description, but its not too far off. Rolston and Reasoner are "crap". Bailey is a major underachiever who has not developed into close to what he was and is projected to be.
- Jethro09

I would not argue with that... but that doesn't mean he is a total bust if he continues to play in the NHL. I like to bring up guys like Manny Malholtra to people. He was supposed to be a top 6 forward and it never panned out. He is however a very solid bottom 6 guy. when people stopped expecting him to score a ton of goals he fit. I think much to our dismay.. this is where Bailey will end up. Personally I would like him on this team.. (The guy everyone wanted us to draft is not even in the NHL Filitov..fyi)

ah good point. i guess its 62% this month, Got the stat off the NHL website first star article.

But he does have 53 points in 120 Team goals. That is 44%. that still very high
- Spartiarti

the website is painting a picture that isnt 100% accurate. they are kinda comparing apples and oranges...you comparing tavareses total points to just team goals...

there have been a total of 117 goals and 208 assists...of THAT (325 total points) tavares has a hand in 53.....IE 1/6 IE 16.6667%

thats a little more accurate.


if you compare individual total POINTS to total team GOALS than this is the breakdown:

JT- 45%
Moulson- 39%
PAP- 39%

the article is trying to paint the picture that JT is 45% responsible for the team being where they are....what they are leaving out is that this % isnt out of 100% (IE the rest of the team isnt splitting up the other 55%).....if they did it my way THAN they can say that JT is responsible for 16.667% of the teams total points, but obviously 16% doesnt sound as outrageous as 45% does....

OK I hear you. While he was considered a blossoming Super Star in Jr's and was considered the top prize in the draft by many. There were still some who said he'd never be more then a ONE DIMENSIONAL goal scorer! Others who said, that Hedman and Dueshane were the better choices. And still others who said he cant Skate and wont be the guy you build a team around.

These are the expectations I refer to. JT will be, as you say one of the best players during his time.

I just wanted to clarify that for you.
- SCLI

Gotcha. I think in regards to Duchene and Hedman, the sports media likes to make a story some times. To me, there wasn't ever a question, but it kept the drama alive.

Plus, people always want to hate the new kid that is being talked about. Every new top pick that comes along, at some point, some genius wants to talk about how he'll be a bust and no doubt, the old Alexandre Daigle reference pops out. You know, the can't miss superstar? But the thing is, and the thing I always point out is that the Alexandre Daigle reference is still Alexandre Daigle reference because he was the last bust of that magnitude and we're like 20 years removed. Scouting is different, they evaluate these kids on not only talent and all things hockey, but also on the mental makeup of kids... something Daigle had none of and Tavares is probably second only to Crosby. He's all business, all the time.

A fun Tavares related story for you. The New Years eve game at the WJC (the final game of the round robin) Canada comes from behind to beat the US after being down 3-0. After the game, everyone is excited, smiling and happy. Tavares wasn't. Our seats were right by the tunnel. Waiting to be interviewed, someone said to him something to the effect of "come on JT, smile. You guys won" and he calmly replied "we haven't won anything."

All busniess, all the time.

You build successful teams around guys like that, guys who don't settle. He's special, anyone who watched him with an unbiased eye or without an agenda would have told anyone the same.

The trade of Wishart for Roli was not good or great. It was okay. The Isles moved a guy who wasn't coming back anyway for a d-man that Tampa gave up on. Wishart hasn't done anything to warrant anyone saying he's going to be great or even above-average. Like you said, he's tall. THat's about it. He's a gentle giant. He hits nobody and has no mean streak. Therefore, his size is really irrelevant.
- Jethro09

A) never said HE was going to be great

-- let me clarify then, the potential and intangiblesthat wishart has (as opposed to what roloson was going to do for us IE finish out the season and than walk away) is what made that trade great.

Great IE a lot more upside than what roloson was going to provide the organization

Crosby is never going to be fully healthy.
Better then Giroux right now.

The Sedins suck ass.

Weber is a defensemen how you can just throw him in?

I could even argue he's better then Stamkos right now and Malkin? Well who was the second star of the month and who was number 1?
- i_Evaluate2

Now that is a big statement. You must have examined him, Dr. ......

Tavares is great, but he's nowhere in Trottier's league. Not even the same sport. Trottier is arguably the best two-way center in NHL history.
- isles10289

hmmmmm

With all of the JT rants, and don't get me wrong, I am a fan.

Would you trade him.....

Many greats have been traded and the teams have done very well. The Boston / Thorton deal comes to mind....

Anyone.