I don't like Melnyk, just like 99.99% of Sens fans, and I agree he has a lot of blame. But some of the blame is on Karlsson as well
- Maverick1818

Nope. None of it. Karlsson didn't cause the fans to stop coming. Karlsson doesn't have questionable business practices. Karlsson doesn't cut the payroll. Karlsson didn't run the Candian tire center like an ECHL arena. Literally zero percent his fault.

BD Gallof: John Tavares Finally Addresses Isles Fans Properly
- B.D. Gallof

Finally???? No player owes any team or fan anything. Get over it. He didn't want to be an Islander after 9 years. Nothing more, nothing less

it meant so much but now I,m going to screw ya bad. At the trade deadline he should of told them I,m going to leave for the highest bidder july first so trade me and get something back. This way he avoided playing in the playoffs and got the money. not cool and lost respect for sure

it meant so much but now I,m going to screw ya bad. At the trade deadline he should of told them I,m going to leave for the highest bidder july first so trade me and get something back. This way he avoided playing in the playoffs and got the money. not cool and lost respect for sure
- bosman

#FakeNews

nicely written... but I wonder by who?

after the really nice letter the salt was rubbed in with the autograph and the caption John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs. that was a bit much.

If you really read into the letter he has effusive praise for Garth, but on the other hand if Garth could have traded him, maybe Garth would have kept his job. Just more confusion to add to this.

I'm cool with the whole thing because this is modern sports entertainment with the allure of big markets, sports agencies, big sports media etc. Losing a UFA "for nothing" supposedly but someday the Isles may be an attractive team for some other UFA etc.

I am fine with losing John Tavares, the player. He is a great player, but I am not sure he is worth that contract and he would have gotten even more on the Island.

Losing John Tavares, the face of the franchise, is a big blow however. For years he symbolized everything good about NYI and he always said the right things. That is going to be missed and that is why fans feel betrayed. I do not blame JT for leaving. Sure it could have been handled better, but in the end it was his right.

Now we get to look ahead and thankfully we have Barzal as the centerpiece moving forward. He will probably become a better player than John ever was.

Oh it was limited? I thought it was full NMC. Either way, my stance is "don't sign a player to a NMC if you want to be able to trade him". That poop is on the GM, not the player. He's exercising his contractual rights. Sucks for NYI fans, similar thing happened with Sundin in Toronto. Not the player's fault and he shouldn't be looked at to be the team's savior if he's no longer in the picture.
- mgriffen

Not sure Sundin is the same caliber player as Tavares as well as Sundin leaving at the end of his career. But it is completely Isles management's fault. It's a business not a friendship and they should have thought about the possibility. Leafs will definitely be a better team as he will make all those around him that much better!

Well... This is awkward

i never get why people think athletes owe the organization anything. good/top tier athletes do not get paid what they're supposed to for like the first 8 or 9 years of their careers. friggin jay beagle is making 3 mil this coming year and kucherov was making 4.3.

teams squeeze everything out of a player when they can (when the player is under team control) which is fine as that's their negotiated right under the cba. gms can send players down after 9 games to manipulate elc's and everyone is ok with it. but when a player utilizes their negotiated rights, they come off as arrogant and selfish.

whether tavares made up his mind months ago or on june 30th like he claims, no one knows for sure except him. for people to say otherwise is stupid, especially since you dont know him and have never talked to him. tavares has been playing for the team and significantly outperforming his 5.5 mil contract for 6 years.

hockey is a team game but athletes are individuals who have to look out for themselves as well. if i spent my whole life trying to be the best at something and make it to an elite level, you cannot tell me what i should or should not be doing from your keyboard. i may not need 10 million dollars a year, but if that's what my skills are worth then that's what i'll be trying to get, especially if i've been accepting much less for years.

plus the islanders suck so for him to even deliberate that hard and long shows that he actually does care about nyi...even if for some reason you're convinced otherwise.

I don't really view this in the best way personally. Loyalty says a lot about a person's character and I think the way he left the Isles with nothing... Not cool on his part.

Karlsson is kind of in the middle of the same thing and I've lost a lot of respect for him.

I always thought there was something special about a player staying with one team their entire career.
- Maverick1818

It also says a lot about ones intelligence if loyalty blinds them so they can't make a decision that's best for THEM. It's completely ridiculous to think JT should've been worrying (even though it sounds like he was) about how a business transaction would affect the Islanders...last I checked he's paid to play, not manage the team.

Finally???? No player owes any team or fan anything. Get over it. He didn't want to be an Islander after 9 years. Nothing more, nothing less
- corduroy

Not true. They owe the team and fans everything that they have to give on the ice while playing for that city. JT already gave that to them. Can't ask for anything more.

i never get why people think athletes owe the organization anything. good/top tier athletes do not get paid what they're supposed to for like the first 8 or 9 years of their careers. friggin jay beagle is making 3 mil this coming year and kucherov was making 4.3.

teams squeeze everything out of a player when they can (when the player is under team control) which is fine as that's their negotiated right under the cba. gms can send players down after 9 games to manipulate elc's and everyone is ok with it. but when a player utilizes their negotiated rights, they come off as arrogant and selfish.

whether tavares made up his mind months ago or on june 30th like he claims, no one knows for sure except him. for people to say otherwise is stupid, especially since you dont know him and have never talked to him. tavares has been playing for the team and significantly outperforming his 5.5 mil contract for 6 years.

hockey is a team game but athletes are individuals who have to look out for themselves as well. if i spent my whole life trying to be the best at something and make it to an elite level, you cannot tell me what i should or should not be doing from your keyboard. i may not need 10 million dollars a year, but if that's what my skills are worth then that's what i'll be trying to get, especially if i've been accepting much less for years.

plus the islanders suck so for him to even deliberate that hard and long about saying shows that he actually does care about nyi...even if for some reason you're convinced otherwise.
- danktrees

this guy gets it

Nope. None of it. Karlsson didn't cause the fans to stop coming. Karlsson doesn't have questionable business practices. Karlsson doesn't cut the payroll. Karlsson didn't run the Candian tire center like an ECHL arena. Literally zero percent his fault.
- tomburton99

No he didn't, but Karlsson did...

Lie to fans when he said multiple times (even after everything) that he wants to stay in Ottawa and finish his career here.

He did take it far enough, without proof to apply for an order of protection against Hoffman's gf (which has yet to be served, meaning that there was either no enough or no proof it was her), basically forcing Ottawa to get rid of Hoffman for nothing just to make Karlsson happy

He did say he would sign for what he was worth (same as Doughty) and then when it was offered to him he said no

He did negotiate with other teams about a possible extension with them. (even though the team allowed it, that basically states he has no intention of negotiating here)

He did back during the all-star game tell reporters that he would like to play with Hedman in Tampa and then again back peddle and say he meant Tampa has a great group but he loves Ottawa.

Like I said I don't like the ownership of the Sens, but it's not 100% his fault. Karlsson needs to take some ownership for himself as well.

i never get why people think athletes owe the organization anything. good/top tier athletes do not get paid what they're supposed to for like the first 8 or 9 years of their careers. friggin jay beagle is making 3 mil this coming year and kucherov was making 4.3.

teams squeeze everything out of a player when they can (when the player is under team control) which is fine as that's their negotiated right under the cba. gms can send players down after 9 games to manipulate elc's and everyone is ok with it. but when a player utilizes their negotiated rights, they come off as arrogant and selfish.

whether tavares made up his mind months ago or on june 30th like he claims, no one knows for sure except him. for people to say otherwise is stupid, especially since you dont know him and have never talked to him. tavares has been playing for the team and significantly outperforming his 5.5 mil contract for 6 years.

hockey is a team game but athletes are individuals who have to look out for themselves as well. if i spent my whole life trying to be the best at something and make it to an elite level, you cannot tell me what i should or should not be doing from your keyboard. i may not need 10 million dollars a year, but if that's what my skills are worth then that's what i'll be trying to get, especially if i've been accepting much less for years.

plus the islanders suck so for him to even deliberate that hard and long shows that he actually does care about nyi...even if for some reason you're convinced otherwise.
- danktrees

For the most part, players don't owe teams anything.... Except their careers but they also do owe fans who allow them to have these careers making millions to play a game.

Observation: Notice a few players get mentioned. Weight a couple of items. Garth a paragraph and a sentence. Nothing for Isles owners.

Didn't Garth Snow say he wasn't going to trade Tavares?

How is that JT's fault? Who are these idiot writers pumping out hit pieces?

I'm sure that Leaf Pride, Canada Pride and Little Boy Fantasy
- Fan101

Gross. Reported.

Didn't Garth Snow say he wasn't going to trade Tavares?

How is that JT's fault? Who are these idiot writers pumping out hit pieces?
- BINGO!

There is dissent over this. My understanding that this was said after Malkin told him no. I believe GM was going to move him without commitment. Larry Brooks also cited this. But nobody else has and fans assume blame based on their disappointment and personal narratives in lieu of a clearcut piece from TSN or that kind of outlet.

With a franchise player, it is an owners call to not trade or to trade, not the GM

Not JT fault at all, who was the top goalie in his whole career on LI, who was the top winger, as well as defence man? There's your answer mismanaged his whole career, ps Loyalty is to his family, no matter what city drafted him family is for life.

it meant so much but now I,m going to screw ya bad. At the trade deadline he should of told them I,m going to leave for the highest bidder july first so trade me and get something back. This way he avoided playing in the playoffs and got the money. not cool and lost respect for sure
- bosman

If he would have said that he would have been a liar because reports have the Sharks offering way more than the Leafs did and the Islanders also offering more than the Leafs.

The team absolutely could have traded him if they wanted to. They did not. That was their choice. He had not signed an extension by the trade deadline which means that he was not willing to commit to the Islanders long term at that point. It's up to the Islanders to understand that fact(I'm sure they did because it is a fact) but they believed they could convince him to stay.

He told management not to trade him at the deadline. He screwed the organization, that's all there is to it.

Not sure Sundin is the same caliber player as Tavares as well as Sundin leaving at the end of his career. But it is completely Isles management's fault. It's a business not a friendship and they should have thought about the possibility. Leafs will definitely be a better team as he will make all those around him that much better!
- 22bossy

The reason people bring up the comparison with Sundin is because in the final year of Sundin's contract the Leafs asked him to waive his no trade clause. Along with four other vets(tucker, etc...) were became known as "the Muskoka Five" and they all declined because they wanted a final playoff push on a team that had zero draft picks and zero prospects(entering the salary cap era for the first time).

This scenario has nothing to do with that because NYI never asked Tavares to waive his no trade clause - and they wouldn't even have had to make that request because he had a limited no trade. The Isles could have moved him regardless.

Also, Sundin in his era was every bit as good as Tavares in his era but he was at the end of his career. He didn't sign with another team for 16 years after that.

No he didn't, but Karlsson did...

Lie to fans when he said multiple times (even after everything) that he wants to stay in Ottawa and finish his career here.

He did take it far enough, without proof to apply for an order of protection against Hoffman's gf (which has yet to be served, meaning that there was either no enough or no proof it was her), basically forcing Ottawa to get rid of Hoffman for nothing just to make Karlsson happy

He did say he would sign for what he was worth (same as Doughty) and then when it was offered to him he said no

He did negotiate with other teams about a possible extension with them. (even though the team allowed it, that basically states he has no intention of negotiating here)

He did back during the all-star game tell reporters that he would like to play with Hedman in Tampa and then again back peddle and say he meant Tampa has a great group but he loves Ottawa.

Like I said I don't like the ownership of the Sens, but it's not 100% his fault. Karlsson needs to take some ownership for himself as well.
- Maverick1818

You are just making poop up left and right. Show me the proof that he said he would sign for Doughty money. Show me the proof that the Sens offered him Doughty money.

He told management not to trade him at the deadline. He screwed the organization, that's all there is to it.
- Phineas

Remember that his statement was after the fact. Not before.