Sean and Stefen discuss the upcoming Islanders offseason and all the options for Lou and co. as they try to improve the Isles roster.
4:04- Moves will have to be made, and with just over $5 million in cap space to work with, significant changes will be coming in order to have more money to operate with. The obvious solution is the $5 million AAV tied to Josh Bailey, and dumping that money in a trade would pay dividends for the likes of Pierre Engvall Scott, Mayfield and Semyon Varlamov, all players that Lou Lamoriello would like to bring back. With a second rounder being the likely price to pay to convince another team to take on the final year of Bailey’s deal, it’s all but done for Bailey’s time in New York.
“Bo [Horvat] is what I like to call a chameleon. If you want him to play run-and-gun offense – he was on pace for 50 goals… If you need him to be a two-way, totally responsible, defensive center that can chip in on offense.. he showed he can do that too. That kind of versatility is valued.”
– Rachel Doerrie
16:30- With the Isles first pick coming at no. 49, Doerrie discusses potential options for the Islanders. With the Islanders having prospect needs at every position, it’s in their best interest to take the best player available. For later round steals, Doerrie points out two qualities that don’t matter as much as most would think: height and weight. She also points out the two qualities that steals tend to have: high end skating and high end compete. In terms of pro-scouting departments, teams use their pro scouts and analytic departments to communicate patterns and trends seen in targeted players.
Doerrie believes that Parise and Wahlstrom (who Stefen does a deep-dive on here) would be fantastic to have back, and Ross Johnston should be buried in the minors. She puts Mayfield’s budget at a $3.5 million mark, and highlights a few low-risk, high-reward defensemen that would be interesting options.
14:04- Rachel Doerrie of the Hockey News joins the show! After the last game of the season at UBS Arena, Doerrie experienced the energy in the locker room: dejection and disappointment. For all the players who will return to the squad next year, Doerrie expects a motivated and improved roster.
16:30- With the Isles first pick coming at no. 49, Doerrie discusses potential options for the Islanders. With the Islanders having prospect needs at every position, it’s in their best interest to take the best player available. For later round steals, Doerrie points out two qualities that don’t matter as much as most would think: height and weight. She also points out the two qualities that steals tend to have: high end skating and high end compete. In terms of pro-scouting departments, teams use their pro scouts and analytic departments to communicate patterns and trends seen in targeted players.
Doerrie believes that Parise and Wahlstrom (who Stefen does a deep-dive on here) would be fantastic to have back, and Ross Johnston should be buried in the minors. She puts Mayfield’s budget at a $3.5 million mark, and highlights a few low-risk, high-reward defensemen that would be interesting options.
30:40- Doerrie and the boys discuss which is a higher need for the Isles: a puck moving defenseman or a top six forward. Also, after seeing a lot of Bo Horvat, both with the Canucks and the Isles, Doerrie discusses his season and what the expectations for him should be with a new role on the Islanders.
39:10- Sean and Stefen discuss the trade market for the Islanders. With the lack of assets, the Isles are going to have to be very creative in terms of acquiring talent. They also go over Lou’s comments on the season, and his views for the team going forward.
58:00- The boys take questions from the viewers and continue to discuss ways for the team to improve via trade.