Islanders Offseason Progress Report

By Glen Miller

Compared to most teams, the Islanders’ off-season has been very quiet. While that might upset some Islanders fans and would certainly upset the fans of most every other NHL club, this is certainly the best move for the team. After several years of losing and trying to bring in veteran players to boost the club’s fortunes, which have failed, GM Garth Snow has fully committed to the rebuilding plan now in place.

The Islanders were never expected to spend to the cap ceiling; and for good reason. One, they don’t generate the type of revenue stream needed to spend to the cap ceiling. Two, the Islanders aren’t close enough to being a real contending team to justify spending that kind of loot. Instead Snow focused on solidifying a couple of key positions in which the team has a dearth of young talent. The last thing that a rebuilding team wants to do is block promising young players with expensive, older veterans. Snow’s moves will help the club be more competitive while still allowing the young players to develop at the NHL level.

For those of you that missed my Rangers Progress report, allow me to explain the rules. First, the following statements are MY OPINIONS only (and do not reflect the opinions of Justin nor anyone else associated with this site). Please feel both free to disagree with my opinions and to voice your disagreement(s) with my opinions in the comments section. As Popeye would say, “I yam what I yam”, meaning I am just a passionate hockey fan and neither an insider nor an expert.

The grading system works like this: I will analyze each off-season move to date including; trades, free agent additions, free agent defections and maybe even a draft choice (maybe……if I consider it important enough). I will then assign a letter grade A – F with each grade representing a different score, A = 4 pts. F = 0 pts. Then I will assign an Impact Rating (1 -5) for each move with the higher the potential impact to the team then the higher the score. To determine the final progress report grade I will add up all of the points and then divide that by the total of the Impact Rating scores to determine the average and thus the final letter grade. Without further adieu:

Islanders Re-Sign Veteran C Doug Weight to a 1 Year, $2 Million Deal:

The Islanders decided to bring the veteran pivot back to provide experience and offensive production to the top 6 that the Islanders lack. Weight, 38, recorded 10 goals and 38 points in an injury-shortened campaign that saw him miss 29 games. With only Josh Bailey and Frans Nielsen the only other Centers assured of making the team, Weight looks to slot on a line possibly with phenom #1 draft pick John Tavares.

Clearly Weight’s best years are long behind him but with a need for a scoring line center, a $2 million commitment for 1 year is not a high price to pay. With luck, Weight can help the transition from Junior to the NHL for Tavares while also helping Bailey ease into the role of #1 Center.

Grade: B (4 pts.) Impact Rating: 3 Total Points: 12

Dwayne Roloson Accepts Islanders Offer of 2 Years to Leave Edmonton:

This is an interesting move by the Islanders. With no top prospects in the system at goal, the Islanders decided to grab an experienced starter in Roloson and give him 2 years guaranteed. The second year is what convinced Roloson to leave Edmonton for the Island. He will likely push incumbent starter Rick DiPietro for ice time. DiPietro has been hurt most of the last two seasons and the Islanders needed an upgrade over Joey MacDonald and Yann Danis in net.

A healthy DiPietro and Roloson will give the Islanders very solid goaltending, enough that they should be competitive most nights. If DiPietro succumbs to the injury bug, Roloson has shown that he can handle the starter’s job for playoff caliber teams so the Islanders will be in more capable hands than they were last year.

Grade: B Impact Rating: 4 Total Points: 12

Yann Danis Leaves the Island to Accept Understudy Role in Jersey:

Danis had some good moments last year for the Islanders. However, with DiPietro’s injury troubles leading to questions of his durability, the Islanders needed to upgrade the back-up goaltending position. By adding Roloson, Danis became redundant. He signed with the Devils where he will likely assume the back-up spot behind Martin Brodeur.

The Islanders I’m sure appreciate Danis for his contributions last season but won’t miss him on the ice this season. Roloson is a definite upgrade. This also allows the Islanders the opportunity to develop some of the young goalies in the system.

Grade: B (3 pts.) Impact Rating: 1 Total Points: 3

With the #1 Pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Islanders Select….John Tavares.

The Islanders finally put to rest weeks of rumors and musings when they made this pick. This absolutely was the right move for the franchise. You can argue that defensemen with Victor Hedman’s skill set don’t grow on trees but I’d counter with a study that would show you that Forwards drafted 1^stoverall have had more success on the ice than Defensemen over the last 20 years. In fact, if you consider the players that were up for this year’s Norris Trophy as the Leagues top Defenseman, none of them were selected even in the top 20 of their drafts (Lidstrom – 53^rd, Green – 29^th, Chara 56^th.)

Tavares was the marquee name in this draft and his selection will create a buzz around the team that the Islanders sorely need. Hedman might have been a nice selection and the argument may be made in 10 years that he would have been a better selection than Tavares but for right now Tavares was the easy pick.

Grade: A (4 pts.) Impact Rating: 5 Total Points: 20

Team Progress Report Grade: A- =3.62 GPA (47 total Points, 13 Impact Rating Points)