Monday, July 13, 2009

Should the Islanders Acquire Cheechoo?

Garth Snow and the New York Islanders entered the offseason with quite a bang. The anticipation and excitement leading up to the draft party, the draft party itself, the selection of John Tavares, and the signing of a quality netminder in Dwayne Roloson all helped to give Islander fans a sense of rejuvenation and renaissance. However, since then, all has been pretty quiet on the Islanders front.

In recent days, however, there has been much speculation as to the plans of Garth Snow, considering the $23.265 million that he has available in cap space. To delve into a further dilemma, Garth Snow and the New York Islanders are still well below the cap floor, and have yet to sign anybody significant who could help to make up that gap. Even if Snow were to re-sign Comeau, Hillen, and Thompson to reasonable contracts, it would still put the Islanders well below the cap floor. It is because of this that speculation on the Islanders next moves have been running rampant across the hockey world. With the drafting of John Tavares, one question continues to be asked of Garth Snow. That question: Who is Garth going to bring in to help Tavares and the Islanders’ feeble offense?

Apparently, the current answer is Jonathan Cheechoo, who is being linked with a trade to the Islanders by many sources. As with the mention of any player to the Islanders, it is only fair to analyze the player and see if it makes sense. While I do understand that people claim that is a smart salary dump in which the Islanders will get not only Cheechoo, but possibly a decent prospect or even a draft pick in order to provide incentive for taking on his hefty $3.5 million salary for the next two seasons ($3.0 million cap hit), I do not believe this to be true for several reasons. First, Snow has not given any indication that he is willing to make the Islanders a salary dump location for teams who have overpaid their players. If he had given even the slightest window of opportunity, don’t you think several teams would have run to him asking for him to take these tremendously over-paid players off of his hands? Secondly, Snow has stated numerous times that he has no intention of taking away playing time from the younger players. Considering he has yet to sign anybody but a goalie, I think he has held true to his word. That being the case, why would he try to lock up salary and playing time in a player who is overpaid and underperforming?

However, I will not force my opinion you. Instead, I will give you the facts, and at times provide my own perspective, in order for you to generate your own opinion about a possible acquistion of Jonathan Cheechoo. These facts will not be speculation as to who will be going to San Jose; they will be facts that can be inferred from his performance over the past several years.

At 6 foot 1, and a little over 200 pounds, Cheechoo does bring with him some size that the Islanders do lack. He is a great skater, a hard-worker in all facets of the game, and he does not mind taking the body if it means winning the puck. Furthermore, he possesses a lethally accurate and hard wrist-shot that enables him to snipe even the best goalies in the league. With his right-handed shot, Cheechoo also would bring a great addition to an Islanders power play that has been somewhat weak over the past several years. Sounds like a great package, right?

Well, here is where it gets a little interesting. In 2005-2006, Jonathan Cheechoo came out of the NHL lockout on fire. Cheechoo, skating on a line with Joe Thornton (obviously one of the best playmakers in the game) was not only able to register 56 goals that year, but he was also able to put up 37 assists for a total of 93 points. Last year in the NHL, that would have put him in the top 5 in goal scoring. He also won the Maurice Richard trophy that year, and he was shaping up to be a very promising player.

The following year (2006-2007), although somewhat lower, Cheechoo still had a very good year, registering 37 goals and 32 assists for a total of 69 points. While this obviously showed somewhat of a slip from the perch he was on, it still was able to demonstrate Cheechoo’s natural ability to score. The problem was that this was the beginning of a massive decline for Cheechoo.

In the 2007-2008 season, as part of a high-powered Sharks team, Cheechoo appeared in 69 games, registering only 23 goals and 14 assists for 37 points. While his 23 goals are still more than any Islander scored this past season, it was still quite the eye-popping number considering his totals the previous two years. With center men like Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau feeding him the puck, it was simply inexcusable for a player like him; with the natural skills and abilities he possesses, to register such few points.

Finally, this past season (2008-2009), with a new coach at the helm for the San Jose Sharks, the expectations for Cheechoo to regain his form as the top-line sniper were reinstated. Unfortunately, after the first twenty games or so, he was faltering worse than ever before playing on a line with Joe Thornton. After trying several games with Patrick Marleau centering his line, and once again not living up to expectations, Cheechoo was demoted to the third-line with Marcel Goc as the center. To put it in short, it was quite the rough season for Cheechoo, as he only registered 12 goals and 17 assists, for a total of 29 points.

To further on these three seasons of analysis, and without going into a tremendous amount of statistic detail, Cheechoo was never the game-breaker he had the potential to be in the playoffs. In fact, this past year in the playoffs, Cheechoo registered one goal in six games. Not an impressive number for a high-paid sniper.

For a player who signed a lucrative extension during one of his better years, it would be expected for him to maintain his performance. Unfortunately, Cheechoo has not been able to do that, and he has shown a significant decline in each of the years since.

The reason I emphasize Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau throughout this article are because they are two of the premier playmaking centers in the game. If we are to change the perspective of this article to the Islanders, please explain to me what player on the Islanders, in any position for that matter, can equate to a Patrick Marleau or Joe Thornton? That being said, for someone who is underachieving with two of the best playmakers currently in the game, how do you think Cheechoo will perform when he has only respectable centers in Josh Bailey and Doug Weight feeding him the puck (and respectable is never to be confused with current all-stars)?

I think the answer to that question alone is enough to provide my opinion and perspective on the entire decision. As aforementioned, I do understand the whole idea of taking it as a salary dump and receiving a prospect or pick as an incentive for being a salary dump, however, I would not allow this to happen if I were Garth Snow, unless something completely crazy was being thrown my way (and by crazy, I am talking about at least a first round draft pick and maybe even a prospect). And yes, I know that would never happen.

I will not try to alter your opinion any more than I already have, but I would love to know whether or not you agree with me. Should the Islanders acquire Jonathan Cheechoo, even as an underperforming salary dump?

-Justin M. (IslesNet@Gmail.Com)

17 comments:

Glen Miller said...

If I were Snow, I'd rather sign Tanguay. A) you wouldn't have to give up any assets, either players or draft picks. B) if Tanguay rebounds and is healthy, he could always be moved at the deadline or next summer for more assets. Cheechoo and his sharp decline of the last two years would worry me. He may need a change of scenery but the Island probably wouldn't be a good place for him to break out of his 2 year goal scoring funk.

stonciddta said...

Cheechoo is not a great skater, probably one of the worse skaters in the NHL. He has no control on skates and ends up crashing into the boards on his butt without anyone touching him numerous times every game. He also tends to take too many retaliation penalties for my liking. But, his energy and hustle are unmatched and would fit well into Gordon's system. He only has 2 years left in his contract and isles arent going anywhere in the next two and the worse thing that could happen, is he teaches the kids how to hustle and play hard all the time on both sides of the ice.

This comes from a die-hard Islanders fan who now lives in NorCal and large company who sponsors the Sharks with my signature on the contract, so I have seen tons of Sharks games since moving up here almost 7 years ago.

NYIsles16 said...

I agree Glen. The whole fact that we don't give up any assets at all for Tanguay, plus what he brings to the table is very intriguing.

Dan, you really don't think Cheechoo is that great of a skater? I think his hustle and skating ability are what have made him continue to have a chance at competing in the NHL, as he simply has lost his scoring touch. Perhaps the "change of scenery" argument is one that works here. However, I will take your word for it. Maybe he would fit in.

stonciddta said...

NYIsles16 I wouldnt turn him away from the Isles in one second and I would love to see him on the Isles. I think his hustle outweighs any negative and his hustle got his goals, since was always moving and going to the net. But, the last two years his hustle left in a bad position, typically behind the net and not circling the net (a little
If you put someone like Cheechoo on a line Tavares, nothing but good would come out of it on both ends. You have you hustle guys to do the dirty work, but the D has to stay honest and cover him because of wrister. The one knock on Tavares is his defense, but with all the stay at home dmen and Cheechoo flying back, even if it is like a kamikaze, you are at a win-win situation.

Sharks have too many goal scorers and not enough pucks to go around.
Yeah, yeah the playoffs, but falls on Thornton's shoulders, not bc he is bad by any means, he just is too methodical and the regular season it works great, but in the playoffs defense and energy win. Pronger was just is Thornton's face the whole time, not giving him any time to set-up a play or make a pass and big Joe cant play the energy game. Now seen in San Jose and Boston.

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