TRANSCRIPT 🔗
Jack: Welcome back to the Isles Den podcast. I'm your host, Jack. Today we are recording episode number 10, just a mailbag, a QA that was on Twitter and Reddit. So I'm excited to go through your guys' questions. I know it could be tough to get up for a hockey podcast in the middle of July. So I appreciate you guys listening once again. Things are pretty dead in Isles Land. They have the Jersey submission going on right now, which has reached close to 70,000 entries. The schedule is releasing this week. And then after that, it's going to get pretty quiet. So Got some creative content rolling out, which I'm very excited for. Excited to hear some feedback on it. I know it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea, some of the content, but others may love it. So really curious about that. And let's get started. You can find me at Isles Den on TikTok, Twitter, YouTube. You know the drill. Let's get to question number one. Starting off with long jumping avocado, what do we know about Islanders' ownership, their goals for the team, influence on Darsh? And in particular, John Collins' role. So when it comes to ownership, I'll break it down the best I can based off what I know. I think Scott Malkin, the majority owner, really just makes the decisions, the big calls like hirings, firings, and really gets his information from Lou Lamarello, actually, John Ledecki, the rest of the ownership group. And that's more his role. He's not really in the day to day, like I think Ledecki is. He's there, he's got a smile on his face. Almost like the political figure of the group. And I'll start with Collins. I think he's really here for the business side. Like the jersey designs that we saw rolled out in inviting the fans to help make them a alternate jersey for not next season, but the following season. I think that's Collins. I also think their influence on Darsh, that's something that definitely should be discussed more. So I don't think they have an appetite. To be a rebuilding team, which puts pressure on Darsh to make this a competitive team right now, like Lou Lamarello was attempting to do before. So this is where it gets tough because I think that we do not discuss the difference in evaluation for general managers when it comes to a rebuilding team versus retooling team. And in the defense of the retooling team GM, it is much harder than the rebuilding team. When you're rebuilding, there's no expectations. You can suck. And you could somehow still get sucked off by the media and your own fan base. We literally just saw this with Steve Iserman. He was rebuilding for a while. No tough questions are being asked. The ⁓ Chicago Blackhawks, they're rebuilding for a while. And then, you know, it's time to start adding some real players and trying to take that next step. That's where a lot of those GMs kind of falter. And with Darsh, his job's just harder from the get go because he can't just trade Barzell. Pelic and Horvat just for a load of draft picks and have UBS Arena half empty every night. This team operates so differently than most teams in this country that are in professional sports. I mean, if you really think about it, the Islanders are second in their own market in fourth out of the big four major sports. It's just like a little bit different. And the Islanders have to find ways to be competitive. So that's what they're trying to do right now. So I do think adding Pilop. Adding Shen, adding Susie, ⁓ signing Druan, Riddick. Like, I think these are moves made because ownership wants to make the playoffs. I think that's more them than Matthew Darsh. ⁓ personally, I know that's that could be a hot take. Like maybe Darsh does want to do all of these things naturally, but I do think ownership does influence the win now versus win later discussion. So Darsh does have a harder job and it takes. Really sharp GMming to pull off retools. That's why the Washington Capitals, who, you know, I speculate because they ⁓ they got to put what, like 15 million on dead LTIR and Kuznetsov is like, yeah, I'm I'm cool with just terminating the rest of my NHL deal. When does that ever happen? So they got rid of Kuznetsov, Oshi, and Baxtrom, which is like almost 20 million off their books. And yeah, they executed a nice retool, but I don't know. I I I look more towards different models that had success without having those luxuries. Honestly, hate to give them props, but like the Penguins last year, those low risk, high rewards signings that turned out into a 100 plus point team. We'll see if they can do it again. But these rebuilding GMs versus the retooling ones, the rebuilding ones get the benefit of the doubt a lot more than the retooling ones. I hope I said that correctly because I'm referring to guys like Steve Iserman, who, you know. For a good six or seven years, nobody's asking questions. And, you know, the Islanders played them in November of this year and they won like seven to one. Look, every team has a rough night, but the first goal of the game, I think, was scored by Shabinov or Richie. And, you know, you got Schaefer flying around out there. And I'm just thinking to myself, how is it that the Islanders, with their prospects, the Islanders are working the Detroit Red Wings who got JT Compfer Andrew Cop and Ben Charat out there just looking like garbage. And it's like, this is like some really bad GMing work from Steve Iserman. You're in a rebuild for like eight years and you're getting worked by a team that just was the worst prospect pool like two years ago by their young players. Just kind of crazy when you think about it like that. And obviously the Red Wings had enough. The Izer plan is now over as he has been. He either was fired. ceremoniously or just kind of was like, I give up. We'll we'll see how that goes and what happens there. But big egos, older men, lots of success, lots of money. Is he really going to change his ways? I don't think so. So the next team that hires him, it should be
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interesting, but I bet you he's gonna have trouble sleeping at night because he was a Red Wing, great Red Wing player, and not being able to turn around that franchise, I think that strikes a little bit of a personal That that that one hurts for him. So overall with ⁓ with the ownership, I do think that they want the Islanders to be competitive and wouldn't have hired Darsh if he like, I want to tear the shit down, trade Horvat, Barzell, get me all the draft picks we can, and let's build this thing up like the two thousand seven to two thousand thirteen Islanders. Second question is from Nort. This is a Twitter DM. So for those watching on YouTube, I'm not going to put up the screenshot like I did last time. We have one more of these to get through. But the question is yo, Jack, I'm curious what your stance is. Do you think Eklund starts game one? And if not, how long does it take for the call up? Two, are there any UFAs that you take a one year flyer on? So the UFA market is pretty dead. I'll start from there. This question was asked a few days ago when, you know, Mantha was still out there. Line and Kane are somehow still out there. And I at this point, why why even why even add them? Because there's so many forwards on this team. And unless you can trade away a contract like a Duclair, ⁓ buy out Pilat or trade an Engval, which is never going to happen, I just don't really see where there's so much room for Eklund coming up this year and adding another UFA. So with Eklund, my guess is that he starts in Bridgeport. in Hamilton for the first five games and partially for two reasons. One, these NHL players that are under contract and have not been traded like Duclair and Pilat, like these guys are going to probably start the season. And I just think it has to do with like finances. That's how it works at sports. Like when you're getting paid this, like you're more likely to get a shot. So I think that those guys will start the year and whether it's injury, poor performance, Eklund will be up pretty quickly. So he'll start there. He'll be on his way. As for the UFAs, though, I mean, I just don't really see a need. I like what they did overall. I liked adding Michelli. I liked adding Kessel, a right-handed shot, and Chafee, who was his college teammate at UMass. I'm not sure Chafee makes the team, but we'll we'll see what goes on from here. But I I'd imagine it's pretty quiet, pretty hopeful for a trade. I I would like to see Anthony Duclair trade it if I could pick one player. So I think it'll be pretty quiet. And Eklund starts in Bridgeport. Next question is from Steener. Hey, Jack, want to get your thoughts on a cool discussion topic. With free agency wrapped up, do you think Semyon Varlamov is the greatest true Islanders free agent signing ever? That's a really good shout. And I think that you bring up a great player to give that honor to. So the thing I love with the Varlamov signing is A, I was kind of upset when they let Robin Leonard walk. B
Varlamov is kind of like an underappreciated player through the successful era of Islanders hockey in the early 2020s, being the goaltender for the most part of those teams that went to the conference final, giving up just one goal in game seven against the Lightning. He was pretty damn good outside of a few bad starts here or there. And even a couple of years ago, when Sorokin was struggling, he came in there and he's high up in ranks and wins, games played for goalies. Obviously, he's not sniffing near. Billy Smith and Chico Resch in terms of full on success. ⁓ you know what? Maybe Chico Resh, he has more team success than, but those guys obviously are in a class of their own. And Sorokin is kind of getting up there too after the season he just had, which was absolutely brilliant. So I'll I'm trying to think of like a good a good argument here. Some guys that stand out to me or Matt Molson, you know, when John Tavaris was coming up into the league, they needed to find him a winger. And these are the types of signings that the Islanders will hit big on sometimes because they're not always going to get that star player. So Molson comes in on like I think maybe even a two way contract and produces like three thirty goal seasons and ends up being a trade chip to get them Thomas Vanick straight up, which is insane to think about. A guy that you signed on a two way deal got you Thomas Vanick for half a season. And you know, honestly. I may have never made that trade. I loved Matt Molson when he was here. ⁓ another couple of guys that I wrote down. So Mark Strike, he was signed to a five year contract in 2008. And he seemed to be like, you know, when they say you want some veterans around for a rebuild. I think he was literally the perfect one. I'll never forget him being named captain. And at the end of one of those horrific seasons, he actually gave like a speech at Nassau Coliseum to the fans, like saying, Be patient, stick with us. We're building something. And he ended up producing in the playoffs when they finally broke in a couple of years later. And that was a pretty cool thing to see. Mark Strike might be my favorite signing in my time of watching this team. Give a shout out to Miroslav Shatan, who signed a three year deal and I think scored 30 goals in all of them. And lastly, you know, you have your one year guys like Valteri Filipula, Thomas Grice, ⁓ not Thomas Grice, Robin Leonard. Those guys were pretty good, but we can't forget Sean Bates after his tenure with the Boston Bruins. He was a good player, but obviously we have that moment of him scoring the penalty shot goal. So those are some other great ones. But I think Varlamov is a fair choice. I really do, given that this team has been to the conference finals three times since winning the Stanley Cup in 1983. Well, no, they made it in '84. And yeah, 1984. So they've made it four times, four conference finals appearances. Half of those were goaltended by Semyon Barlamov. So I think it's okay to give him his flowers there. And I appreciate the mix up and questions. That was a fun one. ⁓ so now we're gonna get into the Twitter mentions section of the QA. ⁓ we will start with Coach Jeff, one of my favorites to interact with. He just wants this team to be better. And better right now, and he wants to acquire good players if they are available. And I see him dying for it every day. So here's his question. Number one, does Darsh put his phone on do not disturb while on the golf course? Two, is there any chance he signs one of the remaining free agent forwards to a short-term deal? Okay. So For the golf course, does he put his phone on do not disturb? Look, I don't think his phone's on do not disturb. They always talk about how he's making the calls and everything. Whether they turn into something or not, he is on the phone. Secondly, do I think that there's a realistic chance? ⁓ I do think there's a chance on one of them. And I have heard, I think you guys have heard, I think it's been widely reported that the Patrick Kane smoke is real when it comes to maybe joining the Islanders. Do I believe it? No. ⁓ you know, I've I've been told that they were they they had like a meeting and I don't know, I just I don't really see it happening because I think the Islanders, whether what no matter what I think, what you think, if you go on the sports books right now, they are their odds I think are plus two fifty or something like that to make the Stanley Cup playoffs next year. Patrick Kane, why would you want to do that? I would understand if it was like going to Chicago and mentoring Bedard his Going home, but to come to a team like the Islanders right now, I I I find it to be confusing, honestly. So I I just don't see it happening. And yeah, I I think there's too many forwards on this team. I think what you saw July first, I think what you saw at the deadline, and I think what you saw with the coaching change. I think those are the changes we'll see, whether we like it or not. And he's outlined the forty million cap space for next season. Once he said that, I kind of realized, okay, we're we're done here for this one. ⁓ so I don't really see much happening. We'll see if they can get a guy like Kane, like Line, who I gotta be honest, doesn't excite me so much. We'll see. But I think that I don't think there is a realistic chance. Okay. Next question is from Jason H. What does this season look like if the roster players don't fit De Boer's system? So yeah, th this is up to Pete Debore to strategize for the talent on the roster, which is something that I think all great coaches have in them. When I look at Barry Trotz, when he came over here, he was like, no, like the forwards are underrated. The defensemen, ⁓ they need some help back there. And he kind of obviously fixed this team from 32nd in the league to first and said to the forwards basically, you're gonna defend, but I also think that you can chip in the amount of goals we need and
it worked. So with Pete De Boer, the players that don't fit his system, this the yeah, the the Islanders could easily take it on the chin next year, if we're being completely honest. ⁓ there could be benchings from players that don't back check. I'm very interested to see how Debore will handle it because look, reputations carry a lot of a lot of weight when it comes to fan opinions on how players defend. And I'm just very curious to see if Debore doesn't care about this guy's status in the league. And if someone's not defending, even if they're a 32-year-old, you're benched or you're getting minutes against fourth liners. That that's going to be very interesting. ⁓ Jason has a part two to his question should fans be lowering their expectations of who Palmary is at this point of his career? I don't think that there are a lot of fans out there that are expecting Paul Mary to drop thirty goals like I predicted last year. Sadly predicted wrong. ⁓ yeah, we we should all be dropping our expectations. I think we have reached a point in Kyle Paul Mary's career where if you're a good hockey team, he's probably your third line winger and he's probably on power play too. Now, here he he's big guy. It's like that's the funny thing with the Islanders, is like they need Paul Mary. They need Tony D'Angelo. Like they need these guys to produce if they're going to be good next season. So, yes, coming off of the ACL, age being a factor, fans should lower their expectations, but I think it's still fair to have some. And that's because Palmary isn't Palmary is like a I I really enjoy watching him because I think he's a really smart player. I think he's really. I think like he's I think he's had success into his thirties for a reason. And I think that his game isn't super reliant on speed. It's positioning, it's skill. And he's got a pretty he's got a pretty nice shot. So I think that there's a chance that he bounces back from this injury and does and has a pretty good season. When he's been on the ice for this team over his tenure, he has been a very good player for them. And he got off to a tough start. So sometimes when that happens, the fans, it takes a lot for them. Takes a lot for You to get them on board. But I don't know. That play last year with his torn ACL stripping the puck, I'm not betting against him. I have full respect for him. And he's probably been one of my favorite players over the last five years for this team. ⁓ if things go poorly, do you think they move players early and let the kids get some run? It's an interesting question because how are you going to move some players that Leave a lot to be desired. Like, how are you gonna move a Duclair? Are you gonna have to attach a draft pick? Darsh isn't doing that. I don't think he would have to. ⁓ but your question is a good one. I hope that that would happen. But on the other hand, I'm a little bit nervous about something for next season. A lot of times when a star player gets traded, it doesn't just you don't wake up one day like Dylan Larkin and look at your phone and say, Wow, I can't believe he requested a trade. There's kind of a buildup and there's a lot of smoke. And then it dies and then it comes back. And it feels like with the Barzell timeline, feels like there was smoke this summer and it died. This was the first summer where there was legit smoke and it died for now. But if the Islanders start next season three and ten, you you are delusional if you don't think that is popping up in storylines across the league that ⁓ the islanders are off to a terrible start. Like is it time to move on from Barzell? They were entertaining it last year. These are things that I could see happening. And boy, I hope I'm wrong because the day they make that trade, I think I think really sets them back for a little bit because then you have these prospects coming up without a top si without another top six forward. And you're gonna have to probably get futures and then it's gonna take them a little bit to get into the league. And then we could be looking At a serious playoff drought reaching five to six years. We're going into what? We haven't the Islanders haven't made the playoffs since 2024. So two years. So this year, if they don't make it, it'll be three. And if they trade Barzell, I promise you there's gonna be four at least where they don't make it. And then if you're lucky, maybe, maybe they would make it ⁓ after five seasons. So that's my biggest fear actually this year, getting off to an awful start and having Barzell's name surface the trade market. But yeah, I I when it comes to moving players, it just feels like they're being hella patient on that and that they're gonna wait until some value is recouped. You're seeing that with Romanov. I think that he was I think he was available, but I think that you had to pay and they were not willing to do that. So I don't think Darsh is going to impulsively make any decisions for the most part, unless something makes sense. Like moving Duclair without attaching a pick, it should not matter what comes back, in my opinion. You just get rid of that player. ⁓ next question. Ziggy Poffy fan, Romanov slash Pelic. Who should go and when? Romanov because contract protection after next July 1st means he has to stay for years. Pelik because you get older. ⁓ both as we have so much coming left-handed defenseman, George slash Schaefer. sign a UFA to a one two-year deal. Okay. Sorry. Took me a while to read that question. ⁓ was a little bit confusing. Basically, are we trading Romanov? Are we trading Pelic? Are we keeping both of them, ⁓ letting them both walk? Well, not Romanov, Pelic in a couple of years. Here's my opinion on this. If the Islanders are retooling this team and they want to be competitive next year, you have Schaefer, Romanov, Pelik, and George on your starting NHL depth chart. And Pelic to me is the second best of those players and by a very wide margin, not a small margin. He is much
better at his position than Romanov and Isaiah George. So with Romanov, it's one of those things where this is this is where I have trouble. I think I would try to trade him first because you can get a second round draft pick for a player that You're seeing a lot of fans say, well, you know, the coaching change can help him. The last season, it was because of this and that. And overall, he's paid seven million dollars or six point eight million dollars. Like, I don't care that the salary cap is going up. It's contracts like that where you're not a you're not bringing anything dynamic and you don't have a skill that is up, you're not a great puck. You're not a great defensive defenseman. You're physical, I'll give you that. But there's just nothing that's truly great about his game. And when you're locked up for six or seven years, like I I don't like that. I I really don't like that. And his no trade clause kicks in next July 1st. It was supposed to be this year. And I was really confused. I found out like two weeks ago because he was injured and didn't play enough games and his age. Some crazy CBA rule, he's not. He does not have trade protection. This is a guy I'm looking to trade because A, I think you can get more for him. B, I think that if you're trying to be competitive, you need Adam Pellick more than you need Romanov. And I'm a believer in Isaiah George. And that's where I that's what I think gets a little bit lost in the appetite to trade Romanov for me. I really like what I've seen from Isaiah George. I like how the kid can skate. Like I think his skating, I think George's skating. Is something that's more transformative to a winning hockey team in this day and age than anything Romanov brings to the game, including physicality. Like the Islanders have Scott Mayfield under contract for the next four years. Romanov's never fought anyone. Mayfield will. He he's physical enough. Like, I just think if you're if you have a player that's making similar money to Horvat and Barzell, I do not want to be asking questions. I don't. I don't want to be asking, is he going to perform under this head coach? ⁓ and I don't, I I I don't appreciate the dishonesty when we talk about this player because he won the fans over very quickly. And I like Romanov. I think I think he's a hilarious dude. Like I'm rooting for the guy. But at the end of the day, do I think that he is some player that like needs to be kept? I I don't. And this whole thing where You can't trade Romanov unless one of these guys are ready. Like, no, you you can trade him. He's not a special player. Like, you you the only guys that like you really have to question on this team if they should be traded are Horvat, Barzell, Schaefer, and Sorokin. As much as I love Pelic, he is so far from an untouchable at this point. It's it would be a joke for me to put him in that category, especially at his age. But I do think he's a better player. So that's my take on the Romanov. Verse Pelic debate of
this offseason. Next question is from a great friend that I got to meet out here in LA. ⁓ the Darshitect, Isle Stottle. Let's talk Lee conspiracy, playoff push, Hamilton distraction, lack of satisfaction. So I appreciate fans like this, even though, you know, they get seen as being negative on Twitter and something I I've been getting away from social media a little bit this summer, and I advise a lot of you to do the same because there's just a lot of toxicity out there and bad faith in discussion. But I do appreciate ⁓ all of these points he brought up. So let's talk about Lee. With Anders Lee, I kind of predicted this from the start. And I I'm not one to say I was right. I I don't care. But I I didn't expect him to ever be back. And that was because of what we saw with Steven Stamkos in Tampa Bay. I think there's a blueprint that Darsh would like to bring over from Tampa Bay, and that's we'll we are not going to keep players that are that just because of their status within the organization or fan base, like a captain of Ander like Anders Lee. And I don't know, like I'm kind of okay with this. Like the process and how we got there, we can question that, but it was time. And with Anders Lee, I I I respect Islanders fans, they're Pissed at his dismissal and that he should have been an Islanders player for life, his work within the community, his contributions on the stat sheet in this franchise's history. Like I get it. But at the end of the day, he's in his mid-30s. He the he wanted ⁓ a two, a two-year, three-year deal. And someone asked me before, is there room for Eklund? Is there room for Iserman? Is there room for Finlay? Is there room for all of these guys that want to come up? And let's be honest, like. Lee's a good player, but where has that gotten them? This is the same thing I said about Tony D'Angelo. Like, where has this gotten them? Like, I like the player too, but are they winning? Like, if you're not winning, you can't just keep keeping everything the same. So you never want to just change shit to change shit, but you have to try. And like if you put Matias Michelli for Anders Lee in front of me, I would have clicked accept on that deal any day of the week because Michelli's twenty five. And that's basically what they did with that money. And you know, I I I've asked some questions about some of the moves Darsh has made. That's not one of them. I I I like how he operated that. And they were never trading Andersley at the deadline when they were in second place. ⁓ Hamilton distraction. So I I I assume that what Isle Stottle is trying to say here is like over this offseason You know, we're talking about the Hamilton logo, the jerseys, we're talking about the Islanders rolling out this design for the third jerseys. But what Stottle is saying is where's the focus on improving this club? And I get it. Like the Islanders, since Lou Lamarello's dismissal, have been a lot more active in different parts of hockey and connecting with fans and advertising and social media, all of these different things. And I think as a fan base, it's just taking time for us to get used to it's completely normal stuff. Like these are things that every team across the league was doing. And that's why Lou's rules are so ⁓ are like so famous because it's unique. Every other team is operating differently and like we're just getting used to operating like everyone else around here. So the modernization of the islanders caring about connecting with their fans or Posting viral shit on social media, doing interviews with NHL Network with their CEO, talking about all this and that. Yes, I I think that it's a newer thing. And when the team isn't that good, it's like, why are you focused on that? It it's it these things aren't connected. Like it's not like Darsh isn't like Patrick talking to Patrick Kane, like Patrick, hold on here. I gotta push out this tweet. Like it it doesn't work like that. They are Focused on the hockey ops, they are focused on the business operations, different people handle different departments. And I think that that's just taken some time to get used to. ⁓ hopefully I perceive that question correctly. So the next question is from Eric. At some point, this team had to trade W Y, one of their LHD, right? They feel like fantasy football that thinks they could corner the market on tight ends. Okay. Eric, I I have to the I have to tell one fantasy football story. Last year I drafted Trey McBride and Brock Bowers in my fantasy league thinking, okay, I'm a genius. Like I'm gonna have the best tight ends in the league. And my team started like three and eight. And then I traded Brock Bowers out of pure desperation for Judkins on the Browns, and I ended up making the playoffs. So cornering the market on tight ends can work if you trade correctly, but that is not something I'm going to do again. Now, left-handed defenseman. Yeah. They we we just spoke about this. Like, you know, now you got Malte Gustafson in here, you got Hison down there. You got Warren, you got George, you got four guys that mu probably aren't going to start on opening night unless somebody moves to the right side. And yeah, they they simply have too many of them. And the asset management balance has to be kind of questioned here. Ultimately, I do think they end up trading Romanov because once again, he's a guy that his name was in that trade market in the summer. There was smoke. That's your build up. And then when if things go poorly, then his name's going to resurface. And that's usually when the deal officially strikes. So that's my prediction for it. They do have too many left handed defensemen. They got too many forwards. ⁓ but Darch is not trying to just like attach picks to get rid of players, and I don't blame him for it. And you know, this league's getting pretty damn competitive. The Sharks picked ninth overall and won second in the draft lottery. That team was in the playoff race in the final week of the
season. The league has gotten so competitive, the teams aren't trying to be worse. Remember how close the Eastern Conference race was? Like there's just there's just not a lot of room to find teams to take on those deals anymore. So the market is challenging for the forwards. Next. Question. East End Isles, what do you think Darsh's plan is if we are in a playoff spot at the deadline? Great question. See, this is where we need to find out how they are in a playoff spot. Are they in a playoff spot because Sorokin has a 950 save percentage and 30 goals saved above expected? Or is Romanov having a great season defensively? Is Polak having a great season defensively? Is Schaefer Does he have 60 points? Like these questions are very important because it's about process. Last year, going 10 and 0 in overtime, or are you fourth in the conference and regulation wins? The these are there, there's luck factors and there's actual good factors like that we have to weigh in here. And I think Darsh is not going to buy unless he is very sold on his team. they would have to be winning games in regulation as opposed to overtime. They would not ha they would have to not be just really relying on MVP caliber seasons from Soroken and Schaefer. So I think that he would stand Pat. ⁓ what do I think Darce's plan is if we are not in a spot at the deadline? I think that guy is coming for revenge. I think it's going to be a fire sale of a lot of different players. One that stands out to me, he has trade protection, but JG Pageot, if it's like if he's 35 or something and he might want to go try to win a Stanley Cup. Like a guy like that, I can see being moved as a center. ⁓ maybe even Braden, Nel Braden Shen's not up after next season. So I don't think a team would trade for him. So I think that there would be a fire sale. Maybe Casey Sizikis ⁓ last year of his deal. Maybe he wants to go try to win a Stanley Cup. So definitely a pretty aggressive sell-off there. ⁓ do we buy it all? If we are in a playoff spot, who do we sell? Call up. replace. I think I answered all of those. I would look at Pageot as a guy to probably be dealt. Michelli's another one that could be dealt ⁓ if the team isn't having a good year at the deadline. But yeah, it's gonna be really interesting to see if they are good and in third place, how Darsh handles that because my biggest thing is I just want to see growth from the GM after last year and hopefully we get that. So last but certainly not least, actually not last, I lied. Next question is from Isles Cave. Do you believe the Isles can make the playoffs this season? And why is it Metro three? I don't know what their path to the postseason is this season because I need to see it play out. Like there's a lot of teams that are just jumbled up in this conference, but I'll give you the blueprint. I think Barzell needs to have at least the same production as last year. Maybe even give us a little more. He had 70 points. We might need you to get to 80. Horvat, you gotta stay healthy all season. You need to have 35 goals. Maybe 30. ⁓ Pellick, we need you healthy next season. Like, really badly the entire way, like last year, which is a lot to ask for. Cal Ritchie is an X factor. If we can get some growth from him and maybe he can man ⁓ the center position on the second line and you could put Barzell with Horvat, like then you might start then you might start cooking. Of course we got to talk about Matthew Schaefer, some more growth in his game. I mean, if he he he is such a great player. Like I just have trouble seeing them finishing as one of the last place teams in the league when you have 13, 48 Sorokin back there. I just think that their path to making the playoffs, which I do think exists, is really great performances from their best players. Like, I don't think that they're going to make the playoffs because Pajot has a career 20 goal season, 25 goal season or something like that. I don't think Shannon Pilat are going to turn back the clock to 2019 like the realistically. Their best chance is their best player stepping up and giving them great play. That's really all I could, that's really all I can get there with. But do I think they're going to make it? I don't know, man. It's it's it's the middle of July. I need to see how the final roster shakes out. There's one more X Factor I didn't mention though. Victor Eklund, if he can come up and be a real top six forward for them. While Horvat Barzell are still in their prime and you get some growth from Richie, you might really have something there, but it's always ifs and if that happens. And the I I've named like four ifs, right? Health, ⁓ growth within the prospect pool, career years basically. Well, not career year from Barzell, because he had that like 90-point caller season. But yeah, no, we're asking a lot from the best players on this team. Do I think it's possible? Of course I do, because I'm an optimist, but we will ⁓ we will see. But ⁓ no matter I don't know what to expect. Like no matter how next year finishes, I don't think I'll be very surprised. Last question. ⁓ this one is from Mr. Dijen, who had a request that I put this up ⁓ on the actual feed here. Meant to do this with everyone, but I will get this one right here. Okay. I want this question answered. How the fuck did we get stuck with an unserious GM who doesn't have a clue what he's doing? I want it pictured on the video, make a graphic. Where it's on a billboard like the old snow must go one. Okay, I'm not gonna go that far with it, Mr. DeGen, but look, year one was tough for some of you and for myself too. I I didn't like the Shen trade, I didn't like the pull-out trade. But you have to remember this guy's been an assistant under the radar for a long time in Tampa Bay. And when you credit the Lightning from their success of all of those years, his ⁓ Bruce Walls getting The credit there. And with the Islanders this year, if you really think about it, other than Schaefer,
who it's hard to say other than, but if you think about Schaefer, like the okay, the Islanders took him first overall, those might have been Lou's scouts. And for the most part, this year, other than Heinemann, and it was really Lou's guys that were dragging this team in the beginning of the year all the way to second place. And Darch wanted to make his stamp on this team. And obviously Druanne wasn't doing that. Riddick did for a little bit, but it was time for him to get aggressive. And tr honestly, I think the real mistakes that Darsh made, I didn't think the Druin thing was that big of a mistake. I think that we all overreacted to his production because when Druan was on the ice, yeah, he missed the net a million times, but he didn't give up much. And that's really something that we took for granted. And not giving up goals is kind of important. And with Darsh, I think that he just kind of wanted to make his stamp on this team. And I think that he learned a lesson. And the reason I think he learned is because he was ready to buy for this roster in February. And in July, he has not really bought much for this roster. He didn't, if anything, we've heard Barzell's name, we've heard Romanov's name. He's like, Okay. ⁓ he fired the head coach. So I think that he knows he made a couple of errors at the deadline. I had Stefan Rosner from The Almonters on here. He was telling me that yes, he screwed up the deadline. But we gotta move on. We gotta move on. He's not going anywhere. This is year two. He was our rookie general manager. And I I get it. Like the the reason why I think a lot of fans get really worked up over Darsh is because there are fans that they interact with on social media, which telling you, step away from it for a little bit, or at least don't interact with the Isles fans for a little bit. There's some Islanders fans that do. Interact in bad faith that will look you in the eye and tell you that every move this general manager, whether it's Lou or Darsh, make, are great, excellent decisions that should never be questioned and that you know nothing about the game. But that's really where the anger comes from. It's from fans telling you that this guy has never done anything wrong. And you just saw a trade deadline by that entered you at the end of the season in what eleventh, twelfth in the conference. The team You could argue got worse from adding guys like Susi, Shen, Pilat. So with Darsh, I think he's learning because Michelli signing that guy, 25 years old. He's got upside. He we'll we'll see. I I love that signing. And I like that he didn't impulsively trade Barzell. He didn't impulsively trade Romanov. Like the process, I think, is genuinely improving. So I get I get the frustration, but I think it's less about Darsh and more about the fans telling you how great he is. Because the reality is we we really don't know yet. Obviously, not a great start, but there's been signs of really good things. The Dobson trade, we wanted a top six forward, but we might have a top six forward now for the next like 10 years in Victor Eklund. We might have a second pairing defenseman for the next 15 years in Hison. I'll give you ⁓ I'll leave you with this with a little positivity on Darsh. Something that I love that he has done is Hamilton, Bridgeport last year, hirings. So these coaches, we go from Patrick W to Pete De Boer. We went from Qualski in Bridgeport to Rocky Thompson, who's now been promoted to the NHL. We have gone from Bridgeport being the worst AHL team. And look, I don't want to be one of those guys that's like the AHL team. Proving is what's most is really important. Like, no, I'm just trying to explain that what if you're gonna trade for prospects like Hison and Eklund, and you want guys like Iserman to make the NHL, you better have a good development system. And that's something that Darsh has actually invested time, effort, and I think that it's really going to improve. We saw Eklund to start this year. I have no problem if he starts the year in Hamilton. I like the focus on player development. They just hired Pascal Dupuy instead of Eric Cairns. I believe he was the director of player development before that. So there's a lot of energy investment into that. And I think that's extremely important. And I think we might see the positivity of those results later. As for the pro scouting, I've told you it needs improvement. Shen, Pilat, Susie, no matter what the people on social media yell at you for, these are not good players. And If you feel differently, you're not paying attention enough because ⁓ the team got pretty much worse when all guys were added. And that wasn't a coincidence. So overall, I like what he's done with player development. I don't like what he's done with pro scouting. I don't like the Islanders fans that that talk down to you if you have an opinion on this or that. Because the reality is we don't know on this GM yet. it's early on in his tenure. And I don't know. They will we'll we'll see. It it's early on and like you need a couple of years of work to really decide. And he's kind of bought himself this timeline where, you know, lose contracts, those guys aren't up for a few years. So we won't really be able to buy after that with our forty million cap space next year. So overall, like I would say. next off season when you got some cap space, you got some prospects coming up, and it's time to go try to land some guys, you can, you can try your best. But the tough part that I think Darsh doesn't realize yet, and this isn't a fault to him. I just think he doesn't realize this, Schaefer or not, I I laid it out for you before. Like the Islanders are second in their market. They are in the four out of four in major sports in the NHL being that they're Greatest free agency signing in their team history. We just debated about Miroslav, Shaitan, Matt Molson, and Semyon Barlamov. High-end players for this franchise are acquired through trades or through the draft. There's been five or six star players since I've been watching this team. I'll put Alexi Yashin, I'll put John Tavares, I'll put Barzell, I'll put Horvat, I'll put Sorokin, and I'll put Schaefer. Sorokin was drafted. Lou had to drag him over from Russia to get over here. It's just a very unique place to be a general manager. And I think that Darsh may have a lot to learn because you're 40 million in cap space. Panarin signed with the Rangers instead. All of these players over the years, they always go somewhere else. And that's because it is a hard place to attract talent. Even if you have Schaefer, if you have Barzell, we we've seen it, man. We we we just have Vanick wanted to leave. Ryan Smith was here for a cup of coffee. These are all through trades. So the forty million in cap space is nice, but it's probably through the trade market that you're gonna have to overachieve or through the draft, which I think there is good hope for. ⁓ well, I hope you guys enjoyed that rant. That was the final question of today's episode. Hopefully I didn't miss any, but we got some creative content on the way soon. And yeah. Cheers to you guys. Have a great weekend. And we will be back in the coming weeks, maybe not next week, but more early towards the following.