To say that the 2008-09 New York Islanders were dreadfully awful would be an understatement. However, considering their loss of 582 man games to injury, the Isles were seemingly already out of the race for a playoff spot and were in the race for John Tavares. Luckily for them, this was the one race that the Isles actually won in 2009.Notably the injuries struck the Islanders key players and veteran leaders as Mike Sillinger missed 75 games, Doug Weight missed 29 games, Trent Hunter missed 27 games and face-of-the-franchise goaltender Rick DiPietro missed 77 games.
The injuries to DiPietro, who's under contract until the end of the 2022 NHL season, essentially threw the Islanders goaltending department to the wolves of the Eastern Conference. As former Bruins goaltender Joey McDonald was given the starting nod for Scott Gordon's club, the team also relied heavily on Yann Danis and even used Peter Mannino when the injuries piled on.
Despite the lack of success in 2008-09, a ray of light is hopefully showing for the Islanders in the form of 2009 NHL Draft number one overall pick John Tavares. The 18-year old Tavares totaled 104 points in 56 games between the Oshawa Generals and London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League in 2008-09 and tallied 15 points in 6 games for Team Canada in the World Juniors, where he won the MVP award.
Along with Tavares, the Islanders also nabbed promising defensemen Calvin de Haan with the 12th overall pick in the Draft. Although de Haan is expected to remain in the Ontario Hockey League for at least one more season to continue his development, his offensive upside and potential to be a defensive stud make him a valuable asset towards the future.
Tavares, who's drawn many comparisons to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is expected to play alongside Kyle Okposo, the Islanders other prized young forward in the hopes that they will create a one-two punch for the future.
As the draft concluded, the Islanders appeared to have their number one center of tomorrow, but with the status of Rick DiPietro's knee relatively unknown the Islanders needed a goaltender. They addressed this issue with the signing of Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson to a two year deal worth five million dollars. Roloson went 28-24-9 for the Oil with a 2.77 GAA with a .915 SV%. Roloson's biggest contributions for the Oilers in 2008-09 was his 36 straight starts for the Oilers in their attempt to make the playoffs.
When the Roloson signing was made official, the Islanders goaltender core appeared set. However, the additional signing of Marty Biron to a one year deal worth 1.4 million dollars, the idea that Rick DiPietro wouldn't be playing in the 2009-10 NHL season seemed likely. Biron, who's spent two a half seasons in the Atlantic Division playing against the Islanders, went 29-19-5 for the Flyers with 2.76 GAA.
With DiPietro not yet cleared to practice more than just light skating, the Isles appeared ready to roll with a Biron-Roloson tandem in 2009-10.
The newest news regarding the Islanders without the word "lighthouse" or "project" in it involves the retiring of 17-year NHL veteran Mike Sillinger. The 1,000 game veteran Sillinger had spent three seasons on Long Island where he put up a total of 87 points in 141 games. However, hip injuries put an end to the 38-year old's career as he announced his retirement last week.
Sillinger's departure gives the Islanders 15 million dollars remaining in cap space as they still lack serious depth on the wings and on the blue-line. A player who seems to have interest in returning to New York is free agent right winger Miroslav Satan. The 34-year old winger, who spent three seasons with the Islanders before joining the Penguins in 2008-09, is coming off a season where he put up 36 points in 65 games for Dan Bylsma's Pittsburgh Penguins.
Along with Satan, some free agent defensemen that could help the Islanders on the cheap are Mathieu Dandenault, Marc-Andre Bergeron and even Rhett Warrener. All remain unsigned as of today and could be a solid depth signing for around a million dollars or even less.
Barring any moves from here until their season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 3rd, the Islanders line-up is expected to go as follows.
Sean Bergenheim - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo
Blake Comeau - Doug Weight - Trent Hunter
Jeff Tambellini - Josh Bailey - Richard Park
Jon Sim - Frans Nielsen - Joel Rechlicz
Extra Skaters: Nate Thompson and Tim Jackman
Mark Streit - Andy Sutton
Brendan Witt - Radek Martinek
Freddy Meyer - Bruno Gervais
Extra Skater: Jack Hillen
Dwayne Roloson
Martin Biron
Basically, the rebuilding of the Islanders will continue on into 2009-10 as this team doesn't have enough strength from the blue-line and offensive depth to compete for a playoff spot.
Prediction: 5th in the Atlantic Division, 15th in the Eastern Conference.
No comments:
Post a Comment