First off i'd like to say I am a new blogger. I have never blogged in my life. My name is Ryan Pavlicek, and I am a die hard Islander fan. My name on Islandermania is Islander 39, so if I post something here and Islander 39 wrote the same thing I DID NOT COPY IT IS ME! hope all readers will welcome me nicely!
Back to the New York Islanders.
Islander player going to arbitration- Bergenheim is on his way to arbitration. This kid is something special, and hopefully we can sign him long term. If you remember the last time he was a RFA contract talks were messy.
RUMOR- Islanders in trade talks for Mathieu Schneider. Schneider scored 39 points last year in 64 games. Streit and Schneider on the PP sounds very nice.
A nice idea- Offer sheet for Nigel Dawes. The Rangers are pretty tied up in cap space, and a 2.6 million offer sheet is a second rounder, so that's a pretty good price for Dawes. Also maybe we would force the Rangers to use their very little cap space to keep Dawes at the garden. Plus signing Dawes may add fuel to the Ranger-Islander rivalry.
RECAP OF OFFSEASON- So to recap the offseason. So far this offseason we have drafted for the future and signed a couple of guys to help us now. I'm sure every fan is tired of hearing of the draft as it's been reviewed over and over so I will go right to free agency. Mr. Snow said he will kick some tires, and not make a splash, well he made a pretty big splash to the Islander world by signing defenseman Mark Streit. He is a PP QB type of d-man. The islanders brought him in to help the putrid PP. He may not be the best in his own zone, but we are filling a need. We also signed an older veteran Doug Weight. There were complaints, but honestly I think we got him for the right price. He is buddies with Billy Guerin, and can dish the puck very well. I expect to him to be a first liner for us. He will also help the PP with his skillful passes. Garth Snow signed only 2 guys, but these 2 guys do fill needs.
Islanders free agents still unsigned- Josef Vasicek, and Bryan Berard. It seems unlikely that either of them will be signed by the Islanders
DEPARTURES- Dubie- Russia, Miro- Pittsburgh, Tank- Pittsburgh. I don't like that we did not re-sign dubie as now we have Joey Macdonald as our backup. Miro and Tank leaving doesn't bother me.
OVERALL- I like the entire offseason, including the draft. I would like the Islanders to sign another scorer, but as of now I grade the offseason a B+
