Team: 2016-17 New York Islanders

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 1, 2016

Published: Jun. 2, 2016

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Normally, I'm not a fan of trading away prospects/picks for established talent... but Garth Snow has new owners now and the Isles have two glaring weaknesses: at goalie and on offense. Our defense is fine, but improvement there would be welcome. So what can Garth Snow do to keep his job without harming NYI's chances at a cup over the next 5 years?

Well, let's take a look at what Chicago and LA have been doing. Both have gotten the majority of Stanley Cups over the past six or seven seasons. What do these teams have in common?
- Two elite forwards
- Four above average defensemen
- Young talented forwards who are still on their ELCs (think Teravainen and Toffoli)
- A well-paid goaltender who gets hot during the playoffs

Based on all of that, Garth Snow needs to make a team that follows that general guideline. So out of that checklist, what do we have?
- One elite forward (Okposo is arguably elite, but on the way out sadly)
- Three above average defensemen (Leddy, Boychuk, Hamonic)
- Young talented forwards who are still on their ELCs
- A moderately well-paid goaltender who used to get hot during the playoffs until he got injured fifty times.

So Snow's job is to address at least two of these options... which is no small task.

Luckily, Tampa Bay will have to let go some talent, either by letting Stamkos walk or trading away someone expensive yet very, very good. Snow needs to jump on this as aggressively as he can. If Stamkos walks, Snow needs to outbid everyone else. If he doesn't, he needs to extend offers or that 4th defenseman, a solid forward or maybe even Ben Bishop. Any of these could happen, but we don't want to overshoot here. Despite Victor Hedman being a very attractive prize and the only defenseman of note to not have a no trade clause on his contract, his fantastic performance this offseason means he's not going anywhere. One forward of value to the Islanders is Filpulla, but he also has a no trade clause. Remember, the whole reason Tampa would deal with anyone right now is to shed cap. Ben Bishop has a no movement, which is distinct from a no trade clause. So Yzerman can either let Stamkos walk or trade away Callahan or Bishop. Stamkos and Bishop are both franchise status goalies, so I'd expect Callahan, who has been struggling somewhat, to be the most movable. If we send one of our better LW prospects and a mid level defenseman, we should be able to nab Callahan for cheap. Are we underpaying? Yes, but remember, TAMPA IS DESPERATE TO KEEP STAMMER AND BISHOP. They'd agree to this in the same way Chicago and Boston gave away Leddy and Boychuk for pennies.

Calgary is looking for a new goaltender, but unlike Tampa, they won't be as desperate. Rumor has it that TJ Brodie is on the block and that they'll need a new goaltender. Brodie for Halak is a good starting point but is way off in value. Pulock had a head-turning postseason and has a slapshot far more punishing than anything Brodie can or ever will muster. Tomas Hickey (not a flashy or high scoring defenseman but he's very young and is a deep stats darling to many) along with a 2nd round pick and you have a decent trade that addresses both teams needs. We walk away with one of the league's better top 4s, and Calgary walks away with a huge improvement in net, greater forward depth and a promising young defenseman in Ryan Pulock. This is a relatively even trade when you consider both sides' needs.

At this moment, we need to clear cap to have the rest of this roster make sense. In a perfect world, we could move Grabovski. Grabovski can pull his weight, but he's NOWHERE near worth his 5 million dollar contract. Coincidentally, his and Tavares' contracts are up in the same year, so keeping his contract around isn't THAT big of a deal. Tavares will make roughly 10 Million on his next contract anyways and if we just let Grabo walk, we basically break even. If Garth Snow can find a way to move him, I'd love to see him do it, but I can't see anyone picking Grabo up. Kulemin, like Grabovski, is overpaid but not by much. He's shown some flexibility playing on either wing and provides modest scoring depth. Still, I don't know if we really want to trade that kind of asset away. Furthermore, while we have Grabovski on board, I think there's a small chance at a Kulie-Grabo renaissance if we keep them on the same 3rd line consistently throughout the year. So Kulie shouldn't be our cap victim. Josh Bailey, despite popular belief by Islanders fans, DOES have trade value and his contract isn't too ridiculous. He isn't high scoring, but he's defensively responsible and has a very high Hockey IQ. Arizona could use a depth forward like him; for 3.3 mil a year he'll play defensively responsible hockey and can play Center or Wing with just about anyone. Send him to Arizona for a 4th rounder. That trade should be fair for both sides.

That leaves us with a vacancy in net, so we'd best look in free agency for that. While Andersen COULD stay in Anaheim, he'll want a raise. That said, the emergence of Gibson will likely mean Anaheim won't want to spend that kind of money on Andersen. Andersen has shown playoff chops before and the ability to be a solid starter. If we offer Andersen a lucrative contract, we could feasibly make a Free Agency run for him, since Anaheim's management will likely be on the fence about overpaying their backup goaltender.

Call up Josh Ho-Sang and Michael Dal Colle and now we have checked everything off Garth Snow's checklist:
- Elite Winger for Tavares (Callahan... not quite elite but close enough.)
- Top 4 Defensive Group of Leddy, Boychuk, Hamonic and TJ Brodie (more than good enough)
- Young talent still on their ELCs (Dal Colle and Ho Sang both have serious talent, and have both earned their chance)
- A playoff-proven goaltender (Andersen, while not incredible, was only kept out of the Stanley Cup finals by the Chicago Blackhawks two seasons ago... so can you really blame him?)

I can see a lot of these deals going differently, especially with Tampa, but this would give the Isles the overhaul they need without unduly hurting their chances at success down the road.

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