The Islanders: Questions on Directions
Posted by jtbourne on March 1, 2009 · 2 Comments
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Fans love to complain when their team trades for a draft pick, because it feels like you gave up a familiar, developed player for nothing. And occasionally, that’s how it pans out. Trading for draft picks is like playing five-card draw poker where you can turn in a couple of your cards that don’t fit and get new ones back. You aren’t sure what cards you’re getting back, but you’re certain you no longer want the ones you hold.
Older sport guru’s who really follow the team can tell you how these deals turned out in the long run, and aren’t as quick to rail against these trades. It was the way to build a powerhouse, from the ground up.
And sure, maybe it is the formula for building a dynasty, but who can afford a dynasty these days? Salary caps and max-money-mentality from players killed hopes of those decades ago.
Trading for draft picks may be necessary to an older club who wants to prune off a few guys holding the team’s growth back, but does it make sense for the Islanders?
Developing draft picks are essential to a team’s long term success, but no team can afford to groom a whole group of young players at the same time. There’s no financial way to keep them all at their peaks. Teams that try this nowadays end up being a farm system for other teams, developing talent that they can’t afford to keep at its best.
And the Islanders have a team full of developing talent. I sat at the game last night thinking, man, the Isles have a really good American League Team. Maybe not good enough to win the Calder Cup this year, but they could contend. At the same time, the Isles will have a good NHL team in about 5 years, assuming they could keep everyone in an Isles uniform for that length of time. But with so much volatility in a sport where so few teams stay together, is that possible?
And what about the wait for the fans? It’s fun to watch your team get better and better every year, but how long have they been listening to the song and dance called potential? While the team is improving, it would be nice to have some stars to watch. Maybe Comrie and Guerin weren’t setting the world on fire, but fans were excited when they were on the ice.
Past Mark Streit, who’s the biggest name on the Islanders? Doug Weight is a familiar name, and a nice player. Then what? Trent Hunter? Richard Park? What other team could you put those guys on where they’d be in the first few of the ”biggest names”?
There’s nothing wrong with trying to be good now. Maybe the Isles are a ways off being good right away, but shouldn’t there at least be effort at winning during the season you’re in? Aiming at the “future” is a cop out for failing teams in professional sports.
I’m going to be bummed if the Islanders send Bill Guerin to a conference opponent for more “potential”.
Andrew Macdonald is going to be a legitimate NHL talent eventually, and so is Kyle Okposo. Given the chance to play on deeper, more experienced teams, they would get better quicker. Right now the Islanders have a few players that are interchangeable with any average players in the league. Great guys and multi-year Islanders like Andy Hilbert and Sean Bergeheim are fine, but they’ not developing our studs of next year, they’re making sure they stay in the NHL.
The Islanders have enough up and comers that they won’t finish dead last next year, or the year after that, provided they keep enough experienced players around to help those young guys improve. The idea is to develop these young guys to help your team win, and that’s supposed to be the focus; winning. The Islanders seem caught up in making individuals better instead of the team. A team that struggles to keep butts in the seats can’t afford to spend another decade betting on the future.
I'm a hockey player turned writer. After playing for Alaska Anchorage in the WCHA (NCAA), I carried on with an NHL tryout (New York Islanders in 2007) before spending a couple seasons in the AHL/ECHL (last year was 2008-09). My father, Bob Bourne, won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders in the '80's, as did my fiancee's dad, Clark Gillies. I'm now the web editor for theScore's hockey blog "Backhand Shelf."
Guerin is going to a conference opponent, probably today (he doesn’t want to leave the east), I bet they get picks for him and maybe a throw-in. Apparently he doesn’t like Scott Gordon. Campoli asked to be traded and Weight doesn’t like him either.
As much as I love to rip on Islanders GM’s, things seem to have peaked with Milbury in 2000-01 (Luongo and O.Jokinen for Kvasha and Parrish, Yashin for Chara and a second rounder named Jason Spezza…). Streit is obviously worth the money. Losing your goalie doesn’t help, the Canucks looked crappy without Luongo and they are a much better team than the Isles right now.
It’s really hard for a Canadian team to follow the “suck for 10 years then win with picks” model because during those ten years you hemorrhage money and possibly go out of business. And I can point to Atlanta and Florida as proof that successive good draft position does not grant you automatic Sidney Crosby’s. However, I can also point to Chicago (Toews, Kane, Keith, etc), LA (Kopitar, Brown, Quick/Ersberg/Bernier, Doughty, etc), Pittsburgh (Sid, Malkin, Fleury, Whitney*, etc.) as teams that are clearly turning the corner as a result of strong draft position. The lesson seems to be that it works if you do it right. And on the other side of the coin, Detroit puts the Isles (and the NHL) to shame by taking lower picks and finding/developing better players.
The Campoli trade was a good move. He’s got one more year at 625k which is nice but he’s a great player that apparently plans on leaving despite being an RFA, so you either trade his rights after next year (although I’m not sure if I’m right about how this works) or you trade him now and get a little more back.
(http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-spisles016054026mar01,0,4947428.story)
(http://www.newsday.com/sports/hockey/ny-spigame016054027mar01,0,5555628.story)
Also, with Weight, Comrie, and Guerin off the books for next year, there is an enormous amount of money available to sign some big names. The most expensive forward next year will be Trent Hunter at 2 million.