Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Good and the Bad Part VIII - Trade Deadline Deals

Greetings and Salutations. So the trade deadline has passed and the Islanders seem to have let it go by and chose to continue pushing towards a playoff berth. So what subject better to bring back the most popular feature on the voice, the Good and the Bad. Lets get right into the subject shall we?

The Islanders made three minor deals on deadline day, acquiring Defenseman Rob Davison for a draft pick, and sending Chris Simon and Marc-Andre Bergeron away for draft picks. Also, they resigned top scorer Mike Comrie to a 1 year extension. They did not deal any more of their veterans that are on one year deals, risking letting Vasicek, Satan and Fedotenko walk away for nothing.

THE GOOD -

1 - The Trades - Davison provides a stopgap for how long Sutton and Witt are out. Chris Simon was at this point playing a marginal 4th line role and had just returned after a 30 games suspension. Bergeron was in Nolan's doghouse all season long and has had a very disappointing season after his 48 point outburst last season.

2 -Signings are a good thing - Signing Comrie for another year could potentially be a huge deal. It shows the Islanders are capable of retaining players and shows the organization as a place that maybe potential free agents in the off-season would wan't to come and play. Comrie coupled with Hunter forgoing his free agency and signing a 5 year deal is a good sign to show the NHL that the team can be a force with free agents.

3 - Selling when your 2 points out? No thank you. - The bottom line is that the 6 game winning streak saved the Islanders from going into full blown rebuilding mode. The bottom line is to get into the playoffs especially in the Eastern Conference where anything can and probably will happen.

THE BAD -

1 - The Trades - Rob Davison? Why pay a 7th round pick for a guy that will only play on the big club until Witt and or Sutton gets back. Trading Bergeron is a stupid move. Plain and Simple. The power play went 0-8 last night and guess what, your best offensive defenseman with the 100 MPH slap shot is on his way to the defensing Stanley Cup Champions. Someone will have to explain this and use an explanation other than to say he is a defensive liability. This team has enough defensive defenseman. The team needs OFFENSE and Bergeron provided it. Simon's departure leaves the team with no enforcer and will encourage teams to take liberties with the Islanders forwards.

2 - Playoffs are a pipe dream - Yeah Yeah they are 2 points out. So what. This team is supposed to be moving towards rebuilding and one way to do it would be to trade every possible part we could have for draft picks in a draft that is going as deep if not deeper than 2003, when 27 of the top 30 draft picks are in the NHL. Even if this team does squeak into the playoffs, its not going anywhere. Lets be honest, the time to fully rebuild was NOW.

3 - Sign Comrie? One year? Why? - Haven't we had enough of these one year deals already? We are going to have the same problems next season.

Keep in mind that all of the thoughts here are not necessarily my thoughts, but thoughts of the fan base that I have heard or spoken with. Please voice your opinions here on these thoughts, or post your own. Take care and Ill see you at the Coliseum.

FCT

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