Their Trash Was Our Treasure

We made it Isles fans.  It wasn't easy but your Islanders have found themselves in the playoff picture, and are ready for a round one throw down against the Buffalo Sabres. It wasnt always clear the path this team was going to take this season. With a complete overhaul in upper management, and the hiring of a general manager with no RHL experience, fans and even players were curious what the immediate future of the team would look like.

A combination of hard work and veteran leaderhip on the ice was they key to this years success. With the loss of many of the veteran unrestricted free agents in the offseason, there was an immediate need to fill the void that was left in the locker room. Management decided to go the route of acquiring players that were under appreciated and over looked. An oranizational dumpster dive if you will. The newly appointed GM started in the offseason with the acquisitiions of Ryan Johansen, Jordan Eberle, Jaden Schwartz, Max Domi, Paul Stastny, Valeri Nichushkin and Tristan Jarry, all through trade, and all without giving up anything that was part of the future rebuild. Some like Ryan Johansen came with a 1st rd pick (the GM that made this trade may or may not have been under the influence of Maple Crown Royal), others like your 2022 RHL All Star Jordan Eberle or Paul Stastny costing peanuts in moves providing cap relief to their former clubs.

It was clear we were going to see a new product on the ice this season, but management wasnt done there. They went into free agency looking for players that were willing to play for almost nothing, because nobody else was willing to pay them or play them. Eric Staal, Kyle Turris, Ryan Dzingel, Brett Ritchie, Matt Irwin and Ilya Lyubushkin were all brought in on contracts that were team friendly to say the least, and all played important roles in the lineup.

By early Decemeber, the team had decided Nichushkin wasn't fitting the lineup quite as they hoped, and a move was made to bring in Cal Clutterbuck to provide a physical aspect that was much needed. He was soon followed by the waiver claim of Corey Perry, and all of a sudden the team had a new style of play, one ready for playoff hockey. In February the team shocked us all by making a goalie swap that saw Tristan Jarry go to the Golden Knights for Jack "Soup" Campbell. Though Jarry was having a tremendous season, the inept netminding of backup Devan Dubnyk forced the team to overuse Jarry, and they wanted to put the game limit issue on another team. The Hockey Gods then did their part in Jarry later being moved to the Anaheim Ducks, leaving that clueless General Manager to play his backup more than expected towards the end of the season. 

At this point in the season, the Islanders were in a playoff spot, and were still looking to improve the lineup without giving up 
anything of value. Cap flexibility this late in the season was now a resource the team was looking to exploit, and in a move to provide cap relief to the Buffalo Sabres, we brought in Tomas Tatar and his ludicrous contract along with a 3rd rd draft pick for a 7th rd pick. Now the trade deadline was looming. It was obvious the team was in a good position to make playoffs, and management wanted to get an early jump on the trade market. With a familiar player in Dustin Brown available, it was a no brainer to bring the former Islander back into the fold. His decision to leave in the offseason was soon forgiven after a few bone crushing hits reminded fans it's better to have him on our side. The team was almost set, but it was Trade Deadline Day, and GM Pacman saw a chance to bolster the blueline. Though Matt Irwin had done a Norris Trophy worthy job leading the defence up to this point, the Isles were able to add Ryan Suter, Adam Larsson, Michael Del Zotto, and Braydon Coburn, vastly improving what weakness this team may have had.

It was a busy year on and off the ice but it all seems worth it now as we find ourselves in Buffalo for round one of the RHL playoffs. Let me be clear that we are happy to be in the playoffs, not Buffalo. Nobody is happy in Buffalo.

Go Islanders