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2011-12 NHL Season Preview: New York Islanders

Sep 3

Posted by Matt in Season Previews | No Comments

Michael Grabner of the New York Islanders

The Islanders hope Michael Grabner can build off of his succesful 2010-11 season.

Key Offseason Additions: Brian Rolston, Evgeni Nabakov

Key Offseason Losses: Doug Weight, Rob Schremp, Zenon Kenopka, Radek Martinek

Last Season Ranking: 14th in East

Offense: The Islanders have a solid group of young players, lead by John Tavares who began to really pile on the points during his sophomore season. Tavares will try to improve upon his 67 point campaign while surrounded by the likes of PA Parenteau, Matt Moulson, Michael Grabner, and Blake Comeau. These players are not quite household names yet, but they are good young players who have a lot of potential. Adding Brian Rolston to the mix gives the forward unit a man with much more experience and great leadership qualities.

Moulson, who put together a surprise season in 2009-10 with 48 points, improved on that number last season. His 31 goals and 22 assists were both career highs, and he will be expected to continue that improvement for the Islanders this season. Michael Grabner will be an important piece to the offensive puzzle as well. Grabner lead the Islanders in goals last season as a rookie, with 34, and had 18 assists to go along with it. On a team full of minus players, his team leading plus-13 shows he is an all around player, and important to the success of the franchise.

The health of Kyle Okposo will be a bonus to the orange and blue. Okposo missed the first half of last season after having shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. He returned to have a modest 20 points in 38 games, but will be counted on to contribute upwards of 50 points this season.

The Islanders could see Nino Niederreiter return for an extended stay in 2011-12 and make the team right out of training camp. The fifth overall pick from 2010 played in only nine NHL games last season, picking up a goal and an assist. Playing full time with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL, Niederreiter tallied 70 points on 41 goals and 29 assists. When he finally makes the transition, expect his numbers to be consistent with the guys mentioned above. He’s a skilled young player, as you can tell from videos like this, and will fit in nicely playing alongside a young, talented Islanders team.

Defense: The return of Mark Streit, who missed all of last season with a shoulder injury, will be huge for the Islanders defense. He typically hovers in the 50 point range, but more importantly, he can effectively captain and lead the power-play unit to much more success. The loss of James Wisniewski at the trade deadline last season will continue to haunt the Islanders blue line, however. Their defensive units, besides Streit, will be young and inexperienced. The young theme is constant throughout the squad, and on defense, it’s going to hurt more than it will help this year.

Goaltending: The goaltending situation for the Islanders continues to be a question mark. Last season, a total of six goalies started games, with the majority going to Rick DiPietro, Dwayne Roloson, and Al Montoya. Roloson has moved on to bigger and better things, but DiPietro continues to work his way through a lengthy contract. The addition of Evgeni Nabakov never panned out last season, but he is supposedly ready to give it his all in New York this season. Much of the work will likely fall in Nabakov’s lap as DiPietro has not played a healthy season since 2007-08. Regardless of who is net, however, the young squad will make some mistakes that even the best goalie will not be able to recover from. Nabakov, a steady regular season goaltender, will likely bring a solid game to help the Islanders squeeze a point or two out of some close games.

HWB Playoff Prediction: Not playoff bound. Despite having a young group of talented forwards, there is still a lot of work to be done on Long Island. Expect a season long performance much like last seasons.

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Islanders confirm interest in Alexei Yashin

Jul 22

Posted by Chris in News | No Comments

There appears to be some truth to the rumors that Alexei Yashin is considering a return to the NHL after spending the last four seasons playing abroad.

New York Islanders general manager Garth Snow confirmed today that he has had talks with Yashin’s agent, Mark Gandler, about the possibility of Yashin returning to the Islanders.

“I’ve had discussions with both Mark and Alexei,” Snow told Newsday on Friday. “I’d rather keep those conversations private, but Alexei has been skating at our practice rink in Syosset and he looks great. I’ve been on record saying I’d explore all options and any player that would improve our team and help us make that step.”

Yashin spent five seasons with the Islanders before being bought out of his contract at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season. He played in the KHL for the next four seasons.

Yashin’s agent also confirmed the contract negotiations and admitted that the Islanders have offered his client an NHL contract.

“At this time we are negotiating with the Islanders and are seriously considering their offer,” he told the Russian news site Sovietsky Sport. He also stated that the Islanders are the only team showing interest in his client.

At this point, this could all be a ploy by Yashin’s agent to start a bidding war either between rival NHL clubs or between NHL and KHL clubs to drive up the price for Yashin. And even if Yashin signs with the Islanders it will likely be for more than he deserves because the Islanders are currently $9 million below the $48.3 million salary cap floor – which is probably why Yashin is seriously considering the offer.

But at 37-years-old, it’s tough to determine how effective Yashin will be in the NHL after spending four seasons away. In 52 games last season with St. Petersburg SKA, Yashin only managed 15 goals 18 assists in a league largely viewed as having less talented players than the NHL. Could Yashin actually benefit from playing with talented young players such as John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Michael Grabner and Matt Moulson? More so, will those budding young stars benefit from playing alongside the likes of Alexei Yashin?

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Hockey World Blog Season Previews 2010: New York Islanders

Sep 2

Posted by Matt in Season Previews | No Comments

Key Offseason Losses: Martin Biron, Jeff Tambellini, Tim Jackman

Key Offseason Additions: James Wisniewski, Mark Eaton, Milan Jurcina, Nino Niederreiter, Zenon Konopka, P.A. Parenteau

Last Season Ranking: 13th in East

John Tavares needs to have a big season for the Islanders to have a chance in 2010-11

John Tavares needs to have a big season for the Islanders to have a chance in 2010-11

Offense:

The New York Islanders are continuing to work with a young squad, spending much of the past decade rebuilding their team. This season, we should see tremendous growth out of the 2009 first overall draft pick, John Tavares. He started the 2009-10 campaign on a roll, and finished strong as well. Over the last 8 games of the season, he tallied 11 points. Throughout the middle of the season, however, Tavares struggled. As he develops and gets better, so will the Islanders.

To compliment Tavares, the Islanders have brought back 30 goal scorer Matt Moulson to play on his left wing. On the right wing will be Kyle Okposo. He put together a nice season last year, picking up 19 goals and 52 points, but is still only 22 years old. Okposo’s numbers have increased in each season with the Islanders, but with another year of experience under his belt, and playing alongside Tavares and Moulson, look for Okposo to have a real break out season.

Beyond the top line, the Islanders don’t have too much going on. While their lack of depth will hurt again this season, they have made some big strides. Blake Comeau is another youngster who put together a nice season last year, putting up 35 points in only 61 games. If he stays healthy, he’ll be a nice threat on the 2nd line. Additionally, we could see Rob Schremp really have a break out season. He was a highly touted prospect with the Oilers organization, but management didn’t really think he had a shot with the team. Instead, after coming to the Islanders, he put up 25 points in only 44 games, including 5 goals and 5 assists on the power play.

Finally, we have a couple of new additions to the squad. First, Nino Niederreiter, the 5th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He’s a Swiss stud who’s only 17 years old right now. He’ll turn 18 on September 8th, but is said to already have NHL size, and could very well see time with the big boys this fall. Nino has put up good numbers everywhere he’s been, including a 60 point campaign, in 65 games, last season with the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. Beyond that, the Islanders brought in Zenon Konopka to protect the current and future stars. Konopka bullied his way to 265 penalty minutes with the Lightning last season, and will more than likely have a repeat performance.

Defense:

The defense continues to build up and add depth, just like the offense, but the 2010-11 line-up still won’t be enough. Leading the way is Mark Streit, one of the better defenseman in the game. He moves the puck very well, and is a star on the power play. Streit ended last season pretty hot, and should pick up right where he left off.

The new guys, James Wisniewski, Mark Eaton, and Milan Jurcina are all experienced defenseman. Wisniewski is the youngest, and has the most potential as well. He’ll see lots of time on the power play, and should have a pretty big impact at that role. Eaton should see time on the power play as well. Both he and Jurcina will pick up more responsibility with the Islanders than they had with their previous teams. Radek Martinek and Jack Hillen will also battle for ice time on defense.

Goaltending:

The Islanders have two skilled goaltenders in Rick DiPietro and Dwayne Roloson. However, DiPietro has only started 12 games in the past two seasons combined. His injury troubles have certainly plagued the team, but with Dwayne Roloson on the squad as well, they have two netminders who are capable of holding the number one spot. Expect a strong battle through training camp, and even into the season, for the number one goaltending position. If DiPietro can stay healthy, and regain his old form, he could earn back his position.

Season Outlook:

The New York Islanders are still in the midst of a rebuilding project, but the situation is definitely progressing. Youngsters like John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson, and Rob Schremp will lead the way this season, while future stars such as Nino Niederreiter try to make the squad. Doug Weight will also return to add veteran leadership. Unfortunately, the Islanders still lack enough depth to be a true contender this season. A playoff appearance might not be out of the question though if all the pieces fall in to place and the Islanders can add some additional help at the trade deadline.

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Hot Fantasy Free Agents You Can Pick Up

Nov 4

Posted by Eddie in Fantasy | 6 Comments

Don’t you hate it when you’re searching through the free agent wire in your fantasy league, only to have slim pickings? I went through this earlier this week when I was trying to get my team to rise out of the cellar. I usually give the players I draft the first month of the season to prove their worth before I drop them unless they were injured. The fortunate thing is, I did not have any injuries. The bad news, is that I’m in last place. Some of it was due to my own negligence such as owning four fantasy football teams and worrying about those more. But now I have a little time on my hands and I can handle what’s on my fantasy plate. Here’s a list of the best players available in the free agent world, along with the percentage of Yahoo! Fantasy teams own that player.

Note: Players owned on 60% or fewer teams were considered.

Center:

Ryan Kesler, Vancouver (5-8-13, 53% Owned)

Kesler is one of the hottest players on his team. With 5 goals the first month of the season, he’s shown that he can find the net as he is tied for third in goals and is second in points on the Canucks. He’s also valuable on special teams as he as six power play points.

Honorable Mention:

Mike Fisher, Ottawa (5-6-11, +3, 3PPG, 2GWG, 22% Owned)

Brendan Morrison, Washington (4-6-10, +6, 6 PIM, 2 PPG, 15% Owned)

Wayne Simmonds

Wayne Simmonds

Right Wing:

David Clarkson, New Jersey (3-6-9, 40% Owned)

Clarkson started off hot, but midway through October he went through a five game goal-less drought. Clarkson ended that drought last week. Don’t be afraid to pick him up. I strongly believe he will warm up or get hot before he becomes ice cold. His 20 penalty minutes are worth using if you need someone to raise your team penalty minutes.

Honorable Mention:

Nathan Horton, Florida (3-7-10, 20 PIM, 55% Owned)

Wayne Simmonds, Los Angeles (4-4-8, +9, 9 PIM, 5% Owned)

Left Wing:

James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia (2-11-13, +6, 3 PPA, 27% Owned)

While he may only have two goals this young season, #2 overall pick in the 2007 draft James van Riemsdyk has made an impact through the assist for the Flyers. You have to take notice of someone that has more points than games played, as the Flyers have played only 10 games. He leads the team in assists and is third in plus-minus. If you’re in need of assists because your defensemen aren’t coming through, I recommend his as only 1 in 4 teams own him. Unfortunately in my fantasy league, Chris picked him up Monday afternoon.

Honorable Mention:

Matt Moulson, New York Islanders (6-5-11, 6 PIM, 3 PPA, 45% Owned)

Jarkko Ruutu, Ottawa (4-3-7, 27 PIM, 6% Owned)

Defense:

Jason Demers, San Jose (0-10-10, +7, 4 PPA, 32% Owned)

Rookie Demers has been producing on the blue line for a solid Sharks team. While he haven’t scored a goal this season, his team-leading plus-minus rating is worth taking note of. Look for him to see increased playing time from coach Todd Mclellan.

Ryan Suter, Nashville (2-5-7 8 PIM, 2 PPA, 59% Owned)

I had several defensemen to consider picking. But Suter was the best out of a good bunch along with Demers. Suter is an experienced player who is in the top-five on his team in points and penalty minutes. He also has three power play points in 13 games this season.

Honorable Mention:

Jaroslav Spacek, Montreal (1-4-5, +6, 14 PIM, 49% Owned)

Roman Hamerlik, Montreal (4-2-6, +6, 12 PIM. 22% Owned)

Goalie:

Ondrej Pavelec, Atlanta (5 W, 2.75 GAA, .921 SV%, 42% Owned)

Just like everyone else before the season, I didn’t have much faith in the Thrashers. But they got off to a good start in the first month of the season, and that’s what they need. In goal, Pavelec has solidified his #1 spot over Johan Hedberg. He’s owned in 2 out of every 5 leagues, so chances are he’s available for you.

Honorable Mention:

Jaroslav Halak, Montreal (5 W, 2.85 GAA, .893 SV%, 39% Owned)

Dwayne Roloson, New York Islanders (4 W, 2.70 GAA, .914 SV%, 34% Owned)

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