Epic Failures Season in Review
Shouldn't be a surprise, but once again the Islanders will watch the season draw to a close firmly implanted in a seed other than the top 8 of the Gretzky Conference this year.
Here's how GM n00b accomplished this highly underrated feat (for the fourth consecutive season for those counting):
IN
Miikka Kiprusoff (31)
Paul Martin (27)
Tim Gleason (25)
Drew Miller (24)
Jonathan Bernier - Prospect
Chet Pickard - Prospect
Nicklas Bergfors - Prospect
Keaton Ellerby - Prospect
Matt Lashoff - Prospect
Francois Bouchard - Prospect
Paul Szczechura - Prospect
OUT
Nicklas Lidstrom (38)
Cam Ward (24)
Dan Girardi (24)
Pavol Demitra (33)
Travis Moen (26)
Martin Lapointe (34)
Steve Rucchin (RETIRED)
Chris Chelios (46)
Bret Hedican (37) and Kristi Yamaguchi (DONT ASK)
So basically we got a hell of a lot younger, but also a hell of a lot worse too... really shored up our prospect base, but let's face it we don't have a legit CPHL roster... it'd be nice if we had some decent guys up with the big club, but I have no clue what I'm doing...
We were happy to get Kipper 'cause we actually think he's a good goalie and not a middle-tier tender like CP does... Ward is decent but really was not working for our squad and hasn't been for a while now... we tried to be patient with him, but jumped at the chance to swap him for Kipper... Demitra was a guy I really wanted to ditch mostly because of his 3-year salary at 7M and was very happy with the return we got... Lidstrom was tough to move but we were aware of his age and despite being an ageless wonder, thought it'd be best for our team moving forward to get a few pieces for him and we did that in Paul Martin, Jonathan Bernier and Chet Pickard... probably the deal we are happiest with as we get two very solid goalie prospects and a very capable top 4 dman as shown this season with the NHL Devils...
So, a season of transition for the lowly Isles, but don't be fooled into thinking that things will be better next year... the rebuild has just started and if done properly, should take at least one more year... and besides, with n00b running the circus on the Island, we may screw up in a deal along the way and really drive this team into the ground!
Happy playoffs!
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