Incoming Islander Shakeup (UPDATE: Lots of Trades Made, Fisher signed)

[TheScorpion]

Oh boy. Here we go.

The Islanders' GM TheScorpion has finally emerged from his exam period and is dissatisfied with his team's performance thus far this season.

"We may be just one point out of a playoff spot," he remarked, "but we feel like we haven't reached our potential, especially defensively."

The team is rumoured to be making a big push for free agent Mike Fisher, and may be looking to clear space up front in order to land the forward. Players such as Jason Pominville and Scott Hartnell have underperformed for the Islanders this season, and TheScorpion insists that he will take this lack of production no longer.

"We're looking at everything. We've seen some of the names out there and we're ready to deal from our areas of strength to shore up everywhere. We're open for business.

"We're not throwing in the towel, we're not rebuilding. Right now, our goal is to make the playoffs. Anything can happen once you get there. We have a good team and a good core of guys like Ovechkin, Neal, Zajac, Giordano, and Keith... but we need to start looking to the future, looking at our depth.

"We're listening to everything."

[TheScorpion]

For reference, here are the New York Islanders presently.
Updated at 5:14 PM on Jan 31 2018:

Ovechkin (78) - Zajac (74) - Vrbata (73)
Letestu (73) - Hanzal (74) - Neal (73)
Hartnell (69) - Carey (66) - Pominville (70)
Vatrano (67) - Jooris (63) - Megna (63)

Giordano (75) - Keith (74)
Goligoski (72) - Schlemko (64)
Murphy (59) - Claesson (63)

Anderson (79)
Johnson (72)

Bolded are who I would call available.

[TheScorpion]

We have a trade to announce.

To Chicago:

F Derek Ryan
F Jussi Jokinen
F Adam Cracknell
D Nick Holden
$6.75 million

To NYI:

F Frank Vatrano
D Dmitri Samorukov
2019 2nd-round pick
2019 3rd-round pick
2018 5th-round pick

We clear up some desperately needed roster spots and save $2 million while getting some potentially-useful picks. Holden's an okay player but we feel like he's probably pretty replaceable -- and we weren't going to re-sign him. All three of the NHL guys we dealt are UFAs. Vatrano's an interesting project and Samorukov was a third-rounder in the NHL this past year. We feel like we get pretty good value here.

Thanks to Tilley for the deal.

[TheScorpion]

We have another trade to announce.

To Buffalo:

F Riley Nash
$500k

To NYI:

2018 4th-round pick
2019 4th-round pick

A guy riding a career season in Boston who we really didn't need. Glad to see him get a home in Buffalo and for us to get even more draft choices. We clear up an additional million dollars here which is another plus.

[Cheese]

Hmmm.. Hope that Chicago deal screws up his mojo.

[Tilley]

For the Hawks this deal was about stemming the tide until the walking dead return (Methot, Malkin, and now McQuaid) and creating more depth throughout the lineup.

Jokinen is a versatile winger with decent SC and DF ratings. He will likely slot onto the 2nd line RW spot until Malkin returns and then provide depth on the 3rd line. Holden provides more defensive depth. He will likely end up on the 2nd pairing, but will be on the 1st powerplay unit to help kick-start the ever struggling PP. Ryan was added to help Scorp out of his financial pinch, but should serve me well as a depth center on the 4th line.

Out the door goes Frank Vatrano who I practically stole a couple years ago. He's a goal scorer and I will likely be looking at this trade a couple years from now asking how I could have let him go for 3 UFAs. The picks are tough to lose, but I had a tonne of 2nds last year and have 1.5 years to re-coup them.

The Sim is a fickle beast and she forced my hand with a rash of injuries. Time will tell if I played into her hands and doomed my team or satisfied her lust for blood with a fresh deal.

Thanks, as always, to Scorp for the quick and civil talks.

[TheScorpion]

To the Oilers:

F Tomas Nosek
F Jimmy Vesey
D Marco Scandella
$2.53 million

To NYI:

F Radim Vrbata
2019 3rd*
2018 4th
2018 5th

We feel like we did really well with the Oilers here. The 3rd is conditional -- if Vrbata retires from the NHL, which is all but confirmed, we get the pick -- but not only do we get those three picks, but we may get additional picks out of this as well.

We're going to make sure that Vrbata slots in on the top line and powerplay unit, because we need him to get to 50 points this season. If he does, we get a 2nd-rounder from the Sharks and a 3rd-rounder from the Oilers. That's a huge part of why I was so interested in acquiring Vrbata.

Vesey and Nosek are okay forwards. Scandella stung a little to give up but we're confident that we'll find a replacement for him soon. We're looking a little thin right now but we need to keep clearing salary to make room for a certain player.

Thanks to s+j for the negotiations, you got some good pieces here.

[savardandjokinen]

The Oilers have been losing a lot since 2018, but still maintain a playoff position. We felt like we were adding by subtracting in this deal, as Vrbata has a good rating (although hasn’t been scoring too much) but we get stability on the back end with Scandella. Vesey and Nosek will both be depth pieces moving forward, as our team looks stacked for next season. No we’re not throwing the towel at all, I don’t feel like we get weaker by doing this trade and we get better for next season. I’m hoping that Vrbata contemplates retirement for a bit so he doesnt retire by October 1st, so I don’t give a 3rd. Thanks to Scorp for the deal, I think you got a good shot to make a run

[TheScorpion]

The Islanders have made another trade -- this one, a rather small one.

To NYI:

F Paul Carey
$1 million

To Minnesota:

2018 4th-round pick
2018 4th-round pick

Basically the exact same deal as the Nash deal, except I get full cap coverage. Nash and Carey have the same rating, so I save $1 million here on a lateral move. Pretty fair move, Jiri and I both get appropriate value -- I was desperate for depth, and he has plenty of forwards and more picks never hurt!

Thanks to Jiri for the talks, easy and civil as usual.

[Hanna Sniper]

xxx wrong thread

[savardandjokinen]

Islanders acquire Fayne, Candella and a 5th from Oilers for Woll and Blidh

[TheScorpion]

Islanders acquire the freedom to sign Marek Hrivik and Kevin Connauton in addition

[TheScorpion]

To NYI:

Leo Komarov
$1 million

To Columbus:

Vinni Lettieri
2018 4th

The Isles now:

Ovechkin (78) - Zajac (74) - Vrbata (73)
Komarov (71) - Hanzal (74) - Neal (73)
Hartnell (69) - Letestu (73) - Pominville (70)
Vatrano (67) - Carey (66) - guy

Giordano (75) - Keith (75)
Goligoski (72) - Yandle (71)
guy - Schlemko (64)

Anderson (79)
Johnson (72)

Almost there. Need more depth. Getting Fisher will help.

[MJK]

I can't recall the last time the NYI were roster compliant.

Keep trading and fill those spots. Getting Fisher should be low on your priority list.

[SportsJunky]

Shots fired.

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by MJK

I can't recall the last time the NYI were roster compliant yet only received 1 fine this year? How is that possible?

The Islanders are presently roster compliant.

[Jiri Hrdina]

This league primarily works on the honor system, but we are going to be cracking down. More to come later....

If you aren't in compliance - get your poop grouped!

[MJK]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

The Islanders are presently roster compliant.

Well I see what you did there, called up some AHL scrubs to become CPHL compliant, but unfortunately you are now not AHL compliant.

Good effort though!

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by MJK

Well I see what you did there, called up some AHL scrubs to become CPHL compliant, but unfortunately you are now not AHL compliant.

Good effort though!

We will be when the league processes our pending signings of Hrivik and now Ryan Reaves. Hopefully that happens soon.

[MJK]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

We will be when the league processes our pending signings of Hrivik and now Ryan Reaves. Hopefully that happens soon.

Good work!