Okposo carries the puck through the neutral zone, head-mans Kocalchuk up the far-side boards…he dekes through the D, finds Tavares open in the slot, he shoots…HE SCORES!
How nice would it be to hear that on a consistent basis? Very nice…almost too nice.
Larry Brooks of the New York Post recently reported that the Islanders are in on making a trade for Atlanta Thrashers superstar Ilya Kovalchuk by this season’s trade deadline. Garth Snow declined to comment on the matter, but according to Chris Botta at Islanders Point Blank, the General Manager told Newsday reporter Arthur Staple that he is not going to stray from his plan of building from within.
Although the thought of Kovalchuk playing on this team is enough to make me want to call Garth myself and tell him to make the trade, it would be a big mistake for this Isles club. Who would the Islanders give up in return? It would most certainly cost us our first-round pick, but keep in mind that right now this team is in the playoff hunt. That pick won’t be as high as Atlanta would like, meaning more would have to be involved. Such names as Calvin de Haan, Jyri Niemi, Kirill Petrov and Jesse Joensuu have been thrown around. For most of you readers that aren’t Isles fans, with the exception of de Haan and Petrov, you’re probably asking, ‘who the hell are these guys?’ That’s enough of a reason for the Thrashers to not accept any offer the Isles put on the table.
If the Thrashers were to deal Ilya to the Islanders, someone like Kyle Okposo would have to be included in the exchange, and you can bet all your money that Kyle is going to be an Islander for a very long time. Emerging forwards such as Josh Bailey and Matt Moulson are here to stay, and John Tavares being traded is about as laughable as Mike Milbury being welcomed back as Isles General Manager. Like Snow told Staple, he intends on sticking to his plan of building from within. That doesn’t mean the Islanders won’t explore the possibility of adding a player like Kovalchuk to their roster. But if Snow is unwilling to trade away his future, it’s going to be very difficult for the Isles GM to bring in an impact player before the end of the regular season.
That doesn’t mean that the Islanders are going to be inactive at the trade deadline. I’m sure Garth hopes to add a few depth players to help this team push for the playoffs if they are still this close by March. As far as a major goal scorer goes, my advice is to not hold your breath if you’re an Islanders fan. You can expect Garth to look into adding a few pieces over the summer; another top-4 offensive defenseman and a top-six winger. I wouldn’t be surprised if they give the fourth line a make-over as well since Park, Jackman and Thompson combine for a -41 on the season. But I would not expect anything of major significance to happen this year.
-Rob McGowan
I agree, the Isles should look into it, but they should not compromise the youth movement as a result. The team has come too far and has traded away enough of it’s future in the past.
If Garth doesn’t try to aquire Kovalcuck, hes making a stupid choice. Look how goos Kovi is. Hes going to be hopefully a star in the next few years and him being on a line with Okposo and Tavares, this teams top line would be great.
I’d have to agree with that Nick, thanks for commenting. Every team should be trying to get him. He already is a huge star and players of his quality do not come around very often.
Could the Islanders make this kind of trade contingent, lets say on a certain time period to sign him long term (I don’t know, maybe 2 weeks). Then, if they can’t, could the trade then be voided. I wouldn’t want another Ryan Smyth situation
Chris, as far as an offensive defenseman we only have Mark Streit, and he has only recently started to score goals again. Although we could always use a shutdown defenseman since Witt and Martinek are either getting up in age or injury prone, our powerplay could use an offensive boost from the blueline. Streit can’t do it all by himself.
Would like to read more on the Rangers
why would we pursue another offensive defensman? that makes absolutely no sense at all.. we dont need another one of those we need a big shut down defenseman.. i do however agree on a top 6 winger who can score