February 2016
In an effort to shake up the team, after their sub-par month of January, the coaching staff adjusted their tactics and the lineup. Cal Clutterback found himself sitting in the press box, and watching the game as a healthy scratch. Not only did the Islanders win that first game of the month, but they started dominating games. For the month, they went 10-3-1. Once again, they averaged 3 goals per game but the real improvement was on the defensive side as they only allowed 28 goals in 14 games. Much better.
With the team playing better, Clutterbuck was deemed expendable…
To Dallas: Cal Clutterbuck, rights to Eamon McAdam, 2017 7th round pick
To Islanders: Stephen Johns
Very happy with this deal, as we managed to shed some salary and at the same time - we managed to re-stock the prospect pool. Johns should make the team at next season’s training camp. It should also be mentioned that Darren Helm has been playing well, and without his steady efforts, we wouldn’t have been able to trade Clutterbuck.
The special teams units both improved a little bit, the PP guys are at 16.2% and the PK boys are at 83.4. Both units will be tweaked slightly before simming the set of March games.
Contract News
Prospect Scott Mayfield signed a 3 year, 2 way deal. Our scouting team currently views his ability as a 3a, and his potential is 3.5a.
Casey Czikas and Alan Quine did not sign new deals with the team. The Islanders did however, qualify both players. Czikas was asking for $3,000,000 over two years - while the Islanders were offering $2,400,000 over two years,I don’t see a deal getting done unless the player lowers his demands. As for Alan Quine (3a ability, 3.5 potential), we were offering $750,000 a season on a 2 year deal and Alan wants over $1.1M per season, on a 2 year deal. Again, I don’t think a new deal can be reached.
Bigby Wolf recently told the media that he was pleased with the 1 year extension (worth $3,000,000) that Ryan Strome signed. Well, imagine his shock upon learning about the new contracts that Filip Forsberg and Nate McKinnon just signed…
Filip Forsberg: $7,440,000 over 4 years, or $1,860,000 per season.
Nate McKinnon: $7,650,000 over 3 years, or $2,550,00 per season
From Around the League
Lots of minor deals occurred this month, here are a few of the bigger ones:
To Chicago: Mattias Ekholm
To Nashville: Andrew Shaw
To San Jose: James Reimer, Sam Carrick
To Toronto: Logan Couture, Aaron Dell
To Boston: Craig Smith
To Nashville: David Krejci, Tommy Cross
On the injury front, Florida lost their prized d-man - Aaron Ekblad, who will be out for 4 months because of a concussion.
With the league gearing up for its stretch drive, the teams that are having disappointing seasons have started making organizational changes. Two coaches lost their jobs this month, and according to the league’s rumour mill - several other coaches and GMs may not finish the season. The fired coaches are Mike Yeo of the Wild (replaced by Ron Rolston) and the other coach shown the door was Jon Cooper of the Lightning (replaced by George Gwozdecky)