(Dynasty) New York Islanders

[Bigby Wolf]

Game Version 1.6 Build 19

Note: I edited practise injuries from 1.25 to .85.

2013 Off-Season

Bigby Wolf, the new General Manager of the New York Islanders decided that his first job was to shore up the scouting system, Kyle Ferguson, Denis Bazkenin, Olov Elfsberg and Jason Halkett were signed to full time scouting contracts. Ferguson is expected to be the head scout for analyzing player abilities and Olov Elfsberg is slated to become the chief scout for analyzing player potential.

With the initial infrastructure improvements in place, the next task was to try and find another goaltender to help out Evgeni Nabakov. The management team was focused on acquiring Semyon Varlamov, from the Colorado Avalanche. Although the goaltending talks broke down, Wolf managed to wrangle defenseman Erik Johnson from the Avalanche. The Avalanche were thrilled when we added forward Kirill Petrov to the trade offer. Our scouts value Petrov as a potential 7.5 player....

To the Islanders: Erik Johnson
To the Avalanche: Cal Clutterbuck, Thomas Hickey, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, 2014 4th Round (Philadelphia) Draft Pick and the rights to Kirill Petrov

Moving Clutterbuck and Bouchard will allow the Islanders to promote a couple of their young players. The team is loaded with depth defensemen so the loss of Hickey shouldn't hurt the blue line too much. We were also very pleased that we were able to move Clutterbuck, and that we gained maximum trade value from him. Hopefully this trade helps ease the relationship between the management and the fans after the old regime acquired Clutterbuck for (young diamond in the rough) Niederreiter.

Our search for a goalie eventually led us to Washington where the Capitals were willing to trade us Braden Holtby. Once again, our inclusion of a prospect (Robbie Russo) was the final piece of the puzzle. Our scouts rated Russo as a 7.0 potential player

To the Islanders: Braden Holtby
To the Capitals: Kevin Poulin, Brian Strait, Peter Regin, rights to Robbie Russo, 2014 6th Round and 7th Round PIcks

Of interest here was the Capital's refusal to entertain any negotiations involving goalie Anders Nilsson. Our scouts valued Nilsson and Poulin as being equals but the Capitals were adamant on getting Poulin. Strait and Regin are solid depth players.

With these two recent trades, we've lost a lot of depth and there is a sufficient amount of risk involved in acquiring Braden Holtby as our scouts are saying that Holtby is currently below Nabokov's skill set but the potential is there for significant improvement.

From Around the League

To Buffalo: David Perron
To Edmonton: Tyler Ennis

To Buffalo: Tyler Bozak, Brad Ross
To Toronto: Christian Ehrhoff, rights to Justin Kea

And in perhaps the most interesting signing of the pre-season - the Colorado Avalanche signed Miroslav Satan to a 2 year deal, worth over $2.8 million per season.

[Bigby Wolf]

2013-2014 Season

Ryan Strome and Calvin de Haan have made the team out of training camp. Strome will start the season as the right winger on the second line, and de Haan will patrol the blueline with Matt Carkner, on the team's third paring. Braden Holtby will get the start on opening night.

Lineup:

Matt Moulson - John Tavares - Kyle Okposo (ice time 21)
Michael Grabner - Frans Nielsen - Ryan Strome (ice time 18)
Josh Bailey - Brock Nelson - Colin McDonald (ice time 14)
Matt Martin - Casey Czikas - Eric Boulton (ice time 7)

Lubomir Vishnovsky - Erik Johnson (ice time 24)
Andrew MacDonald - Travis Hamonic (ice time (20)
Calvin de Haan - Matt Carkner (ice time 16)

Braden Holtby - Evgeny Nabokov

Scratched: Matt Donovan

Captain: John Tavares
Assistants: Andrew MacDonald, Kyle Okposo

Owner's Objective for the Season: be in the playoff race

Opening Night

Game one was a disappointment as the Islanders dropped a 6-1 decision in Jersey. Holtby obviously had the jitters in his first game as he allowed all 6 goals on only 27 shots. Fortunately, things got much better as the month went on.

With an 8-3-1 record, the Islanders sit in 2nd place in the Metro Division and 4th place in the Eastern Conference.

The early season surprise performance belongs to Ryan Strome as the rookie posted 10 points in 12 games. Speedster Michael Grabner also raced out of the gates, and it will be interesting to watch his performance this season. Grabner is a very skilled player but he's had more than one coach question his work ethic



And despite the awful performance in game 1, Braden Holtby rebounded nicely and went undefeated for the rest of the month






Looking ahead, the team remains optimistic about making the playoffs but two tough decisions lay ahead in deciding the futures of pending UFAs Matt Moulson and Andrew MacDonald.

Contract extension talks have already begun with Moulson and rumours suggest that his asking price is in excess of $5.5 million over 5 years. MacDonald's demands are much more reasonable - management expects to have him re-signed in the next few weeks.

[Bigby Wolf]

November 2013

6-7-2 record for the month, good enough for 3rd in the Metro Division and 6th in the Eastern Conference.

At first glance, one would think that the sub .500 monthly record is indicative of this club's abilities but what that 6-7-2 record doesn't show is that the New York Islanders did not take any nights off. The players competed and they worked hard in every single game.

Highlights of the month include a 4 goal game from the captain, John Tavares as well as a spirited scrap between Ryan Strome and seasoned pugilist, Shawn Thornton.

Braden Holtby's GAA climbed a bit during the month and his Save % dropped a bit as well, but his record was a solid 5-4-2. Evgeni Nabakov went 1-3 while allowing a whopping 16 goals against. Perhaps it's time to explore other options for the backup position.

Andrew MacDonald signed a 3 year contract extension, worth about $1.4million per season.

Matt Moulson continues to play well and the Islanders would like to try and re-sign him but he's holding firm on his asking price (over $5.5million). He's been placed on the trading list and is actively being shopped around the league. As it stands right now, not a lot of teams are very interested in his services.

Ryan Strome's production dipped during the month, but he's been showing a bit of a mean streak lately as evidenced by the 31 penalty minutes that he's racked up already.

[Bigby Wolf]

December 2013

A record of 6-6-2 for the month (20-16-5 on the season) finds the Islanders slowly falling down the standings - they're now in 5th place in the Metro Division, and 9th in the Eastern Conference.

With the exception of two bad games by Evgeny Nabakov, the team continues to play hard and brings the compete level on a nightly basis. Nabakov was 1-3 (again) during the month but the goals against continues to climb higher as the netminder allowed an incredible 18 goals against in his 4 starts. Braden Holtby continues to play extremely well.

Highlights this month include rookie Brock Nelson recording his first career hat trick, and in a gruesome injury, Eric Boulton tore his UCL and will miss at least 9 months. Speaking of injuries, Frans Nielsen is sidelined for a month and Michael Grabner was injured for 3 weeks. Josh Bailey has slid into the #2 center ice spot and Anders Lee was given a chance as the LW on the 2nd line. Bailey continues to play well but Lee has struggled. Grabner's return will bump Lee to the 3rd line. Matt Donovan has yet to play a game this season, and its believed that he's asked for a trade.

On the trade front, trading Matt Moulson continues to prove itself as a difficult task. There is also need for a backup goalie - although Anders Nilsson will get a chance to prove himself very soon. Perhaps Nabakov can be packaged with Moulson....

[SushamiBoy]

Hey Bud! I really love your format. Since I have to start from scratch, do you mind if I pattern myself a bit after you, screen shots and all?

I have settled on Edmonton I think. Do you have any limitations you put on yourself trade wise or signing wise?

[Bigby Wolf]

do you mind if I pattern myself a bit after you, screen shots and all?

Do you have any limitations you put on yourself trade wise or signing wise?

Absolutely not!

As for the trading question - IMO, the game's AI is a bit weak when dealing with the massive multi-player trade (1-3 roster players + rights to 1-2 players + draft pick(s) = successful trade), so I try and refrain from making those types of deals.

Having said that, I just made a huge trade and it didn't really seem logical but the team I was dealing with needed a LW so they jumped at the chance to get Moulson. Also, I think the team was having salary cap issues so that may have helped me out as well.

Signing wise - I try and think realistically about this. Using Moulson as an example - he's a 30 year old forward (7.5a, 7.5p) so IMO, he's not worth the $5.5million that he was asking for.

[SushamiBoy]

Thanks man!

Yeah I try to justify the trades I make and the signings I do. I can't really argue if the player is asking less than you would expect but I temper my signings of ridiculous requests. When I was the Habs Subban asked about $4M to $4.5M as my main dman but Eller as my 3rd center was asking over $5M!

[Bigby Wolf]

January 2014

Lots of excitement surrounded the Islanders this month!

To the Islanders: Logan Couture
To the Sharks: Matt Moulson, 2015 4th Round Pick (Islanders)

A few interesting things happened during this negotiation. At one time, a total of 9 players were involved, GM Doug Wilson in San Jose was in favour of accepting the deal but the Islanders GM decided to reject the trade. A few days later, GM Wolf pitched the above offer to Wilson and bang - it was done.

Perhaps the Sharks weren't looking forward to Couture's massive contract extension that was due to kick in next season (5 years at $6million per season), or maybe the Sharks needed a LW more than they needed a C...either way, the Islanders are very happy to bring a young dynamic player into their roster.

Two days after being traded, Couture joined his new teammates for a road game in Denver. He was slotted into the lineup as the #2 center, playing in between (LW) Grabner and (RW) Strome. As far as debuts go - this one will probably never be matched....



Including that impressive 8-5 win, the Islanders record for the month was 8-7-1. Overall, the team has a 28-23-6 record, good enough for 3rd in the Metro DIvision and 7th in the Eastern Conference. Goal scoring is up big time, but the goals against jumped up as well. With 185 goals scored, the Islanders now have the second most total goals scored in the league.

The Couture-Strome-Grabner line was absolutely incredible during the month. Couture had 11g - 11a - 22 points in 12 games, Strome had 6g - 15a - 21 points in 13 games and Grabner had 12g - 6a - 18 points in 16 games.



Defensively, Braden Holtby's game slipped a bit - his record was 4-6-1 and he was noticably tired in several of the games. Fortunately, new backup Anders Nilsson filled in admirably!



In other happenings, Matt Donovan finally managed to get into the lineup - his play was decent. Expect the Islanders to try and move him before the trade deadline. One other rookie also made his debut this month - John Persson dressed in 15 games and managed to score 4 goals, and while that may not sound very impressive - consider that two of those goals were short-handed efforts and the third goal was on the PP.

Looking forward, the Islanders will try to land a defenseman for the stretch run.

[Bigby Wolf]

February 2014

With the league on hiatus due to the Sochi Winter Olympics, there was plenty of time for GM Bigby Wolf to man the phone lines and work on improving his club for the stretch run. The first transaction took place on Feb 13:

To the Islanders: Brenden Dillon
To the Hurricanes: Anders Lee, rights to Loic Leduc and the 2016 5th Round Draft Pick (Islanders)

With only 2 points in 27 games this season, and several of those games riding shotgun along Tavares, it was determined that Lee would be made expendable. Anders still has the potential to become a good player in this league but acquiring Brenden Dillon was something that the Islanders have been trying to do all season. Dillon plays an abrasive game and he has a mean streak - two qualities that should endear him to his new teammates. This was an extremely difficult negotiation - as the Hurricanes were adamant on getting Leduc and that 5th Round draft pick. Bigby Wolf has acknowledged that he needs to make an attempt to re-acquire draft picks.

A couple of days later, Wolf noticed that the 10th place Blue Jackets has just placed winger Marian Gaborik on the trading block!

To the Islanders: Marian Gaborik
To the Jackets: Calvin de Haan

de Haan was a quality teammate but with the recent acquisition of Brenden Dillon, the Islander's management team decided to roll the dice and 'rent' Gaborik for the stretch run. Top prospect Griffin Reinhart will get the call up to replace de Haan.

Evgeny Nabokov could not be traded, despite the thorough efforts of GM Wolf. It looks like Nabokov's days in the NHL could be numbered. Matt Donovan was another player that didn't drum up a lot of interest from the other teams - and rather than let him walk, he was offered a 3 year (2-way) contract extension.

The Islanders finished the month with a 3-1 record. Unlike Couture's spectacular debut earlier in the season, Gaborik was held pointless (with 2 SOGs) in his debut. A victim of the numbers game, prospect John Persson was sent to the AHL. Persson has impressed the coaching staff with his ability to score goals in limited ice time.

The coaching staff has decided to break up that 2nd line (with Couture, Strome and Grabner). Here are the new line combinations:

[Bigby Wolf]

March 2013

The coach's decision to break up the Grabner - Couture - Strome line backfired drastically! The first three games of the month saw that new 2nd line (Couture - Nielsen - Strome) combine to finish at -8, -7 and then they went -9 in a brutal 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Injuries to Erik Johnson, Josh Bailey and Matt Martin forced the coaching staff to tweak the lineup. Logan Couture was re-united with Michael Grabner and Ryan Strome, and Anders Nilsson would replace Braden Holtby as the #1 goalie.





With the lineup re-shuffled, the Islanders would end the month with 8 wins in 9 games. Gaborik (with 11g and 3a) fit in well with Tavares and Okposo. Couture, Strome and Grabner didn't produce at the same pace as they did in January but they continued to work hard and play well - most importantly, they played a much better game in the defensive zone. The third line of Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey and Frans Nielsen started scoring with more consistency as well - until Bailey was sidelined with a triceps injury. Rookie Kirill Kabanov was recalled and placed on the third line. He's gone pointless in his first four games, while being a -4.








With 7 games remaining, the Islanders find themselves in 6th position in the Eastern Conference - 3 points ahead of 9th place and 4 points out of 2nd place.

[havefun]

Good Work

[Bigby Wolf]

April 2014

WIth eight wins in nine games to close out March, the Islanders were in good shape to make that final push to get into the playoffs.....and then disaster struck.





One win, four losses and two SO losses later and the Islanders found themselves, after the tie-breaker formula was implemented, sitting in 10th place.





It can be said that the team over-achieved this season but missing the playoffs by a single point is a bitter pill to swallow. To be so close and then fall just short....

On the positive side, the coaching staff is pleased with the team's compete level. Even in the last game of the season, a 4-2 loss in Buffalo - the team played well. Giveaways were minimal and as evidenced by the shots on goal - the Islanders perhaps deserved a better fate. It was probably unlucky that Thomas Vanek decided to show up for the last game of the season as well.

[Bigby Wolf]

April-May-June 2014

From Around the League

To the Lightning: Shawn Horcoff
To the Stars: Ondrej Palat

To the Rangers: Alex Galchenyuk, Joonas Nattinen
To the Habs: Derek Stepan, Derrick Brassard

Marian Gaborik has told the New York Islanders that he is not interested in a contract extension. It's unclear as to how serious the Islanders were on wanting to re-sign Gaborik but sources close to the team indicated that Islander's management intended to lowball Gaborik...

On the eve of the playoffs, several big names have thrown their hats into the UFA summer bonanza! Henrik and Daniel Sedin, Jarome Iginla, Jonas Hiller, Joe Thornton and Paul Stastny are all seeking to strike gold. And in perhaps the biggest newsflash - P.K. Subban has rejected the Montreal Canadiens latest contract offer and his agent has indicated that Subban will enter the summer as a restricted free agent. P.K. is hoping to strike gold via receiving an offer sheet from another team....

During the NHL Playoffs, GM Bigby Wolf spent most of his time re-negotiating contracts with several of the depth players in the organization:

Joe Finley re-signs for 2 years, on a 2 way contract
Aaron Ness also re-signed for 2 years at a $1,000,000 per season but the deal has a 2 way clause
Marc Cantin will be back for 3 more years, he's also on a 2 way contract
Brett Gallant agreed to a 2 way deal for two more years
Chris Bruton also signed a 2 year, 2 way deal
Anders Nilsson was offered a 2 year deal @ $950,000 per season - with a 2 way clause. He accepted the offer.
Joe Diamond - with that great name - has rejected the Islanders generous offer and has decided to wait for offer sheets

Stanley Cup Playoffs





2013-2014 New York Islander's Final Scoring Statistics





2013-2014 New York Islander's Final Goaltender Statistics

[Bigby Wolf]

2014 Draft Day

13th pick in Round 1: Brendan Perlini LW (CAN) 6'2 / 198lbs.

Our scouting team had him ranked 7th so when he was still available, it was an easy selection. We really like his playmaking ability as well as his skating. He has enormous potential.

48th pick in Round 2: Kasperi Kapanen RW (FIN) 5'10 / 165lbs.

We actually had Kasperi ranked 10th on our list so we were shocked that he was still available after the first round. He needs to add some strength but Kapanen has a good work ethic and he doesn't slack off. Those qualities will make him a good fit in our organization.

78th pick in Round 3: Nikolaj Ehlers LW/C/RW (DEN/SWI) 5'11 / 171lbs.

Nikolaj can play all 3 forward positions, and that is a quality attribute in an 18 year old. Like Kapanen, Nikolaj needs to add some muscle as well. His on-ice vision is pretty good and his playmaking ability is excellent.

4th Round: 108th pick: Dmitri Ogurtsov D(RUS) 6'6 / 227lbs.

After drafting forwards in the first three rounds, our 4th pick was a hulking 6'6 227lb defenseman. Nicknamed 'Green' by his teammates, Dmitri is a physically imposing player with decent skating skills. He's a long term project but he could also be a diamond in the rough.

5th Round, 138th pick: Kaapo Kahkonen G (FIN) 6'2 / 202.

Kaapo long term upside is that of an (NHL) backup goaltender. His progress will be monitored closely.

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It should also be mentioned that the Islanders management team continues to overhaul its scouting department as 10 scouts were bought out of their contracts and 9 new scouts were hired. It's hoped that the quality of the scouting department becomes the envy of the league.

With the July 1st free agent bonanza coming up soon, the Islanders are hoping to sort through the mass of available players and hopefully they'll find a gem or two.

[Bigby Wolf]

Free Agent SIgnings

Mason Raymond; 2 years for a total of $4.8million

The veteran forward has been brought in as a short term fixture, until the younger forwards in the organization are NHL ready. The hockey world is well aware of Raymond's skating ability, and his ability to move up and down the lineup. GM Wolf couldn't get Mason to agree on a one year deal.

Bogdan Kiselevich; 1 year at $880,000.

One of our Russian based scouts spotted him, watched him and submitted a glowing report. A team of scouts was assembled and dispatched to Russia and Bogdan was thoroughly scouted. Bogdan doesn't have any outstanding talents but he does most things well and that makes him a complete player. GM Wolf offered a 3 year deal but Bogdan was adamant on signing a 1 year deal.

Andrei Sigaryov; 2 years at $550,000 per - with a two way clause.

Another young player who impressed the Islander's brass with his ability to play all 3 forward positions. He needs time to develop but he could become a second line player one day. He has a lot of similarities to Josh Bailey.

In a different type of free agent signing, the Islanders hired another goaltender coach (Terry Hunter) and another defensive coach (Mike Jackson).

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As usual, there was a huge amount of money thrown into the UFA bonanza pool, here are some highlights:

Marian Gaborik - after spurning the Islanders, Gaborik signed a 3 year deal worth $3,800,000 per season, with the Buffalo Sabres
Daniel Sedin - leaves Vancouver to go to New Jersey (3 years at $6,600,000 per season)
Henrik Sedin - leaves Vancouver to play in San Jose (3 years at $6,000,000 per season)
Joe Thornton - has traded the west coast sun for the sun of Tampa Bay. Two years worth a total of $11,340,000

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From Around the League:

To the Coyotes: Nail Yakupov
To the Oilers: Max Domi

To the Sabres: Chris Tanev, rights to Ben Hutton, rights to Joseph Cox
To the Canucks: Nikita Zadorov

To the Kings: Torey Krug, 2015 2nd Round Pick (Boston)
To the Bruins: Jeff Carter

To the Ducks: Ondrej Palat
To the Stars: Tyson Baille

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Pre-Season 2014-2015

The Goalies

Braden Holtby was okay during his first season with the Islanders, but he definitely digressed as the year went on. In fact, he lost his starting job to Anders Nilsson during the final 1-2 months of the season. Anders Nilsson was steady when called upon, a good sign for a backup goaltender. As the new season approaches, there will be a lot of pressure on Holtby to improve his game.

The Defense

The addition of Bogdan Kiselevich to the team has improved the quality and depth of the team's defensive corps. This defensive core got an unexpected bonus courtesy of the Waiver Wire as the Detroit Red Wings tried to send Dany DeKeyser to the minors but he was instantly snatched up by the Islanders.

With these two newcomers patrolling the blue line, Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock have been sent to Bridgeport for further seasoning. Joining them on the minor league team were Andrei Pedan and Aaron Ness. Reinhart and Pulock still have good upside but the window may have closed for Pedan and Ness.

Matt Donovan, cleared waivers, and was also sent to Bridgeport. Long time NHLer Lubomir Vishnovsky also cleared waivers and he will spend the season in Bridgeport. Vishnovsky has one year left on his contract and he'll be making $6,000,000 in his final season.

The Forwards

This will be pretty much the same group of players that powered the Islanders to a top 3 offense last season. There wasn't much of a challenge for roster spots this year as most of the prospects aren't good enough to play in the top nine.

Mason Raymond is the one new addition who will start opening night with Tavares and Okposo. The other new addition, Andrei Sigaryov struggled to adjust to the smaller North American ice surface. Hopefully Andrei can work on and improve his game in Bridgeport.

Ryan Strome shocked many in the NHL community with his strong performance last season and he'll be expected to produce again this year.

[Bigby Wolf]

A few things to report here:

My iMac (hard drive) crashed on me so the FHM game is gone, and unfortunately - I don't think I am going to re-install the current version of the game.

I played my Islanders game through October, and finished with a 4-7-1 record. Things turned around in November with a 8-4-2. On November 29, I got an email that 'Bigby Wolf's job was in jeopardy unless he could turn things around'

On about December 7, after posting two losses in the month - I traded Holtby and a minor leaguer to Tampa for Ben Bishop. I also traded Lubomir Vishnovsky (6.0a) and his $6million contract to the Flames for a 7.5 potential winger. I was fired the next day.

My December 1 Owner Confidence update said that the team was doing well but the 'long term vision' was poor and that I needed to turn things around. This makes zero sense to me. Did I trade away too many minor leaguers, draft picks...? At the time of my firing, I was 1 game below .500 and only 3 points out of the playoffs. None of my starting players were rated below 7. Financially, my budget was fine - there were still millions of dollars available.

Frustrating