Garth Snow, Isles Going For It Ahead of Move

If Garth Snow is any indication the NHL would be a lot more interesting if former goaltenders ran all 30 franchises.

One year removed from getting whacked in a deal for Thomas Vanek, Snow seems to have found quite a groove heading into this season. In the span of about a half hour the Islanders announced they had taken advantage of two teams bordering on salary cap jail, plucking Johnny Boychuk from the Bruins (https://puckprose.com/2014/10/04/breaking-bruins-trade-johnny-boychuk-islanders/) and Nick Leddy from the Blackhawks (https://puckprose.com/2014/10/04/blackhawks-trade-nick-leddy-to-the-islanders/). Both acquisitions likely prompted new goaltender Jaroslav Halak to order a case of Snow’s favorite adult beverage and have it delivered to his office.

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When put in context of the teams pending move to Brooklyn next year and the Charles Wang ownership transition over the next two years there is quite a bit to get excited about on Long Island. The top six forwards are as deep, talented and FAST as any in the league, and now the blue line is certainly more study. And with a top three prospect pool the scouts are certainly holding up on their end of the bargain. And there seems to be no better year in the East for the Islanders to make these moves. They just plucked an excellent defensemen from a team thought to contend for the Stanley Cup from each conference, and now there may be no clear cut favorite in the East. Boston, Montreal, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh are still thought to be the cream of the crop, but all still have varying levels of concern as the season approaches.

The Isles are not without cause for concern either. John Tavares is coming off of a major knee injury. He has youth on his side in his recovery but no one really knows how a player is going to react until you get into game situations and can cut, stop and make contact without thinking about reinsuring yourself. If healthy, Tavares can challenge for the Richard Trophy. If he isn’t right Kyle Okposo, Mikhail Grabovski and Josh Bailey will be expected to shoulder a much heavier load. Only Okposo has proven he is capable, which could spell trouble for the Islanders.

Additional questions stand in the crease as journeyman Jaroslav Halak gets perhaps his last shot as a starting goalie in the NHL. Halak has played well in stretches but has ultimately lost jobs to Carey Price (which I understand) and Brian Elliott (huh?). Now that the Isles have made it clear they have designs on making a deep run this year with their acquisitions today, is Halak capable of shouldering the load?

The Islanders are certainly more talented tonight than they were this morning. The pendulum that is Garth Snow has swung very positively today, but he will have major decisions on the horizon. Three of the teams top four defensemen (including Boychuk and Leddy) are not signed beyond this year and questions like that with the new arena and ownership will keep the pressure squarely on Snow. But the team taking the ice to start the year is young and exciting and Snow may have picked up some equity in dealing with future decisions with the moves today.

I still don’t think the Islanders crack the top four in the East and that could be problematic. Of the twenty teams that made the Stanley Cup Finals since 2003, only four (20%) have been seeded six or lower with only the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 raising a banner. But early round upsets are commonplace in the NHL and Halak is certainly a goalie capable of catching fire for a stretch. Ultimately I think the Islanders have done enough now to make it comfortably into the playoffs. At that point it’s about health, your matchup and timely goaltending. That is still several months off, but the Islanders are certainly going to be a team on the rise to watch as the season kicks off next week.

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