New York Islanders sign Luca Sbisa to ill-advised one-year deal

The New York Islanders signed defenseman Luca Sbisa to a one-year deal after signing him to a PTO for training camp and the preseason. This proves nothing has really changed. 

When the New York Islanders removed Garth Snow and Doug Weight from their respective positions, they were expecting change. To replace them, they hired Lou Lamoriello to run the front office and Stanley Cup winning head coach Barry Trotz to run the bench.

In case this summer’s lack of moves to address the loss of John Tavares didn’t confirm the truth, the truth got confirmed when the Islanders signed defenseman Luca Sbisa to a one-year deal – not much has changed.

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Maybe the Isles should have seen this coming. After all, Lamoriello is the same guy who once signed Matt Martin to a multi-year deal. And then traded for him when he left the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Keep in mind the last time Lamoriello signed a veteran to a one-year deal coming off a PTO, Roman Polak gave Leafs fans non-stop heartburn for a whole season. His history with guys similar to Sbisa is simply not good.

The league has trended away from the traditional stay at home defensemen whose best skills are hurling themselves in front of pucks and hitting people. Today’s game favors those who are mobile and skilled. Sbisa is neither of the two.

Also, Trotz’s history isn’t too promising either. He once willing scratched Nate Schmidt for Taylor Chorney in the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins in an elimination game. This went about as well as it sounds.

Even during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, when Trotz coached the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup title, he scratched Jakub Vrana for Alex Chiasson. Once again, it didn’t end well.

Over the past four seasons, Sbisa has been one of the worst defensemen in the NHL as far as shot attempts. He was even worse last season. Sbisa is going to see the ice for the Islanders this season. The sooner Isles fans accept their doom, the better.

Now, I haven’t even touched on the worst part of this signing. Along with Josh Ho-Sang and Kieffer Bellows being sent down to the AHL, it proves the alleged “accountability” that was supposed to come with Lamoriello was a pipe dream.

Devon Toews, by my eyes (and many others), looked NHL ready in training camp and the preseason. The Islanders desperately need defensemen who can move the puck. Toews, by the way, can do that. So why doesn’t he have a clear-cut role in the lineup? Sbisa is only going to complicate that issue.

Even though it sounds like the Islanders will go with eight defensemen, Sbisa is likely going to wind up taking away games from Toews. It shouldn’t shock anyone if Toews is eating nachos in the press box on a regular basis. Or, at the very least, far more often than he ought to be.

The other Sebastian Aho was sent down to the AHL earlier and it sure wasn’t due to his play in the preseason. It was due to him not having to clear waivers. This isn’t any different from the way Snow and the previous front office regime ran things. You know what, I think Pete Townsend said it better than me. “Meet the new boss… same as the old boss”.