Post by Los Angeles Kings on Sept 16, 2023 1:10:50 GMT -6
Posted on behalf of Lennart:
Despite losing John Tavares and Dougie Hamilton in the off season the NY Islanders’ management is still feeling confident the team will have a good year and that “anything but making it to the playoffs is a failure”. Not denying the team has lost some edge the management feel the replacements made through free agency and trades adds some balance and depth previously missing.
As captain Tavares declared he wanted a significant salary raise GM Westman started looking for a replacement, or rather replacements, as it was clear no single player could replace Tavares. As two more players, Bellows and Tanev, were out on the trade block the replacement group turned out to be Craig Smith, Reid Boucher, Andreas Athanasiou and Mats Zuccarello.
“We didn’t get the effect we expected last year from the more physical players and decided to improve our puck moving ability this year”, GM Westman explains. “The skills are there. Pre season will be used to find the best combinations for maximum chemistry.”
While the loss of Dougie Hamilton may worry some experts even more, especially since Iliya Sorokin was a but of a disappointment last year, Westman doesn’t seem as troubled as expected.
“We had no desire to move Hamilton going into the off season, but as things developed we needed to make adjustments to fit under the cap. We looked at a few solutions and it turned out that the solution with Lindstrom as the main piece was the best for us. Lindstrom is already a good two way defender, and as his skating skills will develop he could be a top four defender on any team in the league in two years.”
So finally, goalkeeping…
”Sorokin had a problem with consistency last year, but I believe that had to a lot with the team underperforming defensively over all. We have identified some necessary strategical changes I believe will help both him and Mrazek and with that I believe we have a team strong enough to make it to the play offs. Anything less would be a great disappointment”, Westman concludes.
Despite losing John Tavares and Dougie Hamilton in the off season the NY Islanders’ management is still feeling confident the team will have a good year and that “anything but making it to the playoffs is a failure”. Not denying the team has lost some edge the management feel the replacements made through free agency and trades adds some balance and depth previously missing.
As captain Tavares declared he wanted a significant salary raise GM Westman started looking for a replacement, or rather replacements, as it was clear no single player could replace Tavares. As two more players, Bellows and Tanev, were out on the trade block the replacement group turned out to be Craig Smith, Reid Boucher, Andreas Athanasiou and Mats Zuccarello.
“We didn’t get the effect we expected last year from the more physical players and decided to improve our puck moving ability this year”, GM Westman explains. “The skills are there. Pre season will be used to find the best combinations for maximum chemistry.”
While the loss of Dougie Hamilton may worry some experts even more, especially since Iliya Sorokin was a but of a disappointment last year, Westman doesn’t seem as troubled as expected.
“We had no desire to move Hamilton going into the off season, but as things developed we needed to make adjustments to fit under the cap. We looked at a few solutions and it turned out that the solution with Lindstrom as the main piece was the best for us. Lindstrom is already a good two way defender, and as his skating skills will develop he could be a top four defender on any team in the league in two years.”
So finally, goalkeeping…
”Sorokin had a problem with consistency last year, but I believe that had to a lot with the team underperforming defensively over all. We have identified some necessary strategical changes I believe will help both him and Mrazek and with that I believe we have a team strong enough to make it to the play offs. Anything less would be a great disappointment”, Westman concludes.
