Amac Goes To Philly

From every media you can find:

Andrew MacDonald is a flyer.

The Isles get a 2014 3rd round pick and a 2015 2nd round pick.

More to come as Vanek should be next. He's been scratched for tonight's game against the NHL Jets.

Where Do The Islanders Go From Here

I tweeted something to the affect of “It doesn’t get any worse than that” referring of course to a goal that no one saw and it was awarded to the Colorado Avalanche after they had just beat the New York Islanders by a final of 5-3. Thomas Vanek threw his stick in the direction of the puck, so it’s awarded to the opposing team. No one realized it until later on that the final score had changed. That was quite possibly the lowest point for the Islanders this year. Now what? What do fans look forward to for the rest of this season? Continue Reading....

Interest In Vanek & MacDonald Heating Up!

From Bob McKenzie of TSN

The Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins are amongst those teams that would be interested in getting a scoring winger, a rental at the deadline. Pittsburgh has some cap issues, but Vanek's exactly what the doctor's ordered for a lot of contending teams.

My take: I'll look into who's available from the Kings in a bit, but if Pittsburgh really wants to trade again (last time the Isles did, the Pens won the Cup: Hello Bill Geurin) I would hope Simon Despres is in the mix and of course another first rounder. The Isles may want to trade Vanek before Friday so they don't have his contract throughout the duration of the Olympics. More to come.

Also from McKenzie is that there are teams very interested in Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald. I have read on multiple occasions that the St. Louis Blues were interested in A-mac, but at this point, with his very reasonable $500,000+ contract, I don't expect him to be traded until the trade deadline in March.

Don't forget to follow me @Netminder39

Let The Vanek Rumors Begin

Will Tavares be enough to convince Vanek to stay?

From now until Thomas Vanek is either signed or traded, you can expect to see his name in the rumor mill almost everyday. Enjoy!

Will MacDonald Get Traded This Year?

Photo courtesy of Bleacherreport.com

I'm sure by now many Islanders fans read Elliot Friedmans 30 thoughts and what he said about the Islanders. What intrigues me however was his number 5 thought:

 5. By the way, a few teams are watching one of Snow's guys very closely: defenceman Andrew MacDonald. He's unrestricted after the season, and a greatly improved player.

My take: He's a tradable asset. He hasn't received a contract yet, neither did Matt Moulson. Could he fetch a first rounder? Not likely, but with prospects like Reinhart, Pulock, Mayfield progressing, he certainly wouldn't get a long term deal from the Islanders. Therefore I wouldn't be surprised if there was another "shake-up" for the Islanders, this time for the defense. Time and the standings will tell.

Islanders Defense Is A Concern

The Islanders had an opportunity to improve their record, move up in the standings, and take some momentum into Tuesdays match up against the New York Rangers. After beating the Pittsburgh Penguins the night before, the Islanders returned home to face the lowly Philadelphia Flyers and lost. The term “consistently inconsistent” is in fact the theme that this team is currently going through.  Many fans are looking for some kind of change made. Some want Ryan Strome up, Brock Nelson playing everyday, Eric Boulton to be off the team, some have even said a coaching change is needed. Two problems I see with those suggestions. First, the Islanders are scoring goals and two, Capuano is not going anywhere, especially when the assistant coaches and General Manager are on the same page. So let’s take a look at the defense, a group that did not change much from last year. Continue reading →