Off-season Beef

In news that will have shocked no one in EHE circles, the New York Islanders made yet another pair of significant trades this past week, with William Nylander and Nick Suzuki, two career-long Islanders, moved to Nashville and Tampa Bay respectively.

Coming back to New York are winger Andrei Svechnikov and centerman Tomas Hertl along with AHL winger Logan Hutsko.

So what brought about the decision to move on from two players who had been presumptive franchise cornerstones—homegrown talents that fans thought would be legitimate stars on the Island for upwards of a decade?

According to General Manager Kyle Phillips, it was part of a broader effort to give the team a new look when they hit the ice for the 2022-23 season.

"My feeling is that it was a bit too easy for bigger, stronger teams to take us off our game," said Phillips in a radio interview with ESPN New York's 98.7 WEPN-FM.

"I'm a big believer that to be successful a team needs to be multi-faceted, and part of the reason we had such a disappointing season last year was that we were a little too one-dimensional up front. Our group could play a fast, puck possession game and generate lots of offense off the rush, but aside from that we struggled.

"That isn't to single out Willy or Nick, because I think the world of those two guys. 

"If anything, I'm singling out myself for not putting together a more versatile roster. I think this team needed players who can help create offense in a different way, and these deals are meant to address that."

Indeed, Hertl and Svechnikov seem to fit the bill in terms of bringing the size and strength—and inclination—to play in the home plate area of the offensive zone, something that the outgoing Isles weren't particularly known for.

"We're really excited about bringing in Tomas and Andrei," said Phillips. "They're both strong and hard to knock off the puck, but they mix that with a ton of skill. The certainly have the ability to fit into that high-tempo offense I was talking about, but they also bring a different element that I think upgrades our forward group as a whole."

Only time will tell if Phillips's instincts are correct when it comes to how his new players will gel on the ice, but interestingly, off-ice matters were apparently a significant factor in both trades as well. Said Nashville Predators GM Eric Wolf: 

"After 665 games in a Predators uniform, and one of four remaining original Predators drafted in the inaugural draft, we thank Tomas for all of his contributions to our team over the last 8 years.

"We felt we owed more to (him) than 3C line duties here in Nashville, stuck behind McDavid and Crosby on our depth chat. Hertl is a top line player, and we felt at this stage in our organization and this stage in Hertl's career, it was time for us both to part ways (while giving him) an opportunity to continue to grow his game and play a lot of minutes, and felt if he'd stayed here that growth would be stagnated.

"Now in adding Nylander, we get a prolific goal scorer that we sorely needed, not to mention Nylander will add +10 attractiveness to our team. Having good looking players is crucial, because it means more babes will be coming to the rink, and more babes means player morale will improve." 

General Manager Justin Hill of the Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, had his mind on off-ice matters of a different sort:

“Acquiring a true number 1 center for a top line winger made so much sense for our roster during this rebuild.

"Nick is someone we see leading this team for years to come”.

“A one-two punch of Suzuki and Barzal to lead this team for a while should be exciting for the fans” added (Lightning Head Coach) Geoff Ward. 

On the rumors that Svechnikov had been having affairs with more than one of the wives of other players on the Tampa Bay roster, GM Hill kept it short and sweet but did nothing to put those rumors to rest, saying only: “He is the Islanders problem now."
 

Put it all together and it would seem that one way or another, there will be interesting times ahead for the Islanders, both on the ice and in the dressing room. The million-dollar question, or course, is whether that adds up to a return to the postseason for a franchise that, so far, remains stuck in the featherweight division.

Kevin Lacy

Respect the graphics game in this headline and article!

Off-season Beef
Islanders add a bit of size, subtract a bit of style

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