This is the summer depth chart. Remember, these are NOT suggested line combinations. I am placing each player in the slot I feel gives the team the best chance to win. Players listed on team are all currently signed to one-way contracts. Open spaces represent a team need.

Forwards:

1. Moulson-Tavares-_#1 RW_
2. Grabner-_#2 center_-Okposo
3. Bailey-Nielsen-Boyes
4. Martin-Reasoner-Joensuu
13th forward: Boulton

Defense:

1. Visnovsky
2. Streit
3. Hamonic
4. _Top 4 Defenseman_
5. MacDonald
6. Carkner

Goaltenders:

1. Nabokov
2. DiPietro

2011-12 Islanders who are unsigned UFAs:

1. Jay Pandolfo
2. Mark Eaton
3. Milan Jurcina
4. Al Montoya

Prospects under contract who may fill gaps in 2012-13:

Forwards:

1. Ryan Strome
2. Nino Niederreiter
3. Brock Nelson
4. Casey Cizikas
5. David Ullstrom
6. Kirill Kabanov

Defense:

1. Matt Donovan
2. Calvin de Haan
3. Aaron Ness
4. Griffin Reinhart

Goaltenders:

1. Kevin Poulin
2. Anders Nilsson

You forgot DP (he is an injured but wears cool hats) a lock in as top Goalie.

Owen Nolan, Bill Guiren, Esa tikkanen will be looking to get back in the game. hook em up, Garfey :sick:

Don't worry guys, we're going to have PLENTY of fun with it.

I think Malakov and Kasperitis are available.

Johnny Bower can backup DP in net. He's probably in better shape than Rickity at his age. Nabby can be pencilled in as the third goalie. We are still using that system right? :blink:
:disgraced:

I MISREAD THE HEADING
I THOUGHT IT WAS "SUMMER DEATH CHART"
PROBABLY THE SAME

Depth
as in raising the titanic.

good luck.

Two questions:

Will Bailey be evaluated as a wing, not center?

Will you include "Pylon, Medium Orange" as a yardstick for some of the current players? Good chance that some of them would be ranked below this on theoretical depth chart....

To answer your first question, yes I will start Bailey off as a winger. To answer your second question, anyone that isn't under contract will be left off, so the only pylon type player would be Reasoner. He'll be the 4th line center until proven otherwise. Hopefully the rest of the orange cones won't be resigned.

i like this team

This is a preliminary depth chart that will most likely take us into draft weekend. The forwards are ranked by LW, C, and RW. Defense is ranked 1-6. Some notes:

-I left Grabner as a 2nd line LW even though he had a poor season because I feel he's capable of putting up a 30 goal season again with true second line linemates.

-Kyle Okposo's good statistical season aside, I still feel like he SHOULD be a 3rd liner until he proves he's more. He will most likely wind up being the #1 or #2 RW on the team by default come September, but for now the blank spaces speak for themselves.

-Bailey was left as a LW because that's how he finished off the season. If that changes, I will update.

-Obviously UFAs such as Parenteau and Haley will be left off the depth chart for now.

-Sorry guys, DiPietro is technically the #2 so I have to put him there.

-Same thing for Reasoner being 4th line center.

I'm not sure if anyone paid much attention to the World Championships but being that I was on a flight to the West Coast I had nothing but time to watch the USA-Finland quarterfinal game in full. Jesse Joensuu had himself a day, with 2 goals including the dramatic GWG with 10 seconds left. His skating looked improved from the last time I had seen him. I'm wondering if the season at home helped his confidence. Wouldn't mind him getting a look at camp as a bottom 6 winger.

Bailey--Okposo :punk: :banana: :punk: :banana:

He was already given a nice long look by the team. Nino should be given that ice time.

but now he's a little more seasoned. I wasn't impressed when he was here the first time around, but the Islanders were his custodian in his development at the time, which we know is death to a young player. But now he's had experiences and successes we couldn't give him and his development had to be better once he left here.

Yes. Joensuu has fallen into the classic Islander prospect mismanagement club. He's the same age as Okposo and Grabner. He'll only be 25 this coming year. At 6'4, 210-220 he brings much needed size to the wing. He had a decent year in the SEL this season. I'm sure whichever team he played for in that league was more competitive than the Islanders. Anywhere is better than the Islanders at this point. In the Pandolfo thread a big gripe is that management can't find anyone better than him. This guy is definitely better than him. And from what I saw of him in the WC his skating seems improved. When I saw JJ play for Bridgeport in the playoffs a few years back he played with a snarl and an edge that I hadn't seen as an Isle. He played the same way vs. USA. We need that on the Isles.

[dohtml]<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gq3UXBPWXD0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/dohtml]

Highlight reel of Joensuu's season with HV71 of the SEL. Let me know if you see improvement. And yes it's only a highlight reel but he's worth a look as a bottom 6 winger for sure. Definitely better than many who were there last year.

Now that the season has ended, I tinkered with the depth chart.

-I bumped Okposo up to #2 RW because he has to be a top 6 forward for this team. He's supposed to be an offensive player and he's going to get that type of ice time. If he doesn't produce, it's on him. 25 goals and 30 assists for him should be the bare minimum, and acceptable for a 2nd line winger. However, he'll probably wind up playing on the top line.

-Snow has said Bailey will start this season as a winger, so he stays as our #3 LW on the depth chart.

-Team needs someone to fill that #2 center hole. I've been pushing for Jarret Stoll. Played on the PP and PK for the Stanley Cup Champions. Is a veteran in his prime at age 30. Perfect stop gap considering the weak market for UFA centers.

-Streit is remaining a #1 because of the flashes of returning to form that he showed toward the end of the season. While I'd love to acquire someone better than him (Suter), it's unrealistic.

-A top 4 defenseman is a must. There are a number of possibilities on the UFA market. If not, then we must use the trade market.

-I also bumped up Okposo because we need a big winger with some size to help out on the 3rd line. Someone like Dustin Penner, Jordin Tootoo, or Alexei Ponikarovsky would be a great addition. If not, then its fine to move on to such players like Ruslan Fedotenko or Travis Moen.

**Disclaimer- I do not believe that any of these necessary moves will be made. I have no faith in our owner or GM to do what's necessary to put even a bare-minimum acceptable product on the ice. I am just outlining what needs to be done in terms of on-ice personnel to improve the club to playoff level.

Put that in your signature so you don't have to retype it.

I should just put it up at the sites featured quote. :yes:

Jesse Joensuu signed. He goes as a 4th line wing for now. Most likely will be a 3rd line wing.

I'd switch bailey and grabner, and move macdonald and hamonic up a slot on the depth chart

Well, when the line combos are set I'm sure Bailey will be in the top 6. This is just a depth chart though.

As far as Hamonic and MacDonald go, they're right where they're supposed to be. I'm putting it together based on what a playoff lineup should look like, not what the Isles lineup will wind up looking like. MacDonald will be a top 4 on the Isles, but he's not a top 4 NHL defenseman. As he continues to develop hopefully he turns into a strong second pairing defenseman with Hamonic continuing to develop into a first pairing defenseman. Currently though, they are what they are and the necessary moves SHOULD be made.

I'd have MacDonald's reliable defensive game with Streit and Hamonic on line 2 with a similar player who can score, but that's only because we aren't getting a high qualifty UFA.

Just to restate our team's needs going into tomorrow:

-A top line winger
-A second line center
-A bottom six winger with a blend of skill and grit (preferably size as well)
-A top 4 defenseman

My curiosity isn't whether we'll fill all of these needs over the next couple of weeks. My curiosity is whether we'll fill ANY of those needs over the next couple of weeks.

Schultz signed with the last place Edmonton Oilers, yes he wanted to play in Canada, but I guess the GM was able to convince him to come to the worst of the teams...must be our building preventing people from coming here.

:yes:

We all know it's NOT the building,
but the BUILDING by the GM...the one who lies.

B)


Meanwhile, Arthur Staple has a bullwinkle article tis morining on Isles & free agency...
the usual"more affordabe" BS.

Even calls names Carkner, Salvadore and Eminger.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Pathetic. Then he mentions Jokinen.

Knowledgeable hockey fans on this board should be laughing right now.
The rest of you..go get your seasons now...argue with me all year and let's enjoy
next years draft party.

:cheers:

Staple must have some type of handshake agreement with Garf. Staple will feed the fans the Snowang propoganda, and in exchange when the Isles do actually have something newsworthy that Staple will get the "exclusive". However, seems like a one-sided agreement to me. There are players to be had today. While everyone is jerking it over Parise there are guys who can be attacked instantly by Snow. A GOOD GM would be able to pull of such moves, even though we're a losing team and even though we play in this building. Yet another chance for Snow to PROVE he's not horrible. I will be open minded today. Lets see what you do Garf.

Your patience would make Job envious.

:rotflmao:

I'm going to be fair. If he has a solid offseason I'll give him props. Just like if he doesn't I'll be calling for his head. :lol:

Bro...he's been in the job for six years. He's not going to become competent all of a sudden.

It isn't the GM. It is simply the fact that he sees the Oilers as a team with THREE top 2 picks at forward and plenty of playing time on the blueline.

No one should be doing backflips over the job Tambelini is doing in Edmonton. He's won the lottery three straight years and the team still sucks...no answer between the pipes and no signs that they are hitting on any of their picks rounds 2-4.

Anyone can seem brilliant on the surface when you get to pick #1 three straight years. The difference between Tambelini and Shero in Pitt is when Pitt was having 5 straight years of top 5 picks, they were also hitting in rounds 2 and 3, thus they built a winner. I don't see TAmbellini doing that, but time may show he is. It certainly hasn't been shown yet.

This kid wanted to play in Canada and he wants to play ALOT. No other team in Canada can do that for him and show him talent up front that will be there as long as he is. It is just that simple. However, if this kid looks around in three seasons and sees that he's still the only guy of talent on that blueline, he'll be looking to shop himself to another Canadian team...or he might just realize that there are some good places in the US to play after playing a few years of road games.

I'm not knocking the kids decision. I think he made a great choice for himself, but he's also going to have many different experiences in his next three years and some might challenge his preconceived notions of where he wants to play in the future.

I'm not sold yet on Tambellini...nor am I sold on Lowe as the president of that org. That isn't an excuse for our Gm and leadership. But Tambelini isn't suddenly a better gm than the other lottery pick gms just because he landed this kid. The kid had a very short list and had all the power...what will happen if in 2 years he gets traded to CBJ?

Well aware. And when he has another awful offseason he will be ripped for it. I like to take each individual offseason as a separate case, and right now, IMO, his offseason has started well even if it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. When he fails miserably, there will be plenty of angry words don't worry.

He thinks he only needs one defenseman because one of the ELC cap hits will make the squad. Just imagine if T-Ham, A-Mac or Streit is out for 4-6 weeks. They go from bottom 5 NHL defense to middle of the pack AHL defense.

I know and you're 100% correct. That's why he sucks. They absolutely 100% need another top 4 guy to bump AMac down to 3rd pair. That's what I've been saying since the season ended.

Brad Boyes has been placed as the team's 3rd line RW.

Matt Carkner placed as the team's 6th defenseman.

Just like Lombardi wouldn't win cup right lol

Updated chart. Clearly evident what our remaining needs are. I feel confident that I've placed everyone in the appropriate slot. As you can also see, there doesn't appear to me any more room for depth signings.