New York Not Sellers Based Depth At Foward. Ullstrom/Rolston

If the New York Islanders are going to be sellers by Monday, a trade likely has to come from the defense or goaltending unless players come back in return who can play forward.

Brian Rolston was placed on waivers Saturday. David Ullstrom was recalled.

If Rolston clears (which he did a year ago/also on re-entry waivers) he could remain with the club, report to Bridgeport or retire.  Either way Rolston counts against the Isles cap unless claimed. 

Tim Wallace claimed by Tampa, Rolston on waivers, plus Bailey's injury extends the depth at forward down to virtually nothing in the organization in terms of scoring because of injury/suspension.

As written many times, Rolston was a good gamble for Trent Hunter (who was placed on waivers a week ago and currently playing for Manchester AHL), Rolston had a productive second half with the Devils a year ago with twenty nine points from Jan 9th to the end of the season.

The Isles statistically got the version of Rolston from the first half of 2010-11, who we specifically singled out as a player you do not claim. 

For some reason it never clicked here between injuries and other things in games for Rolston, it seemed he needed to play left wing more, which did Blake Comeau no favors. 

Lines:
Ullstrom-Cizikas-Niederreiter as a line with Pandolfo returning to his natural RW side, LW Martin and C Reasoner make sense in terms of position, but all that's up to the coach. 

Moving Forward/What's Next?
Plenty of twitter updates on Friday's game, no point looking back. Two points were needed and now they must repeat what they did earlier winning in Ottawa, Washington and Philadelphia.

Having written this New York is officially now on a four game road trip with no healthy forwards or defenders to scratch unless Rolston went with them or Bailey can play.

Of course, a seventh defender could be recalled, the one area Bridgeport will have some depth at in the near future. 

There is no game Monday at the trade deadline.

Seven Teams/Seven Points One Playoff Spot For New York

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Tim Wallace was claimed off waivers by Tampa Bay, Aaron Ness was returned to Bridgeport. 

Updated:
Casey Cizikas was recalled, Travis Hamonic has been removed from IR.

Seven teams/seven points (eight with Carolina), that's playoff reality for the the 2011-12 New York Islanders if you consider this realistic.

Ironically the club seemed to lose more ground winning a while back, than losing, however that's misleading.

It's highly unlikely Ottawa or another team will fall back as far as the 8th seed.

As for the New York Islanders, as written many times here, when they win ten games in a row, we can start having a realistic discussion about a playoff spot, not before.

We're not even close to starting such a discussion.

What is realistic will be a team in that mix of seven-eight clubs is going get on a winning streak, even if the Isles go on a run to match, it may only be enough to keep them on the outside or where they are now.

Problems/Buffalo:
John Tavares went from NHL player of the month, to scoring in one game over three weeks.

Doug Weight moving Matt Martin to right wing to open the game in Buffalo cost them the opening goal after a defensive turnover by MacDonald/Streit. Martin as a RW did not react to Myers coming down the slot with LW Grabner playing his usual spot. 

A bad change cost the Isles the 2-0 goal with Rolston involved.

The scoring problems also make any kind of winning streak not realistic.

Watching Rolston shoot from everywhere (he also had a shot or two from quality areas) is a lot like watching Eaton, Staios, Jurcina throw pucks at the net from bad angles. Low percentage.

Of course Nielsen's goal was a low percentage shot.

Injuries/Illness/Instant Chemistry/What's Ahead?
The New York Islanders have no time for anything but winning hockey games whether it be Rangers, Senators, Flyers, Bruins, or three games with Devils. 


What's realistic is when players are injured/out for a while with illness, they likely come back and struggle.

Hamonic has to use a cage, his view is different. Nabokov has not played since Winnipeg, who knows what the flu and lack of work mean in games?

Al Montoya looks completely unplayable, ironically he came here looking like this a year ago.

Mike Mottau is also skating, but he could have been skating for a while.  

Trade Deadline:
As written in our last entry the depth is not there to make trades unless players come in return for them.

Only thing that changes this is if deHaan, Katic can play hockey games in Bridgeport which could happen perhaps as soon as Friday.

The Isles need to be extra careful with Katic and deHaan and their history with shoulder injuries. 

Tim Wallace was claimed on waivers by Tampa Bay.

Jay Pandolfo continues to play his off wing on the left with Reasoner and Niederreiter.

Eventually we'll see about Bailey, Cizikas recall indicates Bailey could be out.

Our guess is Garth Snow is going to make sure he has depth in the NHL/AHL to finish out the season.

Bridgeport at 16-1-1 gained enough ground to put them in the playoffs but that spot is tenuous.
 

Winning Ugly Not A Long Term Strategy For New York

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No one's complaining about a win, by the end of the season few remember anything but the final standings.

Over eighty two games a few wins are very ugly as was the game against Carolina.

It also has to be written the New York Islanders should be a tired hockey team based on schedule alone, add to that a lot of younger players, too many unproductive older players is a tough mix when the scoring is not evenly distributed, plus your defense gives you nothing in terms of goals at even strength.  

Anyone following closely would have to know Tavares was due to hit a wall and did, he looked exhausted/frustrated against the Blues and was hardly smiling when Spacek went to sleep and he beat Ward, who was also slow to react.

Having written that, a tired Carolina team on their own winning streak had the Isles scrambling for a good part of the game, and did everything but tie the game in the closing seconds.

Cam Ward was injured and did not return for the third period, the Canes also seemed very willing to trade chances.

Bottom line the scoring is mostly about one line, the defense is not going to generate goals,  the players not producing all season are highly unlikely to start doing so now as they eat minutes and produce at best an even shift. 

Built To Last?
Statistically things are all over the map in that department so it's not a reliable barometer. 

Of course you can write a year ago this was a team buried below five hundred, now it's come back from five and six under to reach break even, it's also been a healthier group.

However that's also misleading. 

Good special teams vs team scoring dramatically down, vs great blocked shots totals (a reflection of pressure against/slow defense) with very poor team scoring from it's defense.

Last year's team was a high scoring club for most of the second half. There is no Blake Comeau getting hot or Micheal Grabner on a thirty goal clip this time. Nielsen's picked it up a bit, however that's not reliable based on his history.

It's not happening for Okposo most games at five on five and he's not visible or dominating beyond the few games after his benching. It's troubling he struggled with Tavares because Okposo is the top draft pick expected to be a scoring power forward, to take the pressure off Tavares and Moulson with a big game himself where he carries the line.

Bailey seems most noticeable short-handed as does Martin which are not good signs, sure they skate hard and generate chances at five on five. 

Niederreiter's throwing some big hits, he's coming close but not with the right line-mates to score.

Rolston's been invisible. Reasoner's been hurt or ineffective since camp. Pandolfo blocks shots, but provides no offensive game.  Tim Wallace is not a scorer.

Until the Montreal game, Mark Streit led the defenders in goals with three. For a little reference, Marc-Andre Bergeron, had nine goals in forty six games when he came here in a trade during the end of his first season.

That's a huge problem. 

Eaton, Staios, Jurcina point shots are not likely to produce goals. MacDonald/Hamonic have this ability but has not progressed this season in that area.

Let's also give Nabokov his due, where would this team be without him stealing some games?

For what this is worth it seems the second goalie whether it be Montoya, Poulin against Nashville are not ready when called upon.

Bottom Line here is this defense needs progression and changes before we can write anything happening now is built to last. A year ago there were reasons to believe a returning Streit, with Hamonic, MacDonald, Hillen, Wishart, Martinek could be faster and more productive based on the second half.

The current group is too old/slow/non-scoring/not-physical, that's a big reason why what's happened in 2011-12 cannot be considered team progression, despite Tavares natural individual progress.

Of course the answers could be in the system, who can be added to Hamonic, MacDonald, Streit, but for now what's here is very limited and it shows.

Moving Forward:
It's game by game now. This team plays like it did against Carolina, Ottawa will defeat them handily as will most teams in playoff spots desperate for points. Tavares has to again put the club on his back far too early in his young career. 

If the clubs around them are in sell-mode, the New York Islanders need to have the same mindset because the standings do not lie, nor do the weaknesses.

Sure you can be a seller and work just as hard toward a playoff spot. 

Of course the depth is so thin management likely needs these players just to finish out the schedule while Bridgeport's prospects work toward a playoff spot and an experience they need.