Yesterday, it was announced that Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer was named first star of the week.
Schaefer, who hit 20 goals in the Islanders game the other night has 4 goals and 1 assist since play resumed after the NHL Olympic break. With his goals the other night, he is now just 3 goals behind Brian Leetch for the most goals ever by a rookie defeseman.
He is the first Islanders defenseman to ever win this since they started awarding it.
Another day, another trade for the Islanders. After acquiring Carson Soucy from the Rangers last night, the Islanders made another deal with a Metro Division foe today, shipping Max Tsyplakov to the Devils. In exchange for Tysplakov the Islanders acquired Ondrej Palat, a 2026 3rd round pick and a 2027 6th round pick. Palat like Tsyplakov is signed through next season, but his cap hit is much higher at 6 million.
The Islanders signed Tsyplakov out of Russia before last season. Last season, Tysplakov actually wasn't bad in a bottom 6 role tallying 35 points in 77 games. However, with the turnover up front over the summer that left Tsyplakov spot in the lineup in limbo and that shows with him only playing 27 games so far this season.
Now while Tsyplakov wasn't doing anything, taking on Palats massive cap hit given his recent decline in play without requiring the Devils to retain anything is pretty questionable to say the least. The picks are all well and good but cap space is our most valuable tool and putting that much into a player like Palat raises red flags to say the least.
My one hope is given Darche prior relationship with Palat from their time with the Lightning, maybe he sees things in his game that could be changed like he used to play in Tampa. If that doesn't happen, Darche probably would've been better off just dumping Tsyplakov for a mid round or late round pick.
Yesterday evening, news broke that the Rangers sell off was beginning as they were trading defenseman Carson Soucy. The most shocking part of this wasn't that Soucy was the first domino to fall for the Rangers but that they traded him here. Dating back to the Islanders inception in 1972 this is only the 4th time the Islanders had come together on a trade with the Rangers. The Islanders traded a 2026 3rd round pick to the Rangers for Soucy.
Soucy, a defenseman, is a free agent at the end of this year. He is big bodied at 6'5 211lbs and will fit nicely on the Islanders bottom pair which has been kind of a rotating cast of characters since Romanov was injured by Rantanen.
To learn more about Soucy the player, click here.
After being out since new years day, Bo Horvat is set to return tomorrow afternoon for the Islanders in their game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Horvat has been the Islanders top scorer this year getting 21 goals in just 36 games.
Horvats absence has been felt through the lineup as the offense has been inconsistent since he went down. In addition to that, the power play has just been bad in his absence!
Currently, Horvat is set to be the Islanders lone representative in the up coming Olympics part of team USA. After the injury issues he has had this season I would seriously consider asking him to forego the Olympics to make sure he is ready for the second half.
Yesterday, in a wonderful ceremony before their game versus the Lightning, the Islanders inducted Pat Lafontaine to the teams Hall of Fame.
I feel like, regardless of sport, whenever these ceremonies happen the conversation always goes to well, whose going to be inducted next? For the Islanders, I feel like there is a no brainer candidate that people may overlook because he never laced up skates for the Islanders.
The idea of their being an Islanders Hall of Fame that doesn't include Jiggs McDonald is a travesty to me. Longtime Islander broadcaster Howie Rose agreed with me when I bought the subject up on twitter earlier this year around the HOF induction ceremony for Brent Sutter. The Islanders can maybe bring Howie back to emcee the ceremony because you can't have Jiggs emcee his own ceremony.
Remembering and acknowledging the alumni is fantastic especially since they were largely ignored for so long. However, the voice the fans associate with the great memories from those exceptional players is Jiggs and he deserves his moment as well. Mr. Ledecky & company, your up!
