I cannot say that I saw this coming, at all.
Brendan Witt who has been tough as nails for the New York Islanders the last few years (including a run in with a Chevy Tahoe in Philly this season) has found himself activated from the IR and right onto the waiver wire.
Newsday’s Katie Strang has some great stuff on her blog today regarding this development.
In 42 games this season, Witt has 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 PTS and is a -18. Witt’s play this season has fallen off to what we have seen in recent years – likely attributed to the knee that has bothered him for the last few weeks (he also played through the injury for an unknown amount of time).
Witt has one year and $3-Million left on his contract and was apparently shopped around by Garth Snow for some time. Should Witt clear waivers, he will join Martin Biron in Bridgeport who was recently sent down for conditioning. When and if Witt is recalled, he will be exposed to re-entry waivers where a team could pick him back up at half the price of his contract.
According to Chris Botta of Islanderspointblank, the Islanders could eventually wind up trading Witt at his bargain basement cost of half price.
Something that bothers me a little, is what Snow explained to Katie Strang today:
Snow said the move is less of a knock on Witt’s play and more of an indication of how far along some of the Islanders young defenseman have come and the organization’s confidence in their play
As I said in the Nick Boynton post earlier this week, while the play of MacDonald has been outstanding, giving Dustin Kohn MORE time now isn’t the best option for this club. The team needs help and they need EXPERIENCED HELP.
What do I know though.
Odds are that we will see some moves made with our Islanders before the Olympic break, stay tuned.
