Today is the day, the day of craziness that NHL fans have come to know and love.

Today is Trade Deadline Day, somewhat of a National holiday in the US and Canada. Teams have until 3pm Eastern today to make final roster adjustments and in the past we have seen quite a bit of movement.

I wouldn’t expect too much from Islanders General Manager Garth Smow today, although he already made his first move yesterday by trading Andy Sutton to the Senators for a second round pick.

What other players are available? Here is a short list, which is my opinion of course:

Dwayne Roloson wasn’t a lock to be moved earlier in the season, as he had signed a two year deal in July. However, solid play through this point has really increased his value to teams looking for solid veteran goaltending here for playoff stretches.

Martin Biron was considered trade bait from the second he signed with the Islanders in July. Biron hasn’t played spectacular this year, and sat in the pressbox when DiPietro returned. He could be moved to a team looking for a quality backup, seeing he is an unrestricted free agent in July.

Curiously, Sean Bergenheim was a healthy scratch last night against Chicago. Word on the street is that there was some interest for Sean recently, who hasn’t been able to live up to his potential under Scott Gordon.

Jeff Tambellini is an odd man out, used sparingly by Gordon, Jiffy Jeff has been scratched for 3/4 of the games played so far and has taken it like a pro. Another underachiever coould spark interest from another club willing to give him a shot.

Brendan Witt has been playing in Bridgeport since passing through waivers. He’s got a year left on his contract and more than $3 million remaining. If the Islanders were to bring him back up on re-entry waivers, perhaps someone may be interested in the gritty defenseman.

Jon Sim has, at least to me, worn out his usefullness on the Islanders. The return on this role player won’t be much, but with Matt Martin waiting in the wings, he is taking up a roster spot. I could see a playoff bound team bringing him on for depth.

The Islanders don’t really have the assets to be real players this deadline. A majority of their players are more valuable to them than the rest of the league, which is a bit of a problem. one big plus for Garth Snow is that he has PLENTY of cap space to play with, so if a team needs to shed salary, he can pick up a player that may not fit somewhere else.

The day has only just begun, let’s see what happens.

Stay tuned throughout the day and I will update as often as I can!

No Comments »

The first Islanders chip has fallen. More on this to follow!

Per an Islanders release:

The New York Islanders have traded defenseman Andy Sutton to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a second round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

The pick was originally acquired by Ottawa along with Milan Michalek and Jonathan Cheechoo from San Jose in exchange for forward Dany Heatley and Ottawa’s fifth-round draft choice in 2010 on Sept. 12, 2009.

Sutton was signed by the Islanders on August 10, 2007 as a free agent and has played on Long Island over the past three seasons. Over the course, Sutton has played in 135 games for the Islanders, scoring seven goals and 23 assists. This year, Sutton totaled four goals and eight assists for 12 points in 54 games with the Islanders.

The Islanders have recalled defenseman Dustin Kohn from the team’s American Hockey league affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

No Comments »

You know I barely paid any attention to my phone today and I missed out on the start of action, albeit a small one. The Islanders have traded forward Ben Walter and a contional pick in 2012 to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the rights of 2006 6th round pick Tony Romano.

Just got a confusing press release from the Isles that says WE got the conditional pick:

The New York Islanders have acquired Tony Romano and a conditional pick in the 2012 National Hockey League Entry Draft from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for center Ben Walter. 

Romano played the last two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League.  The Smithtown, NY native was the leading scorer for the Peterborough Petes last season, scoring 36 goals and 33 assists for 69 points in 65 games.  The year prior, Romano skated in 66 games for the London Knights and registered 22 points (12 goals and 10 assists).  Romano was drafted in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and played that same year for Cornell University where he totaled nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points in 29 games. 

Walter spent the last two seasons with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers where he accumulated 116 points.  He played in a total of 12 games for the Islanders during his two seasons with the organization scoring one goal. 

Per NHL.com:

The New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders swung a small trade Tuesday. The Devils sent Tony Romano to the Islanders in exchange for Ben Walter and a conditional draft pick in 2012.

Walter, a former fifth-round pick of the Boston Bruins, has 22 games of NHL experience spread over four seasons, including two with the Bruins and the last two with the Islanders.

He played in four games last season while also wracking up 50 points in 65 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League. Walter has averaged 20 goals and nearly 56 points per season in the AHL since turning pro in 2005 after spending three seasons at UMass-Lowell.

Romano, 21, the Devils’ sixth round pick in 2006, has spent the last two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League, first with the London Knights and then with the Peterborough Petes. He had 69 points in 65 games last season with Peterborough.

Ok so Romano is a 21 year old prospect (and Smithtown, NY native) who has not played at all in the NHL just yet, not really any different then Walter and his cup-o-coffee. Romano is listed at 5′7″ and 170lbs but his offensive numbers seem to indicate he uses his lack of size well enough to get to scoring areas. I am unsure if he played with Tavares at all, but it just seems they seem to be targeting players from the same systems and organizations – for whatever that is worth. You can read more about Romano on Hockey’s Future.

Like I said, this isn’t exactly the same as the Rangers shipping Scott Gomez off to Montreal for Chris Higgins, but it’s a start. Only two more days till the free agent frenzy begins.

3 Comments »

The Islanders have traded the 91st overall to Phoenix for a 3rd round pick in 2010. The Islanders have the very next pick, so why not see what you can get – right?

No Comments »

The Islanders have traded the 56th pick to Columbus for their 62nd and our old 92nd pick. So they decided to move down six likely figuring they could still get their player and add their previous 92nd pick back as an added bonus.

The story gets more and more interesting as the day goes on.

No Comments »

The Islanders have just traded the 16th, 77th and 182nd picks to Atlanta for the 12th overall and select defenseman Calvin De Haan.

Picture of the interview

No Comments »