He Actually Said It... | Multiple Islanders Updates

We have multiple Islanders updates to discuss on this episode of Islanders Digest, and it feels really good to say that after what was a relatively quiet summer, especially compared to the year before. But now it's September, training camp is coming up, and I have a feeling this is going to be a really entertaining training camp for the New York Islanders. In addition, a lot of these updates are coming from recently. Matthew Darch did face the media yesterday, was when he released that press conference, and while nothing absolutely outstanding was revealed, one of the big takeaways, at least the funny takeaway for me, is all summer people have been making jokes that he's gonna go up there and call Kyle Palmieri and Alexander Romanov, basically like acquisitions, and say he believes this team will make the playoffs. That is basically what he said at one point. I personally don't hate it. I don't love when GMs call players coming back from injuries acquisitions, but hey, they're gonna be big additions to this team compared to what they had last year, missing those guys for big portions, and we'll see what the Islanders can do. I'm gonna go into this season with a positive mindset, as we'll talk about in different videos. There are some concerning aspects of the team. They're definitely a team that a lot needs to go right in order for things to work, but they're definitely not ahead of it to start the year. This is gonna be a very entertaining year. With that, let's jump into some of the updates, because for the most part, these are pretty positive when it comes to the Islanders. One of the biggest notes is when it comes to the... sorry, they're backwards. We'll start with this one. One of the biggest notes when it came to these updates is Matthew Darch clarified that everybody is healthy heading into camp. This is a big one, because last season, we had a few surprising injuries at the start of the season. We knew that Karlamov last year was injured, but we did not know how bad until the start of the season. My impression was that he was going to be able to play goaltender last year. We saw that didn't really happen. Pierre Engvall was sprung on us out of nowhere. People were talking about whether or not he'd be sent out to the AHL. It turned out he was not able to play all season. That will not be the case. It sounds like he will be ready to go. In particular, the highlight was that Alexander Romanov is good to go. Matthew Darch highlighted that he is 12 pounds lighter, and he said, this is as good as I've seen him, the way he's moving on the ice. And while it could be a throwaway statement, I know every single year we get all these quotes, particularly from the Vancouver Canucks, about how players like Elias Pedersen is in the best shape of his life. You can't read too much into this stuff. When it comes to a player, though, like Romanov, who's played with a very heavy style in the past, though, coming off an injury and then decided to go with a lighter frame, this is notable. And I think this can play really well to a system with I think Romanov is going to surprise people this year. I think he's going to have a very strong year. If Darch is correct, and this is the best he's been skating, that's a good sign because Romanov is also already a pretty strong skater, can get more speed, just work more on focusing less on the big hits, still have big hits, right? But focus less on getting out of position, just deliver those huge checks and focus more on making sure you're making the right defensive plays. If you can get his play style more to like a hybrid between what he used to be doing and more of what Ryan Polak used to be, I think that would be a really good thing for the Alliance, at least in the defensive zone. Don't expect a ton of offense from Romanov, but I think he could be a really big player for this team. And if you move Schaefer to the right side, I think Romanov might be the perfect partner that nobody is really looking at. I really like the player, so it's good to know that he is healthy. Sounds like he had a really productive summer. They did clarify too that if the Islanders would have made the playoffs, he had suffered a minor setback, but he would have played probably around game three is what they made it sound like. So that's good that he had a full summer to really work. And on that note, it sounds like Vesemion Romanov is finally healthy. Darch noted that he's off his meds, no pain, so that's great. While that is kind of worded funny, I guess what that means is last season he was playing with some sort of painkiller during those two games where he tried out to see how he was feeling in the AHL. I will say, a lot of the talk of Varlamov in this press conference and other things, their borderline talking like him coming back is a miracle, and this is definitely going to be a boost on one hand to the locker room. People love, the players love Varlamov. I love Varlamov. I think he's been great for this team, and I would love to see him get back. I will put the caveat though, with all the talk about how miraculous this recovery has been and how shocking it is that he's in play games, I do have some concerns for how healthy he can be this season. I think it's a good thing that they got a third string goaltender in case something goes wrong. But rooting for Varlamov, and if he can be anything close to what he was in the past, just play 25 games at a really high caliber level. When we talk about Islanders making the playoffs, that could be the difference. If you can get Ilias Orokin to play the way he plays every single year, and then have Varlamov dominate games, even if he can't go for all the backup games. Maybe you rotate in a little bit, but you get him to play 25 games, peak caliber, maybe even 30. That's going to really change the fortunes of this team. There were some other updates I do want to go to. One that I think is going to upset some fans, and especially with the news that the Rangers made that signing, and that Devils made that trade that people are going to be talking about in comparison to Shen for a year. We'll do a Shen video in a few days where I'll talk about how he's going to be an important member of this team, and the same way with Palmieri, Calricci. He's going to have to be some semblance of a top six forward, or a really impactful third liner, if this team is going to score enough goals. But focusing for now on what the Islanders are expecting to do, with those teams making moves, I think a lot of Islander fans wanted to see some moves here, some exciting new players coming in. Darsh highlighted that he does not expect to bring anybody in on a professional tryout. I think this is most notable because there were some rumors that Oliver Wallstrom might come in on a professional tryout. Of course, some people wanted to see Patrick Laine. Some people hated the idea of seeing Patrick Laine. I'm pretty indifferent to it at this point. As you guys know, I was an advocate of bringing him in at the trade deadline. Since then, I just don't know if he has the correct attitude, and while I thought it would have been a really good idea for him to try to see if he can fix the car play to get them into the playoffs, now that it is a fresh season, I'm more curious to see what young guys like... sorry, I almost said Oliver Wallstrom. Young guys like Cole Eisman. See what they can do. Can they crack the lineup? I think it makes a ton of sense as a result with the Islanders having so many young players that they're not bringing in players for a professional tryout. The preseason is shorter this year. It's an 84-game season now, so you don't get as many looks in the preseason. You want to give as many looks as you can to Cole Eisman, to Victor Eklund, to Quinn Finley. There's a lot of guys this season, more in years past, that can surprise and make the team. We'll do another video focusing on that, but everyone kind of has this idea that, oh, Victor Eklund has a shot, and everyone else, well, you know, they're probably not there yet. We see in the NHL all the time players surprise, players make teams that you weren't expecting. Just look at the Detroit Red Wings last year, Emmitt Finney shocked everyone and made the team. This is not the Islanders' prospect pool of years past with guys like Matthew Magia, where his fans were so desperate for young players that we kind of talk him up in a way like, oh, he might make the team because there's really no one else in camp that has a shot. There are a lot of guys who might not necessarily make the team right away, but could make really strong impressions. As a result, I don't think it makes sense to bring in a professional tryout. I would much rather see if Cole Eisman, for example, if he's improved this offseason, I don't think it's that shocking if he can force his way, at least to start the year, on the roster. If he scores three goals in the preseason, he's probably going to make this team, even if everything isn't that pretty, especially with how the offense is looking right now. That's just something to consider. I think there's going to be a lot of excitement this preseason. We don't really need to see Patrick Laine doing what he does in every team, just struggling in every aspect of the ice except scoring. Darsh also had a note on the captain. We'll do a full video. I think it's fun to talk about captain stuff. Maybe we have a lot of stuff coming. It's great that we have topics coming back up to talk about finally, but if we don't get to it, I am pretty confident this is going to be Beau Horvat. I'd love to know what you guys think in the comments below. I know some people want to see Matthew Schaefer. Matthew Schaefer will be the captain of the New York Islanders one day. It will not be next season. It is too soon for him. There are some other dark horse candidates. I know some people have floated Matt Barzell, for example, and some people really hate that idea. For me, we don't know what goes on in that locker room. I do have a pretty good idea that Beau Horvat is the leader of this team, especially now that Lee is gone, but hey, if they decide to get to Barzell or someone else, I'm not gonna make a big deal about the captain, but the key takeaway is there is likely going to be a captain. They're not going to do that thing where they just give a bunch of alternates, which I personally hate. I'd rather have a captain on the team. Yeah, so I would be shocked if it's not Beau Horvat, but again, not going to make a big deal about who's the captain on the team. I mean, last year, too, when people were talking about Andrew Lee, people were like, oh, you got to get him out of the locker room to bring in new leadership. I'm like, I don't think changing who's wearing the C really has a huge impact on the team. Maybe if a team has a really bad locker room, it does make an impact with the Islanders. Whoever's wearing it, don't rally around them. You can have multiple, even if you're not wearing a letter, you can have a voice in a locker room, right? Like last year, Schaefer had a huge voice in that locker room. You see how he radiated onto those players, and then a final note from Matthew Darsh. This is the one that some people are poking fun of. I don't mind. People will talk about this not having direction. Listen, no general manager, unless you are the general manager of the worst team in the league, so Vancouver, Calgary, no general manager is going to go up there and say, yeah, we're not going to make the playoffs. This team, this team's horrible. Matthew Darsh said today, yeah, but transition doesn't mean that you don't think about today. Also, we're trying to incorporate some young guys, whether it's this year, right away, whether it's halfway through the year, whether it's next year, and he emphasized that the goal is to make the playoffs, as it should be. The goal is to make the playoffs. It doesn't mean that it's a huge failure if the Islanders don't make the playoffs. My personal take, I think this team, as I said in the beginning of this video, I think they can make the playoffs. Everything will have to be perfect. I don't expect playoffs to be perfectly honest. I do expect them to be closer to sixth or seventh, if not eighth in this division, than in one of those top three spots, and considering how good the Atlantic is, I think it's going to be a tough battle, but there's nothing wrong with the general manager saying the goal is to make the playoffs, and if you look at the Islanders roster, if they have a perfect season, this team absolutely can make the playoffs. Looking at this roster, it's not the best, but you can't look at that team and be like, I'd be stunned if they made the playoffs, but some things would have to go right, but I also think it makes sense. Some people are talking about the plan and the lack of direction with Matthew Darsh, where he's talking about setting up for the future, but also trying to be competitive. I don't mind this. You don't want to build up players in terrible environments. We see this with the Chicago Blackhawks. Everybody raves about the Chicago Blackhawks rebuild year after year after year, and now they're realizing what a disaster it is where these players all are just accustomed to losing, and other than Connor Bedard, you really don't have all that much kind of working together. I mean, Rondell's a nice piece, things like that. It makes sense to try to be as competitive as possible, and maybe despite being competitive, the Islanders don't finish high in the standings, but they're not going to come out here and say that they're trying to absolute bomb this season. Now, if things don't go well, I will agree the Islanders cannot try to buy again to push this team forward. I'm not going to harp on what happened last season, the trade deadline. To be honest, I don't think those assets are as valued as people think they are. I'm not going to do this discussion again, but if things go wrong, Darsh does have to pick more of that commit to the young side direction, but with the Islanders, I don't see any problem with them caring about what the product is. I get people who want to see the team do more in terms of moves, but like I talked about with the PTO section of this video, I really like the idea of this team. You have your veteran core for what it's worth. There's good with that. There's bad with that. Let's see what the young guys can do, and if the Islanders make the playoffs, the thing that excites me thinking about that is it's not going to be off the back of Braden Shen. He's going to contribute, but it's not going to be through him. It's going to be through contributions from young players, whether it's taking another step in the right direction, Cal Ritchie, whether it's Simon Holmstrom, Matias Mencheli. You have a lot of guys who can hopefully step up to help this team push forward, and that is something to get excited for this season, but those are the comments that Matthew Darsh had. I think it was a pretty interesting listen if you want to check it out. It really wasn't all that long of a video, but that's going to do it for this episode of Islanders Digest. Let me know in the comments what you think about this team's direction. What are you thinking going into the season? I'm really excited to do a video soon talking about the rookies and what to at least expect in training camp and what to hope for watching them play in those games, but yeah, let's go Islanders. I'm really excited to watch some hockey this month. It's been a long way.