This is Crazy... The Islanders Have a Huge Opportunity

Things are going really, really bad in Philadelphia, which does present the Islanders a very interesting opportunity to land a piece that can be a part of their core moving forward, a possibility that I don't think is getting enough. credit, but as we're going to go into on this episode of Islanders Digest, I do think this is more realistic than some people might think, mostly because this is a very polarizing player and some teams that aren't like the Islanders that already have their core kind of set up might want to stay away. It's a unique player who you're going to have to give significant minutes and there's going to be developmental pains involved, but that's something I'm pretty sure the Islanders are willing to stomach when you see them stomach it with, I don't want to say Matthew Schaefer Because really, there weren't that many developmental pains. We saw it early on with Victor Ekblad, some of these other young Islanders players. It seems like a really good team to develop this player. And this player, not going to wait any further, is Matvei Michkov. As we've seen, he has not quite requested trade, according to Kevin Weeks, but it is clear this player would like a change of scenery. As he tweeted the other day, from multiple league sources with the Flyers' unimpressive start and internal turmoil, Matvei Michkov would likely want a new start elsewhere. He's in the last year of his contract and a prime trade candidate moving forward. And some people were questioning this report. I will note when it comes to why Kevin Weeks is a reputable source here, his former agent is the current agent of Matvei Michkov, so I'm pretty sure he would have checked on that before he went ahead. reported this would be a really interesting trade or offer sheet opportunity for the New York Islanders the first half of the video we're going to talk about the trade side of it and honestly there's really only one trade that kind of makes sense for the New York Islanders I do think it would be hard for them to pull off a trade without a third party because the Flyers seem to not know what they want to do but are trying to push forward so i don't think they I don't think they would take a full-on futures project as much. Package as much as I think the Flyers should just tear this thing down and start over around Porter Martone and honestly Michkov. It doesn't seem like that's what they are intending on doing. I think the offer sheet last offseason for Leo Carlson kind of showed their hand in that sense and also showed what they desperately need. So we'll talk about that in terms of trade package. But I'm also going to talk about the offer sheet side because we know the Islanders have $40 million. I know sometimes offer sheets get overhyped because most teams just don't use them. With the Flyers using one last season, the Islanders having so much cap space and just so little free agents other than Jared McCann, who I would absolutely love to see the Islanders bring in. And even if they bring him, he should go up. Bring in Jared McCann to kind of put together a competitive team this offseason, assuming they don't bring in Kucherov, which of course changes everything, but not expecting that to happen at this point, even if I think it is a possibility. With all these factors considered, I do think the Islanders are going to be major players for an offer sheet, and if so, I think Michkov makes sense. But with that, let's get right into it. I also do want to talk about one of the potential caveats with Matvei Michkov, and that is there There have been concerns that... This guy is not playing well in the locker room. As Elliot Freeman said on 32 Thoughts, I will say this, over the last 24 hours, I heard some crazy stories about the relationship between Michkov and his teammates. This stuff is so sensitive right now, especially one thing I believe is true is that one of the reasons everybody's disappointed in what happened in the last 24 or 48 hours is there was a recent get-together meal where between some of the players, including Michkov, to work on this, like a legit attempt, let's hold hands, kumbaya, work together, be a team, and then there was this explosion on the bench. And on that, it really seems like this is a situation where it kind of has been taken out of the bottle at this point. It's hard to put back in. If you think that is a genuine concern for the New York Islanders and you don't want this player in the locker room, fine. But let me make the case why I think this player makes so much sense. And then we'll get into my trade proposal. And I have a feeling some people won't like this trade proposal. But. I think you have to give to get in these situations. And then from there, we'll talk about what I think might be the most intriguing option, which is the offer sheet. It would cost a lot. Yes, you would lose a lot of draft picks, but. I think the Islanders, if they did this, would be in a position where you wouldn't have to worry all that much about draft picks in the near future anymore. And there are ways to mitigate that as well that we'll talk about. But first, I just want to focus on the player because this is a really polarizing player. But the one thing is clear with Michkov is he absolutely is a talented forward as the stats come up right here. This season, he is leading the Flyers with 15 points. This is a guy Maybe. Isn't producing the level that you would expect him to produce. I don't think it's his health at this point. You look at the time on ice. It just does not fit with the type of player that Michkov is, right? You expect this guy to be getting 20 plus minutes a night, the Bo Horvat deployment, and it's just not happening. I know the plus minus isn't great. The Flyers are a horrible team. That tends to happen with these horrible teams. But what is worth noting with Michkov is he is a shooter. Now, I will say, I don't think his shooting percentage is going to say around 34%. Like, that's going to go down. But I think in his prime, this is going to be a player, if he continues to develop, who's going to be able to score 30-plus goals every single season. I think he's going to be able to get... 50 plus assists every season, and there's potential more there. I think the absolute peak for Matt Michkov is going to be an 80 to 90 point player and a star forward, which is exactly what. The New York Islanders need a young star forward to be in particular. He is 21 years old. So absolutely, you expect these numbers to go up. Honestly, they'll go up if the Flyers play him more consistently. And as bad as their power play is, he has been an effective power play player. So that's something also worth noting for the New York Islanders. This is exactly the type of player that they need in the lineup. We're going to get into now what it would cost. And the reason why I'm so interested in Matt Michkov is even though it's not working for the Flyers, he hasn't shown his full potential. I believe with the change of scenery, he will blow up. And honestly, in addition, you look at what the Islanders need. You have Matthew Schaefer as your franchise cornerstone defenseman. You have a young star forward and a growing forward in Victor Ekblad. I believe he'll become a star at some point or at least a top line player in Victor Ekblad. But you need that number one young forward. And while the Islanders have interesting players like Cole Eiserman, Cal Ritchie, I don't think they have that guy yet. And as we're going to touch on, that's not going to be easy to find in the draft. I know people want to tear this team down, just strip it of older assets and be as bad as possible tank for a year. Honestly, guys, taking a look at this draft, I don't see that star forward in this draft. I see Zilkin as a really talented piece. I see, honestly, Nazar Privalov would be the closest I think you can get there to a potential blow up forward. Of course, there'll be guys to prize all these things, but this is not a loaded draft where it would even make sense for the Islanders to strip down. And honestly, even if they did at the start of the season, you're going to tell me with Matthew Schaefer and Victor Eklund, the Islanders could possibly be worse than teams like the the Vancouver Canucks or even the Philadelphia Flyers with how horrible They've been looking at the standings. They've been absolutely horrific. I just don't buy it, right? You look at the Flyers. They're actually not all the way in the bottom anymore. That is now the Columbus Blue Jackets, but they're 5, 10, and 6, right? I don't think it'd be possible for the Islanders to be this bad of a team, even if they stripped down their assets as much as possible, right? Because you'd be getting something back in return. It wouldn't just be futures. So with that being said, we'll talk about the trade aspect first, and then we'll go to the picks. In terms of trade, like I said, I have a feeling some people won't like this. What I kind of came up with, you know what the Flyers need, is a star center. They really overplayed their hand trying to get Leo Carlson at $18 million. It did not work. Say what you want about Matt Barzell. He is a legitimate first-line center in the NHL. Not one of the best first-line centers, but no team has Matt Barzell as a first-line center. You're not saying, oh, that's not good enough to be your center. At the very least, one of the best top two, one of the top second line centers in the entire NHL. And I truly think he is a first line center. So that is something I think would interest the Flyers. I don't think they would go for a futures package. You could package first round picks. You could package prospects. I just don't think it's what the Flyers are looking for. But I do think this is a swap that would make a lot of sense. And I've said in the past, I absolutely hate. To trade Matt Barzell, I'm not one of these Islander fans who's constantly shipping Matt Barzell, but in this situation, I think this package would work. Now, since Matt Barzel is a better player than Matt Vejmelka, and the Flyers are absolutely desperate for this first line center, and Barzell does have a really good term, I do have, in addition to this, the first round pick. from Toronto in this trade. So the Islanders would get that as well. And that's why I threw in a second round pick for the New York Islanders, kind of even it out. That seems like a bit extra for the Flyers to add, but I don't think a one-for-one swap makes all that much sense, just because we see how highly valued first-line centers are, right? I truly believe Matt Barzell, I know you got the injury concerns. I think he's a better player than Dylan Larkin. So when you see Dylan Larkin and the Detroit Red Wings rejecting a package of Daniil, You're off in three first round picks that shows you just how valuable a center is in this NHL. I think you'd have to get a little more from the Flyers if you want to maybe change it to a package of like a secondary prospect instead of a first round pick. I understand right now that Toronto pick is considered to be really high. I'm making this with the assumption that Toronto will pick it up, but I don't know if that's going to happen. Of course, I'm not saying this is going to be a lottery pick and Matt Barzell. I'm talking more like a late first round pick to kind of even out that value. But with that being said, that's a really high price. Who knows the Flyers would even accept it because I really don't know what the Flyers are doing at this point in time. Matt Barzell might look at the Flyers and put them on his no trade list, right? He can only get traded to 10 teams. So he's the one piece I think makes sense. I wasn't going to build a package around a player like Victor Ekblad because I don't think it makes sense for the Islanders to trade Victor Ekblad. The same goes for Cal Ritchie. And for the rest of their prospects, I just don't think the Flyers would have enough interest to bite on that as opposed to what another team could offer. There is another option though for the New York Islanders. And I think this of the two is more likely. And that is the offer sheet conversation. And here we're going to basically go into How much you think first round picks are worth, right? Because when it comes to Matvey Mishkov, it's really clear. The Flyers will match anything under $12 million. So the choice here is you offer him over $12 million and risk losing four first round picks, but you get the star player. Let me know what you think about in the comments, because I think this is a really interesting conversation. This isn't like a Leo Carlson situation where... Obviously, the player is worth way more than those picks. In this case, you can definitely lose by giving up four first-round picks for Matvei Michkov, but the situation you kind of have to think about is, is there any way for the Islanders to get a player of this caliber, a star young player, to put with Matthew Schaefer without doing this? It is worth noting in this situation that the Islanders' first-round pick this year Would not be one of those picks. So say they finish five points out of the playoffs, right? Once again, they have 13th overall. They can make the playoffs too, but wherever they are. So wherever they finish the season, they would be able to draft this season to add one more piece to their already stacked prospect pool. And then they would lose their next four first round picks, assuming the Flyers did not match. I really think this would make sense for the Islanders to do. And why I think that is if you add Matvei Michkov to this core, in this case, you still have Matt Barzell. You have Bo Horvat. So your centers are really strong down the middle. You also have players like Danny Nelson coming up. Cal Ritchie, I think, is going to be a legit center in the NHL. And again, he's going to be a year older the year after that. I don't see that much risk in those next four first round picks. Assuming you add Michkov to this lineup, all of a sudden you have a way better forward core. Players like Victor Ekblad get a year older. You have Cole Eiserman come up the next season. Your defense continues to get younger. You still have Ilya Sorokin in net. This seems to be a team that's really set up well for the future. The problem is you can't find that really young star forward. And realistically, even with the Islanders pick, whoever they draft is not going to be that star forward at the very least right away. You're drafting after the bottom 10, which I think the Islanders will be out of the bottom 10. It's hard to find a star forward. This would not be a bad way to get one. And again, you would still have this pick. You just have to make sure you're a playoff team for those next four years. And I'm pretty sure that's the plan for the New York Islanders. As a result, I would do this. Worst case scenario, those four first round picks, you are very... It's unlikely to get a player who's better than Matvei Michkov. It's unlikely the four players that you get would be worth trading for a player with his potential. I do see this as an 80 and 90 point plus. Potential player, but realistically for this to be worth it for the Islanders, I think he just has to be an 82 point forward. I'm 84 now, the point per game guy, right? But I'm curious to know what you think about this in the comments below. It's also worth noting if the Islanders get Matvei Michkov and they do it with an offer sheet, Matthew Schaefer will be the best defenseman he's ever played with and Matt Barzell will be the best center or Bo Horvat will be the best center he's ever played with. Take your pick. So I think that is a really interesting thing to talk about. But let me know what you think about this in the comments. Are you interested in Matt Vanechikov? Are you kind of nervous of him? I would say for the Islanders offseason, assuming this is still going on, my strategy would be to offer a max contract to Nikita Kucherov because He's Nikita Kucherov. Assuming he doesn't accept, I think this is the next player I would focus on, along with a guy like Jared McCann, right? If I'm spending four first round picks to bring in a player to win now, I'm also gonna start, now that I have my young pieces, I'm also gonna start trying to sign some big free agents. And Jared McCann seems like he makes a lot of sense, but that should probably be a topic for another video. So we're gonna end this one. Appreciate you for watching all these videos and I'll catch you on the next one.