Uncertainty: New York Islanders Face Crucial DECISIONS on Anders Lee's Future & Salary Cap Strategy

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New York Islanders Captain Anders Lee has addressed his future as his contract expires

at the end of the season.

We'll talk about what he said and how it impacts the islanders next.

Your Lockdown Islanders, your daily podcast on the New York Islanders, part of the Lockdown

Podcast Network, your team every day.

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I'm Gil Martin.

I've been covering the New York Islanders for two decades and I wrote the book Ice Wars

on the history of the Islanders rivalry with the Rangers from 1972 till the modern era.

So glad you could join us today to talk some Islanders hockey.

We've got a busy show today.

Lots to tackle.

We'll talk about Anders Lee and his future, which he did address with the media on Monday.

We'll give you a little story behind what happened with Bo Horvat and why he was fined and

I'll be honest with you.

I think Bo did the right thing and then we will preview what should be an emotional game

tonight against the Blues in St. Louis.

Let's get started with Anders Lee and every dayers may recall that Anders Lee basically

indicated that he made a decision before the season started that he was not going to negotiate

any extension during the season that that would be taken care of at the conclusion of

the year.

And now, you know, the trade deadline comes and goes, I think based on what Matthew Darsh

had said leading up to the trade deadline, nobody was surprised that Lee was not dealt

and even though J.G.

Pazzo was extended, Anders Lee was not.

So now what happens, right?

So Lee did address this.

First of all, when he was asked if he was going to end his career with the islanders, he

said, for sure, I mean, there's no doubt about that.

So that's obviously one part of it and, you know, Lee basically is talking like somebody

who has every intention of returning to the islanders next year and, you know, he basically

said that he hopes the team will remain together beyond this season.

And he said, you know, they're successful.

I think when we play as one, that's exactly who we are.

We're stingy.

We don't give up a ton.

We have great gold any and we fight our way through every game.

I think that's who we are and it just the way he was talking.

It sounds like he is coming back and wants to sign another deal with the islanders.

So now the question becomes how much cap space does Lee take up?

And I think J.G.

Pazzo's contract is sort of a benchmark as far as Lee is concerned.

I get the feeling it will be very close to what Pazzo signed and that was $4.85 million.

And so if that's $4.85 million, so let's round up and say $5 million.

So if Anders Lee signed to one or more likely a two year deal at $5 million AAV again, probably

a little more than I would like to pay him.

I would like to stick it with one year, stick to one year.

I go as high as two maximum, but he's 35.

He's already showing signs of slowing down.

He had 29 goals last year.

He'll probably have around 20 this year and maybe 21, 22, but overall, again, as these players

get older, the production most likely continues to decline.

And the concern that I would have, not that I wouldn't welcome Anders Lee back, I respect

Anders Lee.

I enjoy watching Anders Lee, the islanders need his net front presence.

In fact, they need two or three, maybe more players who are willing to go in front of

the net and wreak havoc and screen the goalie and get deflections and rebounds.

That is something this team needs more of.

But if the islanders have an estimated $15 million in cap space, and Anders Lee takes

up four or five million, and if they bring back Tony DiAngelo, he'll take up, let's say,

two million.

If they bring back Mark Gatcom, that's probably one million.

You don't know what's going to happen with David Riddick.

If he comes back, it's probably around two million.

And you start to sort of chip away at that 15 million.

And then the question becomes, what's left?

If you really want to make a move to add a goal scorer or to add some more speed to

this team, some younger players, because now this roster, after you've added Palat, Susie

probably not coming back next year, but you've added Palat.

And you've added Shen, and you've got Palmarie coming back.

And do Claire is still on this roster.

You've got a lot of guys on the wrong side of 30.

So it's going to be interesting to see what happens.

But it is definitely apparent that Lee wants to be back, and wants to be an islander, and

you get the feeling that if Matthew Darsh said, I don't think he should be back, then he

wouldn't have kept him at the deadline.

He likes obviously, and as Lee is a captain, I like him as, I think he's fine as a captain.

Although I still want to see more consistent urgency from this team, and I think part of

that falls on Lee.

But overall, I mean, this team's resilience also, you got to give him credit for that.

So again, you see, here's my problem with this situation as it's shaping up right now.

I have no problem with adding Andre Palat.

I have no problem with adding Braden Shen.

I have no problem with resigning Anders Lee and JG Pazzo.

What I do have concern about is doing all of those things.

Because again, this team, as it is presently constituted, the best I've seen them in power

rankings by experts around the league is 10.

I would put them somewhere in the 10 to 12 range, even after adding Braden Shen, but

you're older.

And these guys are locked into contracts for at least another year or two.

And so the question is, as these guys age and their production likely, gradually, or sometimes

suddenly, tails off, where do you go from there?

Because a re-tool, which is what this was supposed to be after the mess that Lulamorello left

this team in, usually you get younger in a re-tool.

And yes, you've got Matthew Schaefer, and you've got Cal Richie, and in a year or two,

you've got the potential of an Eclan, an NHSN, and an Iserman, and maybe some of these

other prospects.

But again, you need room for them on the roster, and you're making this team older and

slower again.

And that is a bit of a concern for me.

I want to see this team play the, if they want to play the up-tempo style that Patrick

Wah wants to play, getting guys who are 36, 34, 33.

That's not the way to do that with a few notable exceptions.

Most guys in their mid to upper 30s are not among the guys who play best up-tempo and

fast.

So we'll see how this plan works out.

It looks like Andersley will be back next year based on what he's saying, and based

on what Matthew Darsch has done thus far.

And again, the key in my mind is what other moves do you make.

And again, I like Ravenschen.

I like J.G. Pazzo.

I like Andersley.

I like Andre Palat.

I don't like having all of them on the team at the same time with term going forward

and the cap hit that they're all taking up, because will Andersley give you?

Like right now, Andersley is not giving you $7 million of value for his cap hit.

When you knew that, when you signed a player to a 7-year deal at 7 million AAV, and they're

going to be 35 at the end of the contract, you kind of figure into the equation, age

33, 34, 35, they may not give you that full value.

So now the question becomes, and again, 5 million is my hypothetical number, will he give

you $5 million worth of value based on his performance?

Will, will, Braden Schenn give you 6 and a half million?

Will Andre Palat give you 6 million?

Offensively, the answer to this is no, probably not.

And then the question becomes, do the intangibles that these guys bring give you enough of that

value?

And again, it's not any one of these guys that is the problem to me.

It's having all of them and the amount of cap space they pick take up and the amount

of roster spots that they nail down.

And it may very well be that these guys, that the prospects are not ready yet.

And even when they, let's even say they are ready, right?

Let's say Eclan and HSN start the season in the NHL.

You can't expect them to be great right away.

You see what's happening with Cal Richie?

He shows you flashes.

He has some very good games and some games where you're like, what was he thinking out

there?

Adjusting and learning to play the NHL game at the highest level.

So these guys are bridge guys.

I get that.

They have a year, two years, whatever.

I don't expect lead to go beyond three.

I prefer two or one, but I get it that they're bridge guys.

But at some point, they have to be moved on from, you got to make room for the prospects

when they're ready.

And you got to accept that there will be growing pains with these guys.

Matthew Schaefer is the exception to the exception to the rule.

Most 18 year olds do not play in the NHL.

The ones that do, look at what Michael Misa is doing.

And I think Misa will be a fine, really good NHL player.

But he is not tearing up the league the way Matthew Schaefer is.

And that's more typical.

And if Matthew Misa finishes the season with 15 goals, and that's going to be a really

good season for Misa, that's what most 18 year olds do.

Some of them don't even get that.

They'll get seven goals, eight goals.

And they'll struggle, but that's part of the process.

And that's why the timing of all this is just a little surprising to me.

To go all in on a team that is barely going to make the playoffs.

And if you're lucky wins around, it leaves me with mixed feelings.

So again, this is where we're at, Anders Lee, most likely coming back.

And hopefully Matthew Darsch finds a way to free up some cap space for Lee and for another

addition to really help take this team to the next level.

We have got more to get to on today's show.

How about BoHorvatt?

He got fine $2,500 by the NHL Department of Player Safety.

We'll talk about what happened.

Why I think BoHorvatt was absolutely right to do what he did.

That and more.

Next on today's Locked on Islanders podcast.

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And if you sign up before the NCAA tournament tips off, you can get into our every day or

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for more information.

So bow or that find twenty five hundred dollars by player safety.

And we kind of found out what happened as to at least why.

So what did what happened?

Horvath skates up to William Ecklin.

Yes, Victor Ecklin's brother on the sharks bench.

And takes you know gives him a little drink under his visor takes the visor off.

Ends up getting fine twenty five hundred bucks.

Okay.

You know, you look at it if nobody got hurt, Ecklin seemed to be fine.

And you know, you pay the you pay the fine and you move on.

But then Monday video surfaces that shows why bow or back did that.

There is a scrum in front of the sharks bench in the third period.

And Ecklin grabs the stick out of Horvath's hands and gives it to a sharks trainer

who takes it down the tunnel.

And disappears with the stick.

And you know, Horvath ends up grabbing the visor flips it upward and skates away.

No penalty on Horvath player safety issues the fine after reviewing the incident.

And you know what?

As far as I'm concerned, first of all for an NHL player twenty five hundred dollars

is like twenty five dollars to most of us.

It's not a substantial fine.

But if bow or that who is a leader on this team who most people believe should be the next

captain, once Anders Lee's, Anders Lee is no longer an islander or his career is over.

I think he's justified in what he did that you have to show, hey, you're going to mess

around with me or my teammates.

You could try to do that, but I'm not going to just take it.

I'm going to respond.

I'm not going to hurt you.

I'm not intentionally trying to injure, but I know what you did and I'm sending you

a message, cut the BS.

And you know what?

It was an appropriate response.

And you know, sometimes you just pay the fine and you move on because you did what you

had to do.

And I think this is one of those times.

I wish, quite sincerely, that more islanders players would have this kind of a response.

And not that I want them to get fined.

That's certainly not my point, okay?

I don't want islanders players to get fined, but I do want a response.

And I believe, quite honestly, that the addition of Braden Chen will help in this area,

that if someone that goes after Matthew Schaefer, they're going to have to answer to Braden

Chen among other players.

And every day, as you know, I've said over the course of this season, that the islanders

have not been consistent enough in being physical in general and then more importantly, perhaps

protecting their prized rookie Matthew Schaefer.

So as far as I'm concerned, you pay the fine, even though it's, you know, like you did

it, right?

You did the thing that led to the fine, okay?

I did it.

But you pay the money and you move on because the message that needed to be sent was sent.

And it's almost better in a way that the Department of Player Safety made this fine and announced

it and put out the video because now the whole league knows this is how Bohorvat reacted

when all of this went down.

And it's fine.

You know, it makes me think of something that happened to me when I was playing deck hockey

way back in the day.

And you know, ball went into the corner.

I was the first person there.

Opponent comes up from behind me, cross checks me in the back.

I go flying, you know, knees first, thankfully, into the boards.

I had padding on.

I was okay, but there's no call.

Ball goes into the other corner.

I let the other guy get there first.

I did the same exact thing to him.

Referee calls the penalty.

And I said to myself, you know what?

I did it.

I had a reason for doing it.

It was justified.

I'll go sit out the two minutes and on we go.

And I think that's exactly the kind of thing Bohorvat did.

Thankfully, I wasn't fined.

It was just a fun little teenage league at the time.

But I think sometimes you got to do what you got to do.

And Bohorvat did just that.

And I wish that it would be a little more contagious throughout the Islanders lineup

to respond in kind when teams mess with you or your teammates.

And especially Matthew Schaefer.

We have got more to get to on today's show.

An emotional game, especially for Braden Shen coming up tonight in St. Louis

and an important game for the Islanders.

We'll have a full preview.

Plus a forward from Finland for our Islanders birthday of the day

who played for the Rangers in the mid to late 80s.

And then the Islanders at the very end of the 80s.

Let's see if you can guess who this is.

All that coming up on today's Locked On Islanders podcast.

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Islanders and blues.

Getting back on to close out this four game road trip.

Glad that this four game road trip is over.

Lot more home games coming up.

It's a 730 Eastern time start.

It is a TNT broadcast.

So do keep that in mind.

And look, this is going to be an emotional game without question for Braden Shen, who

spent 10 years in St. Louis.

We know Patrick Wah has announced Ilya Sorokhan as the starter.

We know that it's going to be the line combinations in practice on Monday for that Heinem and Barzal,

Ben Polot, Richie, Peugeot, Lee Holmstrom, Sezekus Duclear, Gatcom, McLean, and Shabbanov,

the likely healthy scratches, and then on defense, Schaefer Polock, Pelik, DiAngelo,

Susie Mayfield, Bokvest, as the extra defender.

The blues, they have been struggling.

And we know that they're off a four-nothing win Sunday over the ducks.

But they are 25, 29, and 9 on the season, 7th in the central division.

They are 28th in goals scored, 25th in goals against their power play as 25th, which means

it's better than the islanders, but not good.

And they're penalty kill as 29th.

So across the board, this is a team that is struggling.

No player on this roster has more than 15 goals.

Robert Thomas, Jordan Kairu, both with 15, Pavel Butch-Navitch, with 14, as does Jake

Neighbors, but again, not the offense that you will thought this team was going to give

you.

The line combinations, as of now, Robert Thomas, Dylan Holloway, and Jimmy Snuggeru to

the top line, Pius Souter, Jonathan Drew and the former islander, who by the way scored

a goal in his first game as a member of the blues.

He and Pavel Butch-Navitch are the second line, and I got to say, I'm rooting for Jonathan

Drew and not tonight against the islanders, but in general.

He was not a good fit on the islanders.

It did not work out, but I give him credit.

He never stopped trying.

The effort was always there.

It was better for the islanders and for Drew and for them to part ways, but I wish him

the best after he plays the islanders.

So, Daubor Davorsky, Seniors, Jake Neighbors, and Jordan Cairo on the third line, Jack Finley,

Seniors, Alexei Toropchenko, and Oscar-Son-Cfist on the fourth line.

Philip Broberg and Matthew Kessel are the top defense pair, Logan Malieu, Cam Fowler

on the second pairing, and then Tyler Tucker and Justin Hol.

Are the third pair the goalies right now, Joel Hofer or Jordan Binnington, Colton Paraco

is day to day, we'll see if he's able to come back.

Islanders got to get on this team quickly.

You know, for Braden Shen, this is going to be a very emotional game, and it'll be emotional

for a lot of his former teammates.

Neighbors basically telling the athletic, it was an emotional morning saying goodbye to him.

I told him I wouldn't be where I am as a person or player without him.

I knew it wasn't going, I wasn't going to play with him forever, but I didn't want it

to go like this if it could have a fantasy ending to it.

And you know, for Shen, he said it's pretty crazy.

As soon as the trade happened, you look at their schedule to see where they're going for

family purposes and all of a sudden, you see St. Louis on the schedule a game later, it's

going to be an emotional game, and one that you can't really put into words.

So this is going to be a special night for Braden Shen, probably to a lesser extent

for Jonathan Drew and we'll see how it all plays out.

I hope Shen makes a good showing against his former team.

Time now for our Islanders birthday of the day, and we're a day early, but Wednesday

will be the 62nd birthday of former Islander center, Rainbow Hellman in the finish native

six feet, 198 pounds, a second round pick of the Rangers in 1984, joined the Rangers

in 85, 86 played for Minnesota, late in 86, 87, and joined the Islanders for the 88, 89

season split time between the Islanders and their AHL affiliate in Springfield.

One goal, 12 points in 24 games as an Islander, one of his best games as an Islander, how

about December 17, 1988 Islanders hosting the Devils in their old green and red uniforms

at the Nassau Colosseum, the goalies, Chris Terrari, excuse me, Sean Burke, the start, Chris

Terrari eventually relieved him, Billy Smith, the goalie for the Islanders and after Mark

Johnson made it, one nothing Devils, our Islanders birthday of the day, Rainbow Hellman

set up Miko Makala on the power play, Tomas Johnson another assist, that tied it at one, then

in the second period, again on the power play, Hellman and David Bollock set up Brent Sutter,

that made it two to one Islanders, with the score four to one Islanders, Hellman and

Johnson set up Reed Larson on the power play, the Islanders go on to a five to two win in this game,

25 saves for Billy Smith for Hellman and three assists, he did not record a shot on goal, he was

even because all those goals came on the power play, but a three assists game for Rainbow Hellman

and he is our Islanders birthday of the day. If you've been thinking about joining the

every day or club now is the time, you will get ad free shows, locked on Islanders without commercials,

access to our group chat on discord, and if you sign up before the NCAA tournament tips off

later this month, you can get into our every day or club bracket pool on discord for a chance

to win locked on Merck should be a lot of fun. Right now, if you use the code March, you'll get

your first month free, so head on over to lockedonislanders.supercast.com for more information or check out

the link in the show notes. If you have a question, a comment, maybe a topic you'd like us to discuss

on the future episode, email us at lockedonislanders at gmail.com, if you leave your first name and where

you're from, we're happy to mention you on the show when we discuss whatever's on your mind. You

could follow the show on x, at lockedonisles, you could follow me, Gil Martin on x, and ice wars,

NYR, VSNYI. We'll keep you up to date on all things Islanders all year long, and I am live

tweeting during nearly every Islanders home and road game. So join me for a little instant

insight and analysis, and it's great to talk Islanders hockey with you, game time or anytime.

We will have more bonus episodes, we're trying to do those every day this week, so look for those

to start late afternoon, maybe five o'clock, six o'clock at the latest. It'll be on your YouTube

and audio feed, so look for that. We will also be back tomorrow with our key takeaways from

tonight's game against the Blues and our weekly farm and prospect reports. Make sure you join us

for that. Until then, have a great day, everybody. Stay safe, and of course, let's go Islanders.

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