I think they are specifically holding the money aside in anticipation of bigger contracts needed to keep Okposo, Tavares and other here long term.

There are 4 and possibly 5 key RFAs and one potentially key UFA to deal with at the end of this season.

Bailey, Okposo, and Comeau — all three poised to have strong years are RFA and could see pretty significant raises. I don’t see us not holding on to any of those three long term — now we could issue them qualifiers and force them to sign, but I don’t think it comes to that.

If Schremp comes in and can top what he did last season, remain healthy, focused and improves overall — and I see no reason why he wouldn’t — he will be an RFA and require a new deal.

On the back end, Jack Hillen’s deal comes due, and he will be an RFA. This can be tricky. The 2011-12 season has us looking at Streit, Eaton and Andy MacDonald barring any trades of those three. That leaves 3-4 positions open. I would assume that two of those slots have De Haan and Hamonic in pencil to start the 2011-12 season with the big club. That leaves one slot. We could add a free agent, or perhaps Hillen will be extended as well — which as of now does not look too bad.

Lastly, and this could be a biggie – Matt Moulson will be UFA at the end of this season. He is earning $2.45 mil this season, and if he can net 25-35 goals this year — which really is not out of the question — would you not have to assume he would stay here for the right price? And, while he is not “home-grown” I have to believe Snow will go to bat for him.

The point is — by this time next season, we could be looking at an additional what…. $8-10 million in salary increase over this year just from those players mentioned.

Then at the end of 2011-12 — you are going to have to face Tavares’ contract, and Frans Neilsen will be a UFA. Eaton will also be a UFA, thought we don’t know what we will have there.

Assuming they hold onto Frans and double his current salary, plus they bump John to what could be $5 mil or more depending on how he does…between now and the start of 2012-13, we would be adding something like $12-15 mil in home grown salary… which would still give us cap space to lock in perhaps the two Krills, Neiderreiter and others to entry level deals, and add the odd free agent or two.

I have no issue with any of this…. I share your concern that there is always the possibility Wang wont pay these players and we lose them — but he has a track-record of holding players within reason.

DiPietro is a perfect example. YES….the deal was bad largely because DiPietro was as yet unproven, and too long, but — financially, locking him down at $4.5 per annum cap hit is smart. If he had remained healthy, and matured properly, we could have had a huge bargain.

Lets wait to see what goes down with KO and JB down the road.

Does that mean I am not a fan of the Islanders? Of course not.

Contracts come and go, but usually there is a reason that a contract is not renewed. My issue is not that Jaffe’s contract was not renewed — it was WHY it was not renewed.

When you are desperate to sell tickets, desperate to attract free agents, desperate to build something that people want to be a part of — weather it is from the broadcast booth, the accounting office, ticket sales, or 2nd line left wing — it should go without saying that you are careful with your decisions, and that you manage the perceptions emanating from your team.

This is not one isolated incident. Trottier, Jankowski, Jaffe, the entire handling of DePietro — including not announcing him on opening night last October — has been botched. This all SCREAMS of the desperate need to have someone who can manage the PR better then it has been. New people or not — unless he does not care, wouldn’t one have to assume Charles Wang is a little ticked off that he and his team look foolish?

If he does not care, then I would submit that ticket sales and hockey generated revenue is not important to him. That too is entirely possible.

I have largely believed that Charles Wang’s sole purpose for purchasing the Islanders was the land grab and potential to develop what would be a mega million dollar money maker for him and his family. Essentially, he saw an opportunity to be this generations “Robert Moses.” Problem is — that is over now. He made many mistakes, including backing the wrong pols in Suozzi and County Democrats when he should have been funneling the cash to Joe Mondello, Kate Murray and the Hooples. And now, the vacuum left has been filled with the opponents of the Isles — that too is very bad P.R.

One gets beaten in the head repeatedly by a baseball bat. At what point does the pain reach the brain and you say to yourself, “…gee; this is painful. I need to take action to stop this…”

As for Charles Wang not spending money or putting into the hands of Okposo, Tavares etc…I don’t buy that argument either. I think Charles Wang is an owner who meddles where he shouldn’t, and he has some bad policies. But he is not cheap.

The lack of spending here is not because he is unwilling. Lets be real — where in Garth Snow’s plan is spending huge dollars a factor in this team’s success?

He, and his predecessor tried the “spending” method, and Charles Wang was completely willing. He forked over tens of millions to the likes of Yashin, Zhitnik, Satan, DiPietro and others. They made signnifcant offers to Smyth, Poti and Kozlov as well as Blake. And it is rumored they offered Kovulchuck a one year $10 mil deal. That is not cheap.

I agree that they need to add one or two more pieces if they have real designs on solidifying a playoff spot — which does not mean they can’t make the playoffs this year without additional help. But, the plan is to go the way the Caps and Pens have gone…. build through the draft and when those players who have developed require big salaries, the space is there to keep them here long term. I have no issue with that philosophy, and it meshes completely with Snow’s plan. he wants to be sure Tavares, Okposo, Bailey and some of the other significant pieces he has assembled remain Islanders for a long time.

So lets not get carried away that because Jaffe was let go — retarded thought it was — that translates to Tavares being allowed to walk in 2 years.

People talk about his new position as a demotion, but the bottom line is in less than a month of being on the market for a job, he landed one… now lets all watch him move up the ranks in the Habs organization, as I have no doubt he will. And lets all watch as the Islanders remove a position from the most important aspect of their organization with regards to gaining talent. The Rangers can attract players via FA, the Islanders cannot it is more alarming when we lose a scout, especially one who is recognizable to the average fan.

This is business. A company is allowed to let a contract run out and look for somene else to replace that position — or — eliminate it if they feel the job could get done without it.

As BD said, this is not the PR Dept’s fault. But it is the fault of a fanbase who will look at ANY move as sinister and cause for alarm and are easily whiped into a frenzy and ready to take to the streets crying “foul.”

I guess most of them don’t work for corporations that let executives go all the time. And yes, this is the same club that let a GM go after only 40 days on the job. Oddly, that GM STILL doesn’t have a GM job in the NHL while many jobs have become available.

hmmmmmm… from.both.sides.now.

But I digress, since the Canes are your own corner. Both Lutchenko and Gadjosik reported to whom, btw? Oh yes, the Direcor, good ol Rockstrommmmmmmm.

Plus this story was not about the Rangers, but fan reaction….based on the Islanders and Janks. A point missed entirally as you beat your chest here.

Main rule, don’t step in the shit on the way out of the comment thread, old chap.

Yes he was the head of European scouting but really did little since he drafted Lundqvist back in 2000.

Lets break it down:

Since 2000 (year of Henke) he’s drafted four Swedes (Pontus Petterstrom, Marcus Jonasen, Jesper Fasth and Carl Hagelin) none of which have yet to make the NHL, although the latter two still have a chance.

As far as Europeans go, there have been 30 European players selected by the team in the last ten years with only five even sniffing the NHL: Fedor Tyutin, Marek Zidlicky, Petr Prucha, Lauri Korpikoski and Artem Anisimov.

Jan Gadjosik is responsible for Czech Republic and Slovakia so that eliminates credit for Zidlicky and Prucha. So you have 3/30 that you could MAYBE give Rockstrom credit for even though Vladamir Lutchenko pushed for Anisimov, Grachev and Cherepanov since 2007.

Basically, Rockstromm has had better days and now the Rangers prefer to use Gordie Clark (remember him Isles fans?) who has been excellent over the past few years.

I thought one of the HI main rules was sticking to your team because writing a short(sided) piece on a team that is not yours is basically a comment :P

Keeping Jankowski made sense, unless he committed a no-no. If you recall several months back there were rumors swirling that Jankowski was interviewing for a GM position in the minor leagues. Did he go on the interview or take a phone call when he was under Isles contract, and perhaps should not have? We will never know for sure.

We should not underestimate, or over value Jankowski. But a big part of the difference is that the Isles way of doing things — and without any kind of statement from the team suggesting anything is what keeps us all guessing. It is bad PR and a bad way to run the team.

The Rangers have — in my opinion — a GM that has “lost it” over the past few seasons, or like the Islanders, is under the direction of an owner who has to have the biggest names, but does not necessarily make them a better team.

I also don’t know how “out front” Rockstrom was within the organization — where as Jankowski was a very visible component of the organization, often doing many interviews and getting many quotes in the press.

Lots of variables, but good perspective here….

The Islanders need to improve their PR, because bad communication combined with an inflamed fan base can cause some real problems…I don’t buy the meme that it’s cost-cutting; you don’t find $5 million for Mark Eaton and then skimp on an executive salary that’s less than 1/10 of that.

As for the Rangers, that’s interesting…..

The Habs may be the big story here. I always said that my first act as owner of an NHL team would be to build the greatest scouting organization the world had ever seen, and they’re off to a great start.

This needed to be said. Jankowski has been made out to be the greatest mind in hockey history over the past couple weeks. He’s just a freaking scout for god’s sake.