New York Islanders: The Day That Garth Stood Still

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Apr 30, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Islanders right wing Kyle Okposo (21) during the second period of game two of the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Kyle Okposo

Headline: “The two sides took it to the brink, like two nerdy wizards from a Harry Potter novel, but Garth Snow and Kyle Okposo finally agreed to make the beefy right wing from Minnesota the highest paid wing in NHL history with a three-year, $42 million contract. Snow said “not only does this allow us to pay Kyle three times his worth, but it ensures Tavares won’t fit under the cap when his deal is up. Win win for us”. ”

I do not see any way this math can work. Someone will offer Kyle 7×7. Maybe he would take the security and almost equal value of six million x eight years. But then you’d have to pay him six million for eight years. (Ok, he actually ended up taking 6 Mil x 7 Years. but so heavily frontloaded that it has the monetary value of getting aid more than 7 million.)

The Islanders roster will surely look different when the season starts. Hell, it already does. But I have every reason to suspect, even demand, that this turnover continues through the summer and into camp this fall.

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This is not a complete roster. Maybe the trend is going in the Islanders direction. Wednesday was a day of unprecedented activity, and they were dead still. Friday when teams were moving again the Islanders were active, bold, and pretty transparent in where they saw their own shortcomings. They say the first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one in the first place. They have cleared that hurdle.