New York Islanders Offer Sheet Corrections

In covering the New York Islanders, we at Eyes on Isles sometimes get things wrong. Just like you, we’re fans first, and like you, we have to be accountable when a mistake was made. Yesterday I published an article that misinterpreted the NHL CBA and I wanted to correct that mistake.

Yesterday I ran a piece where I looked at the New York Islanders remaining RFAs and how the qualifying offers they were tended will force the Islanders hands into making a move in order to free up some cap space to keep these players on the roster.

After the article ran, Eyes on Isles received a tweet indicating that the numbers used may not be entirely correct. Which meant that the impact on the Islanders payroll may not be as dramatic as I had assessed.

I took the time to go over what I had posted as well as the NHL CBA and other online resources to see where I went wrong and how that changes the outcome of the article that I wrote.

The Check & Balance of Twitter

Twitter is a wonderful platform to reach a wide audience of fans. Eyes on Isles has its own Twitter handle where we post links to all of our writers material once it’s published on our website in order to reach as many New York Islanders fans as possible.

And the opposite is true. Twitter is a great tool for fans who don’t write for Eyes on Isles to have their opinions also heard on what we publish. And that’s exactly what happened yesterday.

In my piece, I stated that the minimum qualifying offers that could be tended to RFAs Ryan Strome, Scott Mayfield, Christopher Gibson, and Alan Quine by the Islanders would amount to more that the Isles had in remaining cap space. I calculated that the minimum that could be offered was $4.929 million while the Isles only have $4.896 million in cap space.

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In my calculations, I had taken the AAV of each players deal. From what I originally read in the collective agreement on the minimum offer the qualifying offer this was the right number. But looking at the clause in the CBA closer, and by referring to capfriendly.com I realize that that interpretation was incorrect.

The qualifying offer is to be made based on the base salary of the player’s deal, which does not include signing bonuses that are rolled into that player’s AAV. Which obviously changes how the Isles approach managing their roster.

Salary

Inflator

Min. Offer

Christopher Gibson

$600,000

1.1

$660,000

Scott Mayfield

$832,500

1.05

$874,125

Alan Quine

$600,000

1.1

$660,000

Ryan Strome

$832,500

1.05

$874,125

Total

$3,068,250

This new total doesn’t completely change the analysis. The Isles still need to make some space. This new total doesn’t take into account any signing bonuses that these RFAs will likely also sign and thus make the cap hit even higher. The Isles are going to have to make some space to keep these players.

The Isles may not keep all of them. But they’ll be determined to sign the fifth-overall pick in the 2011 draft, Ryan Strome to a deal. My best guess is that he signs something that’s reminiscent of the deal that Kyle Okposo signed after his ELC had expired. Something likely worth between $2.5-$3 million a year.

Cap space is going to need to be cleared to get these young and promising players signed and remain under the cap ceiling. How the Isles do this remains to be seen, but moves will still need to be made.

The Supportive Outcome

The idea of this post was to show accountability to you the reader. I got something wrong, and I owe it to you to correct it. You take the time to read our material and I owe it to you to get things right.

Writing for Eyes on Isles with tens of thousands of readers has its appeals and its drawbacks. You get to reach those thousands of readers with your opinions on the New York Islanders, and you also get to hear from those very readers. Sometimes putting yourself out there as a writer can yield some undesired results.

We’ve all faced the dark side of Twitter on more than one occasion. But on this occasion, the “Twittersphere” was nothing but amicable. It proved that Twitter is not full of “Trolls” seeking to pounce on any mistakes, but rather a community of fans sharing their knowledge.

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It’s definitely a supportive process to see your fellow fan look at what you’ve posted and review it critically and provide you with some constructive criticism. As a writer, such actions encourage me greatly on the state of social media interactions.