New York Islanders Podcast: Delusional John Tavares

Former New York Islanders captain John Tavares thinks he’ll get a warm welcome when he returns to Long Island as a Toronto Maple Leafs. Just like I think this article will win me a Pulitzer Prize. (It won’t, that’s delusional.)

Matt and Mitch react to the notion that former New York Islanders captain John Tavares thinks he’ll receive a warm welcome from fans upon his return to Long Island. That’s delusional. There is no way that’s going to happen.

While some fans might not be so venomous in their reaction it certainly doesn’t mean that they will outright cheer for him on his return on February 28th.

Perhaps Tavares’ opinion of the situation is guided by the fact that the three most notable free agent departure from the Islanders – Frans Nielsen, Kyle Okposo, and Matt Martin – all got warm welcomings on their returns. Surely, he, the captain, will get one?

That’s not how it works. The three aforementioned players were either deliberately allowed to leave in free agency (even though they wanted to stay), or their contract negotiations were left so late that they were incentivized to look elsewhere.

If Tavares wanted to stay he could have. But as we all know he didn’t want to stay. He might get that nice little video on the Barclays jumbotron, but that’s it. Fans will

not

be embracing him upon his return.

Huge Announcement

We have a huge announcement to make. Starting with the 2018-19 New York Islanders season we’ll be bringing you more Isles content in the form of a Patreon page.

Patrons will get not only our weekly podcast but they’ll get an extra weekly mailbag podcast AND (now this is the big one) a post-game show after all 82 New York Islanders games. After every single Islanders game, Matt and Mitch will give you their instant takes.

That works out to just under a pod per day! Stay tuned for more details.

What Else Do We Talk About?

What are the three biggest questions for the Islanders as training camp looms? Is it who gets the seventh spot on the blue line? Or if Jan Kovar can play at the NHL level? Or will Josh Ho-Sang and/or Kieffer Bellows make the roster this season?

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Lastly, can Anthony Beauvillier be the Islanders second line center? He knows how to play the position and might be a better fit than Nelson and Kovar. But does it make sense to pry him off of Mathew Barzal’s wing?