Comments for Emerging Stars: John Tavares at http://hockey.dobbersports.com , comment 1 to 7 out of 7 comments http://hockey.dobbersports.com Thu, 23 May 2013 21:17:54 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17266 Sometimes the right fit isn't necessarily the quickest fit. I'd say the Islanders selections of Strome, Niederreiter, de Haan, and Bailey are still solid choices. After the Islanders rushed Bailey into the league, I think they were more than willing to wait on the others. As the young nucleus of this team begins to gel together, this team will be a strong team in the league, which is something that was never going to happen before Snow took his office job. - Tim Lucarelli Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:37:02 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17265 DiPietro's deal was signed during Snow's tenure at GM, but that contract was, by all accounts, Wang's idea. Snow has done very well via working the waiver wire and/or taking on reclamation projects (Moulson, Grabner, Parenteau, Montoya, Nabokov) and seems to have chosen rightly in drafting Tavares over Hedman. In Snow's first season he pulled the trigger on key trades for Ryan Smyth and M-A Bergeron, that enabled the team to make the playoffs and ended costing the team nothing of consequence in the long run. However, when he has been in the position of 'seller' (which has been since 2007) his track record in trades has not been nearly as good. Also, aside from Tavares, Snow's first round picks have yet to set the hockey world on fire as Bailey, a relatively off-the-board pick has mostly struggled; de Haan has yet to make the Isles while a more highly-regarded (even at the time) defenseman that he was drafted over (Kulikov) is now playing in his 3rd NHL season; Niederreiter could still be a gem, but he has a long way to go to catch up to the likes of Fowler or Skinner, who have already made big impacts in cracking the lineups of better NHL teams. - Isle B. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:18:04 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17264 Sorry...for some reason I thought the DiPietro contract was in place before Snow. That's the only blemish I can see over the five and a half years he's been GM. What else did I miss? - Tim Lucarelli Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:51:18 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17263 How could you not say that? He inherited one of the worst teams in the league with brutal contracts and [i]he [/i]has not mismanaged his cap at all, he's invested in youth, drafted well, brought in a goalie who is proving to be a legitimate workhorse in Al Montoya, added a great trade asset in Nabokov...what else can you ask of the guy? I'd say he's done just about nothing wrong in that organization. - Tim Lucarelli Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:39:26 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17262 Whoa, I thought you totally said that Garth Snow was a savvy leader for the Islanders............ - Scott Spooner Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:27:56 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17260 I totally agree that Tavares has the skill to get there and I think he'll turn some heads along the way to [i]compete [/i]for a trophy like that, but I just don't see him actually winning it. Tavares has definitely clicked with Streit on the PP, deflecting a few pucks in early. Having Streit back will really help him over the course of the season. Okposo has been such a big disappointment and I feel bad for the guy. He has tons of skill, but he has struggled in a secondary role. He is certainly capable of more than what his current performance is showing (same could be said about Bailey), and I think he's still bitter about losing his top-line spot to Parenteau. The problem is that the only way to win that job back is to prove you deserve it, which is something that Okposo has not been able to do. They did show some solid chemistry last season, so I think they'll be fine with time, but early on, it's definitely the Tavares line that is doing all the damage. If the Grabner-Nielsen-Okposo line can get going too, the Isles will be winning a decent chunk of hockey games. Probably more than people expect. - Tim Lucarelli Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:56:39 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/russ-miller/4050-emerging-stars-john-tavares#comment-17259 Tavares could be headed for an Art Ross and/or Rocket Richard Trophy this season. He now has the strength on the puck to go along with the extraordinary stick-handling/ hand-eye coordination and he is just relentlessly buzzing around in the other team's net seemingly every shift. While Moulson will be JT's LW for the foreseeable future, Parenteau has also taken his game up a notch so far season, and has solidified his spot on this line. Tavares and Streit have shown some outstanding chemistry in teaming up for several goals (already) off of faceoff draws, particularly on the power play. Other than the JT line and Streit and aside from Nielsen and Grabner getting some chances here and there, no one else on this team has contributed anything offensively so far. This is especially true about Okposo. While he seems to be a favorite around this site and in fantasy hockey circles in general, I think people who follow this team closely will tell you that he just doesn't exhibit the kind of offensive skill that many seem to assume that he has. The sentiment among fantasy hockey people seems to be the KO is being forced into an unfavorable situation by playing with Nielsen and Grabner when, in fact, Nielsen and Grabner are far better offensive players than Okposo at this point. - Isle B. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:43:07 +0100