If you have time use it: There is cap space to be found for the Islanders
Why Lou Lamoriello's oft-repeated catch phrase gives reason to believe New York Islanders fans do not need to panic.
Y’all got any more of that cap space?
The New York Islanders need some. But it is coming.
“If you have time, use it”. Islanders general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello loves that phrase. Fans probably hate it to be fair. I’m indifferent on it, except as far as it gives a window into how Lou operates.
Lou doesn’t make moves just to make moves. He is calculated. He is renowned for his total control of everything. If you believe, at minimum, that he hasn’t drawn up a worst case scenario option to ensure the three restricted free agents stay then I don’t know what to tell you other than you’re wrong.
The team needs some cap space, we all know that. There is still an entire off-season ahead, yet we’re two days into free agency and people are freaking out.
IF, stressing if, the season goes ahead it will be on January 1, in an absolute best case scenario at the moment. That’s a little over two months to shed some cap.
Now sure, I’ll grant you that as the season gets closer, the situation does get a bit more dire to be under the cap limit, but folks, Lou has been a GM for a very long time. He hasn’t suddenly forgotten that the team needs to be under the cap.
“But LowAttendance, how are the Isles going to get under the cap,” I hear you ask.
We'll, truth be told, I have no idea, but here’s a few ideas.
Buy-outs
The buy-out window has passed. BUT. Ryan Pulock, Devon Toews and Josh Ho-Sang have elected to take their qualify offers to an arbitrator.
This means, that another buy-out window will open at some point for the Islanders.
“If you have time use it.”
In this case, it would not at all surprise me if Lou intentionally low-balled Pulock and Toews to bait them into going to arbitration to allow that secondary buy-out window to open up.
It gives him a bit more time to see how the NHL landscape settles after the initial free agency rush and try to find a trade partner.
Of course, it may just kick the can down the road on a potential buy-out of a contract if he can’t find a trade partner, but that’s ok.
If a buy-out is to happen it will almost certainly be Nick Leddy given his contract structure. It would be sad but I think all parties involved know this is a possibility.
Josh Bailey’s contract is also a buy-out candidate but the Isles have a depth problem in their forwards and do not on the back end.
Trades
Ok, this idea has been covered to death. We know a trade or two would be a big help, so let’s not re-visit this idea, except to say the Isles still have more than two months to find a trade partner for some of their contracts they might wish to part with.
Retained salary trades
A straight up swap of Nick Leddy for a player or draft pick might be a tall order, given Leddy’s contract.
However, what might not be such a tall order is a retained salary trade. We’ve seen a few over the first two days of free agency already and even before it began.
The Minnesota Wild, for example, are retaining half of Devan Dubnyk’s salary after trading him to the San Jose Sharks.
It is not the ideal option for the Islanders, but it may help sweeten a deal to create some cap space.
Nick Leddy’s salary might be a bit too tall of a price, but if the Isles were to retain 1/2 or 1/3 then suddenly he becomes a very attractive player.
Is he the best D-man in the league? No. But at $3 million per year on the cap (a bit more in actual salary) that is a very attractive contract for any team looking to bolster its back end.
Johnny Boychuk is another candidate here. He is cheap in terms of real salary, but his cap hit will certainly be a problem for some teams given the current climate.
But again, Johnny Boychuk at $3 million for the next two seasons. You could do a lot worse.
In a recent piece, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple even speculated Casey Cizikas or Cal Clutterbuck could be dangled. Again, retaining some salary from these contracts could be enough to move them.
Now, the downside is it maybe doesn’t get you all the room you need, but might give you enough breathing room to consider the next solution.
Bury them
Put players in the AHL. Each player on a one-way contract in the AHL saves $1,075,000 in cap space.
Last year it was Andrew Ladd and Thomas Hickey who were sent down, and it would be surprising if that didn’t happen again this year. (I could see Hickey remaining as the 7th D-man if Leddy and Boychuk are moved).
Even if they don’t spend the entire season there, it would not at all be surprising to see Leo Komarov, Michael Dal Colle and even Ross Johnston down in the AHL at some point.
There is potential for about $5.4 million if the team really needed it.
Injuries
You hope this doesn’t happen but let’s face it, the Islanders have an ageing roster and the threat of injury looms.
Maybe someone gets hurt during an off-season workout. Training camp could see an injury.
As we saw last season, freak injuries can occur. Adam Pelech tore his achilles during warm-ups, Cizikas, Boychuk and Clutterbuck all sustained horror cuts from skate blades. Then there was Jordan Eberle getting hurt earlier in the year too.
It is a tough sport and as much as teams try to keep their players healthy, the threat of injury is ever present.
And while it would be terrible for that player, it would be undeniably good for the Islanders’ cap situation.
Again, there is plenty of time before the Islanders need to be cap compliant and who knows what might happen.
Of course, a player could also find themselves on what Arthur Staple refers to as Robidas Island also known as long-term injured reserve. Andrew Ladd seems a prime candidate for it. Two knee reconstructions and only a handful of games played in three seasons.
Worst case scenario
Look, it would be remiss to not mention this. If it is December 31 and the season is about to start, we’ll see Boychuk or Ladd and two first round picks traded to the Ottawa Senators for “future considerations”.
There is still time
I can’t look you in the eyes and tell you everything is fine, because clearly some moves will need to be made at some point.
Lou is pragmatic. He will bide his time and find a way through this. For all the memes about Lou not doing anything, he has made a couple of big swings over the past year. Jean-Gabriel Pageau was traded for and signed and Ilya Sorokin also was secured for a very reasonable price.
It is tempting to watch all the money being thrown around over the past few days, even given the current climate, and wonder how the Islanders will get better in the next season.
I wonder too, but I also wonder how many teams will regret some of the deals they signed over the past two days.
Meanwhile, in the Islanders’ recent history we saw Valteri Filppula and Derrick Brassard sign much later in the respective off-seasons.
Taylor Hall and Alex Pietrangelo haven’t signed yet, and there is a plethora of veteran players who are going to have a hard time finding a roster spot this season thanks to COVID-19.
If it was December 27, the season was about to start and still no moves had been made, I’d understand a good old doom and gloom Twitter rant.
For the moment though, the Isles and Lou Lamoriello definitely have time on their side to sort out the cap situation. You might just have to wait for Lou to use up all of it.