The post-Johnny Boychuk Islanders
A sad day for Johnny Boychuk and New York Islanders fans helps a team desperately in need of cap space
There is nothing other way to put it. Johnny Boychuk retiring is really depressing.
It is odd knowing that he won’t be in the lineup anymore. It was quite evident, even to someone watching through a screen on the other side of the globe, how hard he played.
His passion, personality and dedication will be missed.
It also cannot be understated, how important Boychuk’s medical retirement is for the future of the New York Islanders.
You would be hard pressed to find a fan who doesn’t like Boychuk on the ice, but we can all agree that with the team staring down a very tricky salary cap situation, his move to Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR) is good news for the cap.
If you have time use it
LowAttendance wrote some time ago about Lou Lamoriello’s mantra of using time.
Fans were starting to become nervous with no moves being made to ease the cap situation.
Now that Boychuk’s retirement has been announced, it is clear that Lou was doing what he always does: make use of time.
In this case, that time provided doctors the ability to understand the extent of Boychuk’s injury and then provided Boychuk the ability to decide what was best for him.
Where some General Managers in the league might rush a trade or try to force the player into a decision, Lou let it breathe and both parties found an outcome that was in their best interests (even if it was a crushing one for Boychuk).
Abundant cap space has been created
With Boychuk moving to LTIR, a pressure valve on the Islanders has been released.
The next two off-seasons were going to be hard for the Islanders to achieve what every team wants to do during an off-season: get better but stay under the cap.
The cap crunch already forced Lou to trade away Devon Toews, who had evolved into a very good NHL player in his 1.5 seasons on the Island (LowAttendance assumes that the extent of Boychuk’s injury was being evaluated when this deal was made).
At time of writing, the team officially has $3.9 million in salary cap space. That number is likely $5.9 million if you consider Andrew Ladd and Thomas Hickey being buried in the American Hockey League.
But with Boychuk now on LTIR, a pressure valve has been released. The Islanders suddenly have plentiful cap space*.
Ryan Pulock has already re-sighned, and there is still more than enough to keep Mathew Barzal. The team can bring back Matt Martin and Andy Greene.
In fact, it wouldn’t at all surprise me if the Islanders have had a handshake agreement with Barzal for sometime, and are just waiting for the NHL to finalise the season start date. It has been reported by The Athletic’s Arthur Staple that Matt Martin and Andy Greene have already been signed, while Corey Scheinder is also an Islander.
*CapFriendly goes into detail on the exact mechanism for this. The cap is not actually raised, but a certain amount of relief is provided for teams that exceed the cap ceiling.
It gets even better
When you think about it, the Islanders could even make a few moves now.
(Some of the suggestions below may not actually work due to the exact cap relief unknown and are other variables such as regular IR or an unexpected retirement or drop to the AHL that go into cap space - just have some fun with these and let the imagination flow)
Here’s a few suggestions (in no particular order):
Trade Leo Komarov and a 2nd-round pick for Kyle Palmieri - there’s one year left on Palmieri’s deal but the team could extend him, meanwhile they send Komarov to the Devils to mentor some of their younger players.
Trade for Nick Leddy for Patrik Laine - with the number of free agents on the market, the Isles could find a serviceable replacement for Leddy in the short term, while exploring longer term options on the back end. Meanwhile they pick up a dynamic scorer who is looking for a fresh start and whom they can now consider extending. Even if it doesn’t work out this season, with one year left on Laine’s current deal, both sides can just walk away.
Sign Zdeno Chara - right the Milbury wrong.
Trade Andrew Ladd and a prospect (probably Kieffer Bellows) for Zach Parise - “BUT HOW THE FUCK WILL THEY FIT PARISE UNDER THE CAP?” Yes, an excellent question. Moving Andrew Ladd creates some space. There was talk Minnesota would retain some salary, that helps too. But here’s the thing. On Parise’s 10 year, just under $100M deal (nice if you can get it), he only has $18M left (only $18M) and $8M of it is this year. The Isles can just buy him for a very reasonable rate if the cap crunch hits again. There’s also the prospect that they expose him in the expansion draft and Seattle decides they like the look of him.
Sign Michael Grabner to a one-year deal - he is a wily veteran on the penalty kill, where the Islanders could use some help, and would provide some much needed bottom-6 depth. His remarkable ability for short-handed goals could turn a few games in favour of the Islanders, while taking a bit of pressure off Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck.
Take on a (small) cap dump trade - At time of writing, 10 teams are projected to be over the cap, and another 10 have less than $5M in projected space. I’m sure the Islanders would love to help out a team with their cap problems for the price of a first round pick.
2021-22 season
At this stage, I’ll put an estimate of about $11M in cap space right now for next season (assuming Barzal signs). Let’s just say that number is in the ballpark.
Pelech, Beauvillier and Sorokin will all be re-signed. The core of young players stays together with Barry Trotz. Even if the Islanders don’t win the Stanley Cup, theu’re going to be winning more regular season games than not and certainly racking up a few playoff series wins.
The Islanders needs to consider how many more seasons they can trot out the Martin-Cizikas-Clutterbuck line but they’d be able to re-sign Cizikas too.
If Hickey and Ladd are still around, you can elevate the cap space to about $13.5M. Meanwhile, at least one player will be taken by Seattle, giving at $700K in relief.
As it stands now, the Islanders might even be the team taking on a hefty veteran contract in exchange for a first round draft pick to reload the prospect pool.
And once this off-season is over, the Islanders are over the hump. Cap space will abound again.
Cal Clutterbuck, Ross Johnston and Leo Komarov’s contracts will finish after the 2021-22 season. Same with Nick Leddy and Thomas Hickey. That’s $15.5M in cap space. Not to say that some of these players won’t be back, but they’ll likely be back on deals that are either cheaper, shorter or both.
They’ll have to sign players like Ryan Pulock (maybe Barzal as well) but the freedom and flexibility will be there, along with the opportunity to do what teams want to do: get better while staying under the cap.
All with the move to IR of Johnny Boychuk.
Edit: see bolded additions above for clarity.
Johnny Boychuk will be missed
With all of the above said, it just won’t be the same without Johnny Boychuk in an Islanders uniform again.