DIRECTION: Islanders ANNOUNCE Depth Moves—Matias Maccelli, Vitek Vanecek, Matt Kessel Signed

1. hey Mr. GM you want to make a difference, trade away all players 30 and over, offer Bedard 7 years 11 Million a year, bring up the kids and we will be playing in the month of May next season, these other moves you are making really suck.

2. We can't do much and i am ok with these moves. I am a very critical person on the islanders, but i trust darche and i know that he knows what's best for this team

3. I agree, Gil. The moves made sense, and given the cap constraints and the tough situation Lou left us in, Darche did what he could. LGI

4. I feel like this is basically doing nothing

5. Obvious now all Darche is doing is for next year and beyond. Unless some kids come in and tear it up ala 48 last year or DeBoer is a magician, going to be a throw away year. Still should of moved Lee and Pelech at the deadline, but I see why he didn't. Hope he learned a lesson going forward.

6. Who needs Phil when can get Matt Kessel who can win a nathans contest. Maccelli might pan out as remember him when did fantasy hockey but was stuck behind a few other players. Vanaecek think is a goalie if thinking of right player. I wonder when Romanov plays 5 or 50 games is Darche is able to realize his contract costs team 13 million as only plays half season at most. Black Sabbath has song Warning not to be confused with The Warning female band who kinda pretty. Its like excuse not to sign Dobson who had 70 point season was injuries. So waste money on trash romcom who played 64 games then 15 so should have not given him contract when was -9 when traded for him and hurt.

7. I think Ryan Reaves is still available. He’d be a great cheap pickup for a year or 2

8. Maccelli represents a low risk high reward signing. 1yr and low dollar signing. There is a tale of 2 cities to look at his career. First 2 years he was on a glide path to 60 points but his last 2 years on the glide path to 38 points. To be fair a look at his numbers reveals he went from 16 min to 13 minutes. Some players when they loose 2 to 3 minutes of ice time loose all flow and feel for the game. Hope they don't try to do to him what they did to Shabanov which is to make him into a 4th line grinding possession forward. The key for him is 16+ minutes and his line mates. He has never hit 20 goals. He is more of a play making forward. Putting him on a line with Holmstrom or pageau would be a mistake. The other key is his play off the puck was very weak the last 2 years which caused coaches to loose trust and cut his ice time. Key is whether islanders can turn him back to a C- defensive player which he was in the beginning of his career when he had the most success. If they can then chance of 60 points and a steal of a signing.

9. Good morning team! Gil, of course we say goodbye to Lee, and wish him the best on his new journey. Truthfully, I hope he lights it up in Utah. I was very sad to hear Gatcomb is gone. We wish him all the best as well. Let's get these younger players on the ice so we can see what they are capable of at the big team level. Looks like it could be a great start to free agency. It has started and we need to keep up the momentum. Everyone, have a great day! See you all again NextDay. Until then.. Let's Go Islanders!!

10. Lee gets more term and less taxes than if playing in NY…definitely better for an aging player if he couldn't sign with a true cup contender

11. They picked up Palat, Soucy and Schenn to complement the veterans and Roy working hard for a playoff run. The roster of other circa 2010 draftees Palmeiri, Casey, Pelech, Pulock, Mayfield realize this is the part of their career where they still have a place to play. However Schaefer went from draft pick to #1 Defenseman. Players like Barzy, Bo and Romanov on 8 million plus multi year contracts are committed to this team. I think Palat and Vanacek will wind up playing in the 18,000 seat Hamilton Arena for part of the season.

12. hey Gil. So it is a relief to see the plan for Darche all along is to put emphasis on cap relief so we can set ourselves up for 2027-28 season. The reason he made the trade deadline decision last year was to reward the players for an unexpected playoff run. One thing to consider though—-does Darche do another trade deadline move that emphasizes making the playoffs this coming season and sacrificing some future if we are on the cusp once again of making the playoffs? It would be quite the decision that will split the fan base in 2 camps.

13. It was obvious lee was gone when Pageau got extended and lee didnt. As for Darche plan im in the agree camp. Keep the team competitive let these contracts expire and in 27 can start to make moves

14. #hamandeggers

15. Too early to tell. But we need new blood. All the best to Lee. Much respect. I think its another month of shuffling guys around. Then we can get a better idea of what we're in for. Gatcomb i hope they can retain. I liked his physical play. Its a shame about Moggio. It didn't pan out. Anyway good show gill. LGI

16. I would rather have kept Gatcomb than kyle maclean who still has one more season on an undeserving contract he received because his father was a coach for the islanders at the time and has a connection to lou lamoriello from his playing days but who left because lou wouldn't pay him what he thought he deserved. Isn't that a hoot? At the beginning of his career, lou didn't wanna pay anybody and, at the slightest hint of money complaints, he would move you in a heartbeat. At the end of his career, lou overpaid out his ears for undeserving players. Funny not funny.

17. Instead of overpaying for yesterday four nobody's, why not save money, and bring up kids who would make the NHL minimum? Chaffee I believe is making the league minimum, but the rest shouldn't have been brought in. Just play George or Aitchison on the right side D. Are we gonna see eklund full time this upcoming season? Play the kids already. I'm sick of this garbage. Let them build chemistry. The organization keeps touting Aitchison (funny thing nobody else does in the NHL) and Eklund, so let's go already. Play them. Get younger, with Schaefer/George/Aitchason on D. Insert Eklund into the lineup ever night so he too can cut his teeth at playing at the NHL level. Bye bye Shabby.

18. Looks like were good for the race track… We are stocked up on left handed horses so we can make the seasons race cards; and it's the left turn all season…. I guess it beats fishing!

19. Good afternoon, Gil. How are you? Anders Lee's going to Bedrock for $3.5M. I hope he doesn't have a YABBA DABBA DOO MOMENT when the teams get together at UBS Arena. I wish him well. The Islanders signed Mateus Micelli, a 25 year old from UT/AZ who's a solid scorer. He's perfect for the bottom 6. The Islanders signed Vitek Vanacek as insurance for a backup goalie if Varly doesn't come back. The Islanders signed right shot defenseman Matt Kessel from Phoenix, AZ. They were all signed to a one year deal for $1M. Mark Gatcomb is going to Sin City. The 🔵 and 🐻‍❄️ scrimmage was fun. The kids looked good. I can see Isiah George joining the Islanders next year, and that goes for Cole Eisernman and Kaishaun Aitcheson, too. Hear from you later, Gil, but before I go, I compared Jude Drouin to Tom Hagen and Sonny Corleone to The Godfather. He has a 🏒 IQ and he was smart, as for Sonny, Drouin has a quick temper who will protect his teammates, and wii go into the trenches. NOW, LET'S GO ISLANDERS 🏒🔵🟠😊

20. They didn't break the bank because they aren't that good 😂

21. Why sign anyone to be mediocre play the young guy's and get a top draft pick if you have a bad season

22. How are they sitting with cap space Gil? I mean how were the Caps able to do all that including IMO steal Kyriou from the Blues. Schen was setting him up for goals when they played together.

23. Isles going to lose Schaefer just like JT isles need to get better this isn't it keeping scheen palat over lee gross

24. I like these small signings. They got depth for the bottom six forward & bottom D. These guys will probably play much better than Palat or Soucy. And we finally got a fairly young (30 yr old) back up goalie. Well, he'll be the back up to the back up, but I suspect Varlomov will probably get injured again at some point. So this new goalie will probably get some playing time here. Is this going to be Varlomov's last year? Then Vanecek can be the backup for a few years. I already like this pickup more than an older goalie like Rittich (soon to be 34 yrs old).

25. Thank God Anders Lee has signed with the Mammoth. I was so afraid that Darche would retain Lee at the last minute by meeting him halfway to his demands. The Utah Mammoth have saved our bacon. We should send the Utah Mammoth GM a Christmas present in December. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

26. why no mention of FA signing forward Chaffee?

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