The team has already been well-profiled by GMMC in a September
10, 2018 blog post, but suffice to say the rookie GM of the recently-relocated
ToNY Islandersons has inherited an intriguing foundation to build upon.
Outgoing GMAT was criticized by fans for ignoring his team
for months at a time before rousing to make a head-scratching trade – then disappearing
again. Yet, for all the #FireGMAT Twitter heat, the previous management group
assembled some very good (if not elite) young forwards in J.T. Miller,
Sebastian Aho, Mark Stone, William Nylander and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Those
forwards are already firmly keeper-quality and most have as-yet untapped
upside.
The team would look a lot better with Tavares on it, though.
While there are no can’t-miss prospects, Burakovsky, Jost
and DeAngelo project to be keeper-level players with intriguing upside. It
would not be surprising to see GMTA retain all 3. Michael Dal Colle is a bust
and should be jettisoned immediately.
GMTA would be smart to try to leverage older players like
Dustin Byfuglien into future assets as they embark on what should be a short
rebuild – though this team as presently constructed could compete for a playoff
spot.
Dobber’s predictions based on 7F+2D+1G (including 1 prospect
kept in a keeper slot): 635 points.
Season Prediction: May surprise as a playoff bubble team,
but GMTA will smartly focus on the future.
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