Time to start the Future Islander John Tavares Watch
Let's call it the FIJTW.
Why now? Well, I was just browsing around NHL stats, saw that the Islanders rank last in the RPI rankings on espn.com and was going to post that when I thought why bother. It's already established the Islanders are bad. So why not look ahead, way ahead, to the light at the end of the tunnel.
When I spoke to Bill Torrey last week, he said he intentionally did not trade many of his draft picks in his first two years because he knew those drafts were going to be deep.
Now who knows what Garth Snow is thinking these days, but we do know this: John Tavares has been touted as a superstar-in-the-making for quite some time. And he by all accounts will be the top pick in next year's draft.
Hence the FIJTW.
Today's FIJTW update: he scored his 16th goal of the season yesterday in the Oshawa Generals' 5-0 win over the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League.
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Comments (1)
Here's what I don't understand, folks ...
Islanders fans knew coming into the season that this was a team that would not be good. New coach, new system, young players ... all point in one direction. So does all the back and forth about DP's condition.
Now, this team could be in a better position, especially if games were only 40 minutes long. They can't close out the deal. Maybe the new system takes a physical toll that becomes evident in the third period. Maybe they need to work on devising a rope-a-dope defense that appeared to succeed against the Rangers. The games are close, but you don't feel that the Islanders are really in them in the third period. But, if they are rebuilding, who expected the games to be close?
I think we're getting some answers. I see Comrie gone; I see Comeau being given his shot; I see Tambellini dying in his do-or-die season; I see Okposo isn't a savior, but a complimentary piece; I see Guerin and Weight as the Westfall and JP Parise of this group. Denis needs to play more so we see what we've got.
And Snow and Gordon have to be straight with everyone, or Snow becomes Milbury Jr. Simple as that. This team isn't so good that either of them can afford to be foolish and have no one notice.