HNLI Mid-Week Update

The latest in Islander Country:

NHL Draft Lottery TV Info: The NHL has announced that both TSN and Versus will be broadcasting the 2009 NHL Draft Lottery live on Tuesday, April 14 at 8 PM EST. The Islanders, who are close to clinching last place, may very well be guaranteed the first or second pick in the draft. Click here to check out the announcement from NHL.com.

Magic Number Down to 2: With the Islanders' 9-0 loss last night in Carolina and Colorado's 1 point in an overtime loss to San Jose, the Islanders' magic number to clinch last place is 2 points. The Islanders can clinch tomorrow night with a loss against former captain Bill Guerin and the Pittsburgh Penguins (until then Tampa technically has a shot)...and speaking of Bill Guerin......

Conditional Pick Now a 4th Rounder: Thanks to some key losses last night, the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff berth. For the Islanders, this means that the conditional pick that the team received in the Bill Guerin trade has appreciated from a 5th rounder to a 4th rounder. If the Pens advance past the first round of the playoff, the pick will become a 3rd rounder.

Isles Sign Weight to a 1-year Extension: In what is being applauded by fans as a win-win kind of deal, the Isles signed a contract extension with Doug Weight. With a cap hit of just over $2 million next season, the Islanders will continue to get great veteran leadership and a guy who hustles night in and night out.

HNLI Deadline Coverage: The Aftermath

Despite it being a lighter trade deadline than in past years, this year's NHL Trade Deadline was an absolute blast. Hockey Night on Long Island covered a lot of the news as it broke for 90 minutes and it was an extremely fun episode for both hosts and listeners alike. If you missed it and still need to satisfy your fix for trade deadline analysis and commentary, feel free to check out the archive.

More analysis to come...but the highlight of deadline day hands down for me was Brian Burke's reaction when pressed for details on the Leafs' last unconfirmed trade of the day. I hope I can get a clip of that posted on this site very soon. Stay tuned.

THE GUERIN TRADE:
I received a comment on my facebook wall from a long-time HNLI listener asking my opinion on the Guerin trade and I thought it summed everything up pretty well:

Michael wrote at 4:02pm
Alex, don't you think you guys should've gotten a little more for Guerin? Maybe one more draft pick or even a prospect?

Alex wrote at 5:26pm
Well, considering all of the hype around Guerin being traded over the past few days I would've hoped for more, but quite frankly I think the Islanders got around fair market value. There was no way the Isles could take Guerin back after this saga and the relationship he has had with Gordon and his contract is soon to expire anyway. While it was a letdown compared to some of the other deals of the day and certainly compared to the hype that was surrounding Guerin over the weekend, I think Garth did what he had to do and got what could potentially become a third rounder.

Don't get me wrong...at first wind of this trade I was pretty frustrated, but after looking it over and seeing the climate of this year's deadline, it puts things into perspective.

Of course, all of us in Islander country now have added incentive to keep rooting for Bill Guerin as every win his new team gets brings the Isles one step closer to a Third Round draft pick.

Best Deadline Day:
In this salary cap era, teams generally tend to fall into one of two categories at the trade deadline. First, there are the buyers. These teams are trying to stock up for the playoff run by picking up the pieces that will put them in the league's upper strata. Then, there are the sellers. These teams, of course, are out of playoff contention or close to it and are stocking up on assets for the future (younger players, prospects, and draft picks). With that said, here are HNLI's deadline day standouts.

Best Buyer:
Alex's Pick: Calgary
Steve's Pick: Calgary

-Acquired Olli Jokinen
-Acquired Jordan Leopold

Best Seller:
Alex's Pick: Phoenix
-Sent Derek Morris to the Rangers for Kalinin, Dawes, and Prucha
-Sent Dennis Carcillo to Philadelphia for Upshall, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Steve's Pick: Colorado
-Sent Leopold to Calgary for Nycholat, Wilson, 2nd Round Draft Pick

HNLI Live Trade Deadline Coverage WEDNESDAY

This Wednesday at 3 PM EST marks the NHL trade deadline and one of the most exciting times on the sports calendar. Be sure to spend Deadline Day with Hockey Night on Long Island. Hosts Alex and Steve will hit the airwaves immediately following the deadline (3 PM SHARP) with all of the latest on the deals that went down, last minute information, and plenty of commentary and analysis. With trade talks surrounding several Islanders, including Bill Guerin, and many notable names around the league, it is sure to be one crazy hour of hockey talk.

Like always, HNLI invites you to join the Deadline Day banter via phone, IM, or the HNLI chatroom. So, when the clock strikes 3 on Wednesday afternoon, be sure to tune in to Hockey Night on Long Island!

Exciting Greg Logan Piece in Sunday's Newsday, Guerin Trade "In Place"

Update (Monday 9:50 PM)
I am finally back on Long Island after a long day in the deep south. On my flight, I was tuned into the NHL Home Ice channel on XM radio where Guerin talk was in full force. Still, despite the talk, there is little new information. Both my co-host Steve and I are predicting that Guerin will not be dealt until Wednesday (aka Deadline Day). He was out of the lineup again tonight during the 4-2 victory over the Avalanche and has likely played his last game as an Islander. With Chris Botta officially ending his live Guerin updates, I expect bits of information to be few and far between until Guerin is actually dealt. So, I guess that means this blog post must come to an end as well. Still, be sure to keep checking back here for commentary and analysis as the trade deadline approaches.

Update (Monday 1:10 PM)

I am currently sitting stranded in Atlanta, GA due to the inclement weather in New York that is delaying my return flight. Needless to say, I have had plenty of time to keep up on all things Bill Guerin over the last 48 hours or so. So (also needless to say), I am as frustrated as the rest of the Islanders faithful with the lack of developments since Guerin was pulled from the lineup against Buffalo on Saturday night. And according to a recent TSN.ca story, Guerin is as irked as the rest of us. The article states that "sources tell TSN that Guerin has become frustrated by the ongoing uncertainty and has done nothing to complicate, or stall the trade from going through." Speculation by Chris Botta, among other hockey pundits, points to the Washington Capitals as the Islanders' trade partner. Still, there is very little certainty about that or anything else in the Guerin situation. Assuming I'm not lucky enough to get on a plane back to New York anytime soon, I'll have commentary and analysis here as it breaks on islanderspointblank.com or tsn.ca. Stay tuned!


Update (Sunday 10:27 PM)
When I wrote my last update just over 12 hours ago, I truly believed that I would have an update a few hours later at most with commentary on the Bill Guerin trade. The entire day, however, has been nothing more than an over-hyped period of silence. The most sickening "development" came just hours ago when Chris Botta reported that according to the team "there will be no news tonight" and "there is no timeline for any announcements". While Botta still is holding out belief that we'll know about the deal tomorrow, I'm growing more and more pessimistic. While some seem to believe the delay is being caused by some kind of bidding war or finalization of terms, I'm starting to lean towards the notion that the deal simply fell through. I'm hoping some news tomorrow will prove me wrong. In the meantime, I'll be checking Botta's blog for the latest.

Update (Sunday 10:26 AM)
The Greg Logan story is up on Newsday.com and it was certainly worth the wait. The piece reveals an incredible deal of turmoil between Scott Gordon and his veteran players. The details outlined by Logan certainly do not bode well for this organization. As Logan alludes to, it is going to be even more difficult than usual for the Islanders to sign veterans if the team has a reputation for treating the vets poorly. I encourage you to read the article. After reading it, my views of Scott Gordon have certainly changed.

Meanwhile, there is still no further information (of substance) on the ongoing Bill Guerin trade saga. Chris Botta at islanderspointblank.com has a great "live blog" going on for this saga that I currently recommend as the primary source for the latest updates. Once the deal is done, be sure to check back here for commentary and analysis.

(Saturday 10:45 PM)
Those who tuned in for today's episode of Hockey Night on Long Island expecting to hear from Greg Logan were unfortunately disappointed as he was forced to cancel the appearance due to intense work on a major piece for tomorrow's paper. With the fury of news and speculation going on in Islanders Country tonight, it appears Logan's absence on today's HNLI will be well worth it.

According to Greg Logan's blog on Newsday.com, the piece will feature details of the "rocky relationship" between Bill Guerin and head coach Scott Gordon. The story is said to be a feature regarding tensions between the Isles' veterans and Gordon. Logan's foreshadowing of the story comes with the news that Bill Guerin is said to be contemplating a trade that is "in place".

For the latest on the Bill Guerin trade situation, I highly recommend checking islanderspointblank.com as often as possible and heading back to Hockey Night on Long Island for commentary and analysis. It is sure to be an exciting evening and early morning for the Islanders!

Guerin Waiving No-Move Clause Would Be Beyond Classy

REMINDER: This latest Guerin development will be the latest of many topics that HNLI will be covering on this Saturday's episode with Greg Logan of Newsday. Be sure to tune in for what is going to be a great episode.

After a lot of talk that Bill Guerin's no-move Clause would contribute heavily to a quiet deadline day for the Islanders, it appears this may not be the case. According to tonight's update on Chirs Botta's Point Blank blog, it appears that Bill Guerin is willing to waive his no-trade clause under certain conditions.

Time and time again throughout both his NHL career and his stint with the Islanders, Guerin has proven himself to be one of the classiest players in the game. Waiving his no-move clause in an effort to help out the Islanders would, in my mind, go above and beyond expectations. So many veteran players refuse to budge in this type of situation because it is simply too much of an inconvenience for them (i.e. the 2008 Toronto Maple Leafs). Still, Guerin clearly wants both to be as accommodating to the Islanders as possible and to be a contributer to a team in a stretch/playoff run.

I'm sure I speak on behalf of the Islanders' organization and its fans in saying that I will not be upset if Guerin is still with the Islanders on March 5th. But if he does waive the no-move clause, I wish him the best of luck wherever he ends up. For the sake of the future, it is in the team's best interest to try and deal Guerin for a pick/prospect package. Besides, maybe Bill will be an Islander once more come July 1.

Episode #20 Recap

The 20th episode of Hockey Night on Long Island was one to remember. Alex and I were joined at a special day and time by guest Andy Facini (nyicastaway.blogspot.com) to discuss all of the news and signings that had occurred so far during this year's Free Agency period. We started with all of the Islander's free agent losses and signings and then moved onto notable signings that occurred in the Atlantic Division. However, while we were about to discuss about some other signings, there was breaking news. We were thrilled to report that the Islanders had just signed veteran Bill Guerin to a two-year, $9 million contract. Guerin had produced decent numbers last season playing with the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks. This was the biggest signing so far that the Isles have made this Free Agency period. How nice to have this signing occur during this special edition of HNLI. Throughout the episode, we were joined by many knowledgeable callers and IMers. If you were not able to listen to this episode live, be sure to listen to it archived in the "archived segments" tab of www.show.hockeynightonlongisland.com, in the iTunes Music Store by searching "Hockey Night on Long Island" or by using the player on the right column of this website. Be sure to keep checking this website or subscribe to our e-mail updates for updates of when the next episode of Hockey Night on Long Island will take place.