http://islanders.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=383962

Granted, every year is different, and they all contain extenuating circumstances that don’t apply anywhere else. But if there’s one note of caution, it is this: when you’ve had a reasonably effective formula for success, you put yourself at much greater risk when you decide to abandon that formula and begin anew.

What formula did the NYR have that couldn’t be tampered with and that now is compromised in the way of past mistakes? Beginning anew is a bit overboard don’t you think?

Our defense has ridded itself of 2 liabilities in BAckman and Malik and replaced them with players of much greater value in REdden and Kalanin.

the NYR offense wasn’t exactly steller, with a powerplay that was horrendous. Naslund for Jagr at their ages is a wash, and quite frankly Jagr’s finicky attributes may have had a good part in handcuffing this team offensively.

STraka by all accounts has lost all finishing ability and Zherdev as a replacement is a no-brainer.

Shanny, just can’t keep up anymore and was a complete non-factor in the second half of the season.

Avery’s most desirable talents can effectively be replicated with players like voros, rissmiller, jamtin, without spilling over into other areas. We wont miss his 15 goals.

This team may definitely need an additional scoring winger at some point.
Maybe that role can be filled within, or maybe through trade.

Is there uncertainty…Yes! But I don’t see how the NYR could have continued any longer in the Jagr era and have gone forward in other areas.

Nash didn’t. Malhotra didn’t. Fritsche didn’t. Klesla didn’t. Peca didn’t.

When you say “Niko just needs a little motivation, and NY can provide that” you’re saying “Niko can’t motivate himself and needs an outside force.” I see that as potentially problematic.

Maybe NYC is that force; maybe it’s not. We’ve all seen plenty of players fold in NYC rather than embrace it as a motivational force, and if this kid is sensitive to something like fan booing, well …

Money seems to be such a force for Zherdev, or at least money is a concern of his. Maybe if he gets a contract extension he likes a lot, we’ll see him consistently use his quite exceptional talent.

Time will tell but it’s rather soon to simply shrug off valid concerns about the kid’s head. He’s a question mark in two ways:

1. Will he be a consistently motivated player?
2. What will be his demands on a new contract? (Because if we just lost Tyutin for one year of Zherdev’s services, most of us will be unhappy.)

He has bad blood with the Russian teams. Doesn’t anyone remember that he defected to the US, opted out of his Army service and Russian league contract?

He was playing hockey in OHIO. Are there any Russians in Ohio? I doubt it. He was miserable there. New York is a major Russian hotbed, and I believe that Sather is going to play it up that way for all the young Russians he is drafting and signing. Come to Brighton Beach- Kind of like a home away from home.

Zherdev will do fine here. He is away from Ohio, away from a poor Ken Hitchcock- defensive trap system, and playing with plenty more talented players.

He’ll need it for next week’s schedule.

I wish I saw the post that was taken down.

Chris G – I hope so. Or something like funny when he takes a penalty or something. But the Gahden never does that stuff. I always think it’s humorus when you hear something like the rocky theme after a fight. Or … you get the point.

Islander fans you say?? Really?? There’s some left?