Heading into Free Agency

So, here we are on June 25, just a few days before the doors open for the free agency season.

We have a very popular coach serving out the final year of his contract. So right there, any player who thinks that he will sign with the Islanders to play for Ted Nolan has to wonder what the heck is going to happen to Nolan after this season.

Well, the truth is that Nolan might not last the season on the Island. You heard it here first.

They are so going with the kids and there is some question as to whether or not Nolan is the kind of coach who can nurture young players and help them mature. He has been reluctant to play guys like Jeff Tambellini who light up the AHL and yet has trouble in the NHL. Lots of people think that he has been asked to play a different game in the NHL vs. the one he has had success with in the AHL. The question becomes is Tambellini just one of those guys who is too good for the AHL and not quite good enough for the National League or has the coach not put him in a position to succeed at the NHL level. With Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo, he put them in situations that fit their skills so you wonder if it is the player or the coach? This season, we are so going to find out.

The scary thing is that should Ted Nolan be fired, who the heck would be the next coach? The organization is not only bereft of playing prospects but also bereft of coaching prospects. That is not a knock on Bridgeport coach Jack Capuano either. I'm guessing that after one year of coaching in the American League that Capuano would admit that he needs more seasoning.

So right now, the year after the Islanders signed The Leftover Line, the team is in a worse position to sign free agents than in any time over the past six or eight years. No agent worth his 5% is going to suggest to his player that he sign with the Islanders because the situation does not look stable.

Doesn't all of this just make you feel great?