Capellini: Time Has Come For Islanders To Go All-In In Free Agency

By Jeff Capellini
WFAN.com

The Islanders need to do something radical this offseason.

Profound by their standards, but quite common for many other teams.

They need to spend money, serious money, on offensive players who aren't already their own.

The Islanders must send a message in free agency, and not worry about salary cap ramifications five or six years down the road. This isn't irresponsible thinking, either.

I operate under the assumption that the Isles' front office is made up of intelligent people, folks who really think things through. I refuse to believe they'd be dumb enough to make moves that would put the team in cap hell in the future. But at the same time, the Islanders have not been a significant NHL franchise for more than three decades.

Sooner or later, a team like that has to go for it in some way. Some calculated risks must be taken. This is definitely one of those times.

We know what the Islanders have on the big club. We also have an idea what's coming in the pipeline via the farm system, most of it by all accounts very good. But of late the Isles have put too much reliance on the shoulders of younger players to grow up faster than they actually should.

Player development, especially when involving prospects, should be at a gradual pace. The Isles tend to plug in inexperienced pieces and ride out whatever they get, often with a mixed bag of results. But as we've seen, that type of approach only works for so long. Sooner or later, stability becomes a must and excuses as to why that stability has not been acquired must cease.

The Isles are at that point right now. There are just so many times a team can get lucky with the likes of an Alan Quine or a Shane Prince. Reality eventually sets in, and it becomes apparent that players like those two are better suited being complementary pieces asked to do less than on-again, off-again experiments on John Tavares' wings that everybody hopes and prays do more.

The truly maddening part of this is the Isles have actually gone out in recent years and strengthened their goaltending and defense with veteran know-how. General manager Garth Snow made excellent trades in landing Nick Leddy, Johnny Boychuk and Jaroslav Halak, and signed all of them long-term, which few thought he'd be able to do. Mix in the emergence of 2015-16 unofficial team MVP Thomas Greiss in net and cautious development of their younger blueliners, and the Isles should remain in good shape in their own end for a while.

But they have continued to cut corners with their top-six forwards, and that has been the main reason why this team has taken only gradual steps since 2008, the year the rebuild began in earnest. This approach has been unfair to Tavares and the fans, who I have to imagine are getting a little tired of being surprised by goals instead of expecting them.

As of July 1, the Islanders will have new owners in Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin. And though Snow has said the arrival of those two will not impact how the team does business, I still have to ask a serious question: How exactly will this team do its business?

As stated before, the Isles are in very good shape in net, defensively and on the prospect front, but what they don't have beyond franchise center Tavares is star power up front.

The time has come for that to change, and the easiest way for it to happen is for the Isles to make a splash, or two, this summer. That doesn't mean simply promoting another kid with upside, nor does it mean only going all-in on the trade front in the hope of some cash-strapped team being forced to shed a highly productive player in exchange for the potential of what New York has been cultivating in its system for years.

Both may indeed be options, but shouldn't be the primary approach. They should be secondary to legitimate spending, because the Islanders need that type of impact right now if the idea is to win the Stanley Cup sooner rather than later. The trade front, if nothing else, always has a million moving parts, and it's tough to find the right match.

Free agency is almost always about money, and the Isles have it.

It's time for the revolving door of largely inexperienced linemates to Tavares' right and left to end. It's time for this team to have actual scoring depth as opposed to one player who gets harassed on a nightly basis and only perseveres because he is truly that special.

It's time for the Islanders to go for it, regardless if that is by and large just not their style.

You know the names that are out there as well as I do. Steven Stamkos, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd, David Backes and Loui Eriksson lead a top-heavy free agent class. There's no reason why the Isles, given their cap situation, can't make tremendous offers to a few of those guys.

For those terrified of the idea of the Isles also having to extend Tavares soon and how they can possibly have both him and a player like Stamkos under contract long-term, I direct you to teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. Are they financially special? Do they operate under different rules? Or do you just not have faith in the Isles' ability to manage the cap?

I'm not worried about it. Snow is not stupid. If other GMs can find a way, so should he. It's his job to figure out a way, or else the new owners should get someone in there who can.

The Islanders will have the money to do it because it's looking more and more like they won't be retaining the services of free agent Kyle Okposo, mostly because they have rightly slotted him into a certain salary range that doesn't jive with the reported monster payday he wants. The fact remains that Okposo, for all he does well, is not worth the exorbitant amount he is seeking. I'm sure he'll get it from someone, because that's the nature of free agency. However, that team better provide him great linemates because he really doesn't create his own offense consistently and he tends to disappear for games at a time.

The Isles may also part ways with beloved forward Frans Nielsen and gritty Matt Martin. Contrary to popular belief, both are replaceable. While I think it's possible Nielsen could return on a more team-friendly deal, can you blame him at 32 for wanting to take advantage of what will likely be his final chance to make serious coin? Nielsen has been a very good Islander, but he tends to be overrated by fans. Though he has improved offensively over the last few years, he's not a proven goal scorer, and that's simply what the Isles need right now in their top six.

As for Martin, you didn't really think that New York's awesome fourth line would stay intact forever, did you? The five-year deal the Isles agreed to with spark plug center Casey Cizikas should have told you all you needed to know. Cizikas' days as a fourth-liner are over, as are probably Cal Clutterbuck's. Both have enough offensive upside to be trusted with more minutes.

The Isles may also free up more cash if they find a way to trade Halak and/or somehow rid themselves of the final two years of Mikhail Grabovski's deal. Both maneuvers may prove prohibitive, but each should at the very least be explored.

You can talk about super prospects Michael Dal Colle, Josh Ho-Sang and Mathew Barzal until you're blue in the face. The bottom line is those three need to be nurtured, and since the Isles look like they will have the financial resources to improve immediately, any acceleration in development of the three crowned jewels of their organization would be ill advised.

We just can't project yet what they will be in the NHL, or if they are even that close to being truly ready, while the Islanders are at a point right now where they need to prioritize acquiring proven scoring.

Barring a pie-in-the-sky trade bringing back the needed firepower, it's high time the Islanders open the wallet, wide. That aspect of their operation has been substandard for far too long.

Read more columns by Jeff Capellini and follow him on Twitter at @GreenLanternJet