Any possible logjam up the middle can and will be handled via trade when the time is right.
Keeping affordable and marketable assets is always a good thing. If he keeps up his play of the past two seasons, not a team in the league who'd have interest would wince at his contract.
1) Who replaces him?
2) Can we give him more then 4 games and 45 mins +/- before we condemn him?
Go back and re-read my post. I never condemned him. Are you seriously saying that we have NO ONE who could possibly replace Rhett and all of his potential and production? Come on now. Rolston can produce nothing, too. Heck, I'd rather have Ullstrom back up. Nino could also be given a shot on the 3rd line. Again, I am not condeming the guy. He may develop and has looked great in the AHL...BUT...and, again, I'll say this again...he could be the next Mark Hamway. Remember him? Well, if not...he tore it up in college...was as good as Rhett in the AHL at Springfield back in the late 80s...and really was in over his head at the NHL level. I am not saying that Rhett sucks. I am not saying that he won't develop into a reasonable or even good 2nd or 3rd liner. I hope he does. I was only tempering expectations because we've seen this happen before. Rhakshani has looked creative. He has not looked out of place. In fact, he looks like he belongs more than Nino, but that is for another thread. I just would like to see some production before we start saying that his place in the lineup is secure and that he's a fixture on the team next season and beyond.
Thanks be to GOD! Glad to see we didn't get too many of the naysayers on here criticizing this. Smart move and Snow summed up the signing and direction of the Islanders in a nutshell.
In case some missed it: Frans hit 46 points against Winnipeg which is two more than his previous record of 44 set last year. I know many think that he had a slow start to the season, so it is pretty good that he was able to pick it up later, also considering that many of his assist last year was to Grabner who hasn't scored as much this season. It seems that he loosened up a bit after his extension was signed and came back on last seasons track?
In case some missed it: Frans hit 46 points against Winnipeg which is two more than his previous record of 44 set last year. I know many think that he had a slow start to the season, so it is pretty good that he was able to pick it up later, also considering that many of his assist last year was to Grabner who hasn't scored as much this season. It seems that he loosened up a bit after his extension was signed and came back on last seasons track?
Kind of agree here. It seems like he had such a down year but yet he put up career numbers. I hope next year he can have the type of consistency he's had toward the end of the season and put up 50-55 points. But, we are the Islanders...
In case some missed it: Frans hit 46 points against Winnipeg which is two more than his previous record of 44 set last year. I know many think that he had a slow start to the season, so it is pretty good that he was able to pick it up later, also considering that many of his assist last year was to Grabner who hasn't scored as much this season. It seems that he loosened up a bit after his extension was signed and came back on last seasons track?
I posted it in the thread on the main board but he has 8 goals and 13 assists for 21 points in the 30 games he has played since signing the contract.
It seems to me that Nielsen has troubles producing when Islanders is still in contention for the playoffs.
Last season he was also gaining momentum with Grabner late in the season, when Islanders were falling behind and it really wasn't important games anymore.
The same trend occured this season, as Nielsen really only produced well when Bailey (and Okposo) caught fire in the last 10-12 games, when Bailey finally got a chance to play in the top-2 lines.
Nielsen is just not contributing on a regular basis, which is what you need in a second line center. I would love if Islanders got a real second line center next year so Nielsen can be moved to third center.
I'm sure Nielsen would be one of the better third line centers in the league. He is well below average as a second line center.
I'm sure Nielsen would be one of the better third line centers in the league. He is well below average as a second line center.
Whereas we'd ALL agree that Nielsen is most ideal when used as a number 3 center, where he might even be considered one of the best in the league, there are still plenty of teams out there with number 2 centers who are not producing much more than Nielsen's 48 total points.
Now, how many of those are on winning teams, I cannot say.
In addition, Nielsen was a fixture on the first PP unit for most of the season.
