Isles re-sign Chris Simon, and Various Other Tidbits

Today the Islanders announced they have re-signed winger Chris Simon to a 1 year contract worth $475,000 with incentives that make the deal worth $800,000. The cap hit will only be for the 475K. At first, I didn't really want Simon back but at this deal you can't go wrong, even though he will miss the first 5 games of the season because of the suspension from the Hollweg incident. He had 10 goals and 17 assists in 67 games last season, along with a +17 rating. He appears more valuable than I thought he was to the team last year. This now gives the Isles 13 forwards, and it seems like they might try and work out a deal or 2 to add some skill. There are no rumors about that right now, but there were in the past and Snow might revisit some trade talk he has had with teams in the last few months.

As for the defense, the Isles are looking to add one of the free agents, most likely Danny Markov. Markov would be a perfect fit here in Ted Nolan's system and would become a fan favorite because of the style he plays. He wanted a multi-year deal, but since he hasn't recieved an offer like that rumors began circulating on Friday that Markov was close to a 1 year deal with the team. There has been no more news on this today, but it seems the Isles search for a defensman is indeed heating up and could be announced shortly, most likely with Markov.

In my opinion, I still feel that the team should add 2 defenseman and trade for a 1st or 2nd line forward, wither a LW or a center. The Isles still need an offensive defenseman, and the only options on the free agent market for that are David Tanabe or Bryan Berard. So if the Isles really want to get a defenseman who can contribute offensively, they may have to make a trade for one. It seems they are set on only signing 1 defenseman, but who knows what is really up with the team. Simon was listed on the NHLPA website as signed for 475K since Saturday, and the team only announced this today. Everything is tight lipped there, and we'll see in the coming weeks how the defense shapes up and maybe see if there is a change on offense. Still lots of time remaining to improve the team, and it seems Snow will use up as much of it as he can.