The Schremp move comes as no surprise. When the Isles sent down Jeremy Colliton and Jesse Joensuu, I said on our Twitter page that it was most likely for a last ditch attempt at trying to showcase Schremp to the rest of the league. In keeping with what has been the norm for him for the better part of two months, Schremp was unimpressive in his 17:55 minutes of ice time. I let my feelings be known about how I felt about his performance in the game recap.
Obviously, as expected there is no market at this time for a guy like Schremp. In a league where you value every player that is on your roster thanks to salary cap constraints, no one is trading anyone of value for a million dollar player with a ten cent head. For some guys, the second chance isn't enough. Sometimes they need a third or a fourth to finally "get it." Schremp is an obvious candidate for that because of his talent level.
I'll say that there is somewhat of a chance that Schremp could be claimed by another team looking to possibly bump up their power play. But that remains a long shot. If not claimed, Schremp may stick around but could see significant time in Bridgeport for the last 20 games of the year.
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| Lawson, above, and Schremp were waived. Photo by C. Hessel |
One other possibility is that Rick DiPietro could be close to returning. However, this is an unlikely scenario. We haven't heard anything from DiPietro as far as even skating on his own. It still appears that he is likely out for the season and is a non-factor when it comes to this move (this was the fourth week of that 4-6 week time period, by the way).
Both moves are just to give the Isles some flexibility in the event they find a move they would like to make between now and Monday. It is not written in stone that they will no longer be Islanders. With the Islanders unlikely to make any moves of significance by Monday, I would be a little more surprised if they didn't remain in the organization or with the team.
MARTINEK'S VALUE: Last Sunday, Sean and I got into a whole discussion about the deals that have already been made in the NHL and about how they may effect the market going forward.
Let's face it - no one expected the amount of trades that have happened already. With a week left before the deadline, it's becoming harder to envision what players will still be around to move.
In all seriousness, there is still a lot of players on trading blocks across the league. One thing we learned over the past two weeks was that defensemen are in very high demand.
The league has suffered a lot more injuries than it has in past seasons, with teams such as the Montreal Canadiens being affected on defense.
So far rentals like Tomas Kaberle headed to Boston, Eric Brewer went to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ian White landed in San Jose. On waivers, Craig Rivet and Nick Boynton were claimed for teams looking for depth.
But what about some other shut-down guys? Teams would love to add a player like Ottawa's Chris Phillips. But what about those that lose out on him? This is where the Islanders can potentially come in.
It has been mentioned in various reports, for example in TSN analyst Daren Dreger's daily column, that the Isles have been shopping Radek Martinek around in hopes of landing a 2nd round pick for the oft-injured blue liner.
Some folks may look at that and scoff, but look at what the market has brought back in return this season. Team's are not afraid to toss these higher draft picks around since it has been said that this is a "weak" draft year.
White brought the Hurricanes a 2nd round pick. Brewer got the Blues a 3rd and prospect Brock Beukeboom.
While Martinek isn't on the same level offensively as these guys, he is better defensively. Last season, the Sharks gave up a 2nd round pick to Carolina for Niclas Wallin and a 5th rounder. Wallin is essentially a clone of Martinek in both age, style and for the amount of injuries each have suffered.
Wallin is no longer in the league right now, as some people suspect could be the case with Martinek after the summer. But this is the kind of deal Snow should be looking at. We know he likes to add first, second or third round picks. Martinek alone could be worth a 3rd with the prices that are being paid, and if you throw a 4th or 5th rounder in with him, Snow could easily walk away with a 2nd.
While Martinek may be down with an injury for now, and something that didn't look serious, the fact that he is just listed as "day-to-day" for now is unsurprising. The Islanders can't risk any further injury to Martinek. As a matter of fact, it would not surprise me to see Martinek suddenly better and available for Tuesday's game in Washington if he's still here.
The decision is Snow's. Last year, he decided it wasn't worth a 3rd or 4th rounder to deal away guys like Martin Biron or Richard Park, feeling it wouldn't make sense to take those two away from the roster with a return like that.
Does he feel the same way this season though, with an oft-injured 35 year old defenseman in his final year, and with eight defenseman (Ty Wishart and Jack Hillen will be qualified) on the roster so far for next season, as well as Calvin deHaan knocking at the door?
We'll find out over the next couple of days.
CAPS vs. ISLES, "WHITE-OUT": The Caps visit the Isles tonight for "White-out the Red" day. Fans have organized a white-out for a game where it looks like the Coliseum may be pretty packed.
The Isles have had great ticket deals, not to mention some hot play since the Pittsburgh game and fans have taken notice. They have let the team know that they are proud of them right now.
The Isles come off a tough loss in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the Capitals come off an even tougher one against the Rangers. Al Montoya needs to be at the top of his game once again, despite how much the Caps are struggling to score goals this season.
The Caps tried to address that today by claiming Marco Sturm off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. It appears we will not be playing for the Caps just yet.
For those going, remember to wear something white.
-CH
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1 comment:
I think your comments on Schremp are quite harsh. Maybe if he wasn't always under the microscope he wouldn't make the mistakes he does. If anyone else makes a mistake you people don't say a word about it but you are always pointing out Schremp's faults.
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