Islanders Acquire Vanek from Sabres for Moulson, 2014 1st, 2015 2nd

Talk about a Sunday evening shocker.

In a strange twist of events, the Islanders have completed a trade to acquire Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres, in exchange for Matt Moulson, a 2014 1st round pick and a 2015 2nd round pick.

There is a lot to digest here, but lets try and break some of it down.

Bailey and Nielsen's Strong Play Helps Isles Win

If Josh Bailey and Frans Nielsen hadn't gotten off to the starts they have this season, you have to wonder where the Islanders would be in the early season rankings. But each have started off strong, and were integral in a huge win on Friday night in Pittsburgh.

Isles Comeback Falls Short vs. Canes; NYI FYI Sunday Morning

The first few minutes of the game on Saturday night against the Carolina Hurricanes looked like a carryover of play from the previous game against Edmonton. As time went on though, the Isles regressed in their play and the result would end up being the opposite.

The Isles fell into some traps that they were ultimately unable to recover from as the Hurricanes pulled out a 4-3 win over their new division rivals.

Sabres Earn First Victory on more Blown Leads by Isles

While it's certainly not time to panic yet with so many games left to play, the fact that the Islanders are having trouble playing against teams that (on the surface) they are better than does bring a cause for concern.

When I look at the way the last two games against the Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres have gone, I'm disappointed in the way this team has played. It's still the same problems we've seen recently.

Line Shuffle Produces Results, but Isles Fall Short in Nashville

The Nashville Predators are a team that is defensively sound and finds success in getting opponents to play their game. The Islanders found this out the hard way.

The Predators played their patented game lead by Barry Trotz and notched the 3-2 victory over the Islanders. It seemed like all night the Isles had trouble getting passes completed and were stuck in the neutral zone for long stretches.

Hawks Give Isles First Regulation Loss

We always hear the statement, but it never fails to be true. If you struggle to keep your legs moving you will lose, no matter how skilled your opponent is. The Islanders got stuck early on in the game in "deer-in-headlights" mode and although they came close, they ultimately were unable to recover.

Isles Blow Two Goal Lead but Salvage Point in Home Opener; NYI FYI Sunday at 10 AM

The Islanders let a two goal lead slip away in their home opener, losing in a shootout to their new division rivals the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Columbus didn't have much of a chance to control the play in the first period, and only had four shots on Evgeni Nabokov through the first frame. Meanwhile the Isles didn't do enough to capitalize on their possession time, often missing passes and having a hard time getting pucks towards Sergei Bobrovsky.

Isles Spoil Devils Home Opener in Shootout

In similar fashion to what we would have seen towards the end of last season, the Islanders pulled out a shootout win over the New Jersey Devils in a game where they played pretty sloppy overall.

Neither side really had great defense, a trend that seems to be in concert with what the rest of the league has been experiencing over the first week of the new season. When you pair that with the smaller equipment that the goalies are now required to wear it makes for some high scoring contests.

Thoughts on Hockey at Barclays

It's been a few days since the Isles played their preseason game against the New Jersey Devils at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, but I wanted to put my thoughts on here since most people have already beaten me to the punch.

I was fortunate to have been away from my computer the last couple of days, which has allowed me to reflect and think about what I liked and didn't like rather than write anything reactionary.

Isles Drop Both Ends of Split Squad to Flames

The Islanders got their first preseason games under their belts, playing a pair of games against the Calgary Flames in split squad matches.

Naturally it's tough to gauge anything in the early preseason games as it's more of a tune-up. In general vets don't want to get hurt, and that's the best strategy of them all.

The Moment We've Been Waiting for: Tavares Named Captain

On Monday, the Islanders made the worst kept secret of the past few months official as they named John Tavares as their captain. Tavares will be the 14th player in team history to wear the 'C' on his sweater.

Free Agency Opens - What are the Options?

Happy Free Agency Day to all! Today will prove to be a wacky and wild one once 12 PM hits, seeing as teams have had the last couple of days to meet, erm, I mean express interest in any UFA they wish (without negotiating or many any offers, of course – thanks NHL for pointing that out early in the process)!

At any rate, it’s been a while since I posted in this space with the whirlwind of stuff going on between game 6 and now the start of free agency. I have all intentions of posting about the Isles draft day, but I feel we need to see how the beginning of this signing period goes to correctly identify organizational needs and how the rest of the roster falls into place.