Why the New York Islanders MUST Re-Sign This Free Agent

Why the New York Islanders MUST Re-Sign This Free Agent

what is going on Islanders fans Matt oi back with another video for up the turnpike in today’s video I want to talk about why the New York Islanders must resign Mike Riley so Mike Riley was acquired this past season in season as a waiver claim one of my favorite moves Lou Lillo has ever made if we’re being completely honest with with you if I’m being completely honest with you a fantastic fantastic find he was exactly what the New York Islanders need did especially early on in the year they were decimated by injuries on the blue line and they got him for nothing and he was really good 19 points five goals 14 assists in 50 games for the New York Islanders and ended up settling into a regular role in their six defenseman and I think they need to bring him back and I don’t think it’ll be crazy costly to bring him back but we’ll talk about the things that he did well and then at the end get into what I think the contract would look like so number one he was a solid quarterback on the second power play unit Noah Dobson was the defenseman used on that first Power Play unit but on the second one Mike Riley really took control there and I kind of liked at the end they were calling it like their shooting the shooter one because they were just getting off loads and loads of shots but honestly I like the Mike Riley Ryan pulock uh Duo having them out there on the power play on that second PowerPlay unit I think it worked um and honestly too in addition to that something else that he does that the Islanders Blue Line really struggles with and you know like transitioning has been a major major issue for the Islanders the last few years their transition game he’s one of the best Puck movers they have and on the defensive side you have Noah Dobson who skates well and can move the puck well and then it’s Mike Riley and none of the other four guys are really all that strong at doing it Scott Mayfield you don’t trust doing it that’s not Ryan pak’s strength that’s not Adam pel’s strength and as much as I like Alex Romanov that’s not his game either so you need Puck moving defenseman and I think he qualifies at that and even looking at his underlying numbers you know we looked at obviously 19 points five goals 14 assists he at five on five was the best Islanders defenseman in a lot of key metrics Cory 4 percentage 51.2 oneedit goals 4 percentage 55.1 14 by far the most high dangered chances for 55.25 scoring chances four percentage 51.55 again was over 50% in each of those categories which is a plus that means you’re on you know anything below 50 is you’re on the negative side anything above 50 you’re on the plus side the closer to 100 the better he’s above 50% in all of them and leading the way and again Cory 4 percentage expected goals four high danger chances four and scoring chances four that’s that’s a win that is a major win I would want to bring that that guy back and I think he’s going to be cost efficient which is the final part of this video is how much is he going to make is he going to get a seven-year contract extension no that’s not his game he’s probably a short-term deal guy like he was on a one-year $1 million deal you bump it up to two years I say yeah I’m comfortable with that I don’t think it would be anything more than at the absolute most three years but let’s just say two we’ll split the difference a 2-year deal and we’re talking like1 to2 million on on against the cap as an a like a I don’t know twoyear $3 million Deal $1.5 million that’s a nice raise for him you know a $500,000 raise uh you know going into the season when he signed with Florida it was a one-year $1 million deal I think he deserves a bump but again at the absolute most you’re looking at $2 million and as a third pair guy because if you look at the lefties romanov’s going to be on the top pair with Dobson I would keep pelican Pak together uh that’s not to say that I’m not concerned about pelic I am I think he did not look good at all another season where injuries played a factor um which is UN really really unfortunate but uh then you have Mike Riley on that on that last pair probably with Scott Mayfield and you kind of just hope that Scott Mayfield’s better than he was this past year because as we learned after the year he suffered an injury in game one of 82 tried to play through it unfortunately didn’t go very well for him ended up shutting it down but I I I think Mike Riley again for a third pair guy at $1.5 million is more than acceptable that is a good value deal and the Islanders need to one find some short-term good value deals because that’s not something they have they have a a lot of guys locked up long term and number two they need transition players especially under Patrick W I think he fits the style that Patrick w going to want to play with the 2425 Islanders so I think he absolutely has to come back but I want to hear from you guys in the comments do you think you should The Islander should resign Mike Riley if so what kind of contract would you give him if not tell me why subscribe if you’re new and I’ll catch you guys next time if you like that make sure to subscribe to up the turnpike on Patron for more exclusive New York Islanders content

Matt O’Leary discusses why the New York Islanders must re-sign Mike Reilly

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