Brooklyn Islanders Pre-Season Report

When owner Robert Jacklin took over the New York Islanders he had inherited a roster with 3 elite players and next to zero future kept in mind. The Vezina winner Henrik Lundqvist, Selke Trophy winner Ryan Kesler & last but not least the young and talented Cam Fowler. It was the corresponding moves he took after getting the roster that changed the overall dimension and future of this franchise. As well as taking control and forcing the team to now reside under the Brooklyn Islanders logo and new arena. We now go live to Ribbi Shibbi with current GM Robert himself.

Ribbi Shibbi: Thanks guys. Robert how did you feel about the franchise when you first took over?

Robert: Well first off Ribbi thanks for coming down to the Arena here in Brooklyn today. How do I feel? I feel amazing.. When I took over this roster I saw 3 of my personal favorite players in the NHL locked into beautiful contracts and coming off amazing years despite what little talent this team had on the roster. I mean alone Ryan and Henrik brought home the awards. May not have been Lord Stanley but it alone was so impressive to see those 2 do such amazing things and you mix in the exzuberant youth from Cam Fowler? Those are 3 amazing corerstones to any franchise in this league, and I couldn't have been any happier when purchasing this franchise from Mr. Wang.

Ribbi Shibbi: You call Ryan, Henrik & Cam cornerstones of any franchise yet with the Pre-Season a few short days away you have a roster without those 3 key names? Could you explain your thoughts behind these moves?

Robert: Damn Ribbi.. You sure know how to get right to the point my friend. Well lets start with Cam, at the time when Vancouver approached us in my eyes it gave me a chance to make my first real splash in this league. By bringing in Seabrook, Hagelin, Corrado is opened up the door to rejuvinate the top 6 while bringing in 2 solid D in Brent and Frankie even though in the end Brent eventually got traded? We still felt it was enough to bring some much needed depth to this franchise.

Next came Ryan Kesler. Coming off the Selke trophy we felt that if we were going to move him it would have meant taking this franchise into a rebuild. That's exactly what happened when Kesler was sent to Chicago in exchange for Christopher Tanev, Alex Petrovic & a 1st. It was key in what enabled us to move Brent Seabrook to the Boston Bruins in exchange for the ever talented Ryan Strome, Jani Hakanpa and Ottawas 1st.

Finally when St.Louis came knocking on the door offering us Matt Puempel, 2 2nds and a 1st for Henrik? I felt it was the time to pull the trigger and really give this franchise a chance to have some depth. Something I felt was so desperatley needed in order to turn this team into a contender over the next 5-10 years. Matt has showed amazing steps and we are hoping he can be a regular in our line up going forward over the next couple of years.

Ribbi Shibbi: Interesting. How do you feel you did with said draft picks going forward? You were able to acquire 3 1st's last year out of those 3 amazing players. What are your thoughts on those players you drafted?

Robert: What more can I say? Let's start at the top with Kevin Fiala. This kid spells talent & we feel like Kevin has the ability to turn himself into a regular top 6 forward. The greatest thing I felt about this years draft was that as soon as we drafted Fiala we went right for Dylan Larkin an amazing talent of a player who is still a few years away but it really was the piece needed to initiate the trade with Toronto that brought in Devante Smith-Pelly and the young star Nicklas Jensen, 2 player's we feel that can impact this roster over the next 2 years where Dylan is still a few years off. Devante is going to get serious top 6 minutes this season while Nicklas may play 1 more year in the CHL before making the transition into a regular top 6 NHL Sniper that we feel he can be for us going forward. We finished up the hatty of drafting by grabbing the very under-rated Nikita Scherbak a player feel is going to be one of the bright spots of Russian talent coming over into the NHL over the next few years & we hope he can develop into an elite player in the NHL. But alas Ribbi I must go now so you enjoy the rest of your summer & we shall see you during the regular season old buddy.

Ribbi Shibbi: Thanks for your time Robert and we look forward to talking to you going forward into the regular season. Now we take a look at this new "Brooklyn" Islanders roster going into the regular season! We now go back to the studio where Ray Ferraro has his complete listing of moves made this off-season for this seemingly always changing Islanders roster.

*Camera's return back to the TSN Studios focusing on Ray Ferraro*

Ray: Thanks a lot for that Ribbi that was a great piece thanks for taking the time to do that. Here's a look at the key additions to the New York Islanders going into the 2014/15 season.

~~Key Additions Via Trades/Free Agency~~

Carl Hagelin (Canucks) - Frankie Corrado (Canucks) - Roberto Luongo (Ducks) - Mike Santorelli (UFA)

Christopher Tanev (Hawks) - Zack Kassian (Sabres) - Justin Abdelkador (Canucks) - Sami Salo (UFA)

Devante Smith-Pelly (Leafs) - Jason Zucker (Rangers) - Shane Doan (Ducks) - Anton Volchenkov (UFA)

Josh Gorges (Senators) - Mike Green (Sabres) - Matt Puempel (Blues) - Raffi Torres (UFA)

John Mitchell (UFA)

~~ Key Prospect Additions Via Trades/Drafting ~~

Kevin Fiala (Draft) - Nicklas Jensen (Leafs) - Ryan Strome (Bruins) - Mason Mcdonald (Draft)

Nikita Scherbak (Draft) - Jani Hakanpaa (Bruins) - Adam Pelech (Panthers)

Alex Petrovic (Hawks) - Ivan Barbashev (Flames) - Adrian Kempe (Draft)

~~ Projected Lines ~~

Hagelin - Santorelli(A) - Doan(C)

Abdelkador - Mitchell - Smith Pelly

Zucker - Conolly - Kassian

Malone - Beagle - Malone

*Torres will get spot once Dylan updates*

Wideman - Gorges

Green - Tanev

Salo - Volchenkov(A)

Luongo

Berra/Thomas

Ray: The Islanders have positioned themselves to what most would call a "retool" in todays current NHL. Will these moves pay off with a potential playoff spot? Or are the Islanders going to be in the running with for Connor Mcdavid in this years draft. For TSN and Ribbi Shibbi thanks for taking the time to read this and we will see you opening night!