New York Islanders

New York Islanders Five Players Not Playing Their Payroll

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The New York Islanders are a cap team this season. I know right. Surprising. Usually, spending brings in wins. It’s no guarantee, but that’s generally the rule. So who’s being paid for too little of a contribution on the Isles roster?

In a salary cap world, it’s important for teams to find value in players. Or, at the very least that the players they do have, contribute based on their payroll. With the New York Islanders at the bottom of the standings, what are some of the players who are overpaid for their contributions?

Some of you might say: “Anyone not named John Tavares!” And you’d be right to an extent. Phantom points believer or not Brock Nelson is making some noise.

But I wanted to widdle it down to a select five. The five worst contracts on the team based solely on production.

To be fair to these players I won’t compare them to similar contracts in the league. I’ll compare them against themselves. The contracts they have now are given based off of that player’s own performances. If player X produced Y over his career he should be worth Z.

I compared what they’ve produced over the last 19 games if this season against their average production over their career to show just how off pace they are.

The order these players are presented in is based on just how far off-pace they are from their career averages.

November 22, 2016; Anaheim, CA, USA; New York Islanders left wing Josh Bailey (12) celebrates his goal scored against the Anaheim Ducks during the first period at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Bailey

Cap: $3.3 million, Two Years Remaining

Bailey is actually producing at a better rate than he’s used to. He has marginally less goals then he should at this point, but he has more points, is getting more shots on target and is enjoying a better shooting percentage. So why the heck is he included here?

I wanted to make a point of the John Tavares effect. Of just what happens to a player when he plays alongside one of the best players in the game.Take bailey off Tavares’ wing and watch these numbers plummet.

According to stats.hockeyanalysis.com four of Bailey’s six points accumulated on 5-on-5 where with Tavares. His Corsi-For percentage with Tavares is 48.5 and 34.5 when away.

When not alongside Tavares, Bailey is demonstrably worse then you consider his $3.3 million dollar cap hit over the next two season and you think: “Why did the Isles pay him that much?”

He’d been in the NHL for five years at that point and was producing at a rate of 30 points a season. Locking up a former 9th overall pick for $3.3 million over five years seemed like a fair deal.

But now with two years left on the deal, it’s hard to make a case that he’s worth the same money again? Maybe the Casey Cizikas contract changes that a bit, but Bailey seems like the shadow of the promises we heard when he was drafted.

Now he’s staple gunned to our best players wing and dragging him down too.

Nov 7, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders left wing Nikolay Kulemin (86) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Nikolai Kulemin

Cap Hit: $4.1875 million, Two Year Remaining

Here we are in the land of negative point production with Nikolai Kulemin. After 19 games, Kulemin is three points off where he should be based on his body of work in the NHL.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise, Kulemin’s better years are clearly behind him. No one can think we’re going to see the same player that was dominant in Toronto some years ago.

In some way, I feel bad for Kulemin. Put the same contract in front of me that Garth Snow put in front of him and I’d sign too. And like Kulemin, there’s no way the Isles are going to get the level of production from me to justify the costs.

Kulemin is doing just about everything else right. He does what the team wants him to do, from second line scoring duties one night, to fourth line shutdown duties the very next night.

If the Isles were winning games like that two years before, maybe I’d overlook this deal. But in a season like this, where winning is a rarity his production slip is glaringly obvious. And his $4.187 million hit makes it so much worse.

Nov 14, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders right wing Ryan Strome (18) scuffle with Tampa Bay Lightning right wing J.T. Brown (23) during the second period at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Strome

Cap hit: $2.5 million, Two Years Remaining

So much was expected of Ryan Strome. And in that first year so much was delivered. Fifty points in his first full season in the NHL. And since then, it has been lemming central (by that I mean his production has fallen off a cliff…like a lemming).

Remember how Josh Bailey is a benefactor of playing alongside John Tavares? So was Ryan Strome back in 2014-15.

It wasn’t all John Tavares, there were shades of Strome in there. But since that season Strome has looked far from the same player. Case and point, his very recent two-year $5 million contract.

This show-me contract was the organization’s way of saying: “We have no idea what you are. So show us over the next two year, and then, maybe we’ll pay you more.” (It’s nice to see the organization say they don’t know something, however, hypothetical the statement).

But even considering Strome’s terrible 2015-16 season, where he scored 27 points, he’s off-pace by the tune of nearly four points in the 19 games of 2016-17. Making that $5 million dollar deal look bad.

That’s quite the accomplishment, making a lowball “show-me” deal look bad. Maybe I’m just jumping the gun here by saying Strome isn’t worth the money. But, can you show me a stat or even a set of stats that indicate Strome is worth it? Probably not.

Nov 23, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27) and center Alan Quine (10) celebrate after a goal in the third period against the Los Angeles Kings during a NHL hockey game at Staples Center. The Kings defeated the Predators 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Anders Lee

Cap Hit: $3.75 million, Three Years Remaining

This former 25 goal scorer is on one heck of a downward spiral. At the moment, 19 games into the season Anders Lee is already off his own pace by the tune of six points.

By the point production pace he’s set over his short NHL career he should be sitting with approximately ten points on the season. Telling you four points is underwhelming is an understatement.

You’ve seen him play. The crash the front of the net style just isn’t working this year (or last for that matter), for whatever reason.

Maybe it’s a problem with deployment. Maybe it’s a problem with the system. Maybe it’s a problem with who’s around him. Either way, it’s just not working for Anders.

And his $3.75 million price tag over the next three seasons is making it look worse. That’s right. Lee is under contract for the next three seasons at $3.75 million.

Like Bailey, at the time he signed that last deal, a four-year $15 million contract, everything looked good. He had just come off a 25 goal, 41 point season and was still fairly young being just a few days from his 25th birthday. Things weren’t’ t supposed to get worse.

Nov 18, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; New York Islanders left wing Andrew Ladd (16) and Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Bryan Rust (17) fight for the puck during the third period at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Ladd

Cap Hit: $5.5 million, Seven Years Remaining

Is there a bigger free agent bust than Andrew Ladd this season? I dare you to find one. With his $5.5 million seven-year deal, big things were expected from Ladd. And big things we did no get.

Maybe Michael Boedker with only two points on the season?
Sure, but his cap hit is $1 million less than Ladd’s.
Maybe Dale Weise in Philadelphia? No way. Weise’s four points and $2.35 million cap hit make him look like a bargain compared to Ladd.
Maybe Boston’s recent $6 million man, David Backes? His eight points aren’t great but way better than Ladd’s three.

In 19 games he has three points. Two goals and one assist. That’s it. Not what you expect from a player costing as much on the cap as John Tavares. (Yes, I know Tavares took less, but the comparable is still there).

But like I’ve said a few times already, maybe it’s not all his fault. Sure, at the start of the season Ladd was shooting the puck like crazy and it just wasn’t going in. And it cost him a spot alongside John Tavares on the top line.

Now buried on the fourth line, even after breaking the goal barrier, Ladd looks like a player devoid of confidence. I’m sure he’s still confident he’ll score, his media training won’t let him think otherwise. But on the ice, he’s just not the same.

That’s our $5.5 million player not looking the same because relegation is playing with his production.

Keeping him on the fourth line just doesn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense when the decision was made, and it makes little sense now. If relegating Ladd coincided with the isles winning there might be justification in the move. But that’s not happening now, is it?

So why keep him there? It’s not like the team gets a discount on the cap based on game day lineup decisions.

I know he isn’t playing fourth line minutes perse. So why keep him away from Tavares? Do the two dislike each other? Is there some sort of irreparable rift between the two that somehow justifies this? I doubt it.

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