Islanders’ Challenge: Rebuilding Through the Draft

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00:00As far as the Islanders are concerned, the Islanders are one of these teams, like Lou Amorello, refused to rebuild.

00:07And let's be real, the only way the Islanders are going to somehow become a championship-caliber team is by rebuilding through the draft, right?

00:17There's certain markets you're not going to get free agents.

00:20The Islanders are one of them, right?

00:22They're just a team that people, you know, they have a history of failure.

00:25I mean, you know, God bless Mike Bossie and Brian Trotje, et cetera.

00:30And as you stated, Scott, I mean, this is basically like getting traded from, like, the Marlins to the Yankees.

00:35You know what I mean?

00:36I know they have a new arena and stuff, but, like, you know what I mean?

00:39Like, it's a cathedral.

00:41Suddenly there's pressure.

00:42It's like, oh, there's media.

00:43There's pressure.

00:44There's fans.

00:45Like, there's – it's a next level of intensity that if you're – if you've got competitive fire, you can't beat it.

00:52Like, you look up at the banners.

00:54You get chills.

00:54You talked about doing games there.

00:56I'm telling you.

00:56So, listen, I love what the Islanders are doing.

00:59And Schaefer's a badass.

01:00We'll see if they can shuffle around and, you know, surprise people in the draft tonight with some moves as well.

01:08Now you get more draft picks from the Montreal Canadiens.

01:12So, you know, the – like I said, the Islanders, you're going to rebuild.

01:15You're going to struggle for a little while, but you're actually going to start to get some talent.

01:19And it's the only way.

01:19Look at the Oilers, guys.

01:20It's the only way you can really build in the NHL, right?

01:24It's very – unless you're in a tax-free state and players can play golf and it's sunny.

01:28Then they'll sign with you.

01:29That's why Vegas got good right away.

01:31But if you're the Minnesota Wild, Scott, how are the Minnesota Wilds ever going to win a Stanley Cup?

01:36Like, oh, I want to move to Minneapolis, St. Paul.

01:40No.

01:40Nothing against the city.

01:41Great hockey town.

01:42But players – these guys, they all grew up in cold weather.

01:45Most of these guys grew up in Canada and Russia and Finland.

01:48They don't want to live in cold weather anymore.

01:50They did.

01:51That's the reason they worked as hard as they did.

01:53So they can play hockey in Vegas now, right?

01:56Yeah.

01:56It's like that's why they did it.

01:58So it's a tough spot.

02:00But love what the Islanders are doing moving forward.

02:02As far as the Canadians, Scott, this team is just – they're like the Oklahoma City Thunder of the NBA right now.

02:09Except they haven't won yet.

02:11It's almost like Sam Presti just stockpiling, bro.

02:14The number one kid from Russia comes over.

02:16Right away he looks good.

02:18Lane Hudson.

02:19That guy looks like Cale McCarr, bro.

02:21Like, seriously.

02:22Like, Lane Hudson's a superstar.

02:24Right?

02:24Like, you go down the list, man.

02:27You know, Cole Caulfield, Suzuki, Slavkovsky, the guy that was the number one pick from a couple of years ago.

02:33It's starting to come together.

02:34And they know it, Scott.

02:35It's one of these deals, too.

02:36All right, we got a bunch of young dudes.

02:38We better bring in some vets while we have money to do this.

02:42So you bring in a Dobson.

02:43You really solidify the defense right now.

02:46Now, I'm not saying that the Canadians are ready to knock off the Florida Panthers because they don't have that grit and that toughness.

02:53And we saw how Conor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl couldn't do it.

02:56So how are Suzuki and Cole Caulfield going to do it?

03:00But without being stated, Scott, if you look at the landscape in Eastern Conference, Canadians are in a mix, bro.

03:06Right?

03:06Boston are in flux.

03:07Toronto are in flux.

03:09Not in flux.

03:10We'll see what they pull off here.

03:11I like that.

03:11I like St. Louis, too.

03:13I think he's a good coach.

03:14Oh, St. Louis is the head coach.

03:16Like, you know what I mean?

03:16Honestly.

03:17Perfect symmetry in Montreal right now.

03:19You know what I mean?

03:20Yeah.

03:21They're building it up.

03:22They got a positive fan base.

03:23Everybody's fired up.

03:25And they got a bunch of young players that keep on getting better.

03:28I think the Canadians will be the ones to finally snap the curse of Canada winning the Cup.

03:34They were the last team from Canada to win the Cup in 93.

03:37What are we now?

03:372025?

03:38Let's say the Canadians win the Cup in 2027.

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