Entering the trade deadline, the New York Islanders were not expected to make much of a splash. It’s not that they weren’t believed to be interested in finding upgrades; after all, the Isles sit fifth overall in the NHL standings and are a legitimate playoff threat. The problem was that moves earlier in the season which added defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy left the team critically short on trading chips.
Despite those disadvantages, general manager Garth Snow found a way to make his team better.
The goalie position had been a source of concern for the Islanders for years, which was why the team went to some pains to upgrade it over the summer. Those efforts consisted of bringing in veteran ‘tender Jaroslav Halak to hold down the No. 1 job and turning to an emerging Chad Johnson in the backup role. Obviously, the Halak decision was the most critical for the team, and so far it has worked out well for player and club alike. Unfortunately, Johnson has been a disaster as Halak’s No. 2.
Johnson was a reasonable bet for New York. He was coming off a season in which he p ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
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March 2nd, 2015 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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