Our Stefen Rosner joined Jeff Marek's The Sheet to talk about the New York Islanders offseason, from the draft, to free agency & more
Jeff Marek: First of all, Stef, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you?
Stefen Rosner: "I'm doing great. Thanks so much for having me. And yes, they're running out of liquor left and right. The buzz around this team has been higher than ever, from the get-go. From Darche taking over to the trades, the draft, to what they did in the first round after Schaefer, to opening up practices and development camp, to the scrimmage. Islander fans are on cloud nine right now."
Jeff Marek: I'm sure plenty of people have said the same thing to you since the CBA got announced, Lou Lamoriello gets fired, and the dress code in the NHL is gone. How many times have people said that to you?
Stefen Rosner: "Not that many times. But if you know, you put two and two together, right? I think for the Islanders, you talk to some of the players about shaving, and a lot of these guys, they say, well, we just can't grow beards anyway. But then you look at guys like Kyle Palmieri, who can grow a playoff beard overnight. So it's a different time on the island, for sure."
Jeff Marek: Okay, a couple of things here. First of all, so Sorokin is going to the Oilers right?
Stefen Rosner: "Yeah, I completely agree. If people were calling about Matthew Barzal or Bo Horvat, of course, they were calling about Ilya Sorokin. We know the Oilers need a goalie. Utah, a team the Islanders were obviously trying to trade up with to get James Hagens, they could use another goalie. There are tons of teams that need an Ilya Sorokin. So, of course, teams should be inquiring. Then it's up to Darche to say, 'absolutely not. We're not doing that' like he did with Barzal and Horvat. He told us. He told them immediately that he wasn't trading them. And I would feel the same way with Sorokin entering year two of an eight-year deal with a no-trade clause. But yeah, if I'm the Edmonton Oilers, you have to make that phone call. Worse comes to worst, Darche says, no."
Jeff Marek: What do you make of Matthew Darche so far?
Stefen Rosner: "Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me has been his transparency. And I think for the Islanders under Lou, especially when they're going to the back-to-back Easter Conference Finals, you could tolerate the rules and the secrecy, all that kind of stuff, because there was success on the ice. But once that falters, I think a lot of people got fed up with the secrets, not knowing if Barzal was going to come back, not knowing if Varlamov was going to come back. These are things that paying customers want to know. I'm not saying that every GM needs to just show their cards every time. But from the get-go, Darche has a plan. Not only does he have a plan, but he's also shared it with us. Whether it's talking to the media or interacting with fans at the draft party, he's effectively communicated with the fan base and had a message, and he's been following through on that message. He said he was going to help redeveloping Bridgeport and he's done that. So everything that Darche said he wants to do, he's doing. And the fans don't have to guess what will happen. They know. Okay, maybe the Islanders aren't going to be a cup contender on the ice, but there's a plan in place to allow the depth and the prospects to develop that way the future is as bright, maybe even brighter than what's currently fielded as their NHL roster."
Jeff Marek: Now, when it comes to the blue line for the New York Islanders, the big question is, Matthew Schaefer gonna make this team?
Stefen Rosner: "Yeah. I mean, you watch him during development camp, and he's light years, you know, miles ahead of a lot of these prospects. He's skating. He skates better than we walk, right, and talks and all those things. But the question is, do we look like adults? We haven't seen that, obviously. They've played juniors and worlds, got hurt in the collarbone, and had the mana earlier in the year. So we don't know what he's gonna look like against any tellers. So I think he's gonna get the nine games. I don't know if he's gonna go with the college route. I personally think the college route, if he's not making the NHL team, is what's best for him to play against 18- to 24-year-olds rather than cap it. But I mean, they're going to give him every chance to make this team. Patrick Roy said that, and I think he gets the nine games. And I do think he finds a way to make this team one of the honors. You know, have a bit of a hole there on the left side, and especially a hole in terms of the offensive kind of guy, trading Dobbs, and yes, they have D'Angelo back, but Schaefer is this two way phenom when he gets to that point, so I think they're going to rush him if they think he's ready. He's going to make the team. But yeah, I would temper expectations, because a week of development camps is one thing, and he was very exciting there, but let's see why he looks against the NHLers and the physicality of all that."
Catch the full episode here: