In his latest "Slap Shots" column (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05252008/sports/russian_league_giving_nhl_run_for_its_mo_112444.htm?page=1), New York Post writer Larry Brooks suggests that the New York Islanders should "have their cash ready" should New York Rangers agitator Sean Avery make it to unrestricted free agency on July 1st.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Sean Avery is a good hockey player. Over a full season, he could put up the offensive numbers worthy of a second-line center spot. He produced 48 points over 84 games in 2006-07, and 33 points in 57 games last season.
Avery's presence in the Ranger lineup makes the team play with an added spark. The Rangers are 50-26-16 when he plays and 9-13-3 when he does not. He seems to have found his niche with the Rangers and has had a positive impact on them in his year and a half there.
But Avery comes with tremendous baggage. He has become hated around the NHL for his on-ice antics.
He is a frequent diver. He runs goalies. He'll agitate enforcers and then hide behind other players when they come looking for him. And who can forget his dancing in front of Martin Brodeur that caused the NHL to make a new "Sean Avery rule"?
When you factor in his ability to cause distractions off the ice, whether dating (and breaking up with) Elisha Cuthbert, spending his off-season at an internship with Vogue, or showing up in the black book of a prostitute, Avery brings a level of baggage with him that is almost too much to handle.
Another reason why the Islanders should stay away from Avery is because he doesn't fit on their roster.
The Islanders already have Mike Comrie under contract for 2008-09, and he is expected to get Top Six minutes. Mike Sillinger and Shawn Bates are also under contract, although both missed significant time last season due to injuries.
The Islanders also have a handful of young centers who got playing time last season in Frans Nielsen, Jeremy Colliton, and Ben Walter. All three will be restricted free agents after the season, but all three are expected to be re-signed and at least earn a spot in Bridgeport for 2008-09.
If the Islanders wanted to upgrade at center, they would prefer to find a first-line guy. They were hoping Comrie would be that guy, but last season proved that he's a better second-line option.
With a weak free agent class in terms of elite talent, a player like Avery, who is no better than a second-line player, will end up getting paid more than he would normally deserve. The last thing the Islanders need is to overpay a center, place him in the No. 1 spot, and watch him underproduce. They've seen too much of Alexei Yashin and Comrie over the past five years.
Lost in all of this is the fact that Avery suffered a lacerated spleen a month ago during the Rangers' loss to the Penguins in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Chris Simms suffered a similar injury during a Tampa Bay Buccaneers' loss in September 2006. He hasn't played since.
Avery's injury may not be as severe as Simms's was, but he also suffered
shoulder and wrist injuries last season. Brooks himself criticized Avery last November for reckless play and suggested that he was going to get himself injured again if he was going to look for fights at every possible opportunity.
Avery has said (to Brooks, no less) that he "bleeds Ranger blue" and wants to stay a Ranger. The Rangers have been hesitant to offer Avery the money he wants and are preoccupied with trying to re-sign Jaromir Jagr, fueling speculation that Avery could hit the free agent market.
Should he do so, it's likely that some team would offer him a contract in the $4 million per year range.
That team shouldn't be the Islanders.
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4 months ago
I gotta say i'm a big Avery fan, although haha he definately is full of on ice and off ice antics, at one point saying he didn't even like sports this season. If a team can look past all of it, he is a very highly skilled guy, and like him or hate him the NHL needs more players like Sean Avery, he actually conjurs up press good or bad...his screen job on Brodeur was actually i think pretty inovative and haha think it got over blown, if anything he has proven he will do what it takes to win on brodway so hopefully they resign him.
4 months ago
No NHL team will be able to sign Avery. Why? Because no one will be able to match the offer that VOGUE is gonna give him to be a full-time summerwear model after he puts on a dominant display of his femininity this summer.
4 months ago
Avery is a disgrace to the game, bottom line.
4 months ago
The fact that this article appears beside a pop-up add for cheap and available seats at Nassau Coliseum says it all. No, Avery is not your man, Islanders. Too much personality and too much game for you to handle - as evidenced by how much you hate - or misunderstand - him.
4 months ago
1st of all, to expect 1st line production out of a career 2nd liner (Comrie) was the Isles' first mistake.
And I agreed with everything you said, until you inferred that Mike Sillinger and Shawn Bates should get top six minutes. If they do, expect the Isles to be in the lottery again next May.
As a die-hard Rangers fan, I wish like hell we could re-sign Sean. But with the other tasks at hand this off-season, including a bevy of RFAs that are sure to get offers from other clubs, there may not be enough money for Sean and his ego.
But I agree with your article (for the most part). Sean Avery does not belong on Long Island.
Oh and Eric here is talking about "femininity" while wearing a Malkin jersey. Easy there, Mr. Slewfoot. How 'bout them Wings, eh?
4 months ago
i never inferred that mike sillinger and shawn bates should get top 6 minutes, i simply stated that they are under contract for next season. maybe i should have separated what i wrote about them from the top 6 paragraph.
and the islanders are probably lottery-bound next year again no matter what they do.
4 months ago
First of all, if the Islanders do go after Avery (and i truly hope they do) they wouldn't play him at center but at left wing. They paid Fedotenko 3million last year to play left wing and Avery put up better numbers and Avery gets under the skin of other teams top players like nobody else. Plus he's tough as nails. I would welcome him with open arms and pay him 4Million a year. He plays every game like its game 7 of the stanley cup final. There simply aren't enough players who play with the passion and spirit that Avery does so when one becomes available, you gotta jump all over him!
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