Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
^ This one right here.
Somebody should have sent you over to Garth's office before he pulled the trigger.
On second thought ... if Vanek wants a big stage, he could have a very nice big new one in Brooklyn if he re-ups -- the hottest borough in NYC -- along with Tavares. A helluva upgrade over Buffo.
Well, but think of it this way, assuming that the following four things are true:
1) The Islanders are lukewarm on re-signing Moulson
2) They believe Moulson's value, and price, is inflated because of playing alongside Tavares
3) They very much want to pair Tavares with a top flight winger to make the most out of his prime years
4) Historically, they've had a very difficult time signing UFA's.
Given those four things, none of which seem like anything resembling a leap, what better way is there for them to land someone of Vanek's ability? Moulson plus a mid round first and a future second isn't enough to land you a younger winger with a bunch of years of control who's at that level or is a sure bet to get there and someone of that ability with multiple years under a reasonable contract is also more expensive than that. Bidding against the league for players is prohibitively expensive and not something that has landed the Islanders the sort of players they want in the past.
So while there's definitely a risk involved because of Vanek's free agent status it seems to me as though thinking that the Islanders could have landed a player of Vanek's ability to play with Tavares any other way doesn't really take into account the realities of the Islanders' situation.