Might we be so bold as to suggest that if Artemi Panarin had chosen to take Scott Malkin’s millions rather than Jim Dolan’s this past summer, the Islanders would be sitting pretty as one of the league’s most legitimate Stanley Cup contenders?
But alas and alack, the winger’s decision to take less to join the Rangers — it’s all comparative, friends, when the smaller number amounts to $81.5 million — has left the Islanders with a lack of elite talent up-front.
Or, as Barry Trotz said following the Islanders’ 2-1 loss to the Devils at the Coliseum on Thursday, which left the team in a 3-4-1 funk since Dec.