Bailey sticking with NYI?

According to Hockeybums, Josh Bailey is going to stick on the Isles roster as the 13th forward.

Bad idea.


Bailey is just coming off his first truly productive OHL season, and would benefit much more from first or second line time in the AHL, or even a return to the OHL. Remember, the Isles are perhaps the weakest offensive team in the NHL and Bailey would almost definitely have been cut by any other team now.

That's not to say Bailey is a bad player–look at all the other NHL talent that's been cut by teams. Teddy Purcell, who tore up the AHL as a rookie last season, was sent back to Manchester by the Los Angeles Kings, who need some help on the wings. The Ducks were forced to cut Bobby Ryan because of salary cap issues.

New York can play Bailey for 9 games into the season before they can't send him back to his junior team.


NOTES:

- NHL.com made me a little disappointed today. While reading some news pieces that included an inspiring article about young Ben Stafford, a former Calder Cup winner with the Philadelphia Phantoms who's leaving the US to fight in Iraq, two polls about the Flyers season and the NHL cut into the middle of the page. They were just so randomly placed, it was kind of awkward. It was like in-line ads on Blogger, except more distracting. Maybe the new updates aren't so perfect.

- Vancouver needs offense. Badly. So what is their first trade of the season? Sending Juraj Simek and Lukas Krajicek to Tampa Bay for Shane O'Brien and Michel Oullet. Sure, Oullet has more offense than Simek, but the Canucks sent Oullet straight to Manitoba of the AHL. And Krajicek brings a more offensive game to the table than O'Brien, although O'Brien brings strong physical play.

- Blake Wheeler is finally going to get his NHL chance with the Boston Bruins this year. Wheeler's name was not among 5 cuts the Bruins made, including forwards Peter Schaefer and Carl Soderberg. It'll be interesting to see how Wheeler can adapt to the NHL level. He never made the NHL with Phoenix, but he's been highly touted ever since being drafted. I don't expect him to play like Kyle Turris or Steven Stamkos, but for all his hype, he better be good.

- Sean Avery is really going to be in a movie. Wow. I wonder how it'll turn out. Hopefully, the producers (New Line Cinema, I believe) can incorporate a little bit of hockey, just like Mike Myers' Love Guru did. The movie is based on Avery's time as an intern at the fashion magazine Vogue, and is supposedly a 'romantic comedy.' Can Avery portray himself as a good actor? Or will hockey's reputation in the celebrity world get blown to bits? We'll find out.