Splinters: Hatchets, overpaids, over the edge

So many links, so little Sundin! (Though hilarious Leaf fan reaction here)

• THN has a top-10 overpaid list, which is usually fun. No current Islanders on it. I like thatt the cap era makes playing armchair GM a little more doable, since you can truly argue what a salary slot is worth. There's a lot of bad $4 million guys on this list. Mike Comrie would likely be one of them if he hadn't been hurt.
• James Mirtle has a basement standings update -- and poll! -- on the Tank for Tavares [or insert next stalked teenager here] race. Guess who's neck-and-neck in the lead?
• Speaking of Mirtle, you're not gonna like this: He has a bit on how the Kings are letting Oscar Moller play in the WJC. Moller's not had the role or NHL ice time that Josh Bailey's is getting, but ... There goes the "no one else does it" excuse.
• And speaking of Tavares, Adam Proteau's musings remind us just how uncertain and constantly questioned the top of the draft is, up until the point a kid lands in the Hall of Fame.
• By the way, Comrie's healthy, but Gordon doesn't have a spot for him. Or wait, maybe he does. Kyle Okposo returns to his stomping ground tonight, too.
• Islanders Outsider has a great rebuttal to Comrie's comment about The System.
• You know how to tell the difference between a quasi-hatchet job and an actually reported profile story? Look at the quotes. If they tell you something you shouldn't already know, then it's a reported story. But if the quotes are just back-fill for a reporter's pre-existing thesis, it reads like an in-house PR article: "Ah, actually, we were wanting you to say this about the company." Which is why Chris Botta takes the Times to task for putting up a color-by-numbers piece about oh, how the mighty Islanders have fallen. I'd buy it if it weren't the same story that's been written for over a decade. Or if the Times bothered to cover the Isles for anything but this type of twice-a-year piece.
• Is he hurt, is he ill-suited, or is he just pissed? Greg Logan teases that more comments from Brendan Witt on Gordon's defensive scheme will be a highlight of the Islanders Insider today (should be posted about 10:30). I guarantee the quotes will be a lot more illuminating than the recycled crap the Times ran.
• Pierre LeBrun has a bit with Doug Weight as he approaches 1,000 points.
• All is lost! Isles19 at The Rivalry sounds like he needs to be talked down from the ledge. We all have those moments. But it's all about the journey.

I'll have the Islanders-Wild game preview up later, with a 5-Questions theme in honor of blogger "neide" at Hockey Wilderness.