As opiners and fans we often declare value on players and picks with an authority we do not actually possess. Because despite history and assumed (sometimes falsely) sanity among NHL GMs, the changing variables of any open market also exist in the NHL: Supply, demand, consumer behavior.

Recent "rental" history and NHL GM behavior suggests it would be wiser for New York Islanders GM Garth Snow to hang on to pending free agent P.A. Parenteau, assuming a reasonable contract extension is reachable. 'Tis better to keep a good player than to assume you can replace him through free agency (when salary and term demand goes up) or promotion, where prospects develop at a pace well behind their hype.

Parenteau has told Montreal French-language media he would like to remain an Islander, and term is more important than money/salary. He also said he's not in a rush, as this is the first time in his career he's had leverage. He indeed has leverage, and desires security the Isles have mostly given to younger players. But smart money is on both player and team coming to an agreement before the Feb. 27 trade deadline.

What could defy that smart money? A suddenly desperate market.

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And so we come to the end of the Anton Klementyev saga -- which in the spectrum of NHL sagas, would probably air on one of those cable channels you don't want but are forced to have as part of the Sports Choice Plus Extra Minutia package.

The Islanders suspended Klementyev after he refused a loan to the ECHL for a dose of more playing time. (That's the kind of loan Benn Olson accepted without incident.) Klementyev fled home, somewhat understandably given his rank and the bigger-than-hockey tragedy that befell his old KHL team.

Today the Islanders placed Klementyev on unconditional waivers. Which means he could be yours* for $125.

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Just when we'd run out of things to discuss before New York Islanders games resume Tuesday night in Raleigh (where the Carolina Hurricanes have reached an extension with pending UFA Tim Gleason) the Islanders announce the recall of Rhett Rakhshani and Kevin Poulin from Bridgeport.

Marty Reasoner, out since Jan. 6 with a broken hand, officially goes on IR now.

Good for Rakshani (9-16-25), who was on a tear for the suddenly January-loving Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He's overcome early season injuries and hopefully this latest audition will see him stay healthy for a while. Casey Cizikas, on a tear himself most of the season, represents the Sound Tigers in tonight's AHL All-Star Game [televised on MSG+].

No clear reason (yet) why Poulin is recalled, unless some accident or setback befell Al Montoya or Evgeni Nabokov during the break. [Note: Go here for our thread on Montoya and Nabokov, which was quickly bumped by this roster-juggling.] Of course both goalies are pending unrestricted free agents themselves, so the musing about them being in potential trade discussions will continue until the Feb. 27 NHL trade deadline.

Your post-All-Star break maneuvers and line-sketching have begun. Enjoy.

Bridgeport Sound Tiger Benn Olson is 24, an undrafted veteran of 98 ECHL games, five WHL seasons before that, without an NHL contract. Olson's teammate (until recently) Anton Klementyev is 21, has an entry level (two-way) NHL contract, and even has a token NHL game under his belt.

One already appears to be a hockey lifer, willing to go from team to team to try to climb the rung and chase the dream. The other took a chance on the team that took a chance on him, coming from Russia to a strange land, in a strange league, to give the NHL path a try as a fifth-round pick.

In the interest of that chase, when the Islanders tried to have Klementyev get more reps on an ECHL loan, he declined and instead fled back home. Two weeks later, Olson is accepting a similar assignment (to a different ECHL team). As was the intent for Klementyev's loan to Idaho, Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson explained to the CTPost, Olson is "going to play a lot of games, and obviously he’ll be back and ready to play with us."

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UPDATE, Jan. 14: The Islanders official release on the news also adds, like they did last year when he missed time with facial fractures after the Brent Johnson fight, that he also has "knee swelling." Draw your own conclusion.

Newsday has the scoop on Rick DiPietro's late Friday injury news: Rick DiPietro will have sports hernia surgery that could take him out for the rest of the season, with the "best case scenario" being a return in early April.

"I'm almost bionic at this point" was one of the salient quotes from a somber DiPietro in Arthur Staple's article, which also quotes the star-crossed goalie addressing retirement rumors (there were a few earlier this month) and includes thoughts from Islanders GM Garth Snow on the news.

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It wasn't exactly home cooking, but Anders Nilsson got the benefit of NHL travel, service and salary through the end of the 2011 holidays while serving as Evgeni Nabokov's backup for the past 2.5 weeks.

Nilsson did not see any playing time -- Nabokov, whose numbers against Tuesday's opponent are ... unsound, drew eight consecutive starts after Al Montoya (concussion) hit the shelf -- so the 21-year-old Swede didn't get the chance to bump up that .849 save percentage from his 100 minutes of NHL work this season.

Now Nilsson steps aside, and back down for game action, as Player of the Week [FanShot] Kevin Poulin gets the callup to the Islanders on the heels of a 4-0-0 week for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers that saw him "stop 98 of 100 shots for a 0.48 goals-against average and a .980 save percentage, registering three consecutive shutouts and making a run at a 54-year-old AHL record."

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The New York Islanders announced today that defenseman Anton Klementyev has been suspended for failure to report for his ECHL assignment to the Idaho Steelheads. Klementyev began the 2011-12 season with the Islanders American Hockey League affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Well, that's not good.

Yesterday Michael Fornabaio reported that Sound Tigers coach "Brent Thompson said earlier today that Trevor Gillies and Justin DiBenedetto are skating and are making progress. He didn’t anticipate any transactions beyond Reese."

I imagine they wouldn't be tipping off a suspension at any rate, but that makes you wonder how and how quickly this scenario went down, and if there are underlying factors not clear on the surface. Fornabaio is in Portland and working on details. [Update: He reports they did want him to go to ECHL to "play a lot."]

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Twitter rumors circulated yesterday and today, the way Twitter rumors do, that Rick DiPietro's agent was in contact with one party or another about the goaltender retiring. Lots of authoritative talk about insurance. Followed by critical holes quickly being poked in the rumor, like Kevin Schultz noting simply about the "agent": "DiPietro doesn't have one. Represented by father and himself."

Nonetheless, it's easy to see why anyone would run with these rumors: The Islanders' accumulation of goalies -- they've carried three pros all season! -- and DiPietro's own rehab trajectory have long hinted at this being the make-or-break season. Further, the pending expiration of the NHL CBA has long had people dreaming of special buyouts like in 2005. Last week the Post's year in review curiously noted his nameplate's absence from the locker room "as of Dec. 27."

And DiPietro news always draws attention: A Wednesday Puck Daddy headline (which didn't touch the retirement rumor) included "DiPietro Injured While Injured," which linked to Deadspin's own punchline, which linked to the original Newsday report that DiPietro (still on IR) and Mike Mottau returned early from Carolina.

That's a microcosm of everything regarding DP these last few years, as he's appeared in just 66 games since that fateful January 2008 All-Star weekend when an injury while mic'd was a funny soundbite instead of the first chapter of a Greek tragedy.

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