Lighthouse Hockey, a New York Islanders community

Despite the Olympic-year schedule, he still would've had a tough time getting meaningful minutes in Buffalo. For his next contract, he made the right choice -- as long as he delivers.

Another one off the market. Not good news for the job prospects of camp invitees Martin Skoula and Christian Backman.

Vaclav Prospal would be yet one more over-30, 20-goal-ish forward I do not want on the Islanders. But if you were forced: Satan or Prospal?

Taylor Pyatt sounds like he won't be re-signed in Vancouver, adding to a tough year for the former Islanders first-round pick. He doesn't at all fit the profile of what the Islanders are, er should, be looking for right now -- except that he'll surely sign an NHL deal for cheap.

This is not bad. In fact, it may be the best-case scenario: A guy who only has a year or two left yet still performed well last season (63 games, .915 on a weak team). He'll know the situation going in; he wasn't looking for long-term starter's glory; he can probably still carry a decent workload. That's my initial view. More later. Meanwhile, your thoughts? (Lot of criticism here already.)