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Slovak won't report? Bring back the Czech.
As an organization, the New York Islanders have made several moves in the lead-up to training camps opening for the 2013 season, with the biggest news being the signing of Radek Martinek to a one-year contract at age 36.
This is in conjunction with recalling Travis Hamonic (a no-brainer), Ty Wishart and Jon Landry among the six AHL Bridgeport players recalled for camp.
Two factors that did not exist in September -- you know, back when there was a 2012-13 season -- feed the latest shuffle: Calvin de Haan was lost for the season with another shoulder injury, and Lubomir Visnovsky is still not reporting and his appearance is in doubt.
With the anticipated recalls, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers recently signed defenseman Dan Maggio to a PTO, which followed signing Dallas Jackson to a PTO at the end of December.
It's a homecoming for Martinek, who had a disastrous 2011-12 season away from the Island. His "final" -- or so it appeared at the time -- season with the Islanders was a rough one and it appeared the Islanders picked the right time to part ways with the longtime Islander. (Of course, another factor at the time: The Islanders were also in the second year of two-year deals with Mark Eaton and Mike Mottau, responses to missing in free agency and losing Mark Streit for all of 2010-11.)
If 2010-11 was rough for Martinek, 2011-12 could not have possibly gone worse: His second concussion suffered in six months (the first came before the Isles formally let him walk) in October, and he was shut down for the season after playing just seven games. We'll see what he has left after recuperating; he played four games for his old Ceske Budejovice club in the Czech Republicduring the lockout.
Where will he fit? Well, he's one of 26 players on the training camp roster, including nine defensemen. But Visnovsky is a question mark, Griffin Reinhart is most likely ticketed back to the WHL, and Landry and Wishart are candidates to be returned to the AHL. So Martinek is more than just a camp invite; he's signed and, one hopes, ready to deliver.