Islanders Bits: Streit's other foot out the door; DiPietro's status; Visors in the NHL

The big news of today is another strong hint that Mark Streit is headed to free agency.

Maybe that's not the news though -- it was pretty well expected at this point (we discussed it in our report card last weekend); rather it's the asking price and reported offer the Isles made: Arthur Staple of Newsday, citing two unnamed sources who say Streit is headed to market, says the Isles offered three years at a total of $15 million, yet Streit's camp is looking for higher than an average of $5.5 million per year.

Expensive. And too much/too long, frankly.

Update: Streit tells Swiss pub Blick [Google Translate link] that it's not about the money. Because it's never about the money.

Staple also said on Twitter that he senses the Isles will go to camp with Evgeni Nabokov (still unsigned), Kevin Poulin and Anders Nilsson. But my spider-sense tells me it's too early to put weight into that. Garth Snow has a history of not tipping his hand when looking to make a trade, which is why many saw the logic and need, but none saw the moves coming, when he acquired James Wisniewski and Lubomir Visnovsky in separate summer deals with the Anaheim Ducks...

...who happen to have depth in goal. Anyway, I'm not saying a trade is imminent. Just that it's possible and we're unlikely to get a hint until it's already done.

Meanwhile:

This was a great podcast between Justin Bourne and his father-in-law, some guy named {shuffles notes, looks around} ... oh, there it is: Clark Gillies. Never heard of him.

Seriously though, it's a great listen from last week, where Gillies talks about some of his toughest opponents, and the oft-cited and sometimes-doubted concept that teams must "learn to win" in the playoffs, where the game changes.

Here is the fight with Behn Wilson, which he refers to in the podcast:

Elliotte Friedman's 30 Thoughts has this at #27:

27. Here's what the New York Islanders are doing with Rick DiPietro. They are letting teams know that if they are interested in taking the goalie's contract off their hands, they will try to make it worthwhile. They'll consider taking a bad contract in return, maybe even a draft pick (or picks) or prospects. Still, it won't be easy. "That will have to be one heck of an asset," said another GM. A buyout now would have DiPietro on your books until 2029.

Draft Party time:

Passes for the 2013 Draft Party will be available to the general public on Wednesday, June 5 at 9:30 a.m. Fans can print their passes online via newyorkislanders.com. The Draft Party is scheduled for Sunday, June 30 at Nassau Coliseum.

There is an eight-ticket limit per individual. Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. and the live stream of the NHL Draft, will begin at 3 p.m.

Islanders forwards Matt Martin and Eric Boulton, defenseman Matt Carkner, the team’s official mascot Sparky and members of the Ice Girls will all attend the Draft Party, signing autographs and taking pictures with the loyal Islanders faithful.

I'm gonna bet fans won't know enough about the kid selected at #15 to boo.

Elsewhere

I might be in the minority in being surprised Matt Cooke was tossed from Game 1 for this hit.

But I note that it reminded me of Colin MacDonald's hit against the Penguins earlier this season, which resulted in an immediate two-game suspension for the first offender:

As Pens beat writer Seth Rorabaugh pointed out, Cooke's hit was similar to this one by Robyn Regehr on Ryan Reaves, which drew absolutely nothing at all:

Yay, consistency.

The NHL is working on a visor rule that goes a little something like this, says Darren Dreger:

Players who have played 26 or more NHL regular season or playoff games will not have to wear a visor under grandfather agreement.

And this is a fun read on the Eastern Conference final, where the Bruins are functioning as a team and the Penguins are not functioning at all as a collective of mismatched parts.