[Bits] Frans Approves; Rick on Radio; Prospect polling; Barclays Bellyaching; Fantasy Field

Islanders notes

• The season is around the corner and Arthur Staple is back on the beat. His first subject is newlywed Frans Nielsen and his rosy outlook on the Islanders' offseason. [New$day]
• Al$o in New$day is Neil Best's report on a familiar face in a new place. Rick DiPietro transitions into an ESPN radio gig with Alan Hahn despite his own low expectations. Great news for him.
• Finally in The Daily Dolan, Best gets Gary Bettman to verrrrrry cautiously weigh in on the Islanders new owners. The Commish has some harsh words for Nassau County, too. Speaking of which...
• Dan Petriw of Hockey Buzz writes about the coming (and, in some cases, already established) complaints about the move to Brooklyn that gets closer every day. His time as a Whalers fan sheds some interesting light on the situation. For what it's worth, I agree with Dan's take 100 percent. Whether you like Barclays Center or not, the sooner we all understand that the team's future is away from the quicksand covered clown show of Nassau County, the better.
• Jonathan Willis runs down the Islanders Top 10 prospects at Bleacher Report [SLIDESHOW WARNING ALL YOUR CLICKS ARE BELONG TO US]
• The Islanders are No. 1 on Sports Illustrated's list of best Off-Ice moves of the summer. Oh, Allan Muir, you rebellious rabble-rouser.
• Dobber looks at the fantasy hockey gems that are sitting right under your nose on the ol' Isles.
• Commenter and Sith Lord Darth Doyle is putting out the call to get the annual Lighthouse Hockey fantasy league up and running. Get at it and good luck to everyone.
• A plethora of stats for 2014 draft picks and others from North Dakota Red Eagle. [FanPost]
• We are not the only Islanders blog that makes bad-ass shirts. Check out this beauty from Islanders Insight, available for a limited time.

The Rest

• The Penguins signed noted scoring winger Dan "Gorilla Salad" Carcillo to a PTO yesterday igniting a million, "James Neal replacement" jokes. [Pensburgh]
• Wait. I know what you're thinking. What happened to the Mario Lemieux of 2011, who wanted to leave the game he loved because of an ugly on-ice dust-up with the Islanders? HIS team is bringing in that animal Carcillo? Adam Proteau of The Hockey News is wondering the same thing.
• And what of the Penguins' other goon, dangerous escaped con Sidney Crosby? Don't worry: we have top men on the case. Top. Men. [LHH Zeitgeist]
• The Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore case finally is closed for good. [Pro Hockey Talk]
• Next summer's biggest free agent might be Mike Babcock. [LeBrun]
• Daniel Alfredsson is Brett Favre-ing the end of his career and jerking everyone around before making what will no doubt be a disappointing decision either way. [MLive.com]
• The Blues and RFA Jaden Schwartz are not close on a contract extension. [St. Louis Today]
• And the Wild have yet to get either Nino Niederreiter or Darcy Kuemper to sign new contracts. I'm sure Nino's agent is thrilled. [The Score | Star Trib]
• Garik examined Raw Charge's goalie drafting article and the nature of goalie stats at Hockey-Graphs.
• If you're a GameCenter Live subscriber in Canada, you just got a whole bunch of new games added to your package. [SB Nation]
• Mike Grier will coach a team at the CCA/USA Hockey All American Prospects game. [Color of Hockey]
• Financial turmoil in the KHL? No way! [Globe n' Mail]
• Bahstan Broons fans curse a fahkin' lawt awn Reddit, kehd. Itsa wicked pissah! [Reddit image]

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