Islanders Gameday News: Time for Game 8? Trading Day in the NHL

Tonight is kind of a big game. The Capitals are in town. There's a recent history there. FIG Picks go here.

Islanders Reads

• Can we make it Game 8? This is their first meeting since last year's Game 7. One team has gotten better. [Newsday]
  
• John Tavares was selected for the All-Star Game/weekend stuff at the end of the month. [LHH | Newsday | The Skinny | Isles]
• The (non)contract talk for UFA Kyle Okposo is nothing new, but the quotes from him and a scout are interesting. [ESPN]
• In this week's power rankings, da media think more highly of the Isles than our own head-to-head power formula. [LHH]
• The IPB podcast talks Ryan Pulock, Johnny Boychuk, more. [SNY IPB]
• Down in Bridgeport, Stephon Williams drew the demotion to Missouri after Christopher Gibson was returned by the Islanders. [Soundin' Off]
• Isles attendance is picking up. [SNY IPB]
• Prospect report: Andong Song, won't you come, and wash away the rain? [THW]
• Junior podcast with guest Michael Dal Colle. [Fan590]
• Edmonton columnist goes over the reasons they could use Travis Hamonic. [Edmonton Journal]
• Sad news, help a family: This family of Islanders fans lost their five-year-old daughter, Maya, suddenly due to a rare and hidden heart condition. As Maya loved to draw and color rainbows, they've started a project to launch creative and arts-and-crafts opportunities for children at the JCC Metrowest in West Orange, N.J., where she spent so much of her five years. To learn more or contribute, see the GoFundMe page, "Maya's Rainbow."

Everywhere Else: TRADES!!!1

It was a wild day for transactions in the NHL:

• There was a moment when this was the big deal of the day: The corpse and contract of Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn to L.A. for a guy and a pick. [BSH: "Excellent." | JFTC: "Ultimately, I am confused."]
  
• But then! A hockey trade! Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones, straight up. [Jackets Cannon | OTF]
• Mike Richards was resurrected from the shell of himself he's been occupying by...the Capitals? [Japers' Rink]
• Meanwhile, no Jonathan Drouin trade, but the drama and theories there are rich. [McKenzie at TSN]

Not Trades, But Worth Reading

• Checking in from the number side with each team three months into the season. [NHL Numbers]
• What to make of Darnell Nurse, who is both still promising but also looks like a rookie? [Copper & Blue]
• Here are the All-Star Game jerseys. [NHL]
• Here is how you too should dig neutral zone tracking, via Hockey Graphs. [Part 1, Part 2]
• The Finnish WJC celebration included bare butts and Burger King, of course. [Puck Daddy]