Islanders News: Lehner, Trotz up for NHL awards in Vegas

Unless something has changed, Robin Lehner reports to Las Vegas for tonight’s awards ceremony without a new contract in hand.

Some Islanders fans are gravely concerned by this, though for me it’s a no-brainer from the Lou Lamoriello playbook: If you have time, use it. But that applies to Lehner, too: Although nothing at all will have changed in his performance from today to tomorrow, tomorrow he could wake up as a Vezina Trophy winner.

That award usually means something in contract negotiations. On a related note? Carolina is saying they want to but do not appear able to re-sign goalies Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney.

The awards show will be televised tonight at 8 p.m. EDT on Sportsnet (Canada) and NBS Sports (U.S.)

Islanders News

• On that note, Lehner says all the right things, Barry Trotz says all the right things, hopefully something works out on the contract front. [NHL]
• Both are up for awards. [Newsday]
• You know Trotz’s case for the Jack Adams, but here’s a refresher. [NHL]
• The Isles were supposedly in on Jacob Trouba (or maybe New York was just one of the places he wanted to be), so are they still involved in the pre-draft trade discussions. [Newsday]
• The Maven on the joy of going through Manhattan on the way to the second Cup. [Isles]

Old coach royalty, current coach royalty, and the newest member of the club (Also? My three favorite current NHL coaches):

• The Islanders (and many other teams) announced their preseason schedule, with seven dates including “home” games in Brooklyn, Nassau and Bridgeport. [LHH | Newsday | CT Post | Isles | Sound Tigers]
• This only barely relates to the Islanders, but: My experience watching the Blues go all the way, viewing the player celebration, and working the Stanley Cup parade. Thank you to all the heartfelt responses and well wishes during the crazy Cup journey. [LHH]

Elsewhere

The Flyers acquired Justin Braun from magi Doug Wilson, then signed Kevin Hayes to...a really long, really expensive deal. [BSH | NHL]

• Speaking of the Flyers, Radko Gudas was “a little bit shocked” to be shipped down the road Washington. [NHL]
• Here is a lot of detailed discussion of likely first-round picks in this weekend’s draft. [TSN]
• Elliotte Friedman reads the tea leaves and believes teams will find themselves with a tighter salary cap. [Sportsnet]
• Joe Thornton wants to come back for another year with the Sharks. [TSN | NHL]
• Sidney Crosby says it’s weird to have so many trade rumblings surfacing around his club. [NHL]
• The Rangers won the sweepstakes for Jacob Trouba, who seemed destined to find a new location south of the border to help his future wife’s medical career. [NHL | Post] Analyzing the trade from both sides. [Sportsnet]
• Despite selling a defenseman, the Jets evidently are still exploring trades for Nikolaj Ehlers. [TSN]
• The Wild are keeping their options open, including making the team worse through trade. [NHL]