Islanders News: Breaking wind. Err... I mean, earth. Ground. You get the picture.

There was a trade in the NHL yesterday. You may not have heard about it because it involves a pretty obscure player. It was a trade that, if it was made at the NHL’s Trade Deadline, it probably wouldn’t even have registered on the acquiring team’s website. But because of the August doldrums in hockey news, it got its own feature on the NHL’s website. More about that later, though.

In the mean time, we have some truly splendid news about the local team that you may likely have heard by now, but we’re still damned excited about it, aren’t we?

Islanders News

There was no ceremony, and neither the Islanders’ nor the NHL’s official pages have mentioned this occurrence, but machines have officially broken ground on the Islanders’ new arena at Belmont, only one day after its final approval was awarded. And what a beautiful site to behold. [LHH | Horse Race Insider]

Isn’t she lovely?

• Thomas Tweedy, once the mayor of Floral Park who is part of the Floral Park Belmont Task Force, wrote a piece in concurrence with a long-standing hockey tradition: after a long and hard-fought series, both teams shake hands at the end, win or lose. This is him shaking hands with the Islanders.
• On the other hand, Dominick Longobardi, the current mayor of Floral Park, says they “are not done” with this fight. However, he acknowledges the village has $50,000 in the budget for legal action, and suing the Islanders or anyone affiliated with the project would cost far more than that. So...
• PHOTOS: Yesterday, we linked to the Islanders story about the Isles Season Ticket Members Lunch with owner Jon Ledecky, commissioner Gary Bettman, and maven Stan Fischler. Today, we’re linking to the pictures from that event. The world is yours. Break it down. [Islanders]
• LATE ADDITION: These Bits posted at 7:30 a.m., and Arthur Staple posted this at 7:31 a.m. this morning, so I had to include it. Staple spoke with three of Josh Ho-Sang’s coaches to try to figure out what’s been keeping the über-talented but frustrating player from breaking through to the show. Based on Lou’s lack of roster moves this summer, I really, really, really want this to be the year Ho-Sang puts it all together. If he can, it’s like acquiring a bona fide top-6 winger. [The Athletic]
• What does an NHL coach do in the offseason? That was the question Scott Burnside tried to have answered by Wild coach Bruce Boudreau and Isles coach Barry Trotz. [The Athletic]
• The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the Hurricanes were able to sweep the Islanders in May by targeting their breakouts — and I believe it also demonstrates how the Penguins were swept by the Isles in April by not doing this — but it is paywalled, so I may never know. [The Coaches’ $ite]
• The Islanders partnered with the United Heroes League to take 12 military members and their families fishing off the coast of Long Island this past Saturday. [Islanders]

Elsewhere

Remember that trade I mentioned earlier? New Red Wings GM acquired a player he had drafted during his time with the Lightning as Detroit got forward Adam Erne in exchange for a 4th round pick. Exciting stuff, I tell ya. [NHL]

At least the Internet got a few laughs out of it:

• Moving on, RFA defenseman Zach Werenski “intends” to sign a contract with the Blue Jackets before training camp... [NHL]
• While, RFA forward Kyle Connor “hopes” to sign a contract with the Jets before training camp. Language matters, folks. [NHL]
• The ACL injury to Juuso Valimaki has altered the Flames’ plans for this upcoming season. They’d been trying to offload T.J. Brodie to clear some cap space and make room for him, but it doesn’t look like Brodie will be going anywhere now. [Sportsnet]
• Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton both skated at the Sharks practice facility while they await potential new contracts with San Jose (though I’d guess it’s a lot more likely Thornton gets one than Marleau does). [NHL]
• The Seattle expansion franchise expects to have a nickname before it has a coach and by early 2020. No word if the “Seattle Kraken” is still an option. [NHL]