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The NHL isn’t at a complete standstill the way it normally is this time of year, but it’s also not busy. The Islanders, though? Radio silence.
Islanders News
- Ian Tulloch has already identified breakout and regression candidates, so he decided to look into 10 bounce-back candidates for this season. Mathew Barzal is no. 2 — based on his underlying numbers, he compares to Taylor Hall, Nathan MacKinnon, Artemi Panarin, and Patrick Kane, all of whom were over a point per game last season. [The Athletic]
- Barzal is getting name-dropped quite a bit in The Athletic today. This article seeks to recreate Team North America under the salary cap. So players must be born after October 2, 1996. Jack Eichel would still be eligible, but they want to stay under the cap, so Barzal and his ELC slide in for him. [The Athletic]
- The Islanders site caught up with Nick Leddy, who likes to fish in the summer. [Islanders]
- Arthur Staple updates us on Swedish goalie prospect Linus Soderstrom, Russian-born prospect Ruslan Iskhakov, and a name I’d forgotten all about: Swedish defensive prospect Robin Salo. [The Athletic]
- Robin Lehner faced his demons before last season and it just so happened to coincide with the best season of his career. Reading this story really makes me wish he was coming back here, even just for one more season. [THN]
- This edition of Maven’s Memories features the epic playoff series between the Isles and Rangers in 1982. Spin me a yarn, Stan. [Islanders]
Former Nassau County Executive Tom Gulotta has died at 75. Islanders fans remember him thusly:
#Isles fans will forever remember him calling owners Steve Gluckstern & the Milstein Brothers “Pigs at the Trough” when they were angling for Nassau to pay for a new Coliseum. https://t.co/o80jCsyYLG
— Culture of Losing (Out On Free Agents) (@cultureoflosing) August 5, 2019
Over 150 residents of Floral Park came out to try to fight the Belmont Project, or at least slow it down, and the mayor is considering, among other things, suing the Islanders. Don’t think it matters much, though. Also, please enjoy the spelling error in the image in the tweet.
Floral Park residents turning out to oppose Belmont Project and call on the state to slow down the approval process pic.twitter.com/wRyfwzlFHW
— Robert Brodsky (@BrodskyRobert) August 5, 2019
Elsewhere
- The NHL has published its full and finalized preseason schedule, which kicks off in just over a month. It’s not that far away, folks!!! [NHL]
- It didn’t take too long for Kevin Shattenkirk to land on his feet: the defenseman, recently bought-out by the Rangers and still in decent financial position as a result, is able to go Stanley Cup-chasing and took a one-year deal with the Lightning. [Sportsnet]
- Ralph Krueger has had success everywhere he’s gone, save for the one lockout-shortened season with the Oilers, and thinks the Sabres can contend. [PHT]
- Cam Neely says the Bruins want to get Bruce Cassidy extended. Suppose it’s only a matter of when, yeah? [NBC Sports Boston]
- Icethetics is a very reliable source for jersey news, so when they say this might be Boston’s third jersey in 2019-20, it very well could be. [Icethetics]
- Acting Wild GM Tom Kurvers has been battling Stage 3 lung cancer since January, but the news so far has been mostly positive. And now he’s running a 10K for the Breath of Hope Foundation. [NHL]