Islanders News: Hemmed in by cap and market

Just knowing that Friday is here, it feels like an overtime winner.

Islanders News

• What options do the Islanders have as free agency inches along and their cap remains an obstacle? [Athletic]
• Lou is focused on the core and blocked by those limits, but he knows the offseason is far from over. [Newsday]
• Rating the {scrolls page after page...} Top 155 NHL players under 23, based on projection of who will have the better career. Noah Dobson is no. 74, Oliver Wahlstrom at 105. [The Athletic]
• The Islanders surprise some breast cancer survivors with visits and gifts. [Isles | Photos here]
• If all teams are going to have a “fourth” retro jersey, what are the Isles’ options? (Prediction: Lou doesn’t play that.) [Empire Sports]
• Brendan Burke and others in the next gen of broadcasters on Doc Emrick: “I’ve never seen someone as universally loved as Doc.” [ESPN]

Elsewhere

• This seems a formality at this point in the pandemic, but the NHL officially postponed the Winter Classic (Minnesota) and All-Star Game (Florida). [NHL]
• The Canadiens’ cap-be-damned moves mean the pressure’s on Claude Julien to produce results. [Sportsnet] Julien says there’s “no doubt” his team is playoff-bound, because what else is he gonna say? [NHL]
• Connor Brown and the Senators dodged arbitration by reaching a big three-year, $10.8 million deal. [NHL]
• Jake Virtanen agrees two a two-year deal with the Canucks. [NHL]
• The Devils signed Dmitry Kulikov, who is a guy. [Sportsnet]
• The Stars reach a two-year deal with Denis Gurianov. [NHL]
• After the Penguins declined to qualify him, Dominik [sic] Simon gets a one-year deal for the minimum from the Flames. [NHL]
• Survey: Rate the confidence in each NHL front office. [Athletic]

Song of the Day

The get-you-ready-for-the-day seven-minute version of this song screams “1973” like a 19-41-18 Isles record. But the studio show video below screams “We have to get this done in three minutes so let’s dress up and make scary-serious faces.”