Islanders News: Lou “actively shopping” some salary and expansion bait

Very little rest for the wicked as the offseason rolls along. The hockey itself only recently ended, but already the wheels turn on the business of hockey.

There is a reason they call it the Silly Season. New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello has his work cut out for him in navigating the salary cap to get his players signed and to field a competitive team.

Islanders Things

• In which David Pagnotta says that the Islanders, ahead of the Expansion Draft, are actively shopping Jordan Eberle, Leo Komarov, Nick Leddy, and Thomas Hickey. He also says that the Isles and the St. Louis Blues have had multiple discussions about Vladimir Tarasenko and that Eberle could be a part of that package. [Fourth Period]
• The Islanders’ second puppy with a purpose, Tori, has graduated and has been paired with a Navy veteran and FDNY firefighter. [Islanders]
• LISTEN: The first episode of Island Ice of the offseason is here. Andrew Gross is joined by Christian Arnold and Sean Cuthbert to discuss free agency, the Expansion Draft, and the offseason generally. [Newsday]
• Stan Fischler gave UBS Arena the Stan Fischler treatment.

Not Islanders Things

• The big, shocking news from yesterday: The Minnesota Wild have bought out the final four years of each of Zach Parise’s and Ryan Suter’s mondo contracts. They’d make good Islanders next season if they come cheaply! [NHL | Hockey Wildnerness | The Athletic]
• The buyouts give Minnesota temporary cap savings of over $10 million next season, followed by more than $13 million in dead cap space. Parise didn’t love the news, but he took it seemingly well; Suter, on the other hand, hung up on GM Bill Guerin when he got the call. [The Athletic]
• Erik Johnson has waived his no-movement clause, giving the Colorado Avalanche an extra expansion protection slot. [The Athletic]
• Adam Larsson, whom the Edmonton Oilers famously acquired by himself in exchange for Taylor Hall, may test free agency after the Duncan Keith acquisition. Hell of an organization they got up in Alberta. [Copper & Blue]
• The Buffalo Sabres have been so bad for so long because, despite a bevy of high picks, they have failed to land any good picks—until more recently, anyway. [The Athletic]
• Not hockey exactly, but perhaps a harbinger of things to come now that the NHL is back on ESPN: Stephen A. Smith has gotten himself in hot water with his comments about Shohei Ohtani, and the network consistently buries its head in the sand when it comes to worldly issues. [Defector]