Islanders News: Dobson a prime offer sheet target; player movements beginning

I cannot believe it is July already. To quote the great Darren Pang, “Holy jumpin’!”

Happy Canada Day to our friends north of the border. Ordinarily, this is day one of a brand new NHL calendar year, day one of free agency. And then all the Canadian writers scurry off to their cottages on Lake Louise to drink margaritas.

This year, however, it is just another business day in the previous NHL season; those final days of the NHL calendar year, the days leading up to the draft. There is always so much intrigue and gossip about what will happen on the draft floor, but not nearly as often does it come to fruition.

Thus far, we have seen only one major trade. Rumors abound about other star players. It remains to be seen who actually moves.

Islanders News

• We want to hear from you. No, really! Take this quick survey about what the Islanders should do this summer and some Isles legends. [LHH]
• In the media’s never-ending attempts to goad GMs and RFAs to agree to offer sheets, here are who the numbers (on-ice and salary-wise) say teams should target. Unsurprisingly, Noah Dobson was first on the list. [The Athletic]
• No idea what the Isles do at the draft, but the team site has set up Draft Central so you can follow along leading up to the draft. [Islanders]
• This (Yester)Day in Isles History: The Islanders drafted Ryan Pulock and traded for Cal Clutterbuck.
• William Dufour, celebratory champion.

Player Movements (or Non-Movements)

• Here’s one that threw me for a loop: The Tampa Bay Lightning are working with Ryan McDonagh, who has a full NMC, to find him a new home. He’s expensive and a little older, but man would this lefty be the perfect partner for Dobson. [Sportsnet]
• Reportedly, the Lightning want to move McDonagh so they can sign pending UFAs Nick Paul and Ondrej Palat. Sounds like they have the Paul deal wrapped up:

• Kevin Fiala immediately inked a seven-year deal with his new team. The Los Angeles Kings will take on a $7.9 million cap hit to pay Fiala. [NHL]
• The Winnipeg Jets’ offseason sort of centers around Pierre-Luc Dubois. With the great interest shown in the center by the New York Rangers and Montréal Canadiens and his desire not to stick around, it seems likely he will be traded at some point this year. [Sportsnet]
• Pierre LeBrun news dump: The Canadiens still haven’t decided on a first overall pick; the Devils may trade up; the Maple Leafs would trade Ilya Mikheyev’s rights; the Fiala trade should give some steam to the Alex DeBrincat trade talks. [The Athletic]
• Jesse Puljujarvi and the Edmonton Oilers reconciled for a time, but now they want a divorce for real this time. And the Oilers shouldn’t expect more than a second- or third-round pick. But I think Puljujarvi could be a sneaky-good buy-low candidate for a team looking to round out its middle six. [Sportsnet]
• I had a crazy idea where the Islanders traded Semyon Varlamov for the cap relief and brought in Scott Wedgewood as Ilya Sorokin’s reliable backup. Well, never mind. Wedgewood extended with the Dallas Stars for two more seasons. [Sportsnet]
• More goalie news: The Buffalo Sabres will bring back 40-year-old Craig Anderson for one more year. [ESPN]
• A good rundown of all the stories that might unfold over the next few weeks between the draft and free agency, which may actually feature multiple marquee names for a change. [ESPN+]
• And a rundown of “every” team’s most important free agent situation, restricted or unrestricted. Not every team has one, as you might expect. [The Athletic]
• Today is the opening of the first buyout window, so it should be interesting to see who wants to dump some money. [Twitter]

Coaches’ Corner

• As expected, Steve Yzerman had been waiting to poach one of his guys from the Tampa Bay Lightning to be the new coach of the Detroit Red Wings: Derek Lalonde. [NHL | ESPN]
• Meanwhile, it appears that the Boston Bruins job will go to Jim Montgomery, most recently an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues and formerly the coach of the Stars. [ESPN]
• The Washington Capitals have hired the NHL’s first woman video coach, Emily Engel-Natzke. [ESPN]
• And a late-breaking story: The San Jose Sharks, who are apparently nearing the end of (but haven’t yet finished) their GM search, just now fired coach Bob Boughner. A bit late in the game, I’d say. Not sure what’s going on out in the Bay Area.

This and That

• Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bedner got emotional at their Stanley Cup parade, calling it “a surreal moment.” [NHL]
• Ottawa Senators defenseman Victor Mete was a member of the 2017-18 World Junior Team Canada currently embroiled in a sexual assault scandal, but he made a statement that the allegations were “deeply troubling,” that he was not there and had not even heard about it until all this came to light, and that he would “fully cooperate” with any investigations. [Sportsnet]
• Travis Yost looks at some past rebuilds and tries to determine how long one should take, generally. They take a while, but shouldn’t take too long, as you need to supplement your roster with outside talent like the Avalanche; at some point, it becomes an issue of roster construction. [TSN]