Islanders News: Sorokin won the Fan Choice Award for best save; Gaudreau?

The draft is less than a week away, but the rumor mill has been pretty quiet over the last day and a half. Probably because it’s the holiday weekend, right?

I expect things to get more hectic, if not tomorrow then on Tuesday.

New York Islanders News

• Ilya Sorokin, for his paddle robbery of Artemi Panarin on St. Patrick’s Day, won the NHL Fan Choice Award for Save of the Year. We need to see this beauty one more time. [Islanders]

• Brooksie advocates for the Islanders to sign Johnny Gaudreau. His primary argument is that Gaudreau reportedly wants to come back east, but that his hometown Flyers and Devils aren’t in a position to win like the Islanders. For what it’s worth, Calgary has offered him eight years and $9.5 million per year, but he hasn’t even gotten back to them. [NY Post]
• As part of his update on all 32 teams, Elliotte Friedman relayed that he could see the Isles in on Gaudreau, but that it would require some cap surgery. He also said that if any major free agents appear unsigned into September, they’re probably Islanders. Which reminds me that we’re probably not going to get a lot of Islanders signing news this summer. [Sportsnet]
• As part of the My Draft Day series offered up by the Isles’ site, Noah Dobson takes his turn. I was going to joke about how tough it must have been to remember that time so long ago—four years!—but then I remembered there was a big pandemic in between and in some ways, it really was a long time ago.
• The 1979 season caused the Islanders great pain for how it ended, but it was an extremely impressive season nonetheless. And Stan Fischler recalled how Bryan Trottier won the Hart Trophy that year. [Maven’s Memories]
• Newsday ran a mock draft, and at no. 13 had the Islanders pick defenseman Denton Matyechuk. I gotta be honest: I have no idea who any of these guys are. I have not paid attention to the draft at all, mostly because I don’t think the Islanders make their pick.
• Never a bad thing: The Bridgeport Islanders won AHL Team Business Awards for their growth in ticket sales this season. [B-Islanders]

Elsewhere

• Nick Paul and the Tampa Bay Lightning signed a seven-year contract that will cost them $3.15 million on the cap. [NHL]
• He had come up in trade conversations according to the media folks, but Brock Boeser and the Canucks agreed to a three-year, $19.95 million contract. That’s a $6.65 cap hit. [NHL]
• Bones ain’t retiring. He will be the new head coach of the Winnipeg Jets. The reason he holds the distinction of being the only guy to have coached in five different decades is that in 1989-90, he served as interim head coach of the original Winnipeg Jets. Now, he’s back where it all began, albeit with a new franchise. [Sportsnet] And he brings with him all five decades of that experience. [Sportsnet]
• Mike Yeo and Brad Shaw essentially changed places: The former will go from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Vancouver Canucks as an assistant coach, and the latter will go from the Vancouver Canucks to the Philadelphia Flyers as an assistant coach. [TSN]
• Old friend and former Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton will be the head coach of the AHL Abbotsford Canucks, replacing Trent Cull, who will join Yeo as an assistant with the big club. [Sportsnet]
• Scott Mellanby joins Ray Whitney and Mike Grier as candidates for GM of the San Jose Sharks. Everyone expects an announcement soon, but none so far. [TSN]
• We do know, though, that the Sharks fired coach Bob Boughner. This is pretty late in the game to be doing it without a replacement, but I guess all the potential new guys said they would hire someone new. [NHL]
• On Insider Trading, the Canadian fellas discussed the hot topics: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Alex DeBrincat, and Nazem Kadri. [TSN]
• Anthony Duclair underwent surgery on his torn Achilles tendon, but he should not miss the entire season as originally feared; he should be available midway through the campaign. [NHL | Sportsnet]
• Russian goalie Ivan Fedotov, a Flyers draft pick in 2015, has been detained for evading his military duties. [Sportsnet]
• A rundown of what every team needs this offseason. [The Athletic]
• Here is the only thing I “know” about the draft: Logan Cooley, a potential top-three pick, is from the Pittsburgh area and was one of the first attendees of Sidney Crosby’s youth program back in 2008. [ESPN]