Islanders News: William Dufour also enjoys Latvian cuisine

At a certain point, Islanders news becomes de facto “imminent” because the start of training camp starts to come within view. We’re not there yet, but you know...guys need flights and reporting dates and stuff like that.

Anyway, Kevin Weekes — who likes to break news and tease on Twitter — used his favorite medium to really just say what everyone thinks they know: Whatever the Isles have done (secured Kadri? Re-signed Dobson, Bellows...Barzal?) will have to be filed and then announced one of these days.

Yesterday was not that day.

Islanders News

One day after Aatu Räty opened his WJC with four points against Latvia, fellow top Isles prospect William Dufour took his turn, with a goal and assist for Canada against the Latvians. [Isles WJC Tracker]

• Kevin Kurtz does a mailbag and confesses that, yeah, the first eight months on the beat have been a little uneventful given the missed postseason and the second Cone of Silence summer. Questions like Barzal on the wing, and impressions of Sonny Milano. [Athletic]
• Grading every team’s blueline depth: This one rates the Isles highly, Tier 2 of 5. The write-up is about their new addition: “Romanov is a very physical player, but he also brings higher-end skating ability, and I think there’s hope he can open up more scoring opportunities for a forward group that generally finds them hard to come by.” [TSN]

I’m ashamed to say how many times I’ve watched this very highlight — the Leafs broadcast version, because of how they unintentionally foreshadow all of the Judgment the Danish Backhand is about to rain down upon them — but, anyway, it’s always a quick pick-me-up:

Elsewhere

We surfed the usual suspects, and there was very little new after what Steve covered yesterday. But here are a few bits, including a partially illuminating interview with BIll “McNulty” Guerin.

• In that WJC contest, Latvia “applied unexpected pressure” to Canada. [Sportsnet]
• Meanwhile, the U.S. dominated Germany and Sportsnet posted three whole paragraphs about it. [Sportsnet] Daily Faceoff offered considerably more.
• Major sponsors pulled out of the WJC in protest (perhaps) of Hockey Canada’s handling of sexual assault cases, and the crowds are small. It’s also in the summer, which is kind of like FIFA holding its World Cup in Qatar during northern hemisphere winter. (They’d never do that, would they?) What does this mean for the future of this youth tournament that has been turned into something way bigger than it should be? [Sportsnet]
• The Sabres are starting to build back, but man this subhead is depressing: “Sticking with development plan despite 11 straight seasons out of playoffs.” [NHL]
• Bill Guerin is (re)building the Wild for long-term sustainability, and a pace and intensity that reflects head coach Dean Evason. He also had some reality-check words for mid-tier free agents who aren’t getting cash windfalls. [Fourth Period]
• This sweet Oilers superfan succumbs to brain cancer at age 6. The world can be a terrible place. [NHL | Sportsnet]