It’s Eklund, so take it for what it’s worth:

“Source: Isles putting together “mega offer for Hossa”"
- Eklund

This Isles fan wouldn’t be surprised if Hossa was part of the plan all along and Charles gave the go ahead on one of his INSANE contract offers.

More IF it develops.

Apparently Eklund made a mistake in the time it took me to get where I was going. Offer is to Rolston.

Thanks to Joe for reminding me to update!

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Alright, excuse my attempt at a witty title.

I try to avoid posting crazy rumors and speculation, but I will always post something when I feel it it has somewhat of a credible substance. Why post anything about Doug Weight however, especially if we are supposedly in a rebuild?

That is an easy question to answer.

Doug Weight is a 37 year old center and big-bodied forward, born from the same class of current Islanders players such as Bill Guerin and Mike Sillinger. I have said on numerous occasions that you need gritty veterans around to show the youngsters the ropes and pass on all the knowledge they have gathered during their long NHL careers. Doug Weight fills numerous roles, he can pot some goals, he is a centerman, he fits the above criteria on teaching the Islanders youth of tomorrow and most importantly - is a very close friend of the aforementioned Bill Guerin.

Some of Weight’s stats from the past two seasons:

Season Team League Games Goals Assists PTS PIM
2006–07 St. Louis Blues NHL 82 16 43 59 56
2007-08 St. Louis Blues NHL 29 4 7 11 12
2007-08 Anaheim Ducks NHL 38 6 8 14 20

While Weight had a decline in production last season, this was mostly due to playing on a sniper depleted team in the Blues and in new territory after being traded to Anaheim at last years trade deadline. He is only one season removed from a 59 point output - which he should be able to get back to if lined up with some potential stars in Okposo and Bergenheim.

Do I think Doug Weight is a savior or a means to an end? No, but I think he will serve the perfect veteran role on the Islanders and provide them with secondary scoring they so sorely lack. Chris Botta really hits a home run with his post tonight on Weight, which is the real inspiration to expand on the notion of his addition.

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I know this is short notice, but the guys over at Hockey Night on Long Island asked me to come on the show this afternoon to discuss the upcoming free agency period.

Check out the show, which is on in about a half hour.

I will post a link to the archive once it is posted.

Should be a great show.

Show is up in the archive, here it is!

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It figures, I layout a post with some salary figures and minutes later learn that another Islander has been bought out! Greg Logan has just posted that Islanders Center Shawn Bates is set to be bought out of the remainder of his contract tomorrow. Anyone who has followed the team for the past two seasons knew this was inevitable, it was just unacceptable for a player to be payed (gee, thanks Milbury) what Bates was making only to play a handful of games in that time span. Despite some of his salary remaining on the books for the next two seasons, there is now one less player and a bit of extra salary cap space to be dealt with. There is also the little fact only Islander fans can appreciate, the equipment staff should have some extra room in their budget for mouth pieces this year…..

Per Greg Logan’s blog:

The handwriting has been on the wall for the past couple seasons regarding the demise of Shawn Bates’ Islanders career. The Islanders are expected to make it official Friday morning when they announce their decision to buy out the remaining year of his contract.

Bates was scheduled to make $1.2 million, but under NHL buyout provisions, he will receiver two-thirds of that amount in equal installments of $400,000 spread over the next two seasons. Last season, Bates appeared in only two games, and he was limited to 48 games the previous season by a groin injury and hernia surgery.

Islanders general manager Garth Snow portrayed the move as another step toward a youth movement. “It was a tough decision because Shawn was a great Islander, and he scored some pretty big goals in the past,” Snow said. “It was a decision based primarily on creating a spot on the roster for a younger player.”

Homage to Bates:

The SHOT!

The FIGHT!

Thanks for the memories Shawn!

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News as of yesterday has 6 of the Islanders pending restricted free agents being tendered qualifying offers by the club. It doesn’t necessarily mean that these players are set to accept the offers, as they can still opt for salary arbitration. Throw in today’s news that the salary cap has been raised to $56.7-million, a $6.4-million raise from what it was previously last season. With a raise in the salary cap, means a raise in the salary floor - which could spell trouble for the New York Islanders.


Per the Islanders on the players qualified:

The New York Islanders have extended qualifying offers to forwards Sean Bergenheim, Jeremy Colliton, Frans Nielsen, Jeff Tambellini and Ben Walter along with defenseman Bruno Gervais. All will become restricted free agent if they are not signed prior to July 1st, 2008.

Bergenheim and Gervais spent the entire 2007-08 season with the Islanders. Bergenheim appeared in 78 games, scoring 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points. Gervais saw action in 60 games and recorded 13 assists and points to go along with 34 penalty minutes.

Colliton, Nielsen, Tambellini and Walter all split time between the Islanders and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey League. Tambellini recorded one goal and three assists in 31 games with the Islanders while finishing seventh in the AHL in scoring, leading the Sound Tigers with 38 goals, 38 assists and 76 points in only 57 games. Appearing in 16 games with the Islanders last season, Nielsen recorded two goals and an assist for three points. Colliton also played in 16 games and went scoreless while registering eight penalty minutes. Walter saw action in eight games with the Islanders and scored his first NHL goal.

Moving back to what I had said previously, with the cap now set at $56.7-million, the cap floor is increased to around $40.7 million. With all of the current Islanders under contract for the 08/09 season INCLUDING the cap hit from Alexei Yashin, the total payroll for 08/09 is $34.354-Million. This does not factor in any of the qualifying offers for the aforementioned 6 players, some of whom (Tambellini and Bergenheim) may opt for salary arbitration seeking modest raises. Figure a number around 3.5 to 4 million (which is a generous guess) for those players and you still have some work to do in order to reach the league minimum.

With that in mind, there is room for Garth Snow to add talent to this club during Free Agency, the real question would be WHO and HOW MUCH? I like the way Snow has managed the payroll of this club up to this point because he certainly has a great deal of cap-room to add some big-name players should the desire strike him. It is the cap room and the Toronto media’s knowledge (and disdain) for Bryan McCabe that keeps his name in the ring of players rumored to be coming to Long Island this summer. The Islanders have a short laundry list of players they need in order to field a team next season, given their desire and willingness to go into full-out rebuild mode. They have the option of bringing in (at the minimum) one of a scoring center or wing and a puck-moving defenseman. The option to overpay even sounds like a good one, given the reluctance of players to come to Long Island and because of the distance between the cap-floor and ceiling. This is what makes absorbing McCabe’s exorbitant contract a little more palatable - although some insist on Toronto sweetening the deal.

This is certainly going to be an interesting summer even though the list of UFA’s isn’t nearly what it was last season in terms of the caliber of talent moving around. However, with names like Hossa, Campbell, Redden, Sundin, Malone, Avery, Ryder, Naslund, Morrison, Orpik, Huselius, and Pandolfo out there (just to name a few) - the potential to land SOMEBODY is pretty good.

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Earlier today, Islanders GM Garth Snow spoke to XM Satellite Radio’s NHL Live with hosts Don La Greca and EJ Hradek. Garth spoke about topics such as Kirill Petrov, the Yashin rumors, McCabe rumors, and the upcoming free agency frenzy period.

The best part of the whole interview? Aside from laughing at the Yashin “rumor”, Garth proclaims that he feels Petrov would be able to make the team next year and will do everything in his power to get him over here “As soon as possible”. Does this mean that Wang is giving the go ahead on another Malkin-esque “Great Escape“? One never knows, but I know Snow would look like a genius taking Petrov with a third rounder should he get him to North America earlier than speculated.

You can listen to the interview in the player below, or by checking out the article on the Islanders website.

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