On James van Riemsdyk …
Pierre LeBrun: Possible comparables for James van Riemsdyk: Cam Atkinson seven years at $5.875 million per and T.J. Oshie eight years at $5.75 million per. Both Atkinson and Oshie had similar goal totals.
Does a six or seven year deal at between $6 and $6.5 million per make sense for JVR? The salary cap ceiling will be going up this offseason.
On the New York Islanders and John Tavares …
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun: The St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks are believed to be two the teams that would be interested in John Tavares if he hits the open market. Teams that have the salary cap space and could potentially use a No. 1 center also include the Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils.
The Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Carolina Hurricanes could also take a run at Tavares.
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Darren Dreger was on WGR 550 talking about the New York Islanders, John Tavares and if a sign-and-trade is a possibility if they can’t come to an agreement. If there comes a time that Islanders realize they won’t be able to re-sign him, are they able to get some value back from a team for adding that extra year to the contract?
“But as intriguing as it might sound, it’s also highly unlikely that’s going to happen for a couple of reasons. I believe it’s unprecedented at that time of year. And, I mean, the Islanders are still hopeful – even though hope seems to be fading, I think, just based on the calendar – they’re still hopeful that he’s going to wake up one morning and decide that he wants to stay with the New York Islanders for the remainder of his career. That seems more and more unlikely, just again given where we’re at in the stage of the regular season and where the Islanders are, which is clearly out of the playoffs yet again. But this is just one of the scenarios that could be introduced moving forward.”