- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: The Islanders could look similar to last season according to GM Garth Snow.
“We’re in the same boat as a lot of teams, we’re looking to improve this offseason,” Snow told ESPN.com on Tuesday night. “I think you’ll see pretty much the same group of players that we had last year. The natural maturation process of guys like Ryan Strome, Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, they’ll get better from the experience last year. We want to build from what we’ve done the last three years and take the next step.”
LeBrun thinks they are looking for help on the blueline and a backup goalie as Michal Neuvirth and Lubomir Visnovsky are not expected back.
“We obviously have an opening in net behind Jaro ,” Snow said. “That’s no secret. I don’t anticipate Visnovsky coming back, so there’s potential for one of our young defensemen to earn a spot, whether it’s Mayfield, Pulock, Reinhart, we’ll see what happens via the trade route at the draft and then look into free agency. Those are not guarantees. We feel we have a good group. I’m not shy to say we’d be happy to have the same group back.”
Snow wouldn’t comment on Arthur Staple’s reports that they are considering trading Kyle Okposo. LeBrun notes that other teams have contacted the Islanders about Okposo, but it’s not clear if they are “actively shopping” him. The Islanders don’t have a first or second round pick.
- Stephen Lorenzo: According to Lubomir Visnovsky’s agent, the soon to be 39-year old defenseman is “definitely” playing next season and he really likes playing for the Islanders.
- Pierre LeBrun of ESPN: Talks between the Predators and Mike Fisher have picked up and a deal could be done by the end of the week according to agent Todd Reynolds on Wednesday morning.
- Andy Strickland: “Kansas City has an owner in Lamar Hunt Jr., worth $4 Billion, plus an eight year old building. Been patiently waiting for several years”
- Tom Gulitti: (answering question) Bryce Salvador won’t decide if he’ll play next season until the end of summer.
