On the New York Islanders and John Tavares …
TSN Insider Trading: Could the New York Islanders do a sign-and-trade with John Tavares if they can’t get him re-signed?
Pierre LeBrun: Tavares hasn’t decided what he wants to do yet and there hasn’t been a sign-and-trade in the salary cap era. Can’t say that it’s going to happen, but it does make some sense.
“One, it would be about John Tavares wanting the eighth year on that contract, which he can only get by signing with the New York Islanders and then being flipped to another team …
Number two, if you’re the team acquiring him, the eighth year would lower the AAV and lower the cap hit on what you’re paying John Tavares. And obviously, for the Islanders the appeal is that you get something back for a guy that would be exiting. So again, there’s a lot of moving parts, it’s complicated, there’s a reason why we haven’t had one, but it’s certainly a possibility.”
Darren Dreger: John Tavares will meet with his agent Pat Brisson when their season is over and will figure out their game plan. Once they figure it out, they’ll let the Islanders know what they are thinking. They will do this well before the NHL draft, which is held at the end of June.
“But they’ve got to visit and revisit the criteria that will be established ultimately by Tavares. Is he willing to wait for the new building? This could be three-plus years. Does he see the pieces within the organization or is he getting a promise from the Islanders that there are pieces that are going to be brought in that are going to help this team win a Stanley Cup. So all of this will come into play before the draft in June.”
