On the New York Islanders …
Neil Best of Newsday: Pending free agent John Tavares said things are that fun for the Islanders right now.
“I’m sure when people look at the way our team’s going, they want to speculate,” he said. “They speculate on teams that have won eight in a row, too. I just control what I control. It’s just other people talking.”
There continues to be speculation surrounding Tavares and he wants no part of it and can’t worry about it.
“That doesn’t have really much to do with me, what other people think or what they think what I say means. I have always said how committed I am to this team, this organization, the guys in the locker room. I mean, losing eight in a row isn’t very much fun.”
On the Carolina Hurricanes …
TSN: Pierre LeBrun reported yesterday that the Hurricanes held a preliminary call with LA Kings assistant GM Mike Futa on Friday.
LeBrun believes they’ve reached out to the Nashville Predators about Paul Fenton, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Julien Brisebois, and former Vancouver Canucks assistant GM Laurence Gilman.
Darren Dreger reported yesterday that Hurricanes have asked for permission to speak with New Jersey Devils assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald.
On Ilya Kovalchuk …
TSN Insider Trading: Pierre LeBrun on Ilya Kovalchuk’s future.
“It is a possibility. Last summer when the Devils owned Kovalchuk’s rights and it was kind of messy the way it would work because they could only trade him if there was a sign-and-trade. It never really got that close. But we believe the Rangers had showed some mild interest. And what we’re hearing is the Rangers might potentially revisit that interest one he’s UFA on July 1st. Play him on a line with Namestnikov. Yeah the Rangers are rebuilding but they still have to sell tickets so that’s a possibility.”
