The chatter on John Tavares continues incessantly, with the days ticking down before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2018 (345 remain). Today, Brett Cyrgallis of the New York Post writes that while the fans may be tapping their toes in anticipation, there isn’t reason to panic just yet. Cyrgallis conducted a poll of people “in and around the NHL” that supported Garth Snow in his patient approach.
The Islanders are still in arena limbo, and missed the playoffs last year despite 94 points. This summer has seen the addition of Jordan Eberle, and a return to the post season would do nothing but help sway Tavares to re-sign long term. As Arthur Staple of Newsday points out on Twitter, there remains an extremely low chance the team deals Tavares this summer.
- The Nashville Predators have hired Dan Muse to replace the outgoing Phil Housley as an assistant coach for 2017-18, and have promoted Kevin McCarthy to associate head coach. Muse is a shooting star in terms of coaching prospects, jumping straight from a USHL championship with the Chicago Steel to an NHL bench at just 35 years old. Before taking the job with Chicago, he had been an assistant coach for several seasons at Yale under Keith Allain, a former NHL assistant and goalie coach.
- The Toronto Marlies have signed Kristian Pospisil to a two-way minor league contract, bringing him into the system after an excellent development camp. The Maple Leafs will have no contract slots left after signing Connor Brown, meaning they can only give out these types of minor league deals until moving out some bodies. Pospisil played with first-round draft pick Eeli Tolvanen this year for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL, scoring 40 points in 48 games. Passed over in the draft multiple times, the 6’2″ winger was a free agent and able to sign with anyone.