The Islanders have a top priority come Saturday, and it’s not the opening of free agency.
While the rest of the league is looking elsewhere, that is the first day that franchise bedrock John Tavares can sign a contract extension. Set to be 27 years old when the season starts, this would be the final year of his deal leading into what would be unrestricted free agency. It would be quite a slippery slope if the Isles went into the season without Tavares signed, and that would mean the two sides are too far apart on terms and the club would then be best served to trade him rather than lose him for nothing in the offseason.
But that is putting the cart in front of the horse, and general manager Garth Snow still has one goal when it comes to this negotiation.
“We want him to retire as an Islander,” Snow said at last weekend’s NHL draft in Chicago.
But Tavares is also being smart about this decision. He has shown unwavering loyalty to the organization that has fielded bad teams for most of his tenure since being the No. 1-overall pick in 2009, and has also moved homes from Long Island to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center — and will likely move again sometime in the next few years.
More than anything, Tavares wants to win, and he wants to see Snow working to improve the roster for the present. Snow is already off to a good start with a big trade of Ryan Strome to the Oilers in exchange for talented winger Jordan Eberle. That move showed the immediacy of the situation, taking on the 27-year-old Eberle’s $6 million cap hit for the next two seasons. Snow also traded away heart-and-soul defenseman Travis Hamonic, a deal that was done partly because Hamonic wanted to be closer to his Winnipeg home and partly because it brought back a bevy of high draft picks that Snow can now use to flip and acquire another talent up front to supplement Tavares.
Because the high-end talent on the free-agent market is sparse this summer, those assets are more important to Snow in hopes of landing a trade, say for Avalanche forward Matt Duchene. Snow’s Colorado counterpart, Joe Sakic, has been asking for the moon for his 26-year-old with two more years at $6 million per left on his deal. But he hasn’t got what he has asked for yet, and if Sakic comes down, Snow is waiting with picks and prospects aplenty.
And all of that colors how Snow is going to approach the free-agent market, when he finally does get there. He was comfortable trading away Hamonic because he likes his young defensemen — also meaning he needs to sign restricted-free-agent blueliners Calvin de Haan and Adam Pelech. So he’ll likely look up front for an affordable, low-risk addition. The Islanders’ power play finished last season ranked 28th in the league, so a specialist on the man-advantage couldn’t hurt, either.
Another veteran voice in the room would also be welcome, with Hamonic’s leadership now gone. It is still a young core group with a generally inexperienced coaching staff led by Doug Weight, so any help there would be beneficial.
But it still comes back to keeping Tavares, without whom the Islanders are a franchise floating around without a rudder. Getting him signed is the first priority, and then Snow can get to work from there.
Targets
Drew Stafford: The 31-year-old veteran winger had a down year this past season, getting traded from the Jets to the Bruins and putting up just eight goals in 58 games. Yet if the price is right and he’s in a good situation, he might be able to rediscover the form that got him 31 goals for the Sabres in 2010-11, and 21 goals just two seasons ago in Winnipeg.
Chris Kunitz: It’s unknown exactly what the three-time champ with the Penguins (and four-time winner overall) is thinking going into free agency — and if he would even consider coming to Brooklyn. But the 37-year-old has the type of knack for scoring big goals that the Islanders desperately need.
Ales Hemsky: The former Stars winger is 33, and sustained a hip injury in the World Cup of Hockey in September that required surgery and held him out of all but 15 games this past season. If he comes at a discount on a short-term deal, the Islanders should inquire.