Nassau Coliseum hosted an open house Tuesday, as NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and New York Islanders majority owner Jon Ledecky toured the recently renovated arena.
In the meantime, New York will continue to play out of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where it's called home since 2015. Despite the team signing a 25-year agreement to play at the venue shared with the NBA's Nets, both the Islanders and arena manager can trigger an opt-out clause at the end of January.
If that should happen, the Islanders would need to find a temporary home following the 2018-19 season.
Nassau Coliseum, built in 1971, has undergone a host of changes since the Islanders left three years ago, including a $165-million renovation that reduced seating capacity by 3,000 to 13,000 for hockey games.
A number of improvements would need to be orchestrated in order for New York to return temporarily. Also at issue is who would fund those changes. Nassau Coliseum is currently owned by Forest City Enterprises, a real estate development firm.
Nassau Coliseum hosted an Islanders preseason game last September.
While the Islanders have played out of Barclays Center for parts of three seasons, a quick exit was initiated after a host of issues were realized, from awful ice conditions to poor sight lines and a tough commute.
A dismal 2017-18 campaign has given the Montreal Canadiens a wonderful opportunity.
No, not the chance to pick first overall in the draft - though with half the year still to go, that might not be out of the question - but rather the perfect opening to deal forward Alex Galchenyuk.
Over the past two seasons, Galchenyuk and his coaches have been bombarded by questions surrounding his streaky play, what line he's playing on, and whether he fits best on the wing or at center.
All that can be put to rest, though, if they trade the 23-year-old.
With Montreal holding down the third-lowest spot in the Eastern Conference and sitting seven points outside a wild-card berth, it's becoming clear the team will be a seller at the trade deadline.
Max Pacioretty's name has already been floated, which means few roster spots are safe. It makes the most sense to trade Galchenyuk, though, and the timing couldn't be better.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Galchenyuk holds a share of the team lead in scoring with Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher, recording 23 points in 41 games. He's also matched Andrew Shaw for the top spot on the team with five power-play goals, leads the club with 10 points with the extra attacker, sits tied for second in game-winning goals with two, and ranks third in shots.
Given the struggles he's endured over the last couple seasons, it could be argued his value hasn't been higher.
Back in June, it was reported the Canadiens were actively shopping Galchenyuk, but with no suitor emerging, the team inked the then-restricted free agent to a three-year, $14.7-million contract.
With the Canadiens likely to enter rebuild mode, they'll want to get his $4.9-million cap hit off the books.
As for Galchenyuk, a move might help him recapture the form that led him to record 30 goals and 56 points during the 2015-16 season.
He's still young and talented, and could serve as a great depth upgrade on a contending club ahead of the postseason.
The last two years have been a headache for everyone surrounding the Galchenyuk saga. A trade would put it to bed, helping the Canadiens acquire draft picks or prospects and giving him a fresh start.
The trade deadline is Feb. 26. It's time for Marc Bergevin to work the phones.
Seabrook noted head coach Joel Quenneville told him he needs to be better. The message looks to be received as Seabrook knows it's up to him to work his way back into the lineup.
"I want to get back to being more consistent," Seabrook said. "I think I’ve had good stretches and bad stretches. It’s tough. I've just got to stay focused, and when I get a chance to be back in the lineup, I’ve got to be ready to go."
Seabrook has played over 20 minutes just once in the team's last eight games, while going pointless with just five shots during that span.
The 32-year-old is currently earning $6.875 million, tops among Blackhawks defenders. He's scored just one goal and added 10 assists in 41 games this season
Weber is enjoying his second season with the Predators, in which he has one goal and two assists in 25 games playing largely on the team's third pairing.
Like Weber, Bitetto has dressed in 25 games this season, with one goal and two assists.
Irwin has played the most of the three this season, suiting up in 31 games, potting two goals and five assists.
In terms of trade-deadline acquisitions for contending teams across the NHL, few pieces are more coveted than a right-handed defenseman.
Unfortunately for the scores of general managers seeking to add one ahead of the deadline, available such players are few and far between. That said, a few exist, and Detroit Red Wings rearguard Mike Green is one name sure to generate plenty of interest across front offices prior to Feb. 26.
Green, 32, hasn't packed the same punch since he registered back-to-back 70-plus-point seasons with Washington in 2009 and 2010, but has quietly remained an effective puck-mover and point producer throughout his tenure in Detroit.
Although they've looked better of late, the Red Wings probably aren't strong enough to sustain a serious pursuit of a playoff spot, making Green's expiring contract highly expendable.
Green, who has recorded 24 points in 41 games this season, carries a $6 million cap hit. It's unlikely he waives his no-trade clause for a team without serious Stanley Cup aspirations, so without further ado, here are three contenders that should be courting Ken Holland for Green's services.
Whether the Maple Leafs need to reinforce their blue line to truly emerge as a playoff threat has been discussed fervently since last summer, and if they do decide to make a move, Green could be a proper fit.
Toronto's internal right-handed options are limited, and Green has potential to fit well with the up-tempo style at which the Leafs are most effective. With numerous high-end forward prospects at their disposal, and a few extra draft picks to boot, the Leafs have a few avenues to explore to make a deal work.
As unstoppable as the Lightning have been to this point, why wouldn't Steve Yzerman want to make a move that could help push his team over the top?
First and foremost, the Lightning would have to unload salary to add Green and stay under the cap, but it's not insurmountable by any means, especially if Yzerman manages to convince his old team to retain some of Green's cost.
If there's a flaw with Tampa's roster as they look to nail down top spot in the East, it's a mostly inexperienced blue line. Jake Dotchin, rookie dynamo Mikhail Sergachev, and Slater Koekkoek currently make up half of the Lightning's top six; giving some of those minutes to Green down the stretch would only add to Tampa Bay's chances of capturing a Stanley Cup.
After another playoff disappointment gave way to plenty of roster turnover, the Capitals have hardly lost a step, leading the treacherous Metropolitan Division with 55 points.
Like the Lightning, Washington would also have to tinker to take on Green's salary, but seeking improvement on the back end ahead of a playoff trip that will likely feature multiple divisional opponents doesn't seem a bad idea - even if the Kevin Shattenkirk experiment didn't pan out last year.
Believe it or not, the Vegas Golden Knights are just three points out from being the No. 1 team in the NHL halfway through their inaugural season.
The Golden Knights used another gutsy effort on Sunday night to get by the New York Rangers by a score of 2-1. With the win, the club has now gone 14-1-1 in its last 16 games and has become the second team to hit the 60-point threshold.
After 41 games, Vegas is on pace to finish with 120 points. With a start like this it's no longer a hot take to suggest that the Golden Knights will be playing playoff hockey this spring.
With the playoffs now on the horizon, the question is shifting to: What will the team do as it approaches its first-ever trade deadline? Generally, a team in Vegas' position would be in the market to buy potential rentals in an attempt to bolster its lineup.
However, with Vegas still in its infancy, a clear plan in place, and no glaring holes on its roster, it makes more sense for the club to stand pat and not make any moves it might regret later.
When general manager George McPhee set out to construct the Golden Knights' roster he made it imperative that he not only load up on younger, skilled, roster players, but to also stockpile his cupboard with a load of prospects and draft picks (a perfect example of which are first-round picks Cody Glass and Nick Suzuki).
Last June, the team made 12 selections at the draft. Going forward, the Golden Knights have 28 picks over the next three years.
As most GMs could tell you, the price to pay to acquire rental players at the deadline is usually prospects, draft picks, or both. For Vegas to part ways with these pieces for a monetary gain makes little sense, especially when you consider how well the team has played to date.
The team found chemistry almost immediately and it's led to the Golden Knights posting the second-most potent offense in the league, averaging 3.44 goals per game. On the other side, Vegas has given up 2.71 goals per game, good enough for the 11th-best mark. Despite their special teams being middle of the pack, it hasn't particularly hampered the club in anyway. Then there is the fantastic duo of Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban manning the pipes.
It makes little sense to mess with a winning formula. And in his short tenure, McPhee has shown he's not going to make any critical moves that could jeopardize the team's future.
Ahead of free agency last July, McPhee made it clear that his team wouldn't be very active as it's usually the time of the year where teams overpay for players. Then, after the Golden Knights went through a carousel of goalies with injuries to Fleury, Subban, and Oscar Dansk, McPhee said he wasn't going to have a knee-jerk reaction and trade for a goalie. Instead, he elected to wait out the storm - which now looks to have been the smart choice.
"The plan going into this year was pretty simple: If we're in the hunt, we're going to try and stay in the hunt, if you're not in the hunt, you do what teams that are not in the hunt do at the trading deadline," McPhee told Sportsnet's Hockey Central at Noon last week. "We'll see where we are when we get there. And what happens between now and then will be determined as we go along.
"We wanted to be competitive this year. We thought it was really important to the league. We thought it was important to the market - we wanted to give the market a chance. Can we be competitive and see how people respond here? Well it has been pretty darn good here and you don't ever want to lose that. We're trying to set a standard."
The Golden Knights couldn't have written a better script to this season if they tried. They worked the expansion draft to perfection by creating a model roster that's been producing from the back end on out, they've stockpiled talent in their system, and - without a ton of tinkering - the team leads the Western Conference.
They should be able to compete without any additions. Doing so would keep Vegas' current roster intact and more importantly keeps its future pieces in the fold.
Last November, owner Bill Foley stated he hopes to win a Stanley Cup within the team's first six years. Standing pat gives the Golden Knights the best chance at winning now while maintaining potential sustained success to do so in the future.
