The initial critical deadline the Islanders face in their quest to get state approval for construction of their projected state of the arena at Belmont Park is a little over four months away.
That is when the NHL trade deadline hits, on Feb. 26, and nobody I can find is confident that the state approval process that involves multiple bidders and is expected to go through at least a couple of stages beyond the initial RFP will be completed by that time.
And while ownership can surely wait as long as it takes for the conclusion of what seems like a complex, multi-stage process involving multiple bidders because the ultimate survival of the franchise as a New York entity likely depends on it, the question is whether management can wait beyond that date for a John Tavares commitment.
Every indication is that Tavares is waiting for certainty on the Islanders’ long-term future before the franchise centerpiece of nine years signs on for eight more. There is no reason to expect that the captain wouldn’t be willing to wait for the state’s decision until the free agent market opens on July 1, if necessary. He obviously wants to stay; the proper authorities would know otherwise by now.
But if the trade deadline approaches without a rapid, favorable decision from Empire State Development, the burden in the Taveras-Islanders dynamic will fall entirely on the team. Ownership and management will have to decide whether to, a) ride it out with No. 91 and risk having their franchise player walk out the door with nothing in return if Belmont hasn’t gone their way by July 1; or, b) move him for what presumably would be a plentiful bounty.
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Islanders owner: Forget Nassau, were focused on Belmont Park
Jon Ledecky wanted to make something crystal clear, the hope…
And while it would be calamitous for the franchise if Tavares simply departs as a free agent, it would not necessarily be so at all if general manager Garth Snow could pull off an equitable deal—and that means with a team with which Tavares would be willing to sign an extension; perhaps, for instance, Tampa Bay, Toronto or Montreal—at the deadline.
I have no doubt that the Scott Malkin-Jon Ledecky ownership wants to do right by the franchise and by their long-abused fan base. I have no doubt that Snow recognizes the value of making Tavares a career Islander. But this is not a normal situation. It is foolish to draw parallels to prior free agent scenarios.
This is not about only the Islanders and Tavares. This is every bit as much about the decision-making process of a New York state agency that, sad to say, probably doesn’t care all that much about the NHL trade deadline.
And so the clock is ticking, and it is already later than you may have realized.
If the Islanders’ plan—developed and being shepherded to a great extent by Sterling Equities’ Jeff Wilpon and Richard Browne, who did such an outstanding job in building Citi Field—is ultimately accepted, the construction of Al Arbour Arena would not be subject to a public referendum, well-placed sources have told Slapshots.
And while the Islanders would have to bridge the gap between their final contractually mandated season at Barclays in 2018-19 and a first season at AAA, it understandable that Ledecky did not want to discuss contingency plans at his luncheon with the media last week.
There is no need to stir controversy now regarding hypothetical scenarios that may or may not come to fruition. If the Islanders need a temporary home for 2019-20, maybe the Garden, whose Oak View subsidiary would manage the arena at Belmont Park, could make an accommodation. And if AAA could be ready for 2020-21, well that’s the projected lockout-season, so the rink may not need to be ready until late January of 2021, anyway.
There is not another team sport in the world in which the fistfight between John Hayden and Marcus Foligno in Chicago on Thursday would be tolerated as part of the game.
It is well past time that the NHL legislates it out of hockey, too.
Taking a haymaker to the jaw, as Foligno did in suffering a facial fracture on the punch from Hayden—a 22-year-old American who came through the U.S. National Development Program and played four years at Yale—should not be part of anyone’s job description.
Not with what we know about the danger of taking shots to the head. And perhaps more to the point, not with what the medical profession still does not know about it.
What once passed for entertainment is now merely disturbing.
It is impossible for the NHL to present itself as being serious about eliminating intentional blows to the head when fighting—in which landing blows to the head is pretty much the objective—is still countenanced.
Who came up with the idea of sticking that that blot of a red pentagon with the league logo onto the collar of the Rangers’ home jerseys; the ghost of John Ferguson?
How is it that just about every incarnation of NHL jerseys—this time it’s Adidas with the rights—is inferior to the one that preceded it?
And if multiple teams can’t even get the logo right without infringing on the integrity of the uniform, what do you think the league will do with sponsorship tags on sweaters?
Summer News: Brandon Dubinsky tweets out a storm against the CBA rule that allows college players to become free agents, says he thinks teams would agree him and then clarifies that major junior players should have same options.
Summer Views: Dubi should have done better on his SAT’s.
Finally, Brandon Saad is skating so much better without John Tortorella on his back, isn’t he?