Plenty of stories in Isles camp

Be still my heart. As training camp opens, the first signs that Newsday is actually ramping up coverage have emerged. Sure, it's early, but it's nice to see them, over the past couple days, covering multiple angles before a regular veteran has even set skate to ice. Any guesses on how long it lasts?

To that point, although the Islanders roster was just about "set" with all the players they have signed and the seven D-men they have on one-way contracts, this camp will still be teeming with storylines. To wit:

(In honor of Radiohead's incredible summer tour, some lyrics to introduce each topic)

A jigsaw falling into place / So there is nothing to explain ("Jigsaw Fallng into Place")
New coach Scott Gordon is serious. So serious, the team won't be repeating the time-honored tradition of intrasquad scrimmages -- he wants the time to teach his system and hardwire it to the brains of each player. Players will soon learn what former P-Bruin Ben Walter already knows: Gordon's is a system that emphasizes forechecking, defensive diligence, and the soon-to-be-legendary (or infamous) "overspeed." Gordon's proven young players hungry for a job can learn this; this season's success likely depends on whether the veterans get on board.

Trapped in this body and I can't get out ("Bodysnatchers")
The Islanders' NHL roster is not totally young, and not all that healthy. You're pardoned if you suspect the Isles fell prey to a package deal with a hip surgery salesman in Colorado. (I hope they didn't order the truecoat.) Turns out Mike Comrie was paparazzi'd on crutches this summer because he, too, had hip surgery. Not as involved as Mike Sillinger's, not as pivotal as Rick DiPietro's, but hip surgery nonetheless, on a player whose game depends on agility. Captain Bill Guerin is also returning from (shoulder) surgery; half the defensive corps finished last season on the shelf. Who's nagging recovery becomes the cause for sub-par production all season before they are reshelved?

Destiny, hold my hand, protect me from the world ("Anyone Can Play Guitar")
Kyle Okposo has nine games of NHL experience. But by all accounts, at 20, already a good head rests on his shoulders. His entry-level deal kicks in now. The factors affecting the value of his next deal begin calculating in October. There will be ups and downs; I imagine his ceiling is a great second-line winger or a dependable first-line winger with scoring punch and physical presence. But that is TBD. I'm tempering my expectations here, hoping the Isles do the same and guide him carefully through inevitable streaks and slumps.

Infrastructure will collapse, voltage spikes ("House of Cards")
Speaking of injuries, D, and youth... As mentioned, the Isles have seven D-men on NHL contracts. That does not include Jack Hillen, who went from completing four years of NCAA play to a home-and-home series versus the Rangers. Welcome, kid. Hillen, not big but very poised, has the type of vision and passing that would seem to fit Gordon's system well. He's already receiving praise for adapting to that system quickly. If push comes to shove, does Hillen make the team? Would the Isles actually waive or demote one of last year's regulars? Magical injuries may intervene.

I only stick with you because there are no others ("All I Need")
What do we have in goal for the non-DP 25% of the season? The Isles pledge to reduce Rick DiPietro's workload -- this time, before they're forced by injury to do so. Even though DP, true to form, insists he wants to play every game. We know that Joey MacDonald is Dubie's default replacement. But how will he do? His record is ... incomplete. It's taken him a long while to get to this moment. But it's not his fault he was stuck in the system of the NHL's most successful club of the last 15 years. That could be a bad thing (Roman Turek?), or a good thing (Tim Thomas?).

How come I end up where I started? ("15 Step")
Real camp starts Saturday. Let the stories and intrigue begin!

Snow should bid for Radulov

The fabled KHL season in Mother Russia has begun. Nashville Predators exile Alexander Radulov has already started collecting his rubles. But by several accounts, Radulov has indicated an interest in returning to the NHL (perhaps not until next season). What's more, Nashville may understandably want to trade him rather than take him back as a prodigal son who screwed the franchise at its most vulnerable moment in time.

It won't happen now, it probably won't happen during this season, but at some point, Radulov's rights are likely to be on the NHL trade market. If I'm Garth Snow, I check in on that sale early and often.

Judging by his first two seasons -- and the Predators brought him along carefully, perhaps lowering his stats -- he's a proven scoring talent superior to anything the Islanders currently possess (including Kyle Okposo's ceilling). He also might occasionally injure your captain during an overzealous playoff celebration. Hey, every star carries baggage.

He's entering the third and final year of his entry level deal. So pending the results of IIHF arbitration panel (which could, don't forget, rule Radulov was somehow free in the IIHF world to do what he did), and depending on the NHL's reaction, he could enter next season with either one year left on his deal or with team-controlled rights as an RFA.

Either way, you have a guy who bailed on his team and the NHL for the rubles -- so who knows, he might bail again -- but who's in a position to make enough cash on his next NHL deal to keep him happy and on the sunset side of the Pacific. He's also owned by a team that, presumably, wants to be rid of him before he plays another NHL game.

So, those are the factors that enter into his trade value, into the leverage you bring into trade talks with Nashville. It's too early to anticipate what Nashivlle would want for him, much less what the trade market would bear for him (a similar prospect? No dice; we have none. An offensive defenseman and a couple high picks? Maybe.) But talent-wise and age-wise, the 22-year-old Radulov is precisely the type of player that Isles GM Garth Snow should be looking at to advance his youth rebuild.

In a proper youth movement, you hang on to your assets and you plan for the long-term. But the one long-term boon that's worth giving up some of your future prospects for is a young, certain talent who gives you something you don't have in your system.

Someone like Radulov.

Rookie camp opens; Schneider hits waivers

Rookie camp has opened, and Adam at Growing Up with the Isles is all over it. Day 1: Lots of coaches, lots of drills, one lost equipment bag, one healthy Jon Sim, and one Mike Sillinger skating and practicing slapshots (sans equipment). Adam will likely be updating each day, with interviews, so it should be some good stuff.

Meanwhile, would you claim Mathieu Schneider off waivers for the Isles at $5.75M? Nah. Too much coin at a position we don't need. But it should be entertaining to see who bites.

I know there are some complaints about the cap, about how it makes keeping a good team together difficult, but I think it's better than the alternative. I'm not a Brian Burke-hater, but I think it's great that this has happened. Burke knew of this risk -- that Niedermayer could come back and the Ducks would have cap issues -- when he first signed Schneider. When I saw the term last summer, I remember recoiling, "wow, that's a pricey stopgap."

In short, GMs ought to pay for their short-sighted mistakes. Maybe, just maybe, it will motivate a few more GMs to stop throwing cash around as if the cap isn't there. And as if the cap isn't guaranteed to keep spiraling upward. I am reminded of seven years for Ryan Malone. I am reminded of six years at $6.5M for Wade Redden.

'We're all Islander' followers

I hope to have news in the next few weeks about a new, final relocation for this blog. It will include a new name (you know, because the "frontier" of yesteryear has been razed and paved with new subdivisions). But more importantly, I'll have a better user-friendly format where I can add features and invite user posts, as well as interact better with bloggers from other teams. Then I'm done moving, I promise.

I tease this now because there are some exciting media developments that should make this a great season to follow the club: First, Newsday -- recently purchased by Rangers owner Cablevision -- has pledged to increase its coverage of both clubs. Second, the Islander blogosphere is abuzz with news that former Isles PR man, "blog[box]father" and prolific blogger himself Chris Botta has announced his return as a regular blogger of the Isles.

I’m not going to jump to grand conclusions about an upswing in popularity or coverage for this much-maligned franchise. But the success of the BlogBox last year – and the fact that Newsday’s Greg Logan cites the prevalence of blog coverage of the Isles and Rangers as one reason Newsday is expanding coverage – are undeniably positive signs. Lacking a foothold in the “old media” world of network TV, the NHL must nurture its already strong presence on the Web – including its growing fountain of stats information -- to maintain its relevance.

Our multichannel media world, I suspect, is going to continue to specialize or “niche”-ize fans’ interests in all the major sports. The more the NHL fertilizes its already strong online niche, the better off the league-player "partnership" will be. Although, admittedly, that will mean ever-higher ticket prices and Center Ice subscription fees for us fans, who are generally left out of the "partnership." Alas.

Regardless, it’s great that a very connected yet off-the-payroll (sorta) guy like Botta will be following the team closely. I guarantee we're going to get tips and insights on the team and the league that other clubs' fans will not. That, combined with expanded Newsday coverage and the club’s growing fan blogsophere, will absolutely make following the team this season even more fun than last.

Heh, off the ice, anyway. On-ice joy is still TBD.

That hole at center

With the Islanders so thin at center, Mike Sillinger's slow recovery from hip surgery is, well, not happy news. Richard Park can do Sillinger's role, but with scoring power scarce at center it's nicer to have Sillinger there while Park serves a jack-of-all-lines role.

Frans Nielsen showed wonderful hockey intelligence last season, and I have hopes for him making further strides this year; it'd just be nice to have more flexibility for who plays where, especially when another injury arises. I believe Ben Walter provides less of the same, although he may get a bigger chance. (update: Logan says in their discussion, coach Gordon curiously omitted Walter's name: judgment on past exposure -- the Bruins did deal him, after all -- or oversight? Hmmm...)

But we can't really hope for help from outside. The unsigned market of centers is pretty nonexistent, beyond Mats Sundin (ha) and Peter Forsberg (double-ha) -- neither of whom would come to the Island at this point, and Forsberg, if he played, would probably get fewer games in than Sillinger will this season.

After that ... uh, did Jason Allison ever retire? I think hockeybuzz.com had him on every single team last year, which of course never happened. Fellow faceoff man and Sillinger-esque traveler Yanic Perrault is still out there, as best I can tell. Old friend Shawn Bates doesn't have a team, though he and Sillinger could trade notes on hip injuries. Speaking of nostalgia, Randy Robitaille has signed with Lugano in Switzerland.

So barring a trade, we're stuck with the depth we have. Get well soon, Mike!

Gordon commits to youth, hopes for speed

Strangely, some observers cite the Islanders' number of veterans, or the roster's "average" age, as reason to scoff at the notion of a youth movement. But most of these veterans are stop-gap mentors on short-term deals who will fill out the roster and carry the team while the team accumulates, retains, and develops its prospects.

The youth movement is a decisive shift in philosophy. It's not about finding a magic box of young studs -- it's about the commitment to youth. No one (well, almost no one) is claiming the current crop of green NHLers will carry them to the promised land now.

On that note, the overarching storyline for this year will be how the youngsters perform and how they're evaluated after what should be considerable more ice time under new coach Scott Gordon.

Jeff Tambellini, come on down. In Gordon's thorough interview with Newsday, he mentioned replacing the lost "scoring" of Miro Satan and company with more minutes for guys like Sean Bergenheim and Tambellini:

"If Bergenheim scored 10 goals last year and you give him more minutes, does he score 16 goals? Jeff Tambellini played a minimal amount of minutes. What happens if his ice time doubles?"

Gordon also acknowledges the Great Tambellini Mystery (i.e. "Is he legit, or is he just a AAAA player?"). Brackets in the following are my explanatory notes:

"Somewhere along the way, he's not being himself. From what I've been told, he hasn't had the confidence up here that he has down there. If we can get him to be in the right state of mind, hopefully, he moves closer to the 38 [goals he had in the AHL] than staying near the one [goal he had with the Isles]."

The other interesting part of the interview is his discussion, not for the first time, of increasing team speed through intelligent play. You could understandably call that a pipe dream; or you could call it good coaching. Either way, it will be fun to watch develop -- and fun, particularly, to see how the veterans on their last NHL legs receive it.

Sillinger low on lubricant

I cringe when I read about Mike Sillinger's setback from hip surgery recovery -- not just because he's a pretty valuable forward whose game is dependent on speed (and a healthy hip) -- but because it sounds like the whole process is bloody painful:

As part of the surgery, he had two holes drilled in his hip. He has regained strength in the hip muscles, but he said the joint is tight and the muscles aren't firing properly yet...

... In mid-July, Sillinger suffered what he described as "a little setback" because his hip joint wasn't producing the normal amount of lubrication and required an injection to speed the process.

Two holes drilled. An injection of lubricant. An oil change. Hopefully no transmission rebuild is necessary.

This, plainly, stinks. Sometimes an older veteran's longer summer recovery is a bonus: They play fewer games and add fewer miles, avoiding the dregs of the season that wear players down. But for Sillinger's hip to be this touchy eight months after surgery does not look good. Speed is so essential to his combination of hockey smarts and high-energy play that makes him such an effective two-way forward. Without it ... ack, he becomes just another grinder.