NHL Notebook: Islanders will part ways with Yashin
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The New York Islanders will buy out the remaining four years on captain Alexei Yashin's 10-year contract in the first step of an offseason overhaul they hope will include re-signing forwards Jason Blake and Ryan Smyth.
"It's going to make the team have a different look," coach Ted Nolan said of Yashin's departure in a conference call yesterday. "Hopefully, we can work something out with [Blake and Smyth]."
Yashin finished with 119 goals and 171 assists in 346 games with the Islanders, but struggled the past two seasons as captain after Michael Peca was traded to Edmonton in 2005 after the NHL lockout. He had 18 goals and 32 assists this past season, when he missed 24 games with a sprained right knee. He was scoreless in the Islanders' five-game playoff loss in the first round to the Buffalo Sabres.
Islanders general manager Garth Snow and Nolan acknowledged that re-signing Blake, their leading scorer, and Smyth would be priorities. Smyth, acquired in a trade-deadline deal, and Blake can become unrestricted free agents July 1.
Yashin came to the Islanders in a trade with Ottawa after the 2000-01 season. New York signed him to a 10-year contract worth $87.5 million, and the four years left are worth $26.45 million. The Islanders can buy Yashin out by paying two-thirds of the remaining amount ($17.63 million) over the next eight years for a salary-cap hit of about $2.2 million per season.
Flyers
Philadelphia hired two new assistant coaches, former Penguins winger and assistant coach Joe Mullen and onetime Flyers forward Jack McIlhargey. and named a new head coach for their AHL affiliate. The team also announced that former Flyers forward Craig Berube would return as coach of the Philadelphia Phantoms, their American Hockey League affiliate. Onetime Penguins defenseman Kjell Samuelsson, who replaced Berube as the Phantoms' head coach early last season, will remain with the team as an associate coach. Mullen was an assistant with the Phantoms last season.
Maple Leafs
Toronto signed forward Nik Antropov to a two-year extension yesterday that will pay him $1.95 million next season and $2.15 million in 2008-09. Antropov, 27, had 18 goals and 15 assists in 54 games with the Leafs last season.
First Published June 6, 2007 11:39 pm
