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- Islanders trade board: What they need, and who might make sense The Athletic
- New York Islanders vs. Vancouver Canucks Prediction: Betting on Goals in This Thursday Night Showdown OddsChecker
- Tarasenko Gone: 3 Options to Strengthen Islanders Forward Depth – New York Islanders Hockey Now New York Hockey Now
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Islanders add much-needed offense, land Bo Horvat from Canucks
Bo Horvat leaving Vancouver was always thought to be a possibility. Then, it became a reality Monday with the Canucks trading their captain to the New York Islanders.
Horvat heads to Long Island in exchange for forward Anthony Beauvillier, prospect forward Aatu Raty and conditional first-round pick in this year’s draft, the teams announced. The decision to move on from Horvat was expected given he was a pending unrestricted free agent who had yet to common ground with the Canucks on a new deal. Yet the fact he went to the Islanders, however, proved to be a bit surprising considering they were not among the teams that were rumored to be in play.
The Islanders closed the weekend two points behind Metropolitan Division foe, the Pittsburgh Penguins, for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot. However, the Penguins have played three fewer games than the Islanders with the Sabres sandwiched between the two while also playing the same number of games as the Penguins.
Adding Horvat gives the Islanders a top-six center whose 31 goals are tied for eighth while his 54 points are tied for 21st. He also gives the Islanders another forward who can be trusted in a number of situations. Horvat led all Canucks forwards in five-on-five ice time, short-handed minutes and was second in power-play minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick.
As for trying to retain Horvat long term? The 27-year-old is in the final season of a six-year contract extension that carried a $5.5 million annual average value. He would be one of four pending UFAs on the Islanders roster — defenseman Scott Mayfield, forward Zach Parise and goaltender Semyon Varlamov — who are in need of a new deal. CapFriendly projects the Isles would have $16.275 million in available cap space.
Parting ways with Horvat is also the latest in what has been a challenging season for the Canucks. They came into the 2022-23 campaign with playoff expectations after Bruce Boudreau replaced Travis Green following an 8-15-2 start. From there, the Canucks found cohesion under Boudreau and went 32-15-10 for the remainder of the season. Although they fell five points shy of a wild-card spot, what Boudreau achieved created the expectations the Canucks could potentially reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2019-20 season.
Instead, the team opened this season with a seven-game losing streak and only mustered two points from a pair of overtime defeats. The closest the Canucks have come to .500 was Dec. 27 when they were 16-15-3 only to then lose seven of their next eight contests which has now extended to eight losses going into Jan. 21 — the day that proved to be Boudreau’s last game behind the bench.
The Canucks fired Boudreau and replaced him with former Arizona Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet, who had previously served as an analyst on TNT’s broadcasts. The Canucks won their first game under Tocchet but lost their second — a five-goal defeat to the Seattle Kraken — which prompted Tocchet to say in his post-game remarks that the team was “soft.”
All of those events have also led to the Canucks being closer to the lottery than the playoffs. They were 14 points out of the final Western Conference wild-card spot coming into Monday while having nine more points than the Chicago Blackhawks, who currently have the fewest points in the West and the second fewest in the NHL behind the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets had 33 points to start the week while the Blackhawks had 34.
Beauvillier’s arrival now means the Canucks have a top-nine forward who, at 25 years old, could be part of their future plans. He has nine goals and 20 points in 49 games. He’s currently on pace to finish the season with 34 points which would tie what he scored last season in 75 games. As for that future? Getting Raty and a first-round pick could also prove beneficial in the coming years.
Raty, who at one time was thought to be a first-round pick, ended up going in the second round back in 2021. The Finnish center spent one more season back home playing for Jukurit on loan from Karpat in the Liiga, the highest division of Finnish hockey, where he scored 13 goals and 40 points in 41 games. Raty moved to North America at the start of this season where he has mainly played for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate. He has seven goals and 15 points in 27 games in the AHL and also has two points in 12 games with the Islanders this season. Raty’s most recent game came Sunday when he logged just under nine minutes and two shots in the Islanders’ 2-1 overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights before being loaned back to the AHL.
Coupling the first-round pick from the Islanders along with their own first-rounder gives the Canucks more draft capital in what is thought to be a promising draft class. It’s possible the Canucks could be among the several teams remain in the running to get the No. 1 pick to take the projected top skater Connor Bedard. In total, the Canucks have four picks in the first three rounds and seven picks overall.
Long Islanders See Some Identified Flying Objects
LONG ISLAND, NY — It’s definitely not a bird, and not exactly a plane, nor Superman on this way back to his day job at The Daily Planet.
But as a trail of light burst across the South Shore of Long Island on Saturday many residents did come to wonder what it was that they seeing, and they stopped in their tracks to grab a few pixels of video on their cellphones.
What “it” turned out to be was a vapor trail from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 shooting across the sky after its Starlink mission launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Due to clear conditions, the launch of over 52 Starlink satellites was visible to people all across the East Coast just after 7:30 p.m., Space.com reported.
Viewers close by the launchpad witnessed Falcon 9’s first stage, in which it fell back to Earth for a soft landing on top of the SpaceX drone ship, “A Shortfall of Gravitas”, in the Atlantic Ocean, the website reported.
SpaceX has been expanding its Starlink mega-constellation, sending almost 3,400 Starlinks into space with a plan to bring thousands more aloft, according to the website.
That was only days away from an expected up close and personal view of the planet Jupiter on Monday, which was scheduled to swing closest to earth’s orbit for the first time in 59 years.
Saturday drew some real attention as followers posted their shots and video to social media.
Tom DeSantis Of Farmingdale also captured the spectacle, shooting it sailing across the sky before it faded away into the night. The video, which was published on Farmingdale Patch on Monday, has over 40,000 views.
In Bellport, the identified object could be seen flying over Avino’s Italian Table in a video tweeted by Rich Franklin. He posed the question to followers: “#UFO or #Spacex?”
Spotted over Bellport Villiage #UFO or #SpaceX pic.twitter.com/stx9dubbiG
— Rich Franklin (@AyyItsFranklin_) September 25, 2022
News 12 reported receiving phone calls from many viewers who reported seeing the mission.
“What a sight to see in the Saturday night sky!” wrote Meredith Garofalo as she shared a post from viewers in Woodbury.
What a sight to see in the Saturday night sky! Another view of the vapor trail from the @SpaceX #Falcon9 #Starlink mission after launch from Cape Canaveral soaring through the sky!📽️: Adam Roseman & his sons Ryan and Jack from Woodbury, NY! #nywx #rocket #satellite #rocketgirl pic.twitter.com/NmoJP0dMju
— Meredith Garofalo (@GarofaloWX) September 25, 2022
But the spectacle did not end there.
Long Island residents were still being treated to a spectacular view on Monday as Jupiter dropped by.
Not so far away from that view … a little less obvious was the planned crash of a NASA spacecraft into an asteroid at around 7:30 p.m. on Monday.
Space.com called the crash wild, as it was something out of a Star Wars movie minus the Death Star.
Behold the 1st images of DART’s wild asteroid crash! https://t.co/ZK6AHUxSPy pic.twitter.com/vAmnYaAGPJ
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) September 27, 2022
NASA declared “impact success” at about 7:19 p.m. on Twitter, displaying video from the #DARTMIssion’s DRACO Camera, describing the spacecraft as the size of a “vending machine” successfully colliding with the asteroid, Dimorphos, “which is the size of a football stadium and poses no threat to Earth.”
Behold the 1st images of DART’s wild asteroid crash! https://t.co/ZK6AHUxSPy pic.twitter.com/vAmnYaAGPJ
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) September 27, 2022
That might be the last of the space shows for a while as, Hurricane Ian has delayed SpaceX’s five-crew launch from Cape Canaveral until Oct. 4, Space.com reported late Tuesday.
Lane Lambert named Islanders’ new head coach
Lou Lamoriello did not go with the controversial Joel Quenneville or Mike Babcock in his replacement for Barry Trotz. He did not wait around to see what would happen with Pete DeBoer in Vegas or whether Paul Maurice wanted to get back into coaching.
Instead, after mandating a new voice in explaining the surprise firing of Trotz last week, Lamoriello elevated Trotz’s top assistant to the head job, with the Islanders announcing Lane Lambert as their new head coach on Monday morning.
“I had the opportunity to work with Lane over the past four years, which includes spending time with him on a one-on-one basis when he served as the interim head coach this past season,” Lamoriello said in a press release. “In my opinion, he is the right person to coach this team.”
Lambert, who had worked with Trotz since being elevated to an assistant coach with the Predators in 2011-12, served as head coach for the Islanders for a short period in January when Trotz missed time following the death of his mother and a positive COVID-19 test.
Like Trotz, he had been with the Islanders for four seasons prior to Monday’s promotion.
It is not clear whether Lamoriello interviewed or spoke with any other candidates for the job.
Lambert has no head coaching experience in the NHL outside of what he did in the interim role with the Islanders this season. He last served as a head coach with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals from 2007-11.
Long Islanders respond to new mask recommendation as COVID cases rise
With cases on the rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now saying Nassau and Suffolk are considered high risk.
Long Islanders said they’re using common sense.
“I have two vaccines, I have two boosters, I wear my mask at work in common areas. At my desk, I don’t,” said Nikki Katz, of Huntington.
The CDC also urges people to stay up to date on vaccine information and to get tested if they experience symptoms.
It’s not clear yet if the new indoor mask recommendation will be enforced.
T.J. Arella, co-owner of 8 Well, a small group personal training studio that opened just seven weeks ago in Huntington, said he’s not too concerned.
“It’s been a big controversy what we’re going through, but as long as people stay safe, I dont think it will affect business at all,” Arella said.
Health officials urge anyone with compromised immune systems to mask up indoors at all times.
State Department of Health recommends Long Islanders wear masks indoors as COVID-19 transmission rate climbs
The New York state Department of Health is now recommending Long Islanders wear masks indoors again.
The news come as both Nassau and Suffolk counties were classified as high-risk communities for COVID transmission.
The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention elevated Long Island to its highest risk level as COVID-19 cases have steadily risen in both Nassau and Suffolk counties due to the Omicron variant.
Health officials add that the COVID spike on Long Island has been fueled by the end of mask mandates in crowded indoor buildings and other factors.
“Our primary vaccination rates on Long Island aren’t great. We’ve not done particularly well with boosters,” says Dr. David Battinelli, of Northwell Health. “Long Island is a very densely populated place. So you take a highly dense population with a highly infectious disease and you’re going to have spread.”
Health experts say the numbers are likely even higher because people are doing at-home testing.
On Wednesday, the COVID-19 positivity rate on Long Island was 10.5%. One month ago, it was 5.2% and two months ago it was 1.6%. The numbers have been steadily increasing.
The CDC mask recommendation is not mandatory, but encouraged. Its recommendation is also for all Long Islanders, regardless of vaccination status.
Josephine Martino, 92 of Smithtown, is one resident who is not happy with the recommendation.
“I’m living my life,” Martino says. “I do what I want, and nobody can tell me what to do.”
Other Long Islanders say they have never stopped wearing their masks.
The CDC says people with medical conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 should take further precautions, which includes avoiding crowded indoor spaces.
The CDC looks at different things to determine risk levels including the number of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and staff levels at hospitals.
The state Health Department’s guidance includes staying home if you’re not feeling well, getting tested following possible exposure and getting vaccinated or boosted.
Islanders games postponed through Nov. 30 due to COVID-19
The NHL has postponed Islanders games through Tuesday, the league announced Saturday.
The Islanders have “up to eight” players in COVID-19 protocol, the team said in a statement.
That would account for two additional cases as of Saturday, with Josh Bailey having returned from protocol. Adam Pelech, Andy Greene, Anders Lee, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston and Zdeno Chara are all in protocol.
The decision affects Sunday’s game at the Rangers and Tuesday’s contest at the Flyers.
“The League is in the process of reviewing and revising the Islanders’ regular season schedule,” the NHL said in a statement. “The Islanders organization has followed, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state and national agencies.”
It added that the decision to postpone was made by the NHL in consultation with the Players’ Association and the Islanders’ medical groups.
The Islanders have lost eight games in a row, the latest being Friday night against the Penguins. They are 5-10-2.
New York Islanders acquire Richard Panik, second-rounder from Detroit Red Wings for Nick Leddy
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The New York Islanders acquired forward Richard Panik and a second-round draft pick this year from the Detroit Red Wings on Friday for defenseman Nick Leddy.
Detroit will retain 50% of Panik’s salary.
Panik has 88 goals and 106 assists in 517 regular-season games in nine seasons with Tampa Bay, Toronto, Chicago, Arizona, Washington and Detroit. The 30-year-old Slovak split last season with Washington and Detroit, finishing with four goals and nine assists in 48 games.
Leddy, also 30, has 65 goals and 271 assists in 776 regular-season games in 11 seasons with Chicago and New York. He has seven goals and 26 assists in 121 playoff games, helping the Blackhawks win the 2013 Stanley Cup. Last season, the former University of Minnesota star had two goals and 20 assists in 56 games.