Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News wonders if the New York Islanders would benefit from bringing in a player like Filip Zadina before training camp. The Islanders badly needed a top-six forward this summer but didn’t have the cap space or assets to make a move towards improving their forward group. Zadina has been linked to the Buffalo Sabres and has potential interest from a handful of other teams. He is also reportedly close to signing with an NHL team.
The 24-year-old hasn’t been able to live up to his draft status as a sixth overall pick and will now join his third NHL team in just seven seasons. The Pardubice, Czech Republic native, scored a career-high 13 goals last season and tallied 23 points in 72 games with the San Jose Sharks. But, despite being on the worst team in the NHL, he failed to play more than third- and fourth-line minutes and given the current state of his game, it’s unlikely he would help out the Islanders’ top six forwards. However, he could carve out a depth role in their bottom six.
In other evening notes:
- The Anaheim Ducks announced that they’ve partnered with A Parent Media Co. Inc. to stream all of their regional games this season free of charge. The games will be available on the soon-to-launch Victory+, allowing Ducks fans in the Los Angeles regional market to watch Ducks games for free. The app for Victory+ will be available for fans outside the Ducks’ television region as well, but the games will not be free. However, the app will allow fans in other parts of the country to view the extra content that the team produces outside of their games.
- Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin spoke with KFAN FM 100.3 today and discussed the upcoming season, where his expectations are for the Wild to make the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. Guerin has had to navigate some very rocky waters the past couple of summers regarding the salary cap, as the Wild have had to account for $14.74MM in dead cap space for two years due to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. However, he has managed to keep the team competitive and believes that if his current group stays healthy, they will be in the mix come playoff time. Minnesota didn’t make many changes this summer and will count on many internal improvements from young players if they hope to improve on the disappointment of missing the playoffs last season.
Victory Victory+
Woo!!
Let’s Go Ducks
The Ducks seem to be doing a great job of adapting to the new media world, like with Duck Stream.
Hope this eventually results in all SD Gulls games being broadcast as well. That would be bomb.com.