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After Threepeat, Nino Says No to Mini-Camp Updated 2:06 pm

June 20, 2013, 7:04 AM ET [387 Comments]
Dee Karl
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
2:06 pm: Well, it seems the Flyers have made the compliance buy out of Briere official today. That leaves him available and many, many folks thinking he'd look mighty fine in an Isles jersey. (And some that don't of course!)

Actually, I would be okay with that. A veteran presence that still has some 'gas in the tank' that could be looking at the Isles as a place to prove he still has worth. His stats have consistently declined recently and he will be 36-years-old (thank you @Crosscheck7927), but that makes him the sort of pick-up Garth likes.

Jeff Capellini thinks the Isles should worry about goaltending before making any other bold moves. Perhaps... or perhaps Garth already has an ace up his sleeve. You can never tell with that guy. Didn't Art Staple say something about knowing what the Goalie situation was going to be in the very near future? Will the Isles use THEIR compliance buy-out? I don't think so, but hey... who knows.

Funny thing about "buy-outs." According to Cap Geek, Alexei Yashin is the most expensive buy-out in hockey history. And still he hangs out with Charles Wang at games and plays tennis with him. The Isles are STILL paying him for the next two years. Nice gig if you can get it.

7 am: The New York Islanders announced yesterday that their yearly prospect mini-camp will take place this year the second week of July with a charity scrimmage on Thursday, July 11th at 7 pm. Tickets are on sale today and they are $10 with all proceeds going to the Islanders Children's Foundation.

Okay, so that's the good news. Isles hockey in July and STILL in Uniondale -- unless they move the thing to the Barclays' Center just to annoy me.

Here's the bad news -- maybe. According to Newsday's Art Staple yesterday, Nino Niederreiter has declined the invitation to mini-camp this year. Uh oh. Now, according to Mr. Staple, a prospect has the right to decline this annual event if they have already participated in three. Nino has.

However, I will tell you that last July when I interviewed Nino he was not exactly thrilled to be there. It seemed to be 'old hat' to him as he had gone through it twice before. I think Nino missed the point. He was there not as much for himself, the highest drafted Swiss born player ever, but more for those young hopefuls who had to work at being noticed.

I like Nino. He's a good player and a fine young man. I liked Sean Bergenheim too. He was the same deal. But like Bergie, there always seems to be some issue surrounding Nino. That just doesn't sit well with Isles management.

I can only guess that Nino's decision to not attend prospect camp in July will be a non-issue as he will be most likely packaged on June 30th.

So mark your calendars and pick up your tickets. No matter who plays in this scrimmage it is always a fun family outing. And don't forget about Sunday. The Isles may not have a top five pick to get excited over, but they’ll have some cool new interactive games for you to try out.

And it’s free. How do you beat FREE?








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