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Isles/Bruins and the Return of Nabby and Viz

January 27, 2014, 11:47 AM ET [530 Comments]
Dan Petriw
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Islanders return to the ice tonight as they take on the Boston Bruins at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Islander will look to bounce back after a deflating and controversial defeat at the hands of the Blues on Saturday and when they face the B’s tonight they will have some familiar faces in the lineup.

Lubomir Visnovsky will play tonight as he has been cleared by team doctors and has been removed from the Injured Reserve list. Also returning is Evgeni Nabokov who will backup Kevin Poulin in net tonight and I expect Nabby will be the starting goalie when the Islanders square off with the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium Wednesday evening. In more fantastic Islander news; defenseman Travis Hamonic has returned to Islander practice and if all goes according to plan is days away from returning to the islanders lineup.

In order to make room on the roster for Viznovsky and Nabokov, the Islanders have returned dman Matt Donovan and goalie Anders Nilsson to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the American Hockey league. The Islanders will have to make another move soon as they intend for rookie Calvin deHaan to play during the Olympic break in Bridgeport and he can only play one more game before reaching his limit. In a perfect world Hamonic is activated Thursday and deHaan goes down for the break.

I understand the desire for the team to want its rookies to play in the AHL during the Olympics however in my opinion I would keep deHaan up as points are at a premium and I view Calvin as a NHL player now. It’s a double edge sword but after the break this defense should look a lot better with a top six of Hamonic, deHaan, Visnovsky, Strait, Hickey and Macdonald.

When it comes to the trade deadline I fully expect Andrew Macdonald to be moved by deadline day. I have also been told that the Islanders are set to give Thomas Vanek whatever he wants. A source close to the situation told me this morning that “money will not be an issue and there is no low ball offers.” However with that being said Vanek may not take this deal now but wouldn’t be against taking it on July 1st.

A player earns the right to become a free agent and we have to respect that. I can tell you that this will not be an easy decision for Vanek and he honestly loves playing for the Isles and living on the Island. I have also been told that the return for Vanek will be significant. We have to be honest with ourselves here, if Vanek does not resign they HAVE to move him at the deadline; he cannot walk for free. In a perfect world Vanek gets moved and signs with the Islanders on July 1st but I know that sounds like a pipe dream. The bottom line is this; the decision all boils down to the player himself. As always for more on all things hockey please follow me on Twitter and Instagram at @DanDanNoodles78.
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