Harper, transition, etc.

He’s an afterthought in the press release*, but the Islanders acquired Shane Harper from the Flyers as part of the deal that sent Mark Streit’s rights to Philadelphia. Harper’s a restricted free agent this summer, due a qualifying offer by July 2 (transition rules) after his entry-level contract expired. Michael Cignoli caught up with him this afternoon, and sounds like he’s not exactly sold that he’ll actually be an Islander after July 2. Harper split last year between Adirondack and Trenton (ECHL); one of his five AHL goals came against Bridgeport.

Grand Rapids can put away the Calder Cup Final on Friday after a 4-2 win in Game 3. Jeff Hoggan assisted on Jan Mursak’s go-ahead goal with 4:49 left, then scored himself with 2:28 to go. The Crunch, still without the injured Radko Gudas, led 1-0, fell behind but tied it at 2.

Got a chance to read through the CBA yesterday — seems denser — but didn’t see much that hadn’t been reported, at least as affects the AHL. Dominik already gave a close reading to the updates to the rules governing players who leave college early. (I stand by my feeling that it’s not a bug, it’s a feature.) Waivers now expire after 30 days/10 games of regular recall, or 10 games of emergency recall, not counting the regular recall.

Said transition rules include qualifying offers by July 2 this year at 5 p.m., a buyout period that begins 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final and ends July 4, a noon July 5 free-agency opening, a July 20 expiration of qualifying offers.

Chris Elsberry on MMA, now legal in Connecticut, and what it could mean to Webster Bank Arena.

Dallas Eakins gets his NHL gig:

TEAM Old New
HER Mark French (5/17)  — 
TOR Dallas Eakins (EDM head, 6/10)

(This does not yet include the affiliation and relocation shuffles. We’ll seal them up when they’re sealed up.)

Elsewhere, Ben Guite has become an assistant under Red Gendron at Maine. The college coaches have named their rookie of the year award for Tim Taylor.

Silliness.

This triple-OT** game in Chicago is still just the second-best game I’ve seen today.

As seen on Uni Watch: First joke’s the best.

Safer parsnip.” Awesome.

Very belatedly noted, RIP, Jim Boyd.

And indirectly connected to that, because it’s 2013 and we can, here are Rita Moreno and Morgan Freeman singing Tom Lehrer.

*-There’s even a stray capital in “And,” which at least to me suggests it was added later Actually, Every Word Is Capitalized, So Never Mind. Counting Anthony Stolarz, the Flyers have 50 players under contract right now; I’m always dicey on how those 50 are counted after junior teams’ seasons end, but maybe the Flyers just needed to move a body.
**-At this writing.

Michael Fornabaio