No DeFazio/former futures watch (with late-night updates)

Word this morning that the Islanders won’t be extending a qualifying offer to Brandon DeFazio, making him an unrestricted free agent on Friday.

(We have like 40 things we’re supposed to be doing, so don’t tell the bosses we’re trying to compile that annual list of the non-qualified and bought-out. (Semi-passively, at the moment.) Probably up tonight, and we’ll rely on your help, probably. And then we’ll work on that problem of referring to ourselves in the plural.)

If you were concerned when the Islanders lost the rights to Blake Kessel… he’ll reportedly be free to a good home again. How about when they traded Jyri Niemi? Ditto. Edit: How about Jason Gregoire? Yup.

Yesterday, the Rangers traded Kris Newbury for Danny Syvret yesterday, vet for vet but filling a Rangers need.

Quinnipiac’s Jeremy Langlois to Springfield on an AHL contract, reports Aaron Portzline.

And the story out of Arizona remains hard to believe. RIP.

Edit: Looks like another coaching change is all but official (not that Scott Arniel was going back to Chicago itself, anyway, with the swaps):

TEAM Old New
HER Mark French (5/17)  Mike Haviland (6/18) 
TOR Dallas Eakins (EDM head, 6/10)
IOW John Torchetti (CSKA, 6/24)
SA Chuck Weber (Dir. hockey ops, 6/25)  Peter Horachek (6/25)
CHI-a  Scott Arniel (NYR ass’t, 7/2)

a-affiliation change, not that that necessarily made a difference.

And RIP, Paul Lorieau.

Michael Fornabaio