Belated note from last night: Lou Lamoriello told the media assembled in Vancouver that the Islanders sent qualifying offers to three of their restricted free agents, including Michael Dal Colle and Josh Ho-Sang, but left off was John Stevens. There was a late-season stretch where he might’ve been Bridgeport’s best healthy/active centerman, but he’ll go unrestricted after playing 101 games over two seasons and an ATO here, limited by injuries to 25 plus four playoff games this season.
While we wait for free agency in a week and a half, it’s draft day. Well, Day 1. The Big Club has the 23rd pick at the moment (some of the rest of that draft order is already out of date), with four more picks tomorrow (no third- or fourth-rounder, and the second they have isn’t their own: the Hamonic and Davidson trades and the expansion draft are to blame). Darien’s Spencer Knight is expected to go sometime tonight in the first round (8 p.m., NBCSN). Tyce Thompson probably goes tomorrow, though his stock seems to keep rising.
Meanwhile, the NHL approved a bunch of mostly reactionary rules changes. But the David Leggio legacy lives on.