Islanders To Buy Out Remainder Of Captain Yashin’s Contract
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The Islanders will buy out the remaining four years on captain Alexei Yashin’s 10-year contract in the first step of an off-season overhaul they hope will include resigning Jason Blake and Ryan Smyth.
“It’s going to make the team have a different look,” coach Ted Nolan said of Yashin’s departure in a conference call yesterday. “Hopefully, we can work something out with (Blake and Smyth). We’re trying to assemble a cohesive group here.”
Yashin finished with 119 goals and 171 assists in 346 games with the Islanders, but struggled the past two seasons as captain after Michael Peca was traded to Edmonton in 2005 following the NHL lockout. He had 18 goals and 32 assists this season, when he missed 24 games with a sprained right knee. He was scoreless in the Islanders’ five-game playoff loss in the first round to the Buffalo Sabres.
“Unfortunately he got hurt and couldn’t get back to where he was before. … He couldn’t get it going,” Nolan said. “It’ll be a nice fresh start for him and now we have to find someone to replace him.”
Islanders general manager Garth Snow and Nolan wouldn’t disclose the team’s off-season strategy, but acknowledged that re-signing Blake, their leading scorer, and Smyth would be priorities.
“We’d love to have Ryan back,” Nolan said. “We’re going to do everything we can to keep him.”
Smyth, who was acquired in a trade-deadline deal, and Blake can become unrestricted free agents on July 1.
Yashin came to the Islanders in a trade with Ottawa after the 2000-01 season . New York signed him to a 10-year contract worth $87.5 million, and the four years left are worth $26.45 million. The Islanders can buy Yashin out by paying two-thirds of the remaining amount ($17.63 million) over the next eight years for a salary-cap hit of about $2.2 million per season.
“The Islanders have treated me with the utmost respect,” Yashin said in a statement. “I’ve always believed in the vision (team owner) Charles Wang has for the organization. Although I won’t be a part of it, I believe that the team is headed in the right direction.”
