New York Islanders

The New York Islanders are excited to announce tryouts for the Junior Islanders Quebec Tournament. Tryouts will take place at Islanders IceWorks in Syosset. The first tryout is June 25 & 26 and the second tryout is August 13 & 14. There is an $8...

There is a coaching search underway right now that has nothing to do with the New York Islanders, yet the location of this search has at least tangentially drawn them in. The University of Maine has been without a head coach since firing Tim Whitefield in April and naming associate coach Bob Corkum as interim coach. Maine, many Islanders fans recognize, is the alma mater of three particularly important people steering the Islanders and their young players: General manager Garth Snow, head coach Jack Capuano and Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Scott Pellerin. read more

There is a coaching search underway right now that has nothing to do with the New York Islanders, yet the location of this search has at least tangentially drawn them in. The University of Maine has been without a head coach since firing Tim Whitefield in April and naming associate coach Bob Corkum as interim coach. Maine, many Islanders fans recognize, is the alma mater of three particularly important people steering the Islanders and their young players: General manager Garth Snow, head coach Jack Capuano and Bridgeport Sound Tigers head coach Scott Pellerin. For the Maine opening, the Islanders-related scuttlebutt began in April, when Pellerin's name was mentioned in media as a candidate but Pellerin wouldn't comment. There has been nothing concrete naming Pellerin as a finalist for the job, but pretty much any former Black Bear currently behind a bench has had his name surface. Including Jack Capuano. The latest local report from the Bangor Daily News mentions neither Capuano nor Pellerin, though the university is not exactly naming names. Maine says it expects to have one secured by next week, is interviewing more candidates, but will not acknowledge specific candidates because many are in current jobs. The Bangor paper has the following candidates: ... reliable sources in the hockey community have indicated the frontrunners include University of New Hampshire assistant coach and former Colby College head coach Jim Tortorella, former Black Bear and University of Massachusetts assistant and current Yale University assistant Dennis "Red" Gendron, Maine associate head coach and Black Bears interim head coach Bob Corkum, and Mark Osiecki, former University of Wisconsin assistant, who was recently fired as the head coach at Ohio State after three seasons. ... but of course there could be more. Completely coincidentally (Of course? Of course.), Jack Capuano was named to the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame earlier this month. And readers here brought this up in the morning LHH thread: A College Hockey News column, which otherwise reads almost like a message board "cheap SnoWang!!1" piece ripping the Islanders' frugality, says "according to two sources, there have been overtures made" from Maine to the Islanders about Capuano. You Be Capuano The Islanders are always mum on the contract status of their coaches, but Capuano is widely believed to have finished a contract this season. So put yourself in his position, if indeed the alma mater came asking: He's in an interesting spot. He's survived the worst and his NHL team is on the rise, so he theoretically can command an extension and a raise -- something few would have predicted in January -- but also his position is not one of perfectly solid ground. (It almost never is in the NHL, but...) The Islanders coaching staff had this team "humming," as the players say, by the final third of the season. But it's also a staff with two assistants who were suggested if not outright picked for Capuano. Meanwhile, NHL coaching jobs are inherently unsafe, and a step backwards after the team raised expectations in 2013 would be disastrous for Capuano. An eighth seed this past season, the bar is now set there as the minimum for 2013-14. The team was healthy in 2013. What if the injury scourge returns, or the goaltending further underwhelms? Meanwhile, NCAA hockey jobs are ... well they're not cushy exactly, but they often end up being long term. A New Englander leading the good life at his alma mater could sound enticing versus the instability of the NHL, where even Jack Adams award winners are a fluke- or injury-aided losing streak away from suddenly acquiring an expiration date. On the other hand, Capuano is in the very position he has toiled so many years to secure: Leading a team that is only expected to get better, carving out respect for the club and his work around the league, at a point where the latter two help his bargaining position. It's all a matt

The New York Islanders announced another low-on-the-radar signing today that may have you asking yourself, "Who?" As is typical in these late-bloomer additions to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, his history and path to the pros is an adventurous one. The signing is Chris Bruton, who is essentially an undersized AHL fighter with some modest hockey skill. (See his ample fight card at hockeyfights.com, going back to Spokane in the WHL.) But he gets a two-way contract -- i.e., an NHL deal -- so he at least potentially could see time with the big club. This is part of the annual rotation of muscle guys we see in the AHL, with some of them receiving that added carrot of a two-way deal. read more

The New York Islanders announced another low-on-the-radar signing today that may have you asking yourself, "Who?" As is typical in these late-bloomer additions to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, his history and path to the pros is an adventurous one. The signing is Chris Bruton, who is essentially an undersized AHL fighter with some modest hockey skill. (See his ample fight card at hockeyfights.com, going back to Spokane in the WHL.) But he gets a two-way contract -- i.e., an NHL deal -- so he at least potentially could see time with the big club. This is part of the annual rotation of muscle guys we see in the AHL, with some of them receiving that added carrot of a two-way deal. From the team release: Bruton, 26, scored 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 69 games last season with the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League. The Calgary, ALTA, native led Peoria with 134 penalty minutes, while posting a plus-2 rating. He split his first professional season (2011-12) between Peoria and the ECHL’s Alaska Aces, totaling 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 65 games. You'll note two things there: 1) Don't expect much offense, and 2) His ECHL Alaska Aces ties likely led to positive references for the Islanders, who have previously dipped into Alaska, where they recruited current assistant coach Brent Thompson into the organization (first as head coach at AHL Bridgeport) after his success with the Aces. However, the other thing that stands out is at the end of the release: After juniors, Bruton played Canadian university hockey at Acadia University in Nova Scotia. That's why he didn't play his first pro season until age 24, where AHL Peoria noticed him and called him up in 2011-12. They then re-signed him for this past season, with this in mind according to the Peoria Journal Star: The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Bruton earned a call-up from ECHL Alaska during the season and made a big impression on the parent club St. Louis Blues while in Peoria. He fought nine times in just 38 games, and also bagged his first two goals at the AHL level. "We've been around Chris Bruton for a while and we're glad to have him under the Blues umbrella," said Blues assistant general manager, director of pro scouting and Rivermen GM Kevin McDonald. "He joins a long line of players who have earned a chance to come up from the ECHL to Peoria during a season, got the job done and earned an AHL deal to stay there, then earned a full contract to return another year. "We think he has a big ceiling and we want to see what develops." Now at age 26, I doubt anyone sees "a big ceiling" for Bruton, but he undoubtedly ingratiates himself to his teammates and fans if his Peoria experience is any indication. You'll also see him as the first testimonial in this Riverman "You Can Play" project video. With Peoria being abandoned by the Blues and scrambling to field a SPHL replacement for the Illinois town, it was time for Bruton to find a new location if he was going to continue chasing moves up the pro ladder. Now, suddenly, that chase include an outside shot at appearing in an NHL uniform.

Another depth transaction for the New York Islanders this early in the off season as they announced today that forward Chris Bruton has agreed to a one-year, two-way contract. You wanted toughness? How's 134 penalty minutes with a plus-2 rating? Bruton played 69 games with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen last season earning 10 points. He is only 26-years-old, but it looks like his nose has been around for much longer. On the plus side, Chris was the captain of the 2007-2008 Spokane chiefs who won the 2008 Memorial Cup. Welcome aboard Chris Bruton

Another depth transaction for the New York Islanders this early in the off season as they announced today that forward Chris Bruton has agreed to a one-year, two-way contract. You wanted toughness? How's 134 penalty minutes with a plus-2 rating? Bruton played 69 games with the AHL's Peoria Rivermen last season earning 10 points. He is only 26-years-old, but it looks like his nose has been around for much longer. On the plus side, Chris was the captain of the 2007-2008 Spokane chiefs who won the 2008 Memorial Cup. Welcome aboard Chris Bruton

The Islanders announced they have signed forward Chris Burton to a one-year, two-way contract. Burton, 26-years-old, scored 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 69 games last season with the Peoria Rivermen of the American Hockey League. He posted a -2 rating last year with Peoria.

The New York Islanders announced today that forward Chris Bruton has agreed to terms on a one-year, two-way (NHL/AHL) contract. Bruton, 26, scored 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 69 games last season with the Peoria Rivermen of the Ameri...

We're about to begin our annual player report cards, draft profiles, and other off-season Big Question fare. But before we get to that we'll put the playoffs to bed with one last review, hopefully benefiting from a week to digest the proceedings. read more