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Doug Weight needs to make the most of John Tavares

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, then returned in 1985. His SportsWatch column debuted in 2005.

Doug Weight, the Islanders’ interim coach, punctuated his first practice on Wednesday with the message, “There’s no time to waste,” practically begging us to make a cheap headline joke that goes something like this: Weight won’t wait!

But this is no time for joking for the Isles, whose playoff breakthrough of last spring has led mostly nowhere en route to an 18-17-8 start after Thursday night’s 3-0 victory over the Stars.

So let’s go back to Weight’s line about time a-wastin’, which he presumably meant in the short term, and this time focus on the broader reason for urgency:

Nothing cries out for action more around Barclays Center than getting something significant accomplished before the clock starts ticking on the John Tavares Era.