John Tavares’ highlight-reel goal on Thursday put him in the NHL spotlight as video of his ridiculous move around Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester and shot past Jake Allen was played and replayed.
The lousy start to the Isles’ season prompted lots of opinion pieces about what would happen to Tavares, who will be a free agent after the 2017-18 season. Could a last-place team hope to keep their star and captain around?
The news of the last week may give some clue as to how that might happen.
Newsday’s report on owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin gathering information on and talking to numerous former players, agents and executives in a search for a “big-name” person to take over the team’s hockey operations is certainly a step in the direction of assuring Tavares and other current and potential Islanders that the team is being proactive about the future.