After so much good fortune, it seems like the Islanders have now suffered one of the worst blows in franchise history.
Captain John Tavares was not announced as signing a new deal as of late Saturday night, and once it got to midnight and the calendar changed to July 1, he was going to be an unrestricted free agent. Tavares couldn’t sign with another team until noon on Sunday, but because of the rules in the collective bargaining agreement, the Islanders were set to become just like any other team.
That means they could offer Tavares just a seven-year deal, whereas before midnight they could have signed him to an eight-year deal.