Islanders & NHL Playoff News: Roster turnover, Lightning roles

The Stanley Cup final… still hasn’t started. But the post-mortem and second-guessing of our rivals is well underway!

Below: Looking at the Isles roster, and basking in the Delicious and Petty Joy of the Smurfs going down.

Islanders News

• Break it down like Tom Petty: Who stays, who goes, whos dangled in a hockey trade on the Islanders roster. [Athletic]
• If you told me someones playoff run rested on the health of Ryan Strome … … The Lightning took that heart and came it in front of them. Dan and Mike enjoy the Delicious Demise of the Rangers in different but complementary ways. [Islanders Anxiety podcast]
• Speaking of which, old Timers see similarities in the resilience and in-series adjustments of Todays Lightning and the 1980-84 Islanders. [Athletic]
• And speaking of that: A tale of two 20-year-olds who decided to meet the Islanders at the airport upon their return from Vancouver with their third Stanley Cup in 1982. [Isles]
• If all New York sports were treated as a collective the way Canadian media treat every Canada-based NHL teams Cup hopes as a single thing, then you could say the Tampa Bay Lightning are the biggest nemesis of all New York sports. (In reality, though, the Lightning this spring are Heroes.) [Newsday]
• Barry Trotz is in no rush to choose his destination, so a Winnipeg Brewery is trying to sweeten the offer. [Post | TSN]

NHL News

• Nikita Kucherov continues to be one clutch badass. [NHL]
• Steven Stamkos is thriving in a different role with the Lightning. [TSN]
• Gerard Gallant sort of kind of explains why he scratched Kaapo Kakko, but its not really informative and boy, its one of those moves people will bring up for a while. [Post]
• How can the Rangers close the very large gap? MOAR bulk! [Post]
• Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Its a Pivotal offseason for the Sabers, who have three first-round Picks. [NHL]
• In the Womens U-18, Canada beat the US for gold. [Sportsnet]
• Old friend Mikko Koskinen did not wait long to say Goodbye to the Oilers, signing a two-year deal with Lugano in Switzerland. Im sure hell send Jim Matheson a Postcard. [Copper n Blue | Sportsnet]
• Jeremy Lauzon signs a four-year, $ 8 million extension with the Predators. [ESPN | On the Forecheck]
• The top 10 right wings in this Summers draft. [NHL]
• The Oilers made big strides this year but will need more of their youth movement to bear fruit. [Copper n Blue]