Bergenheim and Tambellini to Become UFAs

By not receiving qualifying offers from the Islanders, Sean Bergenheim and Jeff Tambellini will become unrestricted free agents on July 1. It appeared for a while now as though Bergie’s best chance to be better will likely have to come somewhere else. He was a grinder for the Islanders but was very inconsistent. His time had come. Tambellini was almost a certainty to be let go. The team never really used him and often overlooked him when they needed a body on the ice. Look for his father, Steve Tambellini, to potentially swoop him up to play for him in Edmonton.

By extending qualifying offers to Matt Moulson, Rob Schremp, Dustin Kohn, Dylan Reese and Nathan Lawson, the Islanders hold on to their rights.

And as Islanders rumors go: The Islanders have been trying to land a scoring winger and have had talks with the Panters about Stephen Weiss. Also look to the Islanders to make a UFA play for Stempniak. Also on Bobby Ryan: Talks have slowed after he reportedly turned down 20+ over 5 years...There is a very real chance Ryan could be given an offer sheet I am told. Teams who may get in on Ryan are Minnesota, Buffalo, NY Islanders, Ottawa. This all according to Hockeybuzz.com.

Gardner Day-to-Day With Bruised Wrist

X-rays on New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner's right wrist came back negative on Monday, and the Yankees say he is day to day.

Gardner was examined by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad. Ahmad said that Gardner has a contusion of his right wrist.

Gardner hurt the wrist on Sunday night. Leading off the third inning, the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw nailed Gardner with a 91-mph fastball. Gardner stayed in the game to run, but was removed to start the fourth inning. He reported tightness and swelling afterward, but was optimistic that nothing was broken.

Gardner has been excellent all season long for the Yankees. Besides playing a strong left field, he his hitting .321 and has a team-high 24 stolen bases.

Coach Thurman Believes Jets Have Potential to Have Best Secondary He Ever Coached

Dennis Thurman has coached a lot of great players and a lot of fantastic defensive backfields in his career, and he believes the current Jets secondary has the potential to be the best of them all.

“It could be the deepest we’ve had, even in Baltimore, from top to bottom,” the Jets’ secondary coach told me. “We had some good players in Baltimore, but not the depth we have here. It could be the best secondary I’ve ever had, top to bottom. That’s saying a lot.”

For the record, Thurman considers the 2006 Baltimore Ravens the standard by which all of his secondary units are measured. That was an awesome defense that included S Ed Reed, S Dawan Landry, CB Chris McAlister and CB Samari Rolle as the starters in the secondary (combined interceptions: 19), with Corey Ivy as the top backup. The Ravens finished sixth in pass defense and No. 1 in total defense.

The Jets have five holdovers from a secondary that ranked No. 1 in pass defense, including two starters – CB Darrelle Revis and S Jim Leonhard. The top backups are S Eric Smith, CB/S Dwight Lowery and S James Ihedigbo. Throw in CB Antonio Cromartie, S Brodney Pool and a No. 1 pick (CB Kyle Wilson), and you can see why Thurman is excited. He loves his depth so much that he’s talking about using an eight-DB package for specific situations.

Crazy? Well, they might be vulnerable against the run with that many “smalls” on the field, but Smith and Ihedigbo have the versatility to line up as linebackers in a sub package. That would give opposing offenses a lot to think about. They also have so many clever blitz packages, often overloading one side with a cluster of DBs, that offenses struggle to identify the personnel.

So how do the Jets and the ’06 Ravens stack up? Reed is an all-timer, for sure, but Revis also has that kind of ability. To me, the key is Cromartie. If he can revert to the 2007 version, the guy who made 10 interceptions, the Jets will have two elite corners. There a lot of teams without one elite corner, let alone two. If Cromartie can be that guy, the Jets might make Thurman’s prediction come true.

Eiland Returning to Yanks on Tuesday

Yankee pitching coach Dave Eiland, who left the team June 4 to attend to an undisclosed personal issue, will return to the club Tuesday when the Yankees open a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

"It's been in discussion the past couple of days,'' Joe Girardi said. "I talked to Dave last week and there was a time period where things had to be worked out. Dave is going through some personal things and he's ready to come back now. It's good to be whole again.''

In Eiland's absence, bullpen coach Mike Harkey has been serving as the interim pitching coach, but on several occasions, Girardi has paid the visits to the mound normally handled by the pitching coach. Girardi said Eiland has been aware of what's been going on with the team, although at least one of the Yankee pitchers, Phil Hughes, said last week that he had not spoken to Eiland in the three weeks that he has not been with the team.

"I think you'd have to have been on a deserted island with no TV and papers if you're a baseball guy to not know what's been going on,'' Girardi said. "As much as he could with the stuff he needed to take care of, he was keeping up. He was not on a deserted island. He was not with Gilligan or Skipper.''

But Girardi acknowleged he, too, had limited contact with his pitching coach. "I let him have his space to take care of what he had to take care of,'' he said.

Asked if Eiland spent his time away from the ballclub at his home in Florida, Girardi said, "I'm not gonna tell you exactly what he was doing. That's his business.''

Eiland's departure from the team coincides precisely with the decline of A.J. Burnett, whose string of five straight defeats began on June 4, culminating in the 3-inning, six-run flameout he suffered in Saturday's 9-4 loss to the Dodgers. Burnett was not at the ballpark today -- he returned home to attend the funeral of his grandfather, who died earlier in the week -- but Girardi said he hoped Eiland's return would benefit Burnett, whose next scheduled start is Friday against the Blue Jays. "It could help, and I certainly hope so,'' Girardi said. "Obviously, it's important for us to get A.J back on track and if it works, it'll be great.''

Jets' Braylon Edwards Will Not be Suspended

New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who pleaded no contest in January to misdemeanor assault stemming from an incident outside a Cleveland nightclub, will not be suspended by the NFL under its personal-conduct policy, a league source told ESPNNewYork.com on Saturday.

It had been widely speculated that Edwards would receive at least a one-game ban for punching a man, an acquaintance of NBA star LeBron James, last October when Edwards was a member of the Cleveland Browns. Instead of a suspension, it's believed that Edwards will be fined an undisclosed amount by the league.

This is important news for the Jets, who had been bracing for the possibility of being without two receivers for the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens. They already know they won't have Santonio Holmes, who faces a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy. The Jets were aware of the pending suspension when they acquired Holmes from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

It also means the Jets probably won't try to sign veteran free agent Laveranues Coles, who was released by the Cincinnati Bengals. They had been showing some interest in Coles as a potential insurance policy.

During the Jets' playoff run in January, Edwards flew to Cleveland for a court appearance. He pleaded no contest to aggravated disorderly conduct. He received probation, a suspended 180-day jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.

After the plea, Edwards said he was hopeful that he'd avoid a suspension, claiming it was his first brush with the law.

Edwards, who was traded by the Browns a few days after the incident, finished with 35 catches for 541 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games with the Jets. They retained Edwards, a restricted free agent, by signing him to a one-year contract for his tender amount -- $6.1 million.

Insisting that he'd like to sign a long-term deal with the Jets, Edwards was an offseason star during the team's conditioning program. Coach Rex Ryan named Edwards as one of the most impressive players in the offseason.

Islanders Draft Kirill Kabanov in Round Three

Kirill Kabanov waited and waited and waited, while fellow 18-year-old hockey players -- most whom couldn't approach his skill level -- were drafted before him. From Friday night into Saturday morning, there were 64 players selected ahead of him at the 2010 NHL Draft at the Staples Center.

Then the New York Islanders drafted the controversial Russian right wing. Kabanov could not stop smiling, and the Islanders had themselves a top-10 talent at pick 65. Low-risk, high-reward. No matter what becomes of Kabanov, the Islanders cannot go wrong.

The kid did not look relieved to see the end of his plight. He was exhilarated. The biggest story of Day 2 of the draft, Kabanov entertained a large crowd of reporters.

"I want to show that I'm a first round player," said Kabanov, sounding not surprised that he fell to the third. "I want to make the NHL as soon as I can."

The reasons for Kabanov's plunge in the draft rankings over the last year are widespread. Some have become the stuff of legend. He said he got a kick out of the one on FanHouse about him getting a lot of tattoos ("I only have a few.") Some are true. It doesn't look good when your junior team, the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec League, willingly lets you go to play for the Russian national team. And then Russia cuts you. There are reasons 29 teams passed on him.

After his draft selection, Kabanov acknowledged that players can "get a bad reputation." He went to the lengths of looking into the video cameras on Saturday morning and giving a pledge to Islanders fans to show he is a good person and dedicated hockey player.

The Islanders will put out the welcome mat.

"We'll start with a new slate," said general manager Garth Snow, who added that his team will establish ground rules for Kabanov to follow. Snow was willing to forget the mistakes of a teenager. "I wasn't a saint growing up," he said. "You can't question his talent level. All things considered, he's a first round pick."

As he did at the Draft Combine, Kabanov offered to hand out pages of his passport to reporters to prove that he has no interest in going back to Russia. He has added incentive to become an islander as soon as possible. His girlfriend is a model who lives in New York.

"I love New York," said Kabanov. "Wonderful city." More updates on the intriguing prospect: Kabanov said his surgically-repaired wrist is 100 percent and he has signed with Bobby Orr's agency, giving Kabanov the credibility he needs after reportedly going through four agents in the last year.

Kabanov did not discuss his father, whom an agent blamed for making his son high maintenance. That may be a problem for the Islanders for another day, but NHL teams do not have to answer to parents like agents do. Based on pure skill alone, the Islanders have the steal of Day 2 of the draft. Even Kabanov's biggest critics in the scouting world would not argue that. Time will tell if what the young man really needed was an NHL team to call home.

"It's a new book," said Kabanov.

This kid was projected to go in the top five back in January, that's how much skill he has. If he can put it all together and keep his attitude right he could be a stud for many years.

Islanders Pick Nino Niederreiter With Pick Five in Round One, Draft Brock Nelson with Pick 30

A year after selecting John Tavares with the No. 1 overall pick, the New York Islanders once again found themselves at the top of the NHL draft. With a pair of highly-touted defensemen still on the board, including Brandon Gormley and Cam Fowler, the Islanders instead decided to go offense and selected Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter with the No. 5 overall pick.

By going fifth overall, Niederreiter becomes the highest drafted Swiss player ever, and it's another positive step for a country that has consistently become more competitive on the international stage in recent years.

"I'm trying to be a scorer one day," said Niederreiter, who believes he can make the Islanders roster this fall. "At the moment, I think I'm a two-way player with some skills and also defensively. At the end, I just want to be a goal-scorer."

The 17-year-old Niederreiter played the 2009-10 season with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League and scored 36 goals in 65 games. He was also one of the best players at the World Junior Championships (six goals, four assists in seven games) where he helped lead Switzerland to a surprising appearance in the semifinals, including a stunning 3-2 upset against Russia in the quarterfinals that included a goal by Niederreiter.

“Our goal has constantly been to add the best player into our lineup that will help us build our young core into a team that consistently competes for the Stanley Cup,” Snow said.  “Nino was extremely impressive in the World Junior Championships playing for Team Switzerland, using his size to create space.  He is a big power-forward who will add size to our lineup for years to come.”

At 6-foot-2 and already over 200 pounds, he has plenty of size and is effective doing dirty work along the boards, as well as having the ability to make plays in the open ice.

He may not be NHL-ready at the moment, but in the not-too-distant future the Islanders should have a rather impressive stable of young forwards, as Niederreitter joins a franchise that already has Tavares, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey, all of whom are under the age of 23 (Okposo is the "old man" of the group at 22). 

Niederreiter is the fifth player in Islanders history selected fifth overall. Other Islanders drafted fifth overall in the NHL Entry Draft include Raffi Torres (2000), Tim Connolly (1999), Eric Brewer (1997) and Darius Kasparaitis (1992).

To put a cap on the night, the Islanders acquired the 30th overall selection from the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the 35th and 58th selection. With that pick, the Islanders selected 19-year-old center Brock Nelson from Warroad High School in Minnesota.

In 25 games with Warroad HS, Nelson recorded a point in every game, notching 39 goals and 34 assists. He was one of 10 finals for the Mr. Hockey Award, which is given to the most outstanding senior high school hockey player in the state of Minnesota.

Nelson will also attend the University of North Dakota next season.

"North Dakota is a great place with a storied hockey tradition," Nelson. "Both of my uncles played there so seeing them, knowing they played there kind of influenced it. And seeing all the guys that go through there and on to the NHL kind of shows that I want to do the same thing."

His uncle, Dave Christian was a member of the 1980 US Olympic Men's hockey gold-medal winning team. The lineage of gold doesn’t end there.

His grandfather Billy Christian and great uncle Roger Christian were members of the 1960 US Olympic gold medal winning hockey team as well.

So what does Nelson know about the current Islanders on-ice product?

"I’ve seen a little bit of them," Nelson said. "I know they have a lot of young talent and they're on the rise. They should be a great franchise in a few years and win the Stanley Cup. Hopefully I can develop as a player and continue to work hard and get there as well."

Nelson also respects the history the Islanders have.

"It's an honor, knowing they have all those guys and the franchise that they have. It's great just being able to be up there."

Although he was drafted last on the first night, and doesn’t have to wait until the second day to find out whether he will be drafted or not, Nelson knows the journey doesn’t end here at the Draft.

"I know inside that if you get drafted first or 100th you still have to work," Nelson said. "It just starts now and now is the journey."

The selection of Neiderreiter was a very interesting one seeing as how Brandon Gormley and Cam Fowler were sitting there for the Islanders to select. But scouts love this kid. Here's the scouting report on "El Nino:"

Niederreiter had a great year for the Winterhawks, his first in the WHL. He adjusted well to the major junior game, which is played on NHL-sized rinks.

"El Nino" is a big forward with good skating ability and soft hands. He is fun to watch in the open ice, but he's also effective in the high-traffic areas.

As he puts on weight, Niederreiter will be a force in the WHL, where he will likely play at least one more season before turning pro. His play with Portland really won scouts over. He made an impact on a good Winterhawks team, getting better as the season wore on. 

Don't make any mistake. Scouts aren't dumb, and they evaluate a player based on his body of work. But they are always curious when a relative unknown like Niederreiter gets a chance on the big stage. That's where El Nino got everyone's attention.

Niederreiter became a big-time prospect with his performance in the 2010 World Junior Championships. Playing for Switzerland, Niederreiter put up six goals and 10 points in seven games, as his team earned a surprising fourth-place finish. Included in that was a two-goal performance in a quarterfinal upset of Russia that included a tally in the final minute of regulation, then the overtime game-winner. He has positioned himself to be the highest-drafted Swiss player ever.

He should be able to be a big time player for the Isles for years to come and it seems like that may not be so far down the road.

Now on to Brock Nelson.

          "You can't deny his good skills and size"

From the THN Draft Preview

Nelson is charging up the draft rankings. Scouts love the speed/size/hands combination that he possesses. Brock should be a mid to late first round selection.

From Hockeyprospects.com

One of the reasons he was ranked low was because his High School didn't face top competition every night. But when you have someone of his size and skill it's worth the risk. Reports also speak highly of his character and work ethic, two things the Islanders are looking for. We probably won't see him on the Island for at least another two years, but somewhere down the road it seems like he is going to be able to make a big splash.

That's what has been said about this kid. He will get better with seasoning at the University of North Dakota. Brock Nelson should be a solid player for the Islanders.

McKnight Signs Rookie Contract with Jets

Former USC running back Joe McKnight, who made headlines for the wrong reasons in his first minicamp practice with the New York Jets, has made positive news, signing with the team on Tuesday.

McKnight is the second Jets draft pick to sign, following former Kentucky fullback John Conner (fifth-round pick), who signed a four-year deal on June 4. Still unsigned are former UMass guard Vlad Ducasse (second round) and former Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson (first round).

The Jets are counting on McKnight to compete for playing time as a third-down back and, possibly, as a kick returner. He got off to a lousy start in the first minicamp, vomiting on the field and dropping several passes. He also wasn't happy when he learned that he'd be wearing No. 25, the same number former USC star Reggie Bush wears for the New Orleans Saints. McKnight has grown weary of comparisons to Bush.

The Jets drafted McKnight with the idea of replacing Leon Washington, who was traded to the Seattle Seahawks soon after they selected McKnight.

Absent Eiland Reason for Burnett's Struggles?

Let's set the record straight on this right from the start: if players knew how to correct their own mistakes, right their own mechanical flaws and undo their own bad habits, there would be no need for coaches.

Or managers, for that matter.

A.J. Burnett, for instance, could walk himself out to the bullpen, make the adjustments necessary to turn himself back into an effective major-league pitcher, and that would be that.

But they can't do it, which is why the great baseball gods invented pitching coaches. And hitting coaches. And managers.

The role of these people may seem mysterious to some, but in reality it is incredibly simple: to look at the performance of an athlete with a detached eye, recognize what he is doing wrong and figure out how to correct it.

That is why, as much as the Yankees -- and specifically, manager Joe Girardi -- would like to deny it, or at least downplay it, there is no member of the team who is more missed than Dave Eiland.

For the past two years, we have been told time and again of Eiland's unique ability to pick up mechanical flaws in a pitcher's delivery, either on tape or from the bench, and instantly know how to fix it.

Whenever a Yankee pitcher has gone off the rails, we were told that he would be working closely with Dave Eiland, who surely would crack the code that was eluding everyone else, and most of all the pitcher in question.

Most recently, he had worked his magic on Javier Vazquez, who was a disaster for the first six weeks of the season but has since developed as one of the most reliable arms in the Yankee rotation.

Now comes the case of Burnett, whose year has been the reverse of Vazquez's. He started well, even brilliantly. Now, you wonder if maybe Girardi has chosen to skip the wrong right-hander when he decided that Phil Hughes would not be making his next scheduled start.

Monday night, Burnett crashed and burned against the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks -- a team that can hit a straight fastball and not much else. So, of course, that is exactly what Burnett gave them, starting with two out and nobody on in the bottom of the first innng.

Before Burnett could get that third out, the Diamondbacks had socked three home runs, each longer and more impressive than the one before it. And by the time the inning was over, they had five runs, or just enough to render the rest of the game a moot point.

Arizona won, 10-4, and for the fourth straight time, Burnett got lit up. The pitcher who started the year 6-2 with a 3.55 ERA is now 6-6 with an ERA more than a full run (4.83) higher.

And his decline coincides precisely with the announcement on the first weekend in June that Eiland would be taking an indefinite leave of absence to attend to a personal matter.

No one covering the Yankees knows what it is. And frankly, no one is looking too hard because whatever has taken Eiland away from the team is rightfully considered off-limits.

But there is no secret that ever since he left, on June 4, A.J. Burnett has not been the same. "I'm not gonna lie," Burnett said. "Dave is a big part of what we do here -- of who I am and who our other starters are. But I'm not gonna point fingers or make excuses. I been pitching for 11 years now. You'd think I'd be able to make the adjustment on my own out there."

But that's just the point. They can't. Or they would. Girardi inadvertently revealed as much after the game when he insisted, "We'll get this corrected. We will."

But when asked for specifically how, he acknowledged, "I can't give you an exact answer. If I knew, If I could flip a switch, I'd flip it."

It was as close as Girardi will ever come to an admission that someone else knows more about an aspect of baseball than he does. That someone, of course, is Eiland, and his area of expertise is the handling of pitchers.

Mike Harkey, the former bullpen coach assigned by Girardi to fill in for Eiland, is trying his best but in honesty, isn't equipped to handle this kind of a pitching staff.

"I'm obviously a lot more hands-on with all the pitchers now that Dave's not here," he said. "I also offer a lot more input than I had in the past because obviously, Dave's the guy and I've just been a consultant for Dave."

The manager doesn't know how to straighten it out; he fell into the usual clichés about "location" and "fastball command," finally boiling Burnett's problems to something any one of us could have seen: "He's just not making his pitches."

Jorge Posada, who has been catching professional throwers for 14 years now, didn't do much better. "I can't see if it's his delivery or anything," Posada said. "I'm just seeing that his pitches aren't going where they're supposed to."

Where they were going was into the seats. In that first inning, Burnett got two quick outs then fed Justin Upton a fastball that came down in the seats high above the center-field fence, 413 feet away.

At that point, Burnett began to fall victim to his old bugaboo, allowing one bad pitch to affect the ones that came after it. He allowed a single to center by Miguel Montero, a single to left by Chris Young and a blast by Adam LaRoche on the first pitch that landed deep in the right-field seats.

Now it was 4-0, and three pitches later Mark Reynolds clobbered one over the left-field fence for 5-0 and still the Diamondbacks -- last in the NL West with a 27-43 record and 13-1/2 games out of first place -- weren't quite done. Gerrardo Parra ripped one into the left field gap for a double before Burnett finally fanned Rodrigo Lopez, the pitcher, to end the assault.

"I don't feel like myself out there," Burnett said. "I'm not having fun. I know how good I am and how I should be throwing the ball. When you take the air out of your team like that, it's frustrating."

He mentioned something about not feeling comfortable out of the windup but other than that, had no concrete ideas of how to correct it. "I got an idea," he said. "But it takes a group, to go over the video find out why I don't feel like myself."

Without its leader, however, the group Burnett is relying on seems to be spinning its wheels. "Not having him here is a big loss for all of us," Burnett said. "I still gotta throw the pitches whether Dave's in the dugout or not, but maybe it's just his presence of not being here."

Right now, there's no one the Yankees miss more. Or can afford to be without less.

Yanks' Hughes to Skip Next Start

Phil Hughes has become a victim of his own success.

The Yankees right-hander with the 10-1 record and 3.17 ERA had expected to celebrate his 24th birthday, which is on Thursday, by starting the opener of a three-game series Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers in front of a crowd that would include his parents, relatives and friends from nearby Mission Viejo, where he grew up.

Instead, having pitched 82 1/3 innings in less than half a season, Hughes' place in the rotation will be skipped and he will have to wait until the Yankees return home against the Seattle Mariners on June 29 to pitch again.

"Innings. Innings,'' manager Joe Girardi said by way of explanation. "He's made 13 starts and averaged over six innings per start. This is a hard guy for me to sit because of the way he's pitching for us, but we can't be shortsighted on this. We have to think of this year and next year and we have to think of his future. We want to make sure we have him for a long time.''

All season long it has been an open secret that the Yankees have Hughes on an innings limit, much as they did with Joba Chamberlain last year. Girardi refuses to divulge what it is -- even Hughes says he does not know -- but it is believed to be in the neighborhood of 175 innings.

With Hughes nearing the half-way point in innings and the season nearing its midpoint in games, and with an off day in the schedule on Thursday, Girardi said it was a good time to lessen some of Hughes' workload.

"There's only certain times you can do it where you don't kill your other pitchers or affect your bullpen,'' he said. "This was the perfect opportunity.''

In Hughes' stead, CC Sabathia will open the series on Friday, followed by A.J. Burnett on Saturday afternoon and Andy Pettitte on Sunday night. Because of the open date, all three will be on their regular rest.

Hughes pitched seven innings of three-run ball in the Yankees' 5-3 victory over the Mets Saturday, and now will go nine days between starts.

"It's definitely a disappointment,'' he said. "And there's really not talking them out of it. It's an organizational decision and that's that. I knew it was coming. It was just a matter of when they were going to do it.''

Hughes has worked at least seven innings in seven of his 13 starts this season. Of the Yankees five starters, none has more than eight wins and only Pettitte has a lower ERA, 2.47. Hughes was unsure if a limitation on his innings was necessary for his future well-being, but accepted that he was in no position to argue the point.

"It's hard for anyone to predict if they need [a limit] or not,'' he said. "I mean, some guys obviously didn't. Nolan Ryan never needed an innings limit. But some guys did. They want to be on the safe side, and I respect that because obviously they have my best interests in mind. I think anytime an organization does that for you, you're on board with it.''

Sure he's on board with it, I mean, does he really have a choice? No. Hughes is arguably the best pitcher in the game this season not named Ubaldo Jimenez. His confidence level is at an all-time high thanks to his bullpen stint last season and he is continually putting together quality start after quality start.

Do you think the Yankees ever expected to have their number five starter have ten wins by the middle of June? Never in a million years. Hughes has exceeded expectations, and then some.

The Yankees, I think, have learned from the way the mishandled Joba Chamberlain last season and are being more cautious and smarter with Hughes. He might get 17 wins this year, but you also want him to get the chance to reach 17 wins in five years. Hughes has never pitched more than 146 innings in a single season so the Yankees probably won't want to push him way past that this season.

Martin Biron Not Expected Back for 2010-2011 Season

The Islanders are not expecting to re-sign backup goaltender Martin Biron. According to both camps, the 32-year-old netminder plans to test the market via free agency on July 1.

"At this point in time, we have not extended an offer to Martin Biron and expect him to be an unrestricted free agent come July 1,'' general manager Garth Snow said.

Biron's agent, Peter Fish, said: "We plan on going to [free agency] July 1, but no doors have been closed.''

Biron, who struggled toward the beginning of the season but rattled off seven wins in eight starts toward the end of the schedule, finished with a 9-14-4 record and 3.27 GAA.

Although Biron was a dynamic presence and beloved teammate in the dressing room, the fact that he is parting ways with the Islanders is not surprising.

The Islanders' three-goaltender situation that was created once Rick DiPietro returned from a knee injury in January was less than ideal for all involved, but particularly Biron. Biron was out of the mix once DiPietro was ready to play but was reinserted into the starting rotation when DiPietro was sidelined again with knee issues later in the season.

The Islanders likely will head into this season with Dwayne Roloson and DiPietro in net and will exercise cautious optimism about the latter. If DiPietro cannot stay healthy, it is likely the team will give Bridgeport goaltender Nathan Lawson a chance to back up Roloson.

The Islanders plan on extending a qualifying offer to Lawson at some point this summer.

In a radio interview during an NHL Live segment Wednesday, Snow said about Lawson, "In a pinch he can come up and give us good, quality minutes.''

Does this really come as a surprise to anyone? I think not. Everyone knew that once DiPietro came back and Biron was not traded that come July 1, he was going somewhere else.

The Isles didn't really treat the goaltending situation very well and Biron seemed to be the odd man out when DiPietro came back. I wish Martin the best and hopefully next season he finds himself in a situation that is much better than the one he just went through.

Weight Will Return to Islanders for 2010-2011 Season

Captain Doug Weight will return to the Islanders next season, according to general manager Garth Snow.

Snow said Tuesday that a one-year deal for Weight was "in essence, done." The only element to be completed is the bonus structure, particularly team performance-based incentives.

The news comes months after Weight was forced to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder that left him wondering whether he'd played the last game of his career.

Weight, 39, will instead return as the veteran presence for the young, developing team that made him captain last season.

"I think he's been a great leader in the locker room. To me, with what he played through - having a torn labrum and torn rotator cuff - that's a testament to his commitment to the team and his leadership," Snow said.

Weight, who had a goal and 16 assists in 36 games last season, suffered the injuries last November but chose not to undergo surgery immediately. He tried to battle through the pain in an attempt to lead his team to the playoffs, an effort that endeared him even more to his coaches and teammates.

After trying to gut it out for a good chunk of the season, Weight went for surgery in March. After expressing relief about the decision, Weight said his hampered performance was "not the type of hockey I want to play."

"I don't think you saw the real Doug Weight," Snow said. "I think you saw Doug Weight playing not even close to the level he's capable."

After discussions with Weight this summer about the veteran center's progress, however, Snow said he is confident about Weight's ability to contribute and still play at a high level.

"There's not only a belief in Doug with himself but a belief from the organization that he's still a player that can produce," Snow said. "The bottom line is he has the intangibles of being a great leader and we believe he can contribute in a positive way."

Weight's agent, Steve Bartlett, said he anticipates some minor changes to the contract - currently valued between $800,000-$900,000 without bonuses - but that he's confident the deal will be completed soon.

Of his client's return to the club, Bartlett said: "He's excited to be back and a part of things."

Yeah, he might be excited, but what do we really have to look forward to?

Don't get me wrong. I love Doug Weight as a person, he's the nicest guy in the world and loves a good conversation, but what can he really bring to the offensive game that the Islanders don't already have? They already have plenty of guys who can't find the back of the net and Weight is, unfortunately, one of those guys.

He is at the very end of his career and is trying to prolong it. He is coming off a serious shoulder injury and is working extremely hard to rehab it, but what can he really do for the Islanders other than provide the kind of leadership that locker room may need? I say not much, but I love to be proven wrong with these kind of things, so here's to Doug Weight hopefully proving me wrong!