Sport-scan daily brief

What, for instance, would it take — and would it be smart business — to get Kris Letang out of Pittsburgh? Or is there a match with Boston if Tyler Seguin truly is available?

It’s interesting, though, if not typical: While teams across the league are attempting to figure out how to improve while squeezing under a shrinking cap, the Islanders are left pondering what moves to make (or not) in order to reach the floor.

Who said no team is an Island?

* So the Devils will have new ownership within the foreseeable future, news first broken two weeks ago by our colleague on The Post’s business pages, Josh Kosman, who exposed the franchise’s financial woes.

Following Friday’s report by Forbes that the Jeff Vanderbeek ownership had such serious cash-flow problems that it missed or was late with payments that required league intervention to remedy, Slap Shots has confirmed that it took several weeks for a number of players to receive their final payroll checks of the season.

The NHLPA, rather than file default claims that could have resulted in the unidentified players becoming free agents, worked with the NHL to give all parties time to deal with the issue.

* Sure, the Rangers would love to acquire Cal Clutterbuck from the Wild, but the team just doesn’t appear to have the maneuverability under the cap, let alone the choice draft picks to surrender, in order to get it done.

The decision to retain Brad Richards may make Brian Boyle vulnerable — $1.7 million is a tidy sum and cap hit for Boyle if he slots in as fourth-line center behind Richards, Derek Stepan and Derick Brassard.

Except the Blueshirts likely are to be without both Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin for the first few weeks of the season in the aftermath of their post-elimination labrum surgeries, so that Boyle likely is to be needed on the wing in October.

* There is no guarantee at all that John Tortorella would have gotten the call over Dan Bylsma to coach Team USA at the Sochi Games — the NHL’s participation in the Olympics could become official following a meeting tomorrow with the IOC — even if he had the bedside manner of Joe Torre.

But there’s also no doubt the prospect of every press briefing becoming an international incident did Tortorella no favors.

Oh, and by the way. If Tortorella truly does intend to become a new man, then bringing Mike Sullivan to Vancouver with him as assistant coach isn’t likely to help the transformation process.

Truth is that Sullivan, who only reinforces Tortorella’s us-against-the-world mentality, had alienated more Rangers by the end than the head coach.

News: Patrick Kane becomes the third straight American to win the Conn Smythe, following Tim Thomas and Jonathan Quick.

Views: Perhaps it’s time for the protectionist CHL — Canadian Junior Hockey League — to ban Americans.

New York Post LOADED: 06.30.2013

683038 New York Islanders

Islanders in rare air: Middle of first round at NHL draft

Published: June 29, 2013 8:33 PM

By ARTHUR STAPLE arthur.staple@newsday.com

The Islanders are in a rather new position entering Sunday's NHL draft: middle of the pack. They have their first non-lottery pick in six years after a modestly successful season, so the excitement surrounding their appearance on the draft floor at Newark's Prudential Center is rather muted.

And that indeed is progress.

The Islanders hold the 15th pick in what is considered a solid first-round draft class. With the salary cap going down to $64.3 million next season and free agency on the horizon Friday -- plus the buyout window currently open until Thursday -- talk around the league has tended more toward possible trades and potential signings rather than draft picks, outside of the top few teams.

But the Islanders still have another prospect to add to their stock of young talent.

"Obviously, the top end is really, really good," Isles scouting director Trent Klatt said. "But sitting where we sit, I'm confident we're going to get a player who will help this organization for a long time, no doubt."

Sitting where the Islanders sit at the NHL level is taking up most of general manager Garth Snow's time as he tries to find a goaltender, the biggest need for the team this offseason.

Contract talks with Evgeni Nabokov, who started 41 of 48 games and all six playoff games last season, have stalled. The sides are not that far apart on a one-year deal, but the Islanders are not interested in giving the 37-year-old goaltender a decent-sized raise off the $2.75 million he made in 2012-13. So Nabokov will head to free agency.

Snow has been involved in trade discussions, first for Jonathan Bernier, who went from the Kings to the Maple Leafs, and then for Roberto Luongo, who seems headed for a trade or a buyout of his onerous contract from Vancouver.

The Islanders had offered Rick DiPietro's bad contract in exchange for Luongo's, which would save the Canucks some money on a buyout and give the Isles a veteran starter in Luongo, whom former Islanders general manager Mike Milbury drafted No. 4 overall in 1997.

But the Canucks are looking for an asset in return for Luongo, so it appears the Islanders have moved on from that option for now. They would have interest in Luongo if the Canucks buy him out next week.

As for DiPietro, Snow is shopping the 31-year-old's contract -- which has eight years at $4.5 million per remaining -- to teams who would swap a player with a bad contract for the purpose of buying DiPietro out. If that doesn't happen, the Islanders have not indicated what they will do with DiPietro, but it appears as though a compliance buyout (one that does not count against the salary cap) is the best option and that the one-time franchise goaltender has worn the Islanders' jersey for the last time.

So the focus on the draft floor won't be on another top-five Islanders pick. They traded their second-round pick to the Ducks for Lubomir Visnovsky at last June's draft, so there doesn't seem to be much ammo for the Islanders to move up from No. 15.

"Even though things have changed for the better with our NHL team, we've still done our due diligence on everybody," Klatt said. "You never know what can happen."

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 06.30.2013

683039 New York Rangers

Rangers Have Needs but Not High Picks

By DHIREN MAHIBAN

Published: June 29, 2013

Gordie Clark, the Rangers’ player personnel director, hopes to add defensive depth and a goaltender in the N.H.L. draft on Sunday.

The Rangers do not have first- or second-round picks in the draft, at Prudential Center in Newark. In July, they dealt their first-round pick, 19th over all, to Columbus in the Rick Nash trade. On April 2, the Rangers traded their second-round pick, 49th over all, to San Jose for Ryane Clowe.

But they have five slots in the seven-round draft, including the 65th, 75th and 80th overall choices in the third round. Their final picks are the 110th, in the fourth round, and the 170th, in the sixth.

Clark, who has spent 19 years working the draft, has never skipped the first and second rounds.

“It’s going to be interesting,” he said. “You may not get the star. The one chance you can possibly get is a goalie because they go later anyway, and that’s just the way it works in the draft.”

Clark’s staff is looking for a goaltender after missing out on the 18-year-old Russian Andrei Vasilevski last year. He went 19th to the Tampa Bay Lightning, nine spots before the Rangers’ pick.

“Tampa Bay called us, and they wanted to know if we wanted to move our 28th pick for a couple of second-round picks,” Clark said. The Rangers used their first-round spot to draft Brady Skjei, now 19. “We still think Brady Skjei is a top-four defenseman,” Clark said. “We liked him in that Ryan McDonagh-John Moore mold of athleticism and skating.”

The Rangers also are seeking defensemen with size and an edge to their games.

“In the system, you’ve got to have some depth coming on defense, and we’ve got to stock that back up again,” Clark said. “Defensemen that can play the top four. Gritty guys that can step in there and play a few minutes.”

He said the Rangers were outmuscled by Boston in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, which they lost in five games.

So the Rangers are keeping a close eye on defenseman Dylan McIlrath, 21, their first-round selection in 2010. McIlrath, who is 6 feet 5 inches and 215 pounds, missed the first part of last season after an off-season knee injury. But he returned to pick up 125 penalty minutes, including 13 fighting majors, in 45 games with the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League.

“To play what his game is, to match up against the heavyweights, the Milan Lucics, these guys have three, four, five years’ training as that type of person,” Clark said. “He might be a little behind. The summer training will tell us.”

The Rangers also have high hopes for goaltender Cam Talbot, whom they signed as a free agent in March 2010 from the University of Alabama-Huntsville. Talbot, 25, agreed to a two-year, $1.1 million contract in February. He posted a 25-28-1 record this season with Connecticut, a 2.68 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.

“You could go down to Connecticut and watch them lose 5-2 and 6-1 on a weekend and come away saying, ‘Wow, he played unbelievable,’ ” Clark said. “He got to play the whole year this year, and he’s really come along. So he’s going to give a run for the backup spot.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 30, 2013

New York Times LOADED: 06.30.2013

683040 New York Rangers

Draft-day transaction unlikely for Rangers

By LARRY BROOKS

Last Updated: 4:10 AM, June 30, 2013

Posted: 12:26 AM, June 30, 2013

The marquee names on the market will go elsewhere if they go anywhere during today’s NHL Entry Draft in New Jersey.

The Rangers could shuffle some chairs on the deck if they’re interested in dealing Michael Del Zotto for a defenseman of the stiffer variety whose cap hit is commensurate to No. 4’s $2.55 million, but the Blueshirts don’t have the necessary space available to pull off a blockbuster.

Neither do they own a surfeit of assets to sacrifice in order to make it worthwhile for a trade partner to assume up to half the cap charge of a player whom the Rangers might be interested in acquiring — say, someone like the Maple Leafs’ Dion Phaneuf, who has one year at $6.5 million remaining on his deal.

Though there could be some work around the margins, today’s business likely is to be conducted at the draft table, where the Blueshirts aren’t scheduled to select until 65th overall after having traded their first-rounder to the Blue Jackets in the Rick Nash deal and their second-rounder to the Sharks for Ryane Clowe.

Unless the Rangers can move up by bundling at least two of the three third-rounders (65, 75, 80 overall), this will mark the first Blueshirts’ initial pick in the 60s since 2000, when the club selected defenseman Filip Novak 64th overall.

Of course, that was the year the Rangers selected Henrik Lundqvist 205th overall, proving the adage that all’s well that ends well in the business of drafting.

“I’ve never had anything like this,” Gordie Clark, in his sixth year as the club’s director of player personnel, told The Post. “I’ve never had a year without a first or a second.

“Our staff puts the same amount of preparation into it, but we don’t have quite as much debate and fighting over where to rank the top players. The real debates over ranking where our [scouts] were fighting for the players in their territories that they’d seen most often came when we got to around No. 50.”

If the Rangers seek to trade up, it likely would be to the back end of the second round in order to grab a player they had ranked as a higher selection.

“Not many teams are trading a [high] second-round pick for a couple of thirds,” Clark said. “But maybe we can move into the last five picks or so of the second if we spot someone who we believe could be an impact player and has slipped through.

“If not, if we stand with our three thirds and then the fourth [110], we could focus in on positions rather than the ‘best player available’ philosophy.”

The organization is light on AHL defensemen ready to step up — hence the acquisition of Roman Hamrlik — with Dylan McIlrath, the controversial 2010 10th-overall selection held back by the dislocated kneecap he sustained during last summer’s prospect camp that forced him to miss the first half of the season in Hartford.

The Blueshirts don’t seem to have prospects up front knocking on the door, either, unless one counts Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller, which Clark does.

“They’re both so young that despite their NHL experience, you have to think of them as prospects with a good chance of starting the season with the Rangers,” Clark said. “I think J.T. would have played at the end if not for his wrist injury.

“And Chris, he basically has scored six goals in the Stanley Cup playoffs, three of them game-winners, and other than that didn’t play very much.”

* The Devils own the ninth overall pick while the Islanders are scheduled to select 15th overall, though they have made it known the pick is available for the right price.

New York Post LOADED: 06.30.2013

683041 New York Rangers

Northjersey.com : Sports

NHL Draft: Ranking the Top 10 prospects

Sunday, June 30, 2013

– Tom Gulitti

The following are considered the top 10 prospects for today's NHL Draft at Prudential Center, 3 p.m. The Devils select ninth overall. The Rangers don't have a first-round pick.

1. Seth Jones, D, Portland (WHL)

The son of former NBA player Popeye Jones, and is the best of a deep group of big (6 feet 4, 205 pounds), mobile defensemen in this year's draft.

2. Nathan MacKinnon, C, Halifax (QMJHL)

Colorado Avalanche officials have said repeatedly they intend to select this future No. 1 center with the first pick overall.

3. Jonathan Drouin, LW, Halifax (QMJHL)

MacKinnon's Halifax linemate was the QMJHL's most valuable player and is projected to be a difference-making scoring winger.

4. Aleksander Barkov, C, Tappara (Finland)

Top-ranked European skater already has excelled playing against men (21 goals, 27 assists) in his native Finland.

5. Valeri Nichushkin, RW, Chelyabinsk (KHL)

The 6-foot-3, 196-pound power winger has allayed concerns that he'll remain in Russia next season by saying he intends to play in the NHL.

6. Elias Lindholm, C, Brynas (Sweden)

Two-way center who is strong on both sides of the puck.

7. Sean Monahan, C, Ottawa (OHL)

Competitive, playmaking center, can play wing as well.

8. Darnell Nurse, D, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

Son of former CFL wide receiver Richard Nurse and nephew (by marriage) of former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb, Nurse (6 feet 4, 185 pounds) plays an aggressive, two-way game.

9. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, TPS Turku (Finland)

Another big (6 feet 3, 201 pounds), mobile defenseman with a big shot.

10. Nikita Zadorov, D, London (OHL)

The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Russian came to North America to play major junior in 2012-13 and get ready for the NHL.

Bergen Record LOADED: 06.30.2013

683042 New York Rangers

Devoid of top two picks, Rangers seek falling star in draft

Saturday June 29, 2013, 11:38 PM

BY ANDREW GROSS

STAFF WRITER

New coach Alain Vigneault will be waiting to see if the Rangers can land someone they covet in the third round of today's NHL Draft.

There’s a new coach in place looking to spark more offensive flow.

But while Alain Vigneault will be at Prudential Center for today’s NHL Draft, Rangers director of player personnel Gordie Clark said he does not anticipate any changes to the organizational approach of choosing young talent because of the switch from John Tortorella.

“It really doesn’t affect us,” said Clark, in charge of his sixth draft with the Rangers. “Most of those guys in the minors are getting prepared by the minor league coaches, they’re the ones who dictate who’s getting called up. Coaches on any team I’ve been on really don’t get involved. They’re just there to show support.”

The draft begins at 3 p.m. The Rangers, having traded their first-round pick to the Blue Jackets in the Rick Nash deal and their second-rounder to the Sharks to acquire unrestricted free agent Ryane Clowe – now unlikely to be re-signed with the team opting not to buy out Brad Richards – will not be on the clock barring further trades until a trio of third-round selections.

The Rangers have not had one of their third-round picks develop into a regular NHL player since Garth Murray in 2001 – and he only played 116 NHL games from 2003-09.

The Rangers also have a fourth- and sixth-round pick, and Clark said the organization is hoping to shore up its depth on defense and goaltending.

“We do have a couple of players we feel, if it works out that way, can be impact players,” Clark said. “It’s going to be maybe wishful thinking, but we’ve gone through different mock drafts and it’s not out of the question. If those players are gone, it’ll possibly be for what we need in positions.”

One reason for the need for defense depth was the dislocated kneecap suffered by Dylan McIlrath, the 10th overall pick in 2010, and the apparently career-ending concussion suffered by Michael Sauer two seasons ago. Sauer, who turns 26 on Aug. 7, is a restricted free agent and the Rangers are not expected to extend him a qualifying offer.

Meanwhile, Clark is hoping McIlrath can fully recover from his rare injury.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound McIlrath, 21, played 45 games for Hartford (AHL) in 2012-13 with five assists and 125 penalty minutes and has yet to play a full minor league season.

“McIlrath is a little behind because of the injury … so we probably have got to get a few more in the cupboard,” Clark said. “We’ll just see how the knee took that. He works out hard anyway. He was hurt at this time last year, so let’s hope he has a healthy summer.”

The Rangers have not drafted a goalie since Scott Stajcer in the fifth round of the 2009 draft and the 22-year-old, who has one more season remaining on his entry-level deal, spent most of last season in the ECHL. Cam Talbot, 25, was Hartford’s No. 1 goalie last season.

Five-time Vezina Trophy finalist Henrik Lundqvist, 31, has been entrenched as the Rangers’ No. 1 since 2005-06, his rookie season and has one more season left on a six-year, $41.25 million deal. The Rangers hope to sign Lundqvist to a contract extension this off-season.

“To develop a guy like Henrik is a tall task,” Clark said. “But what we’re tasked to do is to get somebody ready for five, six, seven years down the road.”

BRIEF: As expected, the Rangers will extend qualifying offers to RFAs Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello by Tuesday’s deadline.

Bergen Record LOADED: 06.30.2013

683043 New York Rangers

Cap crunch has Rangers looking deep into draft

Published: June 29, 2013 9:02 PM

By STEVE ZIPAY steve.zipay@newsday.com

With the Rangers' first selection in Sunday's NHL draft in the third round -- a rarity that hasn't occurred since 1968 -- the news of the day could develop off the board.

The club could be preparing a trade to move up in the annual gathering, which will be staged at Prudential Center in Newark, or perhaps packaging picks, prospects and players to bolster the current roster.

Having sent their first-round selection to Columbus in the Rick Nash trade last July and their second-rounder to San Jose for Ryane Clowe in April, the Rangers have five picks in the seven rounds: three third-rounders (Nos. 65, 70 and 80), a fourth (110) and a sixth (170).

"The top half of the first round is deep, and teams are holding on to those picks, so I don't see us going there," director of player personnel Gordie Clark said. "But we'll be watching to see if players we like will be available in the second round or fall. Whatever, we believe we can get good players in the third and later."

So the thinking is that the Rangers certainly will add to their stable of prospects but won't get any immediate help. Nor are they expected to be major players in the free-agent market, which opens Friday.

With Rangers brass deciding not to use a special compliance buyout on veteran Brad Richards this summer, their salary- cap space will be extremely limited compared to many teams once they sign their top restricted free agents: Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Carl Hagelin and possibly Mats Zuccarello.

The club's recent track record on third-round picks is mixed. Center Stephen Fogarty (2011, No. 72) had five goals and 10 points in 41 games as a freshman at Notre Dame. Ryan Bourque (2009, No. 80) is playing for Hartford. Forward Evgeny Grachev and defenseman Tomas Kundratek (2008, 75 and 90) no longer are in the organization. Harvard's Dominic Moore (2000) became an NHL regular.

With enough centers in the system, the Rangers -- who had always had a first-rounder since 2002 -- are expected to target wingers (especially on the left side), defensemen and a future goaltender.

"Anybody we're interested in, we've met three or four times during the season," said Clark, who along with assistant general manager Jeff Gorton and the scouting staff handles the assessment and recruiting.

On the goaltending front, the consensus No. 1, Zach Fucale (Halifax), will be gone, but the Rangers should have numerous choices in the third round, possibly the second-ranked netminder: Tristan Jarry, who led the WHL in goals-against average and save percentage.

Other options: Philippe Desrosiers, who posted a .970 save percentage in Under-18 tournament play for Team Canada; Eric Comrie (WHL's Tri-City Americans), who had some bone shaved from his right hip but has recovered; Cal Petersen (USHL), headed to Notre Dame, and Spencer Martin (OHL's Mississauga), who reminds some of Buffalo's Ryan Miller. If they prefer a Swedish youngster whom Henrik Lundqvist could mentor, there are juniors Ebbe Sionas (AIK) and Marcus Hogberg (Linkoping).

Among the blueliners who could be on the board in the third round are Brett Pesce, a Tarrytown, N.Y., native at the University of New Hampshire; Shea Theodore (WHL, Seattle), a potential power-play QB; Tommy Vanelli, one of the top high school prospects, who will play at the University of Minnesota this fall, and Sweden's Linus Arvedsson. Forwards include Nick Moutrey, Saginaw (OHL); Hudson Fasching (U.S. National Team Development Program, USHL), and Emile Poirier, Gatineau (QMJHL).

Newsday LOADED: LOADED: 06.30.2013

683044 NHL

Bylsma Takes Dream Job as U.S. Men’s Hockey Coach

By JEFF Z. KLEIN

Published: June 29, 2013

It is not a prerequisite for becoming coach of the United States Olympic men’s hockey team, but Dan Bylsma has watched “Miracle,” the movie about the 1980 squad coached by Herb Brooks that won the gold medal.

“A few days ago I was back in Michigan, and my son and his cousin were watching ‘Miracle,’ “ Bylsma said Saturday, after USA Hockey’s official announcement that he would lead the Americans at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. “And they did not know I was going to be named the head coach of the team.”

“The scene where Herb was in the kitchen and having a conversation with his wife — I’m like, ‘That’s me; that’s my wife, Mary Beth!’ ” Bylsma added. “Kind of a surreal moment there.”

Bylsma, 42, has coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for four and a half seasons, winning a Stanley Cup in 2009. He will have other surreal moments as he tries to lead the Americans to their third Olympic gold medal.