Who's In: D Bryan Berard (Camp Invite), C Mike Comrie (FA-OTT), RW Bill Guerin (FA-SJ), RW Jon Sim (FA-ATL), LW Ruslan Fedotenko (FA-TB), G Joey MacDonald (FA-BOS), D Aaron Jonson (FA-CBJ), D Andy Sutton (FA-ATL), C/LW Josef Vasicek (FA-CAR) and F Ryan Walter (TRADE-BOS).
Who's Out: RW Arron Asham (FA-NJD), RW Jason Blake (FA-TOR), D Sean Hill (FA-MIN), C Viktor Kozlov (FA-WSH), D Tom Poti (FA-WSH), LW Ryan Smyth (FA-COL), C Alexei Yashin (Addition by Subtraction) and F Richard Zednick (FA-FLA).
What's Changed: "There's no guarantees about tomorrow, but there is today and we certainly want to win. By doing this, we proved to the people of Long Island that we want to get a good product on the ice for them to come watch and cheer."That was Islanders coach Ted Nolan, right after his front office stunned the hockey world by trading for
Edmonton star Ryan Smyth at the deadline. With the benefit of hindsight -- and with
Smyth earning $31.25 million over the next five years to help Joe Sakic secure one more ring -- the quote speaks volumes: The Islanders were willing to part with two blue-chip prospects and a first-round draft choice for 18 regular season and 5 playoff games of Ryan Smyth hockey, with nary a second-thought as to whether he'd return to Long Island this season. I'm not sure what the Islanders' annual marketing budget is, but I'm certain their ad buys aren't usually as costly as this blatant public relations move was for the franchise.
Not that you can blame them for overcompensating in order to grab a few good headlines. If the 2006-07 New York Islanders will be remembered for anything, it'll be for their amazingly hasty image rehabilitation. The season started with
a back-up goalie replacing a Stanley Cup-winning veteran as general manager and a
"lifetime contract" doled out to a franchise goaltender that made observers
question the sanity of owner Charles Wang and provided opposing fans with perhaps the greatest hockey punchline since the Islanders tossed their Fishsticks jerseys into mothballs.
Then Teddy Nolan started coaching again, and the jokes stopped.
When the Senators acquired Mike Comrie and Chris Campoli before the trade deadline, some of the talk surrounding the trade wasn't about the players themselves. Since the Senators were out of the playoff race at the time some of the discussion revolved around Comrie's significant other, Hillary Duff. Duff could almost always been seen at the Coliseum when Comrie was an Islander and is now a fixture at Scotiabank Place. 
