Yashin's Exit Could Open Door for Smyth, Peca

According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, league sources have indicated that impending free agent Ryan Smyth had let it be known that he "would not consider re-signing with the Islanders if [Alexei] Yashin remained with the team for even a portion of the remaining four years of his contract." So much for the theory that the buy-out was engineered to appease the fans. Brooks also reports that former Islanders captain Michael Peca could look to return to the Island and reunite with head coach Ted Nolan, for whom he played in Buffalo. Peca played last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and like Smyth, is an impending free agent this offseason. Peca, too, could be swayed by the buy-out of Yashin. The pair did not mesh well during their tenure together.