As difficult as it might be to believe, Alexei Yashin wants to return to Long Island. That's Yashin and his wife, Long Island native Carol Alt, pictured at right at a premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in Manhattan back in April.Just one year after the team decided to buy Yashin out of the last four years of a 10-year contract, Yashin's agent, Mark Gandler, told Newsday's Greg Logan that his client wants to come back to the New York Islanders on a one-year deal.
But that's not what's most unbelievable about this story. What's most unbelievable is that the Islanders are actually considering it. It was only a week ago that the team announced that it was letting go of a passel of veterans, all in the interest of giving their younger players a shot at significant minutes next season.
Not that Yashin doesn't deserve some consideration at this point, even if it's not on the Island. Playing last year at Yaroslavl in the RSL, Yashin had 16 goals and 27 assists in the regular season and added eight goals and six assists in 16 playoff games as his team made it to the Finals.
So what's the hangup? According to Gandler, the Islanders seem to be balking at his asking price, while the agent also seems to think that Yashin's fractured relationship with Islanders head coach Ted Nolan might be a bit problematic as well.
Color me shocked. So should Islanders fans be worried? Maybe. After all, Yashin had a very close relationship with Islanders owner Charles Wang, one that resulted in the team holding on to the veteran a full season or two longer than they should have. Is that relationship enough to move Wang to direct his hockey professionals to bring Yashin back? Stay tuned.
