John Tavares dutifully repeated that now-common refrain: The announcement that the Islanders would play 60 games at Nassau Coliseum in the coming three seasons would likely not affect his thought process when it came to free agency.
That doesn’t mean it isn’t a bonus, and that certainly doesn’t mean that the Islanders aren’t pretty thrilled. It might not even mean it won’t eventually factor in heavily to Tavares’ decision to sign a contract extension or pursue free agency.
“I’m not going to say whether it changes my thought process,” he said on Monday. “I don’t think my thought process has really changed.