July 1 has not been kind to the New York Islanders, Last year on July 1, John Tavares left the Island for his hometown team in Toronto. This year there were strong indications by many of the big NHL insiders who believed that Artemi Panarin would sign with the Islanders. Instead, Panarin signed with the dreaded Rangers at the last minute.
When Panarin signed with the Blue Shirts it appeared in addition to losing out on him, the Isles would also lose their captain, Anders Lee. Fortunately, that was not the case.