Quick Hits: Hartford Offers Islanders A Home; Marchenko And Babcock Reunited

The Big Story

Hartford makes arena pitch to New York Islanders | USA Today

They mayor of Hartford along with the governor of Connecticut have reached out to the New York Islanders and offered the team a new home after they leave both Brooklyn and the Barclays Center in 2019.

The offer seems to be a genuine plea for professional hockey to return to Hartford, a city that lost their beloved Whalers in 1997. While the ‘Hartford Islanders’ does have a nice ring to it, I don’t believe the Islanders will move from the greater New York area.

In Red Wings Land

Alexey Marchenko claimed on waivers by Toronto from Red Wings | Mlive

Thanks to the Red Wings’ logjam of players, Alexey Marchenko is now a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The powers that be in Detroit decided that Marchenko was the odd-man out on the Wings’ blue-line.

Marchenko getting picked up by Toronto comes as no surprise really. Mike Babcock was a supporter of the young Russian defender during his time as Detroit’s head coach before leaving for Toronto.

The loss of Marchenko isn’t a critical blow to Detroit’s defense by any means, and this is not a slight against Alexey. The only sting of the loss comes in the form of losing a young player to a divisional rival for nothing. I wish Alexey all the best with his new team.