Witt already was under contract for next season at a salary of $3 million in the final season of a three-year deal worth $7.5 million. The new deal runs through the 2010-11 season. Injuries limited Witt to 59 games last season, and he missed the last 11 with a strained medial collateral ligament. When healthy, Witt might have been the Islanders’ most valuable player last season in his role defending against the top line of each opponent.

The bump in pay puts Witt on a par with Andy Sutton as the second-highest-paid defenseman on the team behind free-agent acquisition Mark Streit, who will receive $4.1 million per season to quarterback the power play.

As it turned out, San Jose was the only team for which Tampa Bay defenseman Dan Boyle agreed to waive his no-trade clause. None of the other six teams involved in the bidding for one of the NHL's top offensive defensemen ever got the chance to step to the plate. That includes the Islanders, Philadelphia, Vancouver, Ottawa and Atlanta.

When you see what the Sharks offered for Boyle, it's easy to understand why Lightning management was most interested in making a deal with San Jose. Not only did the Lightning get cap relief, but also they got a solid young top-four defenseman in Matt Carle, a terrific prospect in defenseman Ty Wishart, who totaled 16 goals, 51 assists and 67 points in his final season in juniors, and they got the Sharks' first-round pick in 2009 and fourth-round pick in the 2010 draft. Talk about a haul.

Boyle is a tremendous player, and defenseman Brad Lukowich, who also goes to San Jose, is a useful throw-in. But this is a deal that makes sense only for a team like San Jose that already is on the cusp of serious Stanley Cup contention.

Not that Boyle ever would have waived his no-trade for the Islanders, but for them to do an equivalent deal would have required them to send the Lightning defenseman Chris Campoli, forward Kyle Okposo (taken nine spots ahead of Wishart in the 2006 draft) plus their first-round pick next year and a fourth-rounder in 2010. That would have short-circuited the building process general manager Garth Snow has implemented, and even with Boyle in the lineup, there's a chance they would finish with a very high and very valuable pick in the first round next June.

The price was too high for the Isles. At the same time, it's good to see Snow still is working to find ways to improve the Islanders. This trade didn't work out, but it's a sign that he's prepared to take advantage of other opportunities that may arise if teams like Anaheim, Calgary, Dallas or Edmonton try to clear salary-cap space.

The new owners of the Lightning reportedly have asked Boyle to consider waiving the no-trade clause in the six-year deal worth $40 million that he signed last season before the ownership change. Thanks to a spate of recent signings, the Lightning is over the salary cap and has 27 NHL contracts, according to a report in the St. Pete Times.

Boyle's agent, George Bazos, told the Times his client plans to think things over tonight and make a decision on Friday about whether or not to waive his no-trade clause.

Dumping Boyle’s average annual salary of $6.667 million would go a long way toward solving that problem. The Lightning is believed to be seeking a puck-moving defenseman at a much lower salary plus draft picks to replace the ones they’ve dealt away. It’s pure speculation, but the Islanders could offer a choice of defensemen Chris Campoli or Radek Martinek. While they likely don’t want to part with their first-round pick in 2009, which would be part of the Lightning's asking price, the Isles could sweeten the pot with two second-round picks.

Snow declined comment through a spokesman. Considering the power Boyle has via his no-trade clause, the Islanders have to be considered a longshot to land him. Ottawa, which is Boyle’s hometown, and San Jose are viewed as the likely frontrunners. But at least the Isles are on the list of teams Tampa Bay is considering.

EX-ISLES: No doubt, many Islanders fans saw the news earlier this afternoon that Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko both signed with Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh. That means the former Isles will face their old team in six division games next season.

Both signed one-year deals. Satan took a cut from $4.485 million to $3.5 million, while Fedotenko dropped marginally from $2.9 million to $2.5 million. Not bad for two players coming off mediocre 16-goal seasons. Suddenly, the deal Snow gave Fedotenko last July doesn’t look like such an “overpayment.”

Considering the Penguins lost Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone as free agents, it will be interesting to see how the former Islanders do if they’re teamed up with centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. They just might score more than 16 goals apiece.

Snow telephoned this morning to tell me he nearly spit his coffee when he read what I wrote. After we hung up, I banged my head against the wall a few times as punishment. To keep this as simple as possible, here’s the breakdown on the seven players who are not currently on one-way contracts:

Kyle Okposo – Entering the first year of his three-year entry-level deal because he played only nine NHL games last season.

Blake Comeau – Has one year left on his entry-level deal.

Frans Nielsen – Qualified on a two-way contract for 30 more NHL games.

Jeff Tambellini – Qualified on a two-way deal.

Bruno Gervais – Qualified on a two-way deal.

Ben Walter – Qualified on a two-way deal.

Jeremy Colliton – Qualified on a two-way deal.

It’s possible Tambellini and Gervais might negotiate one-way deals before the season. Even if they accepted the Islanders’ two-way qualifying offer, Tambellini, Gervais, Walter and Colliton all would have to clear waivers on the way down to the AHL if they were assigned to Bridgeport. Tambellini and possibly Gervais likely would be claimed by another team in that scenario.

So, while Snow still has room to add more veterans on one-way deals through free agency if he chooses, the practical effect would be to create a crowded situation, especially at forward, that either would force Tambellini to be exposed to waivers or would force the Isles to send Comeau, Okposo or Nielsen back to Bridgeport to make room for a veteran. But Snow’s plan all along has been to create room to blend in Tambellini, Comeau, Okposo and possibly Nielsen to develop them at the NHL level.

Unless Snow has a change of heart and decides to seek more veteran help, the roster identified in the previous blog as your Islanders for the 2008-09 season still is correct, except that only 17 of those players currently have one-way deals.

“I would say so,” Snow said, “but I’ll still poke around and make calls.”

Since there is a 23-man NHL roster limit, the Islanders already are in a situation where one player under contract would have to be exposed to waivers when the season opens. You know, assuming someone doesn’t develop a sudden back problem that puts him on injured reserve.

When you look at the roster Snow has assembled, it’s easy to see that one reason he hasn’t added a proven scorer at winger is to give sniper Jeff Tambellini the best possible chance to prove he can score as well at the NHL level as he did in the AHL. Here’s one man’s opinion of what the lineup might look like heading into training camp:

Forward lines

Jeff Tambellini – Doug Weight – Bill Guerin
Blake Comeau – Mike Comrie – Kyle Okposo
Jonathan Sim – Mike Sillinger – Trent Hunter
Sean Bergenheim – Frans Nielsen – Richard Park

Defense pairings

Brendan Witt – Radek Martinek
Andy Sutton – Freddy Meyer
Chris Campoli – Mark Streit

Goaltenders

Rick DiPietro
Joey MacDonald

Extras

F Andy Hilbert
F Ben Walter
F Jeremy Colliton
D Bruno Gervais

As Snow sees it, Nielsen and Walter should compete for the fourth-line center position. If you project Tambellini to a top-six position at forward, that leaves Bergenheim, Park and Hilbert to contend for the two forward spots on the fourth line. Colliton is the odd man out unless, say, Sillinger hasn’t fully recovered from hip surgery or Guerin isn’t ready after shoulder surgery or Comrie still is battling his injuries.

At least, that’s how I see the lineup from what I imagine is the GM’s perspective. It could be very different from coach Ted Nolan’s vantage point, and he is the one who decides the combinations and the ice time.

Nolan likes the combination of Hilbert and Park killing penalties and playing a sound defensive game on the fourth line. But where would that leave Bergenheim, who was a ball of energy and is one of the Isles’ few physical players?

I’ll tell you. If Tambellini doesn’t produce coming out of the gate – maybe even in the exhibition schedule – it’s easy to imagine Nolan moving Bergenheim to the top line as an agitator and puck retriever for Weight and Guerin while playing Park and Hilbert on the fourth line with Nielsen and sitting Tambellini in the press box.

One other note of interest about this Islanders lineup -- I mean, aside from the lack of the big-time enforcer most fans want – is that the top three centers all are in the final year of their deals. Maybe the 28-year-old Comrie will earn a long-term extension, but it’s hard to envision the two 37-year-olds, Weight and Sillinger, playing much beyond next season in major roles.

Snow better hope the crop of free-agent centers is a good one come next July 1.

SCHEDULE CHANGE: In an earlier blog, I asked readers to watch for an interview with new Islanders power-play quarterback Mark Streit in Thursday’s edition of Newsday. But news of the Weight signing pushed the Streit interview back one day. It should appear in Friday’s edition of Newsday...In response to questions about D Jack Hillen and the possibility of adding an enforcer to the NHL roster, I believe Hillen will get a lot of time as the power-play quarterback at Bridgeport as he makes the transition from college to the pros. He would be an obvious callup in the event of injuries. I think Snow is content to add enforcers to BP's roster so they could be called up on an "as-needed" basis.

More details to follow later.

Danis, who played four years of college hockey for Brown University, is coming off his worst season with the Hamilton Bulldogs. He had a record of 11-19-4 in 38 games with a goals-against average of 3.28 and a save percentage of .893. His career W-L-T in the AHL is 79-67-18 with a GAA of 2.78 and a save percentage of .908. In his only six NHL appearances with the Canadiens in the 2005-06 season, he had a 3-2-0 record with a 2.69 GAA and a save percentage of .908.

In other goaltender news, it appears Islanders prospect Stefan Ridderwall will spend the coming season in the Swedish Elite League, but the club will retain his rights. In the absence of a transfer agreement, the NHL has granted “defected” status to each team’s European prospects for at least the next year. An Islanders spokesman explained that is why Ridderwall was not signed to an entry-level contract.

He played the backup role with Djurgardens in the SEL last season and also played for the junior team in that organization. Ridderwall is expected to become the starter for the big team this season, which should provide him with tremendous experience in a league that surpasses the AHL. The Islanders can sign him next summer, or the NHL again could extend the use of “defected status” so that each team continues to maintain the rights to its prospects in the absence of a transfer agreement.

ISLES FILES: Check Thursday’s edition of Newsday for a lively interview with new Islanders defenseman Mark Streit. Speaking today by telephone from Zurich, where he is working with his conditioning coach, Streit had some interesting comments about how he was used the past couple of seasons in Montreal and about why he is looking forward to the opportunity to join the Isles in an expanded role playing strictly as an offensive defenseman.

If you look at the YouTube video posted here earlier under the “Streit smarts” headline, you can see the kind of talent Streit has in one-on-one offensive situations and what kind of passer he is in traffic. It even includes a beautiful goal he scored against the Islanders on a backdoor play last season. Honestly, he was a player you couldn’t help but notice and appreciate every time the Isles met Montreal last season.

Some fans have compared him to former Isle Marc-Andre Bergeron, but there’s a world of difference. Bergeron’s slapshot was a powerful weapon, but there wasn’t much beyond that. He couldn’t skate out of his own end, waited too long to make the breakout pass and often made the wrong decision. On defense, Bergeron constantly angered his partners by roaming all over the place instead of playing his side.

Streit is an offensive playmaker. He will be able to make the nice breakout pass, and he has the ability to carry the puck into the offensive zone and the vision to make plays for others. Defense is his obvious weakness, which is why his average ice time of 17:31 was on the low end last season. Maybe that will improve with a regular shift on the Islanders.

I understand the pundits in Montreal are predicting a decline from his 62-point season with the Isles’ low-powered offense, and that certainly seems likely. But maybe the Canadiens will be surprised to see a decline in their power play and offense without a player like Streit to serve as a catalyst. The Islanders don’t have many finishers, but with Streit setting them up, their forwards should have a lot more chances to score this season.

Streit’s $4.1 million average salary might seem high at first blush, but if you look at it in the context of what other top free-agent defensemen received, it’s right in the middle. Check it out:

Brian Campbell, Chicago, 8 years, $7.1 million average
Wade Redden, Rangers, 6 yrs., $6.5m
Mike Green, Washington, 4 yrs., $5.25m
Michael Rozsival, Rangers, 4 yrs., $5.0m
Mark Streit, Islanders, 5 yrs., $4.1m
John-Michael Liles, Colorado, 4 yrs., $4.0m
Brad Stuart, Detroit, 4 yrs., $3.75m
Mike Commodore, Colorado, 5 yrs., $3.75m
Jeff Finger, Toronto, 4 yrs., $3.5m

On the preceding list, Commodore is the only defensive-oriented defensemen, and the only top offensive defenseman still on the market is Columbus’ Ron Hainsey. I’m betting Hainsey is holding out for a higher average salary than Streit received or possibly waiting to see how much goes to Pittsburgh’s Brooks Orpik, who is in the same age category. The Sports Network, Canada’s version of ESPN, ran a poll last night asking which defenseman’s contract would deliver the best value. The choice was between Campbell, Redden and Streit. Just to quibble, I’d say Green, who was a restricted free agent, will deliver the most bang for the buck for many years. But he wasn’t an option. Streit was the clear winner of TSN’s poll with 48 percent of the vote compared to 30 percent for Campbell and 21 percent for Redden.

Maybe performance will change those perceptions in the future. But at this time in the NHL marketplace, this is a very good signing for the Islanders.

Here are some highlights of new Isles defensemen Mark Streit.

Streit’s 62 points tied for third in the NHL behind Detroit’s Niklas Lidstrom (70) and Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar (65). His 13 goals tied for seventh, and his 49 assists ranked fourth. More importantly, Streit’s play was one of the major reasons Montreal’s power play ranked first in the league with a 24.1 percent success rate compared to the 29th-ranked Islanders power play (14.6 percent).

The Swiss native made just $600,000 in his third full NHL season, so, he’ll be making a big leap with a five-year contract for $20.5 million. But when you look at the deals the other top offensive defensemen have received today, Streit’s $4.1 million average salary ranks just a tick ahead of the $4 million average Colorado’s John-Michael Liles got to re-sign with the Avalanche. Yet, Streit had more than double the six goals scored by Liles or, for that matter, the six goals scored by new Ranger Wade Redden, whose six-year deal averages $6.5 million. Redden also brings the physical element, but Streit is a young 30 in terms of wear and tear and should be a good puck-mover on the third pairing for the Isles.

More details will follow as soon as they become available.

The price for Vrbata, who scored 27 goals last season, is basically what Islanders general manager Garth Snow offered to Jason Blake last season before he signed with Toronto for $20 million over five years. There’s no word at this point on whether Snow bid for Vrbata or not, but it would be disappointing if he didn’t make a competitive offer.

As of 4:00 p.m. today, it’s fair to say the Islanders have had preliminary discussions with two of their primary targets, defenseman Ron Hainsey and center Doug Weight. It’s possible something could get done with the 37-year-old Weight because he’s viewed by the Isles as a veteran who could make a difference in the development of the young wingers in the organization.

Hainsey, 27, is in a much different situation. It might be in his best interest to wait and see how much Brian Campbell receives because that contract likely will set the market for offensive defensemen. Once Campbell is off the market, many teams will turn to Hainsey as the solution for their power play. Judging by the four-year deal worth $14 million that defenseman Jeff Finger received from Toronto, the price for Hainsey coud be high. Finger’s deal equals the one former Islander Tom Poti received from Washington a year ago.

One other thing to watch over the next week or so is the trade market. Anaheim, Calgary, Dallas and Edmonton are among teams trying to clear cap space. They could place players on waivers or deal them for prospects and picks.

Having read most of the comments on the blog reflecting on what happened to the Islanders in last year’s free agent market, I’d like to add my two cents. In hindsight, Snow might have lucked out when Ryan Smyth chose to sign with Colorado, which will overpay him in his declining years. But I always will defend Snow’s reasons for trading for Smyth at the deadline in February.

The Isles were sixth in the Eastern Conference at the time and in the middle of their best month of the season. They gave up Robert Nilsson, a winger with a decent NHL upside, and Ryan O’Marra and a 2007 first-round pick. O’Marra hasn’t shown anything special, and the pick came in a relatively weak draft. The Smyth deal looked great until goaltender Rick DiPietro suffered two concussions that changed everything. Snow couldn’t have planned for that.

The Islanders were in a different position at this February’s trade deadline, and Snow did his best to secure a chance to negotiate with Calgary’s Kristian Huselius in an attempt to sign him long-term. He wasn’t going to surrender picks in a great draft or top prospects. But if you look around at the rest of the league, other GMs rented players, just as Snow did the previous season. Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero rented Marian Hossa, who likely will sign elsewhere. The Penguins reached the Stanley Cup Finals, so, it worked out better for them. But the bottom line is that Shero probably will lose Hossa after failing to keep Ryan Malone because of the offer to Hossa and their plans to sign Evgeni Malkin long-term.

Did Shero make a bad move? No, not any more than Snow did by trading for Smyth. They took their best shot when they thought the time was right.

Agent Kurt Overhardt, who represents Dubielewicz, confirmed reports his client has signed to play with AK Kazan in the new Russian Continental League that is starting up this season. Overhardt declined to discuss specific terms of the deal, but it’s likely his client will make several times what he did after taxes on the $500,000 contract he received from the Islanders last season.

Dubielewicz received a multi-year offer from the Islanders that likely included a two-way provision in the first year that would have consigned him to playing for AHL Bridgeport for most of the season. Joey MacDonald, who has a one-way deal for $500,000 this season, figures to serve as the backup for starter Rick DiPietro.

After going 9-9-1 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage and allowing a maximum of three goals in his final 14 starts, the idea of returning to the AHL, even for a year, was unacceptable to Dubielewicz. “We did have several talks with the Islanders and unfortunately weren’t able to come to terms,” Overhardt said. “It was one of those opportunities where it seemed like my client couldn’t refuse it.”

Dubielewicz might well have attracted offers when the NHL free-agent market opens on Tuesday. Tampa Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Buffalo and possibly even the Rangers were considered potential bidders. But while Dubie might be in for a case of culture shock in Kazan, where Islanders’ third-round draft pick Kirill Petrov plays, things are changing for the better in what previously was known as the Russian Superleague.

“The reality of the state of international hockey is that the Russian league is very serious about continuing to grow and bolster its credibility,” Overhardt said. “They’ve changed the format of their contracts. Part of the contracts are now guaranteed with respect to buyouts.

“They’re going to get some quality players that otherwise would be in the NHL. They can pay them better, and it’s a situation where you play fewer games and get paid more. The way the league is being structured, it’s going to be much more of a common thing the next couple of years.”

COMING IN SUNDAY’S NEWSDAY: The Islanders are a tough sell in the free-agent market, as last year’s negotiations with Ryan Smyth and a failed deal at the February 26 trade deadline demonstrate. Check Sunday’s Newsday for the details of the move GM Garth Snow tried to make in February and a look ahead to the opening of the NHL free-agent market on Tuesday and the problems Snow faces.