P.A. Parenteau talks to reporters before making his exit as...

P.A. Parenteau talks to reporters before making his exit as Islanders clean out their lockers on April 9, 2012. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy

P.A. Parenteau spent the weekend with his left leg in a walking boot, not exactly a fitting end to his best NHL season. The 29-year-old wing is entering this offseason with a chance to earn his biggest payday after totaling 18 goals and 49 assists, but he still hopes his agent and the Islanders can agree on a deal well before he hits the open market July 1.

The two sides likely will begin talking about a new deal this week, now that the season is finished.

"I said it before and I'll still say it: This is where I want to be," Parenteau said Monday as the team gathered one final time for physical exams and exit interviews at the Coliseum. Parenteau suffered a sprained left ankle in Thursday's 5-4 win over the Jets and has been in the boot since.

He said he'll take at least a month off to let the ankle heal fully before beginning his offseason regimen. If there's a deal worth taking from the Isles during that idle time, he'd be happy to take it.

"No one likes uncertainty," he said. "It's between Allan [Walsh, Parenteau's agent] and Garth [Snow, Isles general manager] and hopefully, they can figure out something that's good for both of us. I'm in a pretty good position right now and I want to keep what we're building here. It's going to be something special."

 

Tavares not stopping

After his 80-point season, John Tavares accepted an invitation from Team Canada to play in the upcoming World Championships in Helsinki and Stockholm. Also headed to play in the tournament May 4 are Kyle Okposo (United States), Frans Nielsen (Denmark) and Milan Jurcina (Slovakia). Snow has given the OK for Nino Niederreiter to play for Switzerland, and countryman Mark Streit might join up, as well.

"I feel like this can be my playoffs," said Okposo, who finished the season with nine goals in his last nine games. He'll likely be playing for former coach Scott Gordon. "I've been feeling healthy and playing pretty well, so it's nice to get a chance to keep it going."

Travis Hamonic received an invitation from Canada but declined for personal reasons.

 

DiPietro not concerned

Rick DiPietro said his main goal -- the same as it's been for four straight offseasons now -- is to be healthy and ready for training camp. There could be an amnesty buyout period in a new collective-bargaining, and he knows the nine years remaining on his 15-year, $67.5-million deal would be ripe for such a buyout, but there's no reason for him to speculate.

"You saw it happen with the NBA deal and it's happened in hockey before, so it's always possible to have that," said DiPietro, who may be part of the NHLPA's executive committee involved in the upcoming CBA talks. "But that's out of my control even if it happens. I need to work as hard as I can this summer to be prepared for camp. That's all I can do."

 

Draft lottery Tuesday night

Islanders director of pro scouting Ken Morrow will represent the team at the draft lottery drawing Tuesday night in Toronto. The five teams with a chance to pick No. 1 are the Blue Jackets, Oilers, Canadiens, Islanders and Leafs.

The Isles have a 10.7-percent chance of moving up to No. 1 from No. 4. All 14 non-playoff teams can win the lottery but can move up only four spots, so the Isles will either win and pick first, stay at fourth or drop to fifth, as happened last season when the Devils won the lottery and went from eighth to fourth.

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