Unlike Steven Stamkos in Tampa, there will be no suspense when it comes to whether John Tavares will re-sign with the New York Islanders.

This according to new co-owner Jon Ledecky, who maintains the franchise center and team captain is "not going to be a free agent" when his contract with the Islanders expires at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Instead, he and Scott Malkin will work toward ensuring Tavares is surrounded with enough talent to bring the Stanley Cup to Brooklyn.

"We should be the world-class destination for free agents," Ledecky said, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. "If you think about a capped world, everybody can spend to the cap, and we certainly have no constraints on our (general manager) and our staff to spend.

"We want to create and continue to progress toward John Tavares lifting that Stanley Cup, so we should be world-class in everything we do."

The Islanders made a splash in free agency this summer by signing winger Andrew Ladd to a five-year, $38.5-million contract. Ladd's $5.5-million cap hit is equal to what Tavares will carry over the next two seasons, but that number is set to rise significantly on his next contract.

Tavares and the Islanders can officially begin negotiating an extension on July 1, 2017.

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P.K. Subban is making his presence felt in Nashville.

After spending part of Sunday touring the Predators' facilities and taking pictures with new, young fans, the recently acquired defenseman hit up a famous local watering hole and busted out a rendition of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

If all goes according to plan, Subban will have everyone in Nashville signing anything but the Blues over the coming years.

Meanwhile, some back in Montreal are quietly singing another Cash hit, "I Still Miss Someone."

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With Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman in for the long haul, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman is doing his best to keep as many pieces of the band together as possible.

Winger Alex Killorn signed a seven-year, $31.15-million extension with the Lightning on Sunday, with Yzerman citing his desire to keep his team's core intact.

"We're very comfortable doing a long-term contract at the right cap number with Alex," Yzerman said Sunday, according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. "He's been with us his entire career. He's a high-character young man, tremendously fit and part of the core of our team.

"We're trying to keep the core together as much as we can."

This is where things get a bit more challenging for Yzerman.

With Killorn signed, the Lightning have $8,529,167 in projected salary cap space for 2016-17, with restricted free agents Nikita Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov still waiting on new deals.

On top of that, Tampa Bay has several players facing free agency in 2017.

Yzerman said Sunday that it's highly likely he'll have to make a move in order for the team to be cap compliant before the beginning of the season, but added that it won't come through another buyout, after having already used one on Matt Carle.

The Lightning were one of the NHL's youngest teams last season, and advanced to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals after losing in the Stanley Cup Final the year before.

It's no wonder Yzerman wants to keep the core together. How much of it will remain intact long term remains to be seen.

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It is indeed real.

P.K. Subban was at Ford Ice Center in Nashville taking photos and chatting with new fans in his new gold-and-navy Predators threads on Sunday.

He also spent time checking out the equipment section.

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Steve Yzerman continues to keep Tampa Bay intact.

The Lightning are reportedly close to signing forward Alex Killorn to a seven-year, $31.15-million contract extension, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Killorn was one of the key restricted free agents for Tampa Bay this season, along with forwards Nikita Kucherov and Vladislav Namestnikov.

In a busy offseason, Yzerman has also managed to retain captain Steven Stamkos, as well as provide defensive-anchor Victor Hedman with a long-term extension.

Killorn, 26, recorded 14 goals and 26 assists in 81 games last season, and added 13 points in 17 playoff contests for the Lightning.

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Viktor Tikhonov is heading back to the KHL.

The Arizona Coyotes forward reached terms with St. Petersburg SKA, marking his third stint in the Russian League.

Tikhonov played for St. Petersburg from 2011-2015 before joining the Chicago Blackhawks last season.

Arizona claimed the 28-year-old from Chicago last December, and the former first-round pick recorded three goals and three assists in 39 contests.

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Building an NHL franchise is no easy task, just ask George McPhee.

Still, the newly appointed general manager of the Las Vegas franchise is ready to get to work, starting with the bare bones.

The team has 11 months before they can even add a player, but don't think for a second McPhee won't be occupied during that span.

"That 11 months is going to fly by, absolutely fly by because we are going to be so busy putting a staff together and then strategizing and trying to execute on that strategy in the way we're going to scout both the amateurs and the pros," McPhee told Dan Rosen of NHL.com. "It's going to be a lot of work, not to mention everything we have to do in house to get our offices and everything like that set up. But this time is going to fly by. We're not going to feel like we have enough time."

Although it's a daunting project, McPhee is relishing the uniqueness of building an NHL franchise from scratch.

"Other than the initial building of it, which should be fun and is sure I'm something all GMs would like to do when building a team, have an absolutely clean slate, I've just been overwhelmed by the number of people interested," McPhee said.

"Once we get through the expansion draft and the first draft, then it's the same for all GM's it's drafting and developing properly and managing people and managing your team. The other element is it's a brand new market and it's up to us to educate the market, to grow grassroots hockey, to make people aware of the game and really enjoy it and help them understand it."

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