Nabokov Claimed by Isles

"I was surprised they picked me up. I was like, 'Wow, what's the point?'''

That pretty much sums it up. Not surprisingly, Nabokov is telling the Isles to piss off, and is refusing to report.

Why would the Isles, a team going absolutely nowhere this season, claim a player who clearly only wants to come back to the NHL to play for a contender?

"I dont see why somebody who has this opportunity would not want to play and fulfill his contract," Wang said. "It's nuts, right? I don't understand any of it."

It would explain much of it, if this was an executive decision by clueless/mysterious/insane meddling owner Wang.

I can't see any scenario under which Nabokov plays out the season for the Isles. He was willing to walk away from bigger contract offers in the offseason, so presumably he won't hesitate to walk away from a small contract with an irrelevant NHL team.

It will be a matter of how long the Isles will push, or if some kind of arrangement can be reached. By his own admittance Nabokov is not ready to jump straight into action, so maybe he could spend a few weeks with the Isles, getting himself together and help them get through an injury crisis, then they'll put him back on waivers.

Hard to predict anything the Isles will do though.