Is Change of Address Due for Yashin?

Now that Ottawa Senators general manager Marshall Johnston has tentatively signaled the team might trade holdout center Alexei Yashin, where will the Russian wind up?

Some of the NHL’s big-city teams, such as the Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers, reportedly are interested in Yashin, and the New York Islanders might be weighing a megaoffer, too.

The Blackhawks could be the frontrunner, if they do not trade for Keith Tkachuk of Phoenix. San Jose, which apparently contacted the Senators during the season about Yashin, also might make an offer.

Yashin failed to honor the final year of a Senators contract that would have paid him $3.6 million this season. He did not take the ice until after an arbitrator ruled he could join Russia’s team in the world championships in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Yashin’s status will be clarified once an arbitration hearing is held May 24-25 in Toronto. The Senators contend Yashin still owes Ottawa a year of service. The NHL Players Association argues Yashin has the right to become a free agent on July 1.

Even if the arbitrator rules in Ottawa’s favor, the Senators must decide if they want to bring back a player who clearly seems not to want to play for them. If they don’t bring him back, they could do a sign-and-trade deal with Yashin.

“There’s a possibility we could trade him,” Johnston said. “I guess you could say that for every player. We don’t have a decision made.”

Johnston also says there is no decision yet whether to offer goaltender Tom Barrasso a contract.

The Senators traded goalie Ron Tugnutt and defenseman Janne Laukkanen to Pittsburgh at the trading deadline with the idea Barrasso would be the playoff-tested piece of the puzzle they needed. Barrasso won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992.

Instead, Barrasso was uneven as the Senators were ousted in the first round by Toronto. Tugnutt, meanwhile, led seventh-seeded Pittsburgh to a first-round upset of second-seeded Washington and into the second round against Philadelphia.

PAY DAY: The NHL estimates the average player’s salary was $1,288,974; the NHL Players Association estimates it at $1,297,649. The difference is important because the agreed-upon number is used to determine free agent status for players who have played a set number of years at a salary below the league average.

The NHLPA also estimates that salaries rose an average of 5 percent--a modest gain, perhaps, compared to the double-digit gains of recent seasons, but certainly not low enough the union would seek to reopen the collective bargaining agreement.

WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?: Some NHL players began wearing visors or face shields after Toronto’s Bryan Berard nearly lost an eye when inadvertently struck by a stick. But the San Jose Sharks complained the football style-mask worn by Dallas Stars fourth-line forward Blake Sloan offered too much protection and didn’t meet regulations.

Referee Kerry Fraser and NHL supervisor of officials Mike Murphy both examined the mask and deemed it acceptable. Sloan is wearing the mask to protect a broken jaw.

SUTTER’S STATUS: As the San Jose Sharks go deeper into the playoffs than anyone even in the Silicon Valley predicted, the status of coach Darryl Sutter is becoming an issue.

Sutter is unsigned for next season, although general manager Dean Lombardi said an offer remains on the table. Sutter has coached the Sharks to the playoffs in each of his three seasons, but his contract runs out as soon as the Sharks’ season ends.

Last year, there was considerable speculation Sutter might bolt to Chicago for a second stay as the Blackhawks’ coach. He gave up the job following the 1994-95 season to take a two-year break for family concerns.

JAGR BOOSTERS: Jaromir Jagr had a rather modest regular season against the Flyers, with one assist and one upper back injury in three games.

Perhaps Jagr’s quiet season lulled the Flyers into feeling a little too comfortable about defending the NHL’s scoring champion and most explosive offensive talent. Bad idea.

Jagr, for example, had two goals and an assist in the Penguins’ 4-3 overtime loss in Game 3, even though one of the NHL’s best defenseman, Eric Desjardins, was on the ice for all three goals.

“He’s got everything,” Desjardins said. “He’s got all the moves.”

The Flyers normally match defenseman Chris Therien against Jagr, but Jagr crossed up that strategy by switching sides of the ice to take on Desjardins.

At one point of the playoffs, Jagr had scored three consecutive game-winning goals, one short of the league playoff record.

If any Flyers felt it might be best to physically challenge Jagr, forward Craig Berube discouraged that school of thinking.

“Believe me, you’re not going to intimidate Jaromir Jagr. You can run him all you want, and it won’t matter,” Berube said. “When you’re out there on the ice, you just have one job to do, and that’s to not let him do anything.”

IN THE CREASE ... AND IN THE WRONG?: Penguins coach Herb Brooks ripped the NHL’s lax enforcement of the in-the-crease rule, and he was quickly joined by Dallas Stars coach Ken Hitchcock.

Both coaches argue that attacking teams are gaining an advantage by manhandling goaltenders in the crease. Last year’s strict in-the-crease rules were relaxed several days after the Stars’ Brett Hull scored the Stanley Cup-winning goal against Buffalo despite clearly having a skate in the crease.