from Larry Brooks of thr New York Post,

The Islanders’ Ryan Strome is not playing in the World Cup, but the unsigned, 23-year-old restricted free agent faces a unique situation among his counterparts. For while the NHL deadline under the CBA for signing Group II’s is set at Dec. 1, the Islanders policy of cutting off negotiations upon the opening of training camp initially established by Charles Wang remains in place.

That gives Strome — the fifth overall selection in the 2011 Entry Draft (one slot ahead of the Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad) who had a very disappointing 2015-16 (8-12-20 in 71 games) during which he was sent to AHL Bridgeport and was ultimately a scratch in three playoff matches — until Thursday to reach an agreement with general manager Garth Snow.

That does not necessarily mean that the Islanders would not match an offer sheet if the forward were to receive one after the reporting date, Snow told The Post. Offer sheets up to $1,239,265 per would not carry any compensation. Strome is coming off a three-year entry level deal worth an average $863,333.

“There are too many unknown variables regarding a hypothetical situation such as an offer sheet to throw it under the umbrella of any team’s policy,” Snow said via email. “Therefore, if a scenario/opportunity such as this presents itself, we will deal with it on a case by case basis at the appropriate time.”

read on for why Dustin Byfuglien did not play on Saturday...