Offseason Question #3: What to do about a problem like Alexei Yashin.

According to Peter Botte of the Daily News, a two-thirds buyout of the remaining contract would cost $17.63 million spread out on the salary cap over eight years. That leaves over 5 million dollars in cap money to use each season on the rest of the team. That five million may go a long way into securing Ryan Smyth or Jason Blake or (gasp!) both over the next few years.

Yashin, by the way, had zero points and was temporarily demoted to the fourth line in the five-game playoff stinker against the Sabres. That was the same amount of points I had this playoff season and I made a whole heck of a lot less. This is a song with a familiar refrain. We heard the same complaints about his time in Ottawa as well. It's his reputation and unfortunately, this one has a lot of evidence to back it up.

People like me wonder how much the European and Russian players understand about the desire the North Americans have to win the Stanley Cup. That's why you get stories about young guys like Sidney Crosby playing his first playoff on bad ankles or Steve Yzerman playing on a leg that that was so bad that he wouldn't be able to run again. Maybe the NHL fans are too quick to point fingers at the Russians and Europeans...but for many of them, perhaps the big hockey dream was playing in the Olympics and not necessarily playing to get their names engraved on Lord Stanley's hardware. Either way, Yashin always looks a step or two slow when he is out there. He doesn't elevate his own play or the play of his linemates and as a captain, he cannot be a Leader of Men if he himself is not motivated. Too often he looks as if he is just going through the motions out there with little or no exertion.

I've often thought that there is a direct correlation between Alexei Yashin and Alex Rodriguez in the fact that both men have superior skill but in the end, both players have a nagging desire to be loved. Well, Yashin is not loved on Long Island. He has not given of himself to be revered as perhaps he wants to be. Is that because he is Russian? Not necessarily. It's that he comes off as a very quiet and insular guy.

Speculation aside, the numbers simply do not lie. Yashin's production has not come close to living up to the compensation. If there is a way to relieve yourself of that compensation, you do so. Yes, the contract was ridiculous when he signed it but none of us would have turned down that kind of stability and cash. Ownership wanted to send a message to the fans that they were trying to show the fans and the league that they were committed to franchise stability.

The coach and the GM were not here (in their respective roles) when he signed the contract. The dwindling ice time and the 10-2-4 record when he was out proved to Ted Nolan that he could win without the captain in the lineup.

This is a familiar refrain over the past two offseasons: dump Yashin. Pay him his money and let him go away. Well, one thing we all can bank on with this ownership is that we never know what to expect. Heck, lots of people thought firing Neil Smith was a mistake! Best mistake ever made, I say! (He didn't get a new job in the league, did he? Surprising.) "Yashingate" is so unorthodox and hard to predict. Last year I thought for sure Alexei would be bought out. This year, hell, I don't know what to think. I mean, the numbers are there. It makes sense team-wise to do so. They surrounded him with viable veteran leaders in the room who were supportive and not much came of it. I mean, there was team building and team improvement but nothing from the captain; the flagship of the franchise. The mega contract is a hindrance. Buying him out would prove to the fans and the players that ownership is not going to reward mediocrity and that they are going to bring a winner back to Nassau County. To take a step forward, the Islanders need to relieve themselves of a past mistake.

I say buy him out, put it behind us, and move forward. Send the message. It makes so much sense to do so that to not buy out the rest of his contract would make no good sense whatsoever. I mean, I don't know how Mr. Wang and Garth Snow could rationalize keeping him on in the press. Plus, if keeping Yash on means we lose Ryan Smyth or Jason Blake, the potential public relations nightmare may be off the charts. Islanders fans have stopped hating on Yashin. Now, for the most part, we're indifferent. We shrug our shoulders at him. Bringing him back at the (possible) expense of the others just kicks the beehive.

But then again, it isn't my $17.63 million on the line here...but that's what it all boils down to.