‘Anxiety’ setting in for Islanders over the John Tavares unknown

This was a strange night, one that drove home the point that there is a permeating uneasiness engulfing the Islanders concerning the future of their captain, John Tavares.

The Islanders’ 2-1 win over the Rangers at Barclays Center on Thursday might or might not have been the final home game for Tavares, as the 27-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and the team will wrap up this putrid season Saturday in Detroit.

But there was no pomp and circumstance. There was no video tribute, no big salute, no real acknowledgment except a whispering chant in the corner of the ice — “John Ta-va-res!” — as the woebegone Isles skated off and said goodbye to their final full season as urbanites.

And if Tavares’ frustration level has risen a little bit over the past few weeks, getting more and more questions about the future he clearly holds in his own hands, then he still managed the professionalism to continue to answer in his vague generalities.

“I’m not trying to look at it as the end because obviously that hasn’t been determined,” Tavares said. “I’ve always wanted it to work out and stay, so that’s still what I hope transpires. But obviously that will come in the time ahead.”

For some reason, Tavares is treating this as if it is not entirely his decision. That might be a product of the blinders he wears when focusing on a practice or game, no matter how meaningless they look from the outside. That is a main reason he is where he is, the 36 goals and 83 points getting him within spitting distance of career highs and earning the demand of a contract commensurate with his status among the game’s elite.

But even from within the organization, it is clear who is holding the power to make this decision that could turn the franchise on its head as the Islanders prepare for an eventual move to a new arena at Belmont Park in the coming few years.

“People say it’s like a marriage, and that’s B.S. I know my wife controls pretty much everything I do and we don’t control anything with John,” coach Doug Weight said in his own unique analogy. “But no, I don’t have nervousness. Anxiety is probably a closer word. But you have to do what you have to do as an organization no matter what. With or without him, we’re going to move forward and try to win. We’d like him here.”

That is the hamstrung situation the organization has chosen to be in, with general manager Garth Snow vying not to entertain the idea of trading Tavares before this deadline — either by his own volition or by the orders of co-owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin, now finishing up their second year behind the wheel (and the checkbook).

There is very little dispute the contract isn’t an issue here at all, even as Snow and Tavares’ agent, Pat Brisson, have left the details of money to the side during the season. The Islanders are the only team in the league that can offer him eight years instead of seven, but the fact is that the money and term are going to be there.

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It’s just on Tavares to decide if he wants to keep playing for the Islanders, which was seemingly not something he could get to before this season has ended.

“The emotion is really the same. I think mostly, it’s disappointing knowing we’re not playing past Saturday,” Tavares said. “I think that’s what still hurts more than anything. Just trying to go out there and play my game, approach it the way I’ve approached all the other games. I think that’s the way I’m wired. I don’t try to look at it anything more than that, and don’t try to look too far ahead.”

That has left the organization as a whole in the lurch, waiting for the moment when it knows one way or the other if he is going to continue being the face of the franchise that drafted him with the No. 1-overall pick in 2009, and who has missed the playoffs in six of his nine seasons — now including two in a row. He surely wants to see management make this team better, and he surely doesn’t want to waste more of his prime years playing games as uninteresting as the one Thursday night.

If that made this his last home game as an Islander is still to be seen. What’s clear is that until Tavares makes a decision, the whole Islanders organization remains in a state of unease.