Eberle willing to play during summer with Islanders if season resumes

Jordan Eberle is in the group of those wanting to finish the NHL season, even if it takes the summer months, to determine a Stanley Cup champion.

"I'm for it," the New York Islanders forward said Thursday. "I'm for playing into later into the year. But that being said, I don't know at what point do you cut it off. You need to resume a full season next year and you need to have that time and that rest too. It's such a fine line. The further we go, and to keep pushing it back, and you keep hearing these stipulations [that] it's going to run into June, July … I think at some point there has to be a date where you say, 'OK, the season's lost,' and we start recuperating for next year.
"As of right now, I think everyone's mindset is that we do want to play the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs. You work this hard all year … you play that many games and you're in the hunt, and then the season's just done, that's tough. You work all season long, all previous summer long to have a shot to win the Stanley Cup. Because of certain events that are out of all of our control, you can't do that, it's hard."
The NHL paused the season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Whether the Islanders would qualify for the playoffs if the remainder of the regular season is canceled is one of the many unknowns. New York (35-23-10), which lost its last seven games before the pause (0-3-4), trails the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets by one point for a wild card from the Eastern Conference but has played two fewer games than the Blue Jackets.
"I'm sure we can make a strong case for point percentage and we'd squeak into the playoffs," said Eberle, who has 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 58 games this season. "Regardless of what's going to happen, if we do resume and we do resume with the playoffs, there's going to be some teams upset that they're not in. Right now, it's a new situation, it's unique. No one's ever been through it, so somebody's going to get left out or … it's hard, if anything."

The Islanders were in Calgary when the season was paused. Eberle left for New York the day before to be with his wife, Lauren, who was expecting their first child. Their daughter, Collins, was born March 16.
Eberle said he and his wife are taking all the proper precautions to prevent the coronavirus from entering their Long Island home.
"It hasn't been overly scary," Eberle said. "We've done a lot of research and talked to a lot of doctors. It doesn't seem like the virus is really affecting children as much as older [people]. That being said, you're still hearing cases of younger kids [contracting the virus]. It is a little bit concerning, but at the same time we're doing everything we can here to stay isolated, keep her safe. More than anything, we're just trying to get her into a rhythm so that she can grow up healthy and we can get through this first couple of months."
Stuck at home and having no idea when he's going back to work, Eberle said the quarantine hasn't been easy.
"Some days, I can't sit still at home," he said. "I'm jittery, I'm running up and down the stairs to get something. I'm going a little bit stir-crazy. We have a gym in the basement, so I try and keep motivated to work out as much as I can. But when there's no clear-cut date on when the season's starting, sometimes the focus can get lost.
"But the baby is doing a good job of keeping us occupied. Arguably, [this was] the best time possible [for her to be born]. I can't think of another time when I'd have this much time with her."
But because of coronavirus concerns, Collins has yet to meet her grandparents, who are all in Calgary.
"Thank God for FaceTime," Eberle said. "We've joked about how they're not going to meet their grandchild until she's 2 or 3 months old."