Isles' Milbury Talking To Palffy

New York Islanders general manager Mike Milbury flew to Vienna late Monday night to meet with unsigned restricted free agent right wing Zigmund Palffy.

"My goal in meeting with Zigmund face to face is to bring this issue to a conclusion," Milbury said in a statement issued Tuesday. He would not comment further until after the dinner meeting with Palffy and Petr Svoboda, a representative of Palffy's agent, Paul Kraus.

Palffy, 26, had been looking for $6.8 million a year on a multiyear contract, though he has dropped his demands to $6 million per season. Team president David Seldin recently pulled the Islanders' only offer off the table, a three-year deal averaging $4.3 million a season.

"Mike went there to talk to Ziggy in a serious way about playing hockey this season," Seldin said in his only comment.

Kraus was more vocal about the situation.

"It was Mike's idea," Kraus said of the meeting. "There's not much progress. Mike's pitch was for ... less money than previously offered. We turned down their offer. We are interested in making a deal. Obviously, they are not."

Palffy, a native of Slovakia, has played the last three full seasons with the Islanders, scoring at least 43 goals in each with a high of 48 in 1996-97. He was an All-Star last season.

Milbury, who is also the team's head coach, missed Tuesday night's game against Los Angeles, but was expected to return for Thursday night's home game with New Jersey. Associate coach Lorne Henning ran the team in Milbury's absence.

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