Muller’s Playing Days With Islanders Are Over

The New York Islanders handled the Kirk Muller situation Sunday the only way they could. Since he told club officials he does not want to be part of a losing team, they told him to get lost.

At noon, an hour before the Islanders (2-11-2) boarded a charter flight for San Jose, where they open a three-game California trip Tuesday against the Sharks, General Manager Don Maloney said, “We have decided to ask Kirk to go home. He will not play for the New York Islanders again.”

Maloney said when he obtained Muller in a multiplayer deal with the Montreal Canadiens on April 5, Muller told him he did not want to play for a rebuilding team. He took four days to report.

This year it was clear his heart was not in his work. A career point-a-game player, Muller, 29, has four goals, three assists and a team-worst minus-10 rating.