The upcoming Las Vegas expansion draft is going to throw an added wrinkle into the trade deadline plans for several teams. One of those is the New York Islanders who are going to have some tough decisions to make when it comes to their back end.
As a refresher on the rules, teams can protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and a goalie or eight skaters plus a goaltender. While most teams will opt for the former, New York may have to go with the latter route if they want to hold onto as many defenders as possible.
The Islanders have the following blueliners on their active roster who are either signed or under team control (as a restricted free agent) for next season that require protection:
Johnny Boychuk
Calvin de Haan
Travis Hamonic
Thomas Hickey
Nick Leddy
Of those on that list, Boychuk has a no-move clause which makes him an automatically protected player unless the Islanders get him to agree to waive it.
Also worth noting is that youngster Ryan Pulock is also eligible to be selected, Newsday’s Arthur Staple confirmed with the league back in the summer (Twitter link). While his NHL experience is limited to just 16 games in total (and only one this season), he’s still only four years removed from being a first round pick and is expected to be a part of their back end in the near future.
How many can they realistically protect? Hamonic and Leddy are no-brainers which, when added to Boychuk, would make up the standard three that most teams will protect. That would expose a trio of quality defenders, all of which should carry some trade value around the league.
Up front, John Tavares and Andrew Ladd have no move clauses while young core forwards like Anders Lee and Brock Nelson seem like reasonable locks to be protected as well. If they opted to go with the eight skaters route, they could potentially protect these four plus one of de Haan, Hickey, or Pulock which would allow them to keep at least one more defender in the fold though it would also mean some quality forwards would have to be left unprotected as well, including Ryan Strome, Casey Cizikas, and Josh Bailey (who could all be protected if they went with 7-3-1).
Here’s the dilemma for GM Garth Snow. As things stand, it seems highly likely that the Islanders will lose a blueliner to Las Vegas, headed up by GM George McPhee, previously a special advisor to Snow and the team. With that in mind, should the Isles look at trading one or more of those defenders now knowing that so many teams are on the lookout for quality defensemen and that it’s shaping up to be a sellers’ market? Or, does he decide to keep all of the blueliners he has and just bite the bullet that they’re going to probably lose one? Doing so would at least allow them to keep most of their depth intact.
With a bit more than a month between now and the trade deadline, a decision doesn’t have to be made for a little while yet. However, this may be one of the more interesting themes to keep an eye on between now and then when it comes to the Islanders.
The Islanders would be smart to trade one of their defensemen. They are highly unlikely to make the playoffs. Get something back in return that the organization can use going forward. If they know they are going to lose a defenseman anyway, it makes sense to at least get an asset back in return
Depends on which defensemen they decide to trade. Even if they trade one, Las Vegas might still take a defensemen from them, meaning they lose two defensemen but only get a return for one.
It’s clear what islanders need to do. See if Bruins would take Boychuk back. Even for a mid pick. Getting that terrible contract off the books and protect a young asset is the way to go. Then trade Hamonic. He has high market value because of his low cap hit. Should be able to get a good return.