As the calendar is rapidly approaching the month of August the NHL Off-Season is officially in the dog days of the summer for trades and free agency activity. Other than teams doing house keeping by re-signing their RFA’s the league is largely on a hiatus. That makes Islander fans nervous. While Lou Lamoriello could still make a trade or big addition it’s looking more and more likely that the team you see now will be the team that takes the ice this October, which the issue with that is for most fans is that it’s the same team as last season. But there is some hope for those clinging to it; Matthew Tkachuk was traded last year on July 22nd, a few years prior Jeff Skinner was traded on August 1st and Max Pacioretty and Erik Karlsson were both traded in September.
But let’s get into it. If Lou does in fact swing a trade for a much needed goal scorer here are some potential options; all ranging in varying degrees of likeliness.
Jake DeBrusk (Boston Bruins)- 1 Year left at 4M. The Bruins forward is coming off a career year which saw him accumulate 50pts in only 64GP, scoring 27 goals. The Bruins likely don’t want to trade DeBrusk but with it looking like Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci might be hanging them up the Bruins center depth is cause for major concern. There have been some unsubstantiated rumors that the Isles and Bruins have been talking about a Pageau/DeBrusk swap. That move would save the Islanders 1M on the cap and give them a scoring winger that they have been looking for and it also gives the Bruins some much needed depth down the middle. However, the Islanders would most assuredly have to add to seal the deal.
William Nylander (Toronto Maple Leafs)- 1 year left at 6.9M. During the 2018-2018 season William Nylander was only minutes away from not being able to play in the NHL as he had to 5PM on December 1st to end his contract stalemate with than Leafs GM Kyle Dubas. Fast forward to the current day and it seems as though William Nylander is a difficult negotiation again. The Swede has 1 year left on his deal and rumors are he’s asking for 10M per season. The Leafs are balking at that as they are also currently focusing on locking up Austin Matthews to a contract extension that is likely going to be north of 13M. The Leafs will likely be putting Jake Muzzin on LTIR and buying out goaltender Matt Murray so they don’t have to move Nylander this summer but keeping both Matthews and Nylander going forward when you already have Captain John Tavares and Mitch Marner both making double digits makes things real difficult. William Nylander would look great on a line with Bo Horvat and Mat Barzal and most certainly solve a lot of needs. What makes this move highly unlikely is Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving would almost certainly ask for Islanders RD Ryan Pulock or Noah Dobson. That’s likely a non-starter for Lou Lamoriello, someone who values strong defense and multiple times has said for him goal differential is what matters.
Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers)- 2 years left at 5.5M. Earlier this off-season when Konecny’s name appeared on the trade block it raised a lot of eyebrows. Konecny is 26 years old and seems to fit in perfect with the Flyers rebuild. At this point it’s looking like the Flyers are going to retain him, and rightfully so. It would likely take a huge offer for Lou Lamoriello to acquire Konecny. The native of London, Ontario is coming off a career year which saw him score 31 goals and 61pts in only 60 games. The Islanders would likely have to part with names such as Noah Dobson, Oliver Wahlstrom, a 2024 1st and maybe more. Something that it doesn’t appear Lou would be willing to do.
J.T. Miller (Vancouver Canucks)- 7 years left at 8M. You would think for a player who just signed a long term extension wouldn’t be a guy that could be dealt. Think again. Just as recently as this past trade deadline the Canucks were in talks to trade Miller to the Penguins but the deal fell apart. Who can forget last year at the draft the Islanders and Canucks were rumored to be close on a deal for JT Miller on the draft floor that mysteriously fell through. When asked about it later, Lou famously said “Ask Vancouver.” Acquiring Miller now would most definitely require salary going back the other way in the form of JG Pageau and adding from there. JT Miller is a center but he also can play the wing so he could slot in perfectly next to Mat Barzal and former teammate of his in Bo Horvat.
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