When the topic of going all-in is brought up, sometimes teams waste assets, and other times it is all worth it. The New York Islanders have been one of the busiest teams over the course of the past four trade deadlines in terms of what they have given up and acquired, trading away nearly all of their first and second round picks during that time.
From 2020 to 2023, their first round picks have been moved to bring in J.G. Pageau, Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov, and Bo Horvat. The Islanders’ second round pick in 2020 was also traded for Pageau, Aatu Raty was recently moved in the Horvat trade, while Calle Odelius (65th overall in 2021) may end up being the highest Islanders draft pick of the past four years.
Was it Worth it for the Islanders?
In terms of value and what they’ve won, the results haven’t been there. Sure the team went to back-to-back conference finals, but they didn’t actually win anything. The two seasons following that they missed the playoffs and are potentially just going to squeak in this season and face a very strong East team.
The Islanders still have Pageau, Palmieri, Romanov, and Horvat on their team, but the first two don’t help the average age of the team. Pageau and Palmieri are slowing down and are overpaid. They are 30 and 32 years old and Pageau is a third line center at best. He is still strong in his own end, but has just 13 goals and 37 points this season, not warranting $5 million AAV for three more seasons with a modified no-trade clause. The problem the Islanders have after acquiring these players is that they feel they need to extend them with no-trade clauses to make the trade worth it since they didn’t win anything.
Related: 3 Islanders Who Won’t Be Back Next Season
Horvat is having a career year, but no thanks to his production in New York. They wasted no time in extending him before they could see if he even fit in. I would argue that he hasn’t been the best fit with just six goals and 11 points in 26 games since the trade. He recorded 31 goals and 54 points in 49 games with the Vancouver Canucks this season prior to the trade. The Islanders were paying for that player, and instead got the $5.5 million AAV player he is right now.
What Does the Islanders’ Future Look Like?
The Islanders have nine forwards who are at least 30 years old on their team this season and if you think that is going to get any better next season, you’d be mistaken. Other than Zach Parise (38 years old) who is a UFA at the end of the season and is on a $750,000 contract, every other forward is signed through next season and many of them are overpaid.
The defence and goalie situation looks good, but they have tried the method of winning by shutting teams down. It didn’t get them the Stanley Cup and the goals-per-game in the league is only rising. The Islanders have more than enough defensive prospects as well, but their forwards are looking very thin. Top young players Simon Holmstrom and Oliver Wahlstrom have not produced the way they were expected to, especially now that the team isn’t under the defence-first way of thinking. Wahlstrom has seven goals and 16 points in 35 games in his third season while Holmstrom has five goals and one assist in 47 games in his rookie season.
They traded Raty and have one of the worst prospect pools. If they don’t take advantage of trades and free agency or have some of their prospects come out of nowhere, it isn’t looking good in the coming years.
