New York Islanders Likely To Do Nothing Through Trade Deadline

General manager Garth Snow will likely allow the NHL trade deadline to come and go without doing much of anything for his New York Islanders.

There is no league in the world that can match the National Hockey League trade deadline. The activity that goes down in the hockey world in early March is epic.

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Teams who feel the injury bug (see the Chicago Blackhawks), do anything in their power to replenish the lineup. Other teams who’ve been absolutely tearing it up as of late (see the New York Rangers), still shake it up in attempt to put the right pieces together.

For general manager Garth Snow and the New York Islanders, it looks like they’ll sit this one out.

According to Newsday, by the time 3 pm ET comes rolling around tomorrow, the state of Long Island hockey will remain the same as it was the day before. Not even the devastating injury to stud winger Kyle Okposo a few weeks ago could change Snow’s mind.

In fact, the Islanders brass has been uttering the exact words the past six weeks. They will do nothing drastic to alter the current roster.

Snow feels this roster is championship contending and the future is bright. Who could argue with a 41-21-2 record and 84 points, remaining in first place in the Metropolitan Division for most of the year.

There are underlying reasons though why he wouldn’t even attempt to bolster this group, as we see so often around the NHL.

Feb 9, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Minnesota Wild forward Thomas Vanek (26) against the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild defeated the Canucks 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

One deals directly with the lack of movable assets.

The reason this team came together so quickly was because of Snow’s moves prior to the season. Acquiring Thomas Vanek costs them a very valuable first and second round pick.

Snow did get back a second rounder when he traded Andrew MacDonald during last year’s deadline, but he promptly used that pick to help acquire Johnny Boychuk.

The Isles have no first or second round selections in this June’s draft. It’s very hard to maneuver without those rounds in your back pocket.

Another reason nothing will happen is Snow’s refusal to trade his top prospects.

He has said repeatedly that the names of Michael Dal Colle, Joshua Ho-Sang, Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock will not leave the organization’s sight.

He has said repeatedly that the names of Michael Dal Colle, Joshua Ho-Sang, Griffin Reinhart and Ryan Pulock will not leave the organization’s sight.

Lastly, Snow is looking around at what players are costing right now and he’s probably getting the impression that it is becoming too costly to bolster the lineup.

The Rangers just sent a first-round pick, Anthony Duclair and John Moore to the Arizona Coyotes for a defenseman in Keith Yandle who currently has a -32 and is a turnover machine. No doubt Yandle has plenty of skill (ranking in the top 10 in points for a defenseman), but the cost for the Rangers will bite them in the behind for a long time.

With the Islanders current state of having hardly any draft picks to speak of in the coming years, Snow has to bank on the Reinhart’s and the Dal Colle’s of the world to come through.

Basically what it comes down to is this: Snow has already pushed all his chips in the middle of the table, and he did it before the season started. Now it’s time to sit back, relax, and watch his young squad dominate.

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