New York Islanders Matt Duchene Deal That Works for Both Sides

Okay, yours truly has the deal that works for the New York Islanders and the Colorado Avalanche with Matt Duchene heading to Long Island. These two sides have gone back and forth for quite a while in trying to find common ground.

Here is the proposal for both sides. The New York Islanders trade Anthony Beauvillier, Ilya Sorokin and the higher of their two, 2018 first-round picks to Colorado for Matt Duchene.

This is why this deal works for both sides.

Colorado

The Avalanche get three high-end assets for Duchene. In Beauvillier they get a young forward who is a sure-fire top-six player. Beauvillier does everything well.

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Colorado doesn’t have their goalie of the future currently in the organization. Losing Calvin Pickard in expansion did not help matters. Sorokin has put up video game-like numbers the last two seasons in the KHL. He is signed for one more year in the KHL and then he can come over to North America.

New York Islanders

Finally, the Avs acquire one of the Isles two first-round picks next year. The 2018 NHL Entry Draft is sizing up to be a tremendous one, on the level of 2015 and 16. In this proposal Colorado would get the higher first-round pick next year that the Isles currently own. That would either be the Isles or Calgary’s.

While Colorado does not acquire any defenseman in this deal they get quite a haul of future talent. This deal would also end the Duchene drama for them, clear cap-space, and open up a spot for top prospect Tyson Jost.

Islanders

This deal makes a lot of sense for the Isles as well. The Islanders are a team that needs to go from a good team to a true contender now. While trading these future assets is expensive in all three cases they would be trading from depth.

The Islanders are loaded with young forwards both on the roster and those knocking on the door. The blue and orange have two top goalie prospects in Sorokin and Linus Soderstrom. Soderstrom is just as good as Sorokin and should be NHL bound after next season. If the Isles were to make this deal they would still have a first-round pick next year as well.

Then, of course, the Islanders would be adding Duchene to next year’s lineup. Their centers would be John Tavares, Duchene, Mathew Barzal, and Casey Cizikas.

The Islanders would have two incredible top-two centers with the rookie Barzal being able to contribute in a less pressurized situation. The Isles would have a deep team in all three area’s if they pulled off this trade plus they’d still have plenty of assets in the pipeline, as well as in next year’s draft.

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This would not be a cheap price for Duchene make no mistake about it. Duchene only has two years of control-ability left and carries a hefty cap number of $6 million. Although, having said that, this deal works for the Isles as well as the Avalanche. Both sides should be happy with the deal as it accomplishes what both teams need.