New York Islanders Trade Ideas For Third Line Center

Frans Nielsen | Detroit Red Wings

Cap hit: $5.25 million through 2021-2022

Is he not the perfect candidate for the New York Islanders? We already know everything about him. We know that Frans Nielsen works his tail off on both sides of the rink. Both offensively and defensively.

We don’t need to pour over his stats. We all know that Frans Nielsen is a 50+ point player when he was the Islanders second line centre. We know what he brings to the table.

Frans Nielsen perfectly fits the Frans Nielsen shaped hole in the Islanders lineup.

Now the question is, can the New York Islanders actually get him in a trade? Admittedly that’s going to be quite difficult. It wouldn’t seem like any bridges were necessarily burnt when he left for Detroit, but Frans still left. For whatever reason that was.

If for some reason, a road back to the New York Islanders is possible then it’s going to take more than Brock Nelson to land the “he can do everything centre”. A pick and maybe even a prospect might have to go Detroit’s way. Not only to get Nielsen but to convince the Red Wings to keep some of his salary in the trade.

With Detroit being right at the cap ceiling with no more room to breath, and with some young pricey RFAs needing singing maybe the Red Wings will think about dealing.

I’ll be honest there are a lot of ‘ifs’ in this scenario, but it’s the best option. IF it can happen.