New York Islanders: Three Budget-Friendly Trade Ideas At Each Position

This year’s “bye week” comes at an opportune time for the New York Islanders. After snapping a five-game skid in the final game before the break, the Isles can take the momentum gained in the win and double it by making an economical trade before the February 26th deadline.

Last week I proposed three blockbuster trade ideas for the New York Islanders. A shake-up to this roster is almost a necessity at this point. Between the injuries and inconsistent play in several areas, an infusion of new blood into this Isles team could pay huge dividends. In this article, we’ll go through three budget-friendly trade proposals that the Isles could explore in each positional group.

There have been deficiencies that a smart trade could rectify in many areas for the New York Islanders. The first two lines have performed exceptionally well, offensively speaking, all year. It’s the bottom six forwards that need a shot of life. The third line and fourth lines have been holding this team back in many regards.

Injuries to Calvin de Haan and Johnny Boychuk have emaciated the Islanders defensive corps. The pairings have been a crap-shoot on a game-to-game basis. The impressive debut of Sebastian Aho and improved play from Scott Mayfield since signing a five-year contract extension give the impression that all hope is not lost. Though, a trade for even a back-end defenseman would give the defensive corps a much-needed reinforcement.

The New York Islanders goaltending has been a weakness all season. There’s no doubt the Isles brass is looking to make a move, any move, that will result in an improvement over the current Jaroslav Halak/Thomas Greiss combination.

Let’s explore three low-cost trade ideas for each positional group for the New York Islanders: