New York Islanders Offseason Plan If John Tavares Stays

Trade 2: Trade For Justin Faulk

If you’re a frequent reader of my work, or just the site in general, you’ll know how much we like Justin Faulk as a trade target. He makes just $4.83 million against the cap for the next two years and he’s still only 26-years old.

Before this past year, Faulk put up three years in a row of 15 or more goals from the blue line which would add a nice scoring upside to the blue line.

But why would the Hurricanes move their captain one might ask. Very simple, they haven’t made the playoffs in nine years. Nine! They’re in desperate need of a rebuild and with the second pick in this year’s draft it’s the perfect time to blow things up.

I don’t know many teams who have been out of the playoffs for near a decade that would turn away additional first-round picks:

Giving up four things for one player may seem like a lot, but again, this is a trade within the division so it’s going to be costly. The Islanders would be giving the Canes another first rounder, a 20 goal depth scorer in Brock Nelson, a top-five pick who may benefit from a change of scenery and a former fifth-round pick that played in the NHL the year he was drafted.

Those are four pieces you could use in order to kick off the rebuild. The Rangers just traded their captain, it can’t be off the table for the Hurricanes who are in a much worse spot than the Rangers were.