New York Islanders Five Destinations For Nick Leddy

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LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 25: Nick Leddy #2 of the New York Islanders skates with the puck under pressure from Deryk Engelland #5 of the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period of their game at T-Mobile Arena on January 25, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Islanders won 2-1. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Vegas Golden Knights

Why They Could Use Him?

After that run to the Stanley Cup in year number one, things haven’t gone so swimmingly for the Vegas Golden Knights. The Knights are near the bottom of the Western Conference with a 6-8-1 record.

New acquisition Max Pacioretty hasn’t hit the ground running with only two points in eleven games. Meanwhile, Thomas Tatar has five goals and 13 points for the Montreal Canadiens. And 34-year-old netminder Marc-Andre Fleury is far removed from his 2.24GAA and 0.927SV% stats that earned him some considerable Vezina buzz in 2017-18.

The blue line that is light on quality outside of Nate Schmidt and Shea Theodore has also underperformed this season. Adding Nick Leddy to the mix immediately gives them a top pair option to move the puck out of the zone.

Of course, Nick Leddy isn’t filling that need for the Islanders right now. But my train of thought is that Leddy could use a change of scenery to get him back to where he should be.

What Isles Would Want

The discussion for Nick Leddy should start with center Cody Eakins, a second-round pick in 2020, and a third-round pick in 2019.

Eakins would be a great third line option for the Islanders. He’s a 30-40 point producer that can play a good defensive game. We’ve seen what Barry Trotz has been able to do with Brock Nelson, there’s no doubt Trotz could pull something extra out of Eakin even.

The draft picks could either be used as trade bait at some other point or used to add some more youth into a system that will certainly be plucked dry next season.