New York Islanders Three Star Players Available in Trade Market

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OTTAWA, ON – JANUARY 9: Matt Duchene #95 of the Ottawa Senators looks on against the Chicago Blackhawks at Canadian Tire Centre on January 9, 2018 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images) /

Matt Duchene | C

Ottawa Senators

It’s no secret that things aren’t going well for the Ottawa Senators. The owner is in legal trouble as the franchise tries to move the team from the outskirts of Canada’s capital to its downtown core by building a new arena.

Eugene Melnyk’s former business partner in the arena venture is suing him for $1 billion. And the NCC, the body that manages the land where the arena was going to be built has now scrapped Melnyk’s plan.

On the ice, things aren’t that much better. The Ottawa Senators are seven points out of a wildcard spot and hold the worst defensive record in the league with 140 goals against so far this season. That’s a pace of 319. The 2017-18 Islanders let in 296 and they were laughably bad.

But for Matt Duchene, things are playing out well. This season Duchene has 36 points in 30 games which has him on pace for a career-high 98 points.

The pending free agent probably won’t be retained by a team struggling with solvency like the Senators. His current contract has a cap hit of $6 million. You have to think that he’s at least going to command $8 million on his next deal.

Aside from the 98 point pace, Duchene is averaging 54.2 percent on faceoffs. Duchene would be a good fit for a New York Islanders team that’s struggling for offense (22nd in the league for goals-for) and who are terrible on the draw (28th in the league for FOW%).

With a center depth chart of Mathew Barzal, Matt Duchene, and Brock Nelson, the Islanders could very well be one of the stronger teams down the middle in the league.