New York Islanders Thomas Hickey Could Be Traded

According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the New York Islanders could be looking to move Thomas Hickey in a trade.

It’s no surprise but everyone seems to be on board with the New York Islanders moving a defenseman. They have a ton of depth at the position and desperately need help in the top-six so why not move a position with extra resources.

Nick Leddy is a name that continues to get brought up. Leddy has three years at $5.5 million per year left on his contract. Another name that recently got added to the mix is Thomas Hickey.

Hickey, who isn’t nearly the same talent as Leddy, could be expendable according to David Pagnotta. Hickey comes as a little bit of a surprise despite his friendly $2.5 million cap number for the next three years.

Frankly, he just didn’t have a good season last year. In 40 games, he had just four points. I know, defenseman should be graded on more than just points but a pace of eight in a full season isn’t going to cut it.

In the five years prior, Hickey was over 20 points in four out of the five seasons. Missing 20 points in 2015-2016, when he played just 62 games with the Isles. Now, at 30 years old could the Islanders move him because he doesn’t fit the system?

Normally, I would think moving Nick Leddy would make more sense but you could probably make the case for Hickey too. When clicking, example 2017-2018, Hickey is a very effective bottom pairing d-man.

Granted, he won’t yield as much in a trade as Nick Leddy would but you can probably get a draft pick or a prospect that you could then flip in a bigger deal to land a top-six forward.

At the end of the day, the Isles need to address their top-six. Whether it’s by moving Hickey or Nick Leddy it doesn’t really matter so long as it gets done before the 2019-2020 season.