Sansided
Eyes On Isles

Islanders: Three Non-rental Trade Options

By Matt Hawkins

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 05: Alec Martinez #27 of the Los Angeles Kings battles Tomas Tatar #90 and Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens for a loose puck during the first period of a game at Staples Center on March 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 05: Alec Martinez #27 of the Los Angeles Kings battles Tomas Tatar #90 and Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens for a loose puck during the first period of a game at Staples Center on March 05, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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New York Islanders
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JUNE 22: Lou Lamoriello of the New York Islanders attends the 2019 NHL Draft at the Rogers Arena on June 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The New York Islanders should be looking to add a top-six forward at the February 24th trade deadline. However, they should be skeptical about rentals and aim for players with at least a year left of control.

It’s no question that the New York Islanders are one of the best defensive teams in the league, being fourth in the league in goals-against (143).

But when it comes to scoring, the team struggles. They are within the bottom half of the league in goals for (22nd), only putting 156 pucks in the back of the net.

We all thought that the New York Islanders hall-of-fame general manager, Lou Lamoriello, would go out an acquire a top-six forward at last year’s deadline to counteract this same issue last year. Spoiler alert: He didn’t. Lamoriello literally did nothing at last year’s deadline.

Then we thought Lou would use this past draft’s first-round pick to make a trade for a top-six forward. Once again we thought wrong.

It seems as though Lamoriello is being very conservative when it comes to trades. He doesn’t really believe in the player rental strategy, and I tend to agree with him.

I don’t like the idea of trading for a player that costs so much in draft capital and prospect capital that could potentially leave the team for a rival after just 30 games.

With this as my mindset. here are three potential non-rental trade options for the New York Islanders come February 24th.

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