Islanders: Some Final Trade Deadline Thoughts

The New York Islanders had an eventful trade deadline this year. Not only did the Islanders acquire a top target, but they showed that the team is well-perceived, both internally and externally.

Perhaps the New York Islanders dismal showing on their most recent Western Conference road trip was not so bad after all. Yes, the Isles lost all four games and only scored a total of two goals; however, Lou also got the final confirmation he needed to try to acquire a goal-scorer.

The timing worked out well because Lou was able to get that goal-scorer less than a week later at the trade deadline.

In trading for Jean-Gabriel Pageau, General Manager Lou Lamoriello had to pay a hefty price by surrendering a first-round and second-round draft pick (I am going to assume the team keeps the conditional third-round pick). Nonetheless, the player Lou acquired might just be worth the price.

Upon joining the Islanders, Jean-Gabriel Pageau immediately became the team’s leading goal-scorer. His 25 goals in 2019-20 tops the 23 goals scored by previous Islander scoring-leader Brock Nelson. Sure this is just Pageau’s first 20-goal season; however, he played on an awful Ottawa Senators team the last two seasons and he had never really been a focal point of the team’s offense prior to that.

Things should be a bit different on the Islanders. Out of necessity, Pageau is expected to be a significant offensive contributor, including on power plays. Pageau already scored his first goal with the Islanders during his debut Tuesday night versus the Rangers. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.

The other area where Pageau will help the Islanders is on faceoffs. The Isles rank in the bottom half of the league with a 49.8 Faceoff Win Percentage (FWP%). Pageau should be able to help the team get over the 50 FWP% mark, as he possesses a 53.5 FWP% on the season. In his debut, Pageau was outstanding on faceoffs, winning 10 out of 14 (71.4%).

Islanders are Well-Perceived Internally

If the Islanders expect to make a deep playoff run, they need to have the backing of the front office. Despite having a bottom-half offense last season, Lou decided against adding a scorer at the trade deadline and famously did nothing to shake the team’s chemistry.

There is no way he did not need to add a goal-scorer because he thought that the Islanders already had sufficient offensive talent. The Islanders finished last season with 223 goals, good for 22nd in the league. That was 20 goals less than the Carolina Hurricanes, the next lowest-scoring Eastern Conference playoff team. It was those same Hurricanes who held the Isles to just five goals in an Eastern Conference Second Round playoff sweep.

Rather, Lou must have been hesitant to give up assets for a rental goal-scorer because he did not think the Islanders would make a deep run in the playoffs. That same reasoning could explain why the Isles also did not make a significant trade at the 2018 or 2017 trade deadlines (no offense, Brandon Davidson).

This season is different. Lou believes that the Islanders are serious contenders and was willing to go all-in at the trade deadline to prove it. Lou overpaid for defenseman Andy Greene and paid a hefty price for Pageau because he believes these players could push the Isles to the promised land. That has to boost the confidence among the rest of the Islander players.

Islanders are Well-Perceived Externally

Having a confident front office is not all it takes to make a trade though; players also have to want to play for the Islanders. It was not too long ago that players actively did not want to play for the Islanders. At any rate, gone are the days where a Christian Erhoff will refuse to sign with the Islanders. Or when players like Thomas Vanek want out because of the situation around the club.

Now, players are actually excited to come to the Isles. Andy Greene waived his no-trade clause (NTC) to join the Isles, while Pageau said it was “such an honor” to join the team. Evidently, Zach Parise had even been willing to waive his NTC to join the Islanders, had that trade come to fruition.

That wasn’t the case just four years ago when the Islanders were apparently one of three teams most commonly named in no-trade clauses.

It is not a huge surprise that these players were excited to leave their bad teams to join the Islanders for a playoff-run. Nonetheless, when a player like 27-year-old Pageau then signs a six-year contract to stay with the Isles for the remainder of the prime of his career, it shows that players believe in the Isles.

The Islanders may have missed out on Artemi Panarin last summer, but there is no denying that their favorability across the league is on an upward trend.