Islanders still impacted by expansion trade with Vegas Golden Knights

The New York Islanders sent a huge package to the Vegas Golden Knights during the 2017 expansion draft in exchange for “expansion considerations.” Both franchises will feel the effects of this trade for years to come.

In 2017, the NHL welcomed its 31st team in the Vegas Golden Knights. At the end of June of that season, the NHL held its expansion draft where the New York Islanders, Columbus Blue Jackets,  and the Winnipeg Jets would send their first-round picks to Vegas for “expansion considerations”.

As a quick recap, here are the terms of the trade which was made during the 2017 expansion draft by the Islanders:

The Islanders made this trade in order to prevent the Golden Knights from snagging one of the Islanders’ unprotected players, such as Brock Nelson, Josh Bailey, Ryan Strome, or Calvin de Haan.

Instead, the Golden Knights agreed to take third-string goalie J.F. Berube off the Isles’ hands. Former Isles GM Garth Snow also got some salary-cap relief by dumping Grabovski’s contract.

With this trade, Garth Snow sent the statement that he believed in his team. He thought that the players on his roster would be more crucial to the long-term success of the franchise than would the draft capital with which he parted.

More than two seasons have passed since this franchise-altering trade, so it is time to start exploring if Snow was right.