Islanders still impacted by expansion trade with Vegas Golden Knights

Protecting the Unprotected

The main benefit from this trade was that the Golden Knights agreed to not select one of the Islanders top unprotected players. There is a case to be made that a player like Brock Nelson was worth at least a first-round and second-round pick. In that argument, keeping Nelson would be more valuable than keeping those two draft picks.

It is fair to say that now, Nelson has been worth at least that draft capital, as he has turned into a five-time 20-goal scorer. Given that the Islanders just parted with that exact draft capital to acquire the less offensively-gifted Jean-Gabriel Pageau, it is likely that Nelson has been worth even more.

A similar case could be made for Ryan Strome. Although Strome never amounted to much with the Islanders, he was traded to the Oilers for Jordan Eberle just one day after the Vegas trade. Given how Eberle has performed alongside Mat Barzal and Anders Lee on the top line, he has probably been worth at least a first-round and second-round pick.

Even Josh Bailey has been worth those picks. As the longest-tenured Islander and an alternate captain, Bailey has served as a mentor for some of the team’s younger players. Not to mention, Bailey has put up some solid offensive numbers including a 71-point season in 2017-18.

Unimpressive Resumes From Those Traded

The other major positive from the trade was that neither of the three players who the Islanders ultimately sent to the Golden Knights turned into much.

Affected by a lingering concussion, Mikhail Grabovski never played a game in the NHL again after he was traded to the Golden Knights. He officially announced his retirement last June.

Meanwhile, Jake Bischoff is currently playing for the Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate. Bischoff played four games this season with the Golden Knights, earning a negative two plus/minus and failing to record a single point. He has not played much better in the AHL this year, scoring just nine points in 49 games and registering a negative 13 plus/minus.

Finally, J.F. Berube never even made it onto the Golden Knights’ roster. He played 13 less than stellar games with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2017-18 season and recorded a 3.78GAA. He currently plays for the AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers.

Salary Cap Relief

The Islanders also got $5 million in salary cap relief by trading Grabovski’s contract. This relief helped the Islanders take on Eberle’s contract in the Oiler trade.

The Islanders must have felt good to not have to pay $5 million to a player who would never play in another NHL game.

The Draft Capital

There is nothing wrong with the Islanders valuing Brock Nelson over a couple of draft picks which might or might not pan out. That being said, the trade would certainly look good for the Islanders if neither of the draft picks panned out. The problem is that they both did.

The 2017 first-round draft pick was used to select defenseman Erik Brannstrom. Brannstrom scored 28 points in 41 games with the Golden Knights’ AHL affiliate last year before being traded to Ottawa as the key piece of the package used to acquire Mark Stone. Brannstrom is now the top prospect in the Senators’ organization, and projects to be a central part of the franchise’s future.

Meanwhile, Stone has helped Vegas cement its status as one of the top teams in the Western Conference. He is currently tied for the team lead with 63 points. He has scored more points this season than any Islander, including Nelson. Therefore, keeping Nelson over a pick that could have led to Brannstrom or Stone may no longer seem so great.

The 2019 second-round pick was traded to Detroit as part of the package to acquire Tomas Tatar at the 2018 trade deadline. Tatar helped bolster a Golden Knights team that advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. The following offseason, the Golden Knights traded Tatar to the Canadiens for Max Pacioretty. Both players are having great seasons and have also scored more points than any Islander.

Finally, that second-round pick was used to select forward Robert Mastrosimone. He is just a freshman at Boston University, yet he has managed 17 points in 31 games. If he ever becomes an NHL talent, then that would just add insult to injury.

Calvin de Haan

One of the players who Snow sought to protect by making this trade was Calvin de Haan. That seemed like a reasonable thing to do because de Haan had played in all 82 games for the Islanders in the previous season and he was a key member of the defense. He had even contributed on offense with 25 points.

Little did Snow know that de Haan would miss 49 games for the Islanders the following season before leaving the team in free agency.

Had the Islanders not made the trade with the Golden Knights, it is possible that the Golden Knights would have selected de Haan in the expansion draft. This would have been great for the Islanders because as it turns out, they essentially lost de Haan for nothing anyway.

There is no guarantee that the Golden Knights would have selected de Haan, but one cannot help wondering what could have been.

The Bottom Line

In hindsight, vision is 20/20. If Snow knew that those draft picks would have panned out in the form of Brannstrom, Stone, Tatar or Pacioretty, he might not have made the trade. Nonetheless, Snow was acting only on the information available to him at that time.

That information told him that Nelson, Bailey, Strome, de Haan, and others were solid players and could help the team in the long run. He wound up being right about most of them.

One could argue that had Snow just added those guys to his original protect list, then he would not have needed to make this trade. Nonetheless, Snow’s hands were tied. Take a look at the protect list he created:

Andrew Ladd (F)
Anders Lee (F)
John Tavares (F)
Johnny Boychuk (D)
Travis Hamonic (D)
Nick Leddy (D)
Adam Pelech (D)
Ryan Pulock (D)
Thomas Greiss (G)

The seemingly obvious mistake on this list is Ladd. Nonetheless, Ladd had a “No Movement” clause. So did the aging Johnny Boychuk. Both players had to be on the list. Thomas Greiss needed to as well, as the Islanders were required to protect a goalie.

Really the only player the Islanders possibly should have removed from this list was Adam Pelech. The Islanders could have substituted Nelson in his place. That being said, the Islanders still wanted to protect Bailey, Strome and de Haan. Frankly, losing Pelech to the Golden Knights would not have been that great either.

Snow did not have much flexibility with his protect list, so it is hard to blame him for making a trade that protected virtually the entire roster. Yes, he might have liked to have kept those draft picks, but he had no way of knowing that they could transform into an Erik Brannstrom or Mark Stone or Max Pacioretty.

Instead, Snow managed to hold on to some key players and even acquired Jordan Eberle. These players helped the Islanders advance to the playoffs last year, and are likely on their way to doing so again this year.

At the end of the day, I think the trade was a wash. The trade prevented the Islanders from acquiring some key players, yet it allowed them to hold on to their own key players.

Final Grade: B

All uncited stats came from Hockey Reference.