Eyes On Isles
Fansided

Islanders five players who could be gone next season

By Michel Anderson

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 03: Tom Kuhnhackl #14 of the New York Islanders lays on the ice after being hit by a teammates stick against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena on May 03, 2019 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes won 5-2 and won the series, 4-0. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA - MAY 03: Tom Kuhnhackl #14 of the New York Islanders lays on the ice after being hit by a teammates stick against the Carolina Hurricanes in the third period of Game Four of the Eastern Conference Second Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena on May 03, 2019 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes won 5-2 and won the series, 4-0. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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New York Islanders
DALLAS, TX – JUNE 23: (l-r) Lou and Chris Lamoriello of the New York Islanders attend the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 23, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Of the 23 players on the New York Islanders roster, who won’t be back on the team for the 2020-21 season?

As with every season, there is turnover on the roster. Players come and go. It’s just the nature of the game now. It’s just not the same game from the 80’s where the New York Islanders were able to keep 17 players through four cup winning teams.

That’s just not how it’s done anymore. With the salary cap, it’s just not possible to keep the same 17 players on the same team for multiple years.

So just like every season, we’re going to see some turnover on the New York Islanders roster heading into the 2020-21 season. We already have a pretty good idea who’s going to stay. Just look up the Islanders roster on Cap Friendly and any player with a contract is likely to be back next season.

Of the 23 players on the Islanders roster, five are heading towards unrestricted free agency. Which of those five players do they keep? Do they even keep any of them?

And just because a player has a contract doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed to stick around either. The Islanders are still looking to add more top-end talent to the roster and the best way to do that is it make trades. So, who could be as good as gone in the attempt to make this roster more competitive?

Here are five players that could be elsewhere in 2020-21 for various reasons.

(PS: I didn’t include Josh Ho-Sang on this list because he isn’t on the 23 man active roster but you know his days are numbered with the Islanders.)

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