Islanders: Top 3 trade targets for 2020-21 offseason

Andreas Athanasiou | Edmonton Oilers

2019-20 Stats: 11G, 15A, 26Pts

Why go after Athanasiou?

He’s fast and he can score goals and Edmonton, who just acquired him at the trade deadline, is ready to move him. It seems that after 13 games with two points, the Oilers just realized they don’t have the money to keep him around.

Just to keep his RFA rights, the Oilers would have to offer Athanasiou a $3 million qualifying offer. And the Oilers just don’t have the room to make that work if Athanasiou signs. So now they’re looking to move him.

The cost is easily going to be much lower than the two second-round picks Edmonton paid at the deadline to get him. Teams know they could just wait Edmonton out and try to get Athanasiou as a free agent after October 7.

Athanasiou is a former 30 goal scorer. He put 54 points just last season. Athanasiou could be a great budget option for Lou Lamoriello to land.

Why it won’t work?

The issue with him is that he’s only ever scored 30 goals once and never came close to a 30 goal season before or after. His next best haul was in 2016-17 when he scored 18 goals. Acquiring Athanasiou would be risky even if the cost is low.

If the Islanders are going to take a risk on a player wouldn’t it be wiser to just use one of the players in our system who will cost less than a third of Athanasiou’s cap hit?