Islanders: Good, Bad, Ugly of trade market for Nick Leddy

What are some of the good, bad, and ugly considerations to make when looking at the trade market for New York Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy?

The New York Islanders have been shopping Nick Leddy for some time now. The left-shot defenseman is being made available not because he isn’t a valuable player for the Islanders but because they need to create some cap space.

Not having Nick Leddy’s $5.5 million cap hit on the books would help the Isles keep their core and stay below the salary cap ceiling of $81.5 million. He’s still a useful player but his cap hit combined with his good season statistically and the fact that he has no trade protection all make him a prime candidate to trade away.

Again, just think of the players that the Islanders are trying to move – Eberle, Leddy, Komarov, Hickey – only Leddy and Thomas Hickey have no trade protection to speak of. Even Leo Komarov has a seven-team no-trade list.

The Islanders don’t want to trade Leddy but they need to move money and Leddy represents a good option to do so.

But putting him on the trade block doesn’t necessarily mean he will be traded. Lou Lamoriello certainly tried to trade Leddy last offseason but had to settle with moving Devon Toews because the market just wasn’t there for his veteran puck-mover.

So how is the market shaping up this offseason for Nick Leddy? Here’s a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly around the trade market for Nick Leddy.