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

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Nick Leddy #2 of the New York Islanders celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

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.

Nick Leddy #2 of the New York Islanders makes a pass against the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

The Good

When looking at the good the easy thing to point to is his production. Last season Nick Leddy put up 31 points in 56 games. Pace that out over a full 82 game season and Leddy scores 45 points. That’s just one point shy of his 46 point career high set in 2016-17.

Leddy is coming off his best statistical season since 2017-18. Just in time to be put in the shop window.

Looking at the market shows that Leddy is easily in the top three left-shot defensemen currently being shopped around. The other two are Nate Schmidt (Vancouver) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (Arizona). You could argue Leddy is second after OEL.

What favors Leddy over the other two is his contract. Schmidt has four years left on his deal that carries a $5.95 million cap hit while Ekman-Larsson still has six years on his deal with an $8.25 million cap hit.

Which pushes Leddy up the list over both. Leddy is easier to fit under the cap and has a very tradeable contract at the trade deadline. Any team that acquires Leddy could easily flip him for a second-round pick+ at the 2022 trade deadline. There’s no question about it.

So, Leddy is one of the top available players at his position, with an easier cap hit to fit under the ceiling, and is coming off a strong year. All of that bodes well for Lou Lamoriello’s chances to not only move Leddy but to get the return he’s looking for.

Keith Yandle #3 of the Florida Panthers skates against the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Bad

The bad is getting worse by the day. The field of veteran left-handed offensive defensemen is seemingly growing by the minute. Because while I only looked at the trade market for the “good” slide, things get bad for the Islanders when you include the free-agent market.

On July 14, the Minnesota Wild bought out left-shot D Ryan Suter. The next day, July 15, the Florida Panthers bought out Keith Yandle.

Both are left-shot veteran defensemen. Both have put up strong numbers throughout their careers. And now both will be available for cheap.

Sure, Suter had a down year and is six years older than Leddy, but the former Nashville and now Minnesota defenseman is a year removed from a 58 point* season. He’s still a good defenseman.

(*48 points in 69 games paced out over a full 82 game season.)

The same goes for Keith Yandle. The 34-year-old put up 45 points last year, a pace of 54 over a full NHL season.

Add both of these players to those that are available on the trade block and the number of available options for teams looking to bring in a veteran left-shot offensive-defenseman is longer now. Nick Leddy may no longer be that number one guy on the market anymore.

Remember, that Leddy stood out amongst the trade market for his smaller cap hit and for having a tradeable contract if things didn’t go so well. Both Suter and Yandle can sign deals well below Leddy’s $5.5 million cap and will certainly sign for a single year as well. Making them just as tradable if not more come the trade deadline.

The Team Store for the Seattle Kraken, the NHL’s newest franchise. (Photo by Jim Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Ugly

The expansion draft. On July 17, the Islanders have to submit their protected list to the NHL and NHLPA. And as you’re probably well aware of by now, Nick Leddy isn’t going to be protected.

As things stand now, the Islanders must expose one defenseman with at least 40 NHL games who is signed through 21-22. At the time of writing, the Islanders only have three defensemen signed to deals for 21-22 and meet that games played requirement: Ryan Pulock, Scott Mayfield, and Nick Leddy.

(Remember Noah Dobson is excluded for only having two years of professional experience.)

Both Pulock and Mayfield will be protected which means Leddy has to be exposed. That means any team interested in acquiring Leddy knows that Lou Lamoriello must get a trade done before July 17 or else the two-time GM of the Year will likey lose Leddy for free.

So not only does Lou Lamoriello need to trade Nick Leddy to allow him to keep his core intact but if he wants to get something in return for shedding Leddy’s contract he potentially only has days to do so.

And that plummets the return for Leddy.

Again, not only are there other cheaper left-shot offensive-defenseman out on the market now, but Lou has hours to get a return. And every single GM knows this. Whatever you (or I) think the return for Nick Leddy is going to be, it’s decreasing by the hour as Lou becomes more and more desperate to get something for Leddy.

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