Islanders 3 takeaways from roster going into expansion roster freeze

Trade with Seattle?

If either Mayfield or Pulock are left unprotected there’s little doubt that the Seattle Kraken won’t select one of them. Pulock is an elite top pair defenseman while Mayfield is a bottom-four defenseman who excels on the penalty kill.

So it’s possible, assuming either is exposed, that Lou has a trade in with Seattle GM Ron Francis to have them select a specific player or to simply steer clear of either defenseman. But the issue with that is the cost of such a trade.

According to Elliotte Friedman, the cost of making such a move is a first and a third-round pick at the draft. That’s a heavy price to pay. Remember, the last time the Islanders made an expansion draft deal they sent Mikhail Grabovski’s contract ($5 million AAV) a 2017 1st, 2019 2nd, and prospect Jake Bishoff so they’d select Jean-Francois Berube.

I don’t even want to think about what it would take to have Seattle pick a specific player and take Ladd’s $5.5 million deal. Multiple firsts, minimum.

And while the Islanders are still competing for a Cup right now, trading away multiple first-rounders on top of the two they’ve already traded away would essentially make the Islanders system the worst in the NHL and severely reduce its ability to help keep the window open.

A trade with this type of cost should be avoided at all costs.

All Lou needs to do is sign someone like Andy Greene to a one-year contract.