Elliotte Friedman’s predictions for Islanders UFA and trade targets

What’s the word on some of the New York Islanders top free agent and trade targets as free agency frenzy (July 28) approached.

Late last night Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman put out a blog about some of the biggest storylines as we near free-agent frenzy. The New York Islanders have cap space and figure to be players in the free-agent market and the trade market.

After a few trades and the expansion draft, the Islanders have a few gaps on their roster that they need to fill. With Nick Leddy going to Detroit there’s a gap in the top four that needs to be filled.

There’s an argument that one of Sebastian Aho, Samuel Bolduc, or Robin Salo could be in the mix, but with the hesitancy the Isles coaching staff has towards rookies it’s hard to see them putting what is essentially two rookies (Dobson and Aho) in their top six.

Losing Jordan Eberle to the Seattle Kraken opens a spot on the Islanders top line. It’s possible that Oliver Wahlstrom jumps up to play next to Barzal and Lee on the Isles top group, but even then there’s an opening further down the roster that needs to be filled.

So yesterday, Elliotte Friedman looked at some of the big names heading towards free agency and available on the trade market and tried to predict where they would end up. And while this isn’t Friedman saying any of these deals are guaranteed, if anyone knows something its, Friedman.

Defense

Alec Martinez: Stays in Vegas

Just before noon on Monday, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli essentially corroborated Friedman’s prediction when he tweeted out that Martinez and Vegas are nearing an extension.

At $5 million it’s a good deal for the 34-year-old blueliner who was on a $4 million cap hit last season. Martinez was the clear favorite to replace Leddy but it was always going to be a tall task to convince him to leave Vegas or even the South-West where he’s spent his entire NHL career.

Ryan Suter: Dallas

One word. One destination is all Friedman wrote. We found out yesterday that Suter wants a longer-term deal. One that could reach four years. That’s just too long for the Isles to commit to a 36-year-old.

Suter is still a good player and still can be an effective top-four defender, but at the type of term he might command based on the number of teams interested in his services and for the length he wants, it’s a no-go for the Islanders.

With Suter and Martinez effectively off the market, the Islanders options shrink. No word on Mike Reilly though. The Boston Bruins defenseman is headed to the market it seems. He doesn’t have the same sample of being a top-four guy like Martinez or Suter, but he’s a good puck mover that could be even better than he’s shown so far.