Could Calvin de Haan Reunite With the Islanders?

In 2009, the New York Islanders drafted both John Tavares and Calvin de Haan in the first round of the NHL draft. Ironically, both left via free agency after the 2017-2018 season but we all know who is remembered for their exit on the Island.

Anyway, de Haan signed a nice four-year $18.2 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes in the offseason and played just one year there before being traded to Chicago. Carolina traded de Haan and prospect Aleksi Saarela for Anton Forsberg and Gustav Forsling.

In 101 games with Chicago, de Haan has 17 points (2 goals, 15 assists) while averaging 19:01 of ice time per game. He's essentially been their fourth defensemen which is pretty much the quintessential de Haan role during his NHL career. He's been a steady second pairing defense-first d-man for a decade now.

With Chicago near the bottom of the Western Conference, the expectation is that they will be sellers at the trade deadline. Would de Haan be a piece that they'd look to sell. The Fourth Period, tends to believe so.

"Several teams, including the Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild, will be trying to bolster their bluelines ahead of the deadline and could ring up Chicago’s Interim GM Kyle Davidson about de Haan’s availability."

The left side of the Islanders defense has been a question just about all year long. Right now, they're running out Adam Pelech, Andy Greene, Zdeno Chara, and Robin Salo as lefties on defense. The thought here would be upgrading over one of Andy Greene or Zdeno Chara on the left side who at times have let their age show this year for the Isles.

The Islanders will have a ton of cap space at the trade deadline to play with, so they won't need the Blackhawks to retain anything which is enticing for Chicago, and the cost for de Haan likely wouldn't be a first round pick which the Isles have recently sold off on at the past two trade deadlines.

Ironically, outside of Ian Mitchell and Isaak Phillips who have a combined nine games played this year, Calvin de Haan is the Blackhawks leader for HDCF% for defensemen with 52.42. That's higher than the offensive-minded Seth Jones who is sitting at 51.16.

Reboots aren't always the best idea but at the right price, this is a nice rental option for the New York Islanders to pair with Noah Dobson for the stretch run of the season.