Islanders Josh Bailey linked to Minnesota Wild

Trade speculation is building up for the New York Islanders. They're well out of the playoff picture so those teams in the hunt for a Cup are looking to pick off UFAs and pieces from a team that went to back-to-back conference finals.

Guys like Zach Parise, Cal Clutterbuck, Zdeno Chara, or Andy Greene are clearly on the block. But that might not be it. Guys with a bit of term might also be on the block as well. Or at least teams around the league are interested in some of them.

New York Islanders: Josh Bailey linked to Minnesota Wild

The latest link is Josh Bailey. According to the Fourth Period, the Minnesota Wild are interested in the Islanders veteran player. In 40 games played, Josh Bailey has three goals and 22 points. That's not exactly top-notch production but as a depth piece, you can't ask for any better.

Bailey is on the books for $5 million for this year and next. While the Islanders don't necessarily need to create more cap space (they have ~$15 million in space next year), they could certainly use that bit of space created by a Bailey trade.

Bailey has been used as a top-nine utility player for the last few years. Barry Trotz has slotted Bailey up and down the three forward lines, on the left and right. He's one of the most utilized players in the squad.

Since 2018-19, Josh Bailey is the third most utilized forward in all situations for Barry Trotz with 4,176 minutes played. Only Mathew Barzal (4,670) and Brock Nelson (4,394) have more ice time (again, in all situations) than Josh Bailey. He isn't playing like a top player on the team but he certainly is one in Trotz's team.

Losing him creates a gap and makes room for someone like Kieffer Bellows and Oliver Wahlstrom to stay in the lineup full-time. It also gives the team more space on the cap to go big fish hunting in the offseason.