The 3 trade deadline strategies for the NY Islanders to consider

The reason to sell: Accumulate assets for the future

The past few trade deadline acquisitions of Pageau, Kyle Palmieri, and Horvat have left the Islanders without a first-round draft pick since Simon Holmstrom in 2019. The team also traded valuable assets to acquire Pierre Engvall and Alexander Romanov, while also losing draft picks in moving the salaries of Josh Bailey and Andrew Ladd. These decisions have led the Islanders to be ranked last in farm system talent, with very few prospects on the horizon.

While buying will make the Islanders better in 2024, their future has already been mortgaged greatly in trying to win between 2020 and 2023. For a franchise to sustain a winning mindset every season, younger talent needs to replace the older talent. This is especially important in a salary-cap league where prospects making the NHL minimum replace veteran talent that receives a larger contract elsewhere. For the Islanders, acquiring draft assets is a route worth considering since the farm system has failed to develop any high-end prospects in recent seasons. Even if the team only trades expiring contracts, they can evaluate their younger talent that has earned an opportunity such as Ruslan Ishakov, and reconstruct the roster in July.