The NY Islanders nearly acquired a player from the Nashville Predators before the Ondrej Palat deal

NY Islanders GM Mathieu Darche has been working the phones to improve his team before the NHL roster freeze begins tomorrow at 3 pm, before the Olympic break. The acquisitions of Ondrej Palat and Carson Soucy were low-cost deals that improve the team now in anticipation of a playoff push. But it appears as if Darche was ready to pull the trigger on a trade before executing the two deals that eventually came to fruition.

Michael Bunting, forward for the Predators, was nearly the newest Islander, but Darche and Barry Trotz couldn't agree on a small detail.

Michael Bunting was close to being traded to the Islanders

"I've heard this story in a couple places now. It was so close," Elliotte Friedman said this morning on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "That deal didn't happen, apparently because they couldn't agree on the year of the draft pick. I think Nashville wanted a '26 pick, and the Islanders wanted to send a '27 pick. And that's how close it came."

Perhaps the case was Drache had a deal ready to go for Soucy, which cost them a third-round pick, and knew he wouldn't have the pick available for 2026.

Bunting, 30, is in his second year with Nashville, registering 12 goals and 18 assists through 55 games this season, playing mostly third-line minutes. In the final year of a three-year deal coming with a $4.5M cap hit, Bunting could have been a rental or extended after playing down the stretch with the Isles.

Because of that small detail, it appears Darche pivoted to Palat. But that doesn't mean Darche is done dealing with Trotz, as Steven Stamkos could potentially be a target in a much bigger deal.

A Bunting deal would have cost more than the Isles gave up for Palat, but it appears that is now a thing of the past.

Despite the trade deadline being over a month away, the Islanders have just six games remaining until deadline day. We'll see if this is the roster they take into the final stretch or if any additional players will be added.