The NY Islanders should weaponize LTIR, but not for immediate reinforcements

Plenty of teams have done this in the past, including the Chicago Blackhawks last season, who took on 50% of Mikko Rantanen’s contract when he was traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes, receiving a third-round pick in return. 

But why would ownership want to pay a player to not play for them while only receiving a third-round pick? In Rantanen’s case, his AAV was $9.25M, but the actual money owed to him for the season was $6M. That amount is prorated to when the trade was made, and from there, the Blackhawks retained 50%, meaning they only had to shell out around $1.6M. Often, players take more money up front, meaning someone with an AAV of $9M may only be getting paid $1M in the final season of their contract, in which case, 50% retention at the deadline is only a few hundred thousand dollars.

While some teams have retained salary over multiple seasons, like the Blackhawks are doing with Seth Jones, Darche would likely only be willing to take on rentals that come off the books next season.

The Islanders have strengthened their prospect pool following the 2025 NHL Draft and have the potential to acquire additional draft capital to either use those picks or trade them to move up in the draft or for an established player. 

The Islanders can still make their best push towards the playoffs while continuing to build their prospect pool without moving any current players or prospects, and instead, retain salary to facilitate trades. Or, if the Islanders begin to fall in the standings and don’t look likely to make the playoffs, and decide to trade players like Anders Lee or JG Pageau, they can retain money in their own players contracts for a better return package.