The New York Islanders will need to shed salary if they want to add a top-six forward
Stephen Rosner of Hockey News: In last year’s NHL draft, New York Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello sent a second-round pick and Josh Bailey to the Chicago Blackhawks to get $5 million off their books. Is Lamoriello preparing to make the same type of move again this year?
The Islanders need more cap space as they only have about 7 million in cap space and that is not enough to add a top six this offseason.
Teams know the Islanders want to move money and it will take at least a second round pick to move some of their salary. Anders Lee has two years remaining at $7 million with no full waivers that trigger the 15-team no-trade clause on July 1st. Jean-Gabriel Pageau has two years left on $5 million and a 16-team no-trade clause.
NHL Rumors: New York Islanders Complete Deal
It might take a second round pick and more to be able to move Lee or Pageau. The Islanders have two second-round picks.
It is not easy to predict Linus Ullmark’s trade value
Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now: Determining the trade value of a striker like Linus Ullmark is not easy to predict. NHL official:
“You take that, and you look at his stats this past season, and obviously you’d think he could get the Bruins a first-round pick at least, but that’s not always true.”
Ullmark won the Vezina Trophy in 2022-23 with a 40-6-1 record, 1.89 GAA and .938 save percentage. He followed it up last season with a 22-10-7 record, 2.57 GAA and a .915 save percentage. He’s a year away from $5 million.
Top-selling goalkeepers. Marc-Andre Fleury has traded twice recently and only received Mikael Hakkarainen (a former fifth-rounder in one deal and a late second-round pick in the other.
NHL Rumors: Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs
There were rumors recently that the Ottawa Senators were sending Jakob Chychyrun and a first round pick for Ullmark. Elliotte Friedman said the Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes talked about Ullmark and Friedman without knowing if Martin Necas was involved in those discussions. Ty Anderson of 98.5 The Sports Hub said Sweeney will look for a first-round pick or something of similar value.
