Islanders have flexibility to be active ahead of NHL Trade Deadline

One of the most intriguing factors surrounding NHL trade deadline season is seeing how surprisingly strong teams conduct themselves and what first-year general managers do to leave their mark on their rosters.

The New York Islanders present a unique opportunity to see both of those play out this season, as new GM Mathieu Darche has put together a squad that has consistently hung on to one of the top three spots in the Metropolitan Division throughout the year.

Darche has already added veteran forward Ondrej Palat and defenseman Carson Soucy to the roster while netting draft capital along the way, and he has the flexibility and assets to do more to keep his team in the running for a playoff spot.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Jonny Lazarus and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by NHL insider David Pagnotta to discuss what else Darche could have up his sleeve ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

Jonny Lazarus: “Dave, just the last one I’ve got to ask for you here quickly. While we’re talking about Barry Trotz, one of his former teams, the New York Islanders, they’ve been active already so far in the trade department. They’ve got the money, they’ve got the assets. Is it safe to assume they’re going to do something else before the deadline comes up on March 6th?”

David Pagnotta: “They’re looking. Wouldn’t surprise me if they do. Mathieu Darche has not been sitting on his hands by any stretch. He’s made some shrewd moves already. Like you said, he made a couple moves now last week in bringing in Soucy and Palat. I think they are around 6 million in cap space, something like that still. So they’ve got flexibility to add. I think they’re going to take that… I think they’re going to take advantage of where they’re at. Nice way to come back [Tuesday], collect some points, get back in a bit of a comfort zone, standing wise.”

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…