Early work on Long Island

[TheScorpion]

The Islanders have made a series of four significant trades this week to prepare for the offseason.

Trade 1:

Nazem Kadri to BUF for Esa Lindell, 2024 pick 72, PHI 2025 2nd, MTL 2025 3rd

Trade 2:

Esa Lindell and NYI 2026 2nd to COL for Eeli Tolvanen, Mark Jankowski, and 2024 picks 69 and 71

Trade 3:

Brett Pesce to WSH for Tanner Jeannot, 2024 picks 43 and 79, and NJ 2025 3rd

Trade 4:

Pick 84 to MIN for Christian Dvorak

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We've added some forwards who we really like.

Eeli Tolvanen only just turned 25. He's coming off a career-best 41-point season with the Kraken and tracks to be a middle-six forward for years to come. We like him as a versatile piece of our team next year.

Mark Jankowski re-established himself as a full-time NHLer with the Predators in the back half of last season. He'll be 30 in September (time flies), but he managed 15 points in 32 games with the Preds down the stretch.

Tanner Jeannot is coming off a disastrous first full season with Tampa Bay. His value has never been lower. My kind of player! I'm hoping he can become a 15-to-20-goal guy again with a change of scenery — maybe Calgary?

Christian Dvorak is another buy-low player who I like. He's entering his final RFA contract. I should be able to sign him for cheap for three years. He only just turned 28 in February. I think he'll bounce back.

Ben Meyers is another guy I added in a minor-league swap with Columbus. I'm very curious to see how he does with the NHL Ducks next season after being acquired from the Avs last trade deadline.

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On top of this, we've continued to add picks.

OUT:
Pick 84, NYI 2026 2nd

IN:
2024 picks 43, 69, 71, 72, 79, PHI 2025 2nd, NJ 2025 3rd, MTL 2025 3rd

[TheScorpion]

This is our roster framework heading into the FA period.

Signed forwards: Tarasenko, Burakovsky, Rodrigues, Atkinson, Bjugstad, Tolvanen, Nieto, McGinn, Carcone, Eyssimont, Jankowski (24.64)

Signed defencemen: Schultz, Kesselring, Raddysh, Chatfield (4.55)

Signed goaltenders: Kuemper, Ingram (5.76)

Total cap hit: 34.95

RFAs: Keller, Schmaltz, Dvorak

Cap space with 17-man roster (without RFAs): 32.82

Lots of work to do.

[TheScorpion]

We've made another trade.

Pick 43 and MTL 2025 3rd to ANA for Ruslan Iskhakov, Vsevolod Komarov, and pick 68

We zeroed in on these two prospects as ones we badly wanted to poach for our own pool of futures, and we were prepared to move down 25 spots in this year's draft to do it.

Ruslan Iskhakov is a high-octane forward with a very realistic chance of making noise with the NHL Islanders as soon as this coming season. He was far and away the leading scorer on a bad AHL Bridgeport team last year and has the ability to make incredible plays. With the Isles badly hurting for offensive flair, I think he'll be a key piece of their offence before long.

Vsevolod Komarov is the reigning QMJHL defenceman of the year. He's a highly skilled two-way defender who can shut down opponents while also scoring at a pretty impressive rate. He's also a righty, which will give him a ton of leeway to make the NHL in a Sabres system that badly needs guys who can play on that side. I think there's a chance he's in the NHL within two years.

[simmer2]

Scorp is good at scoping out sneaky good prospects. We weren't planning on moving either of them but Scorp is fun to chat trades so we got something done.

There is a mushy middle in this draft from about 18 to 60, and I like a few guys, so will see if I can snag one or two of them.

[TheScorpion]

We've made another trade.

PHI 2025 2nd, NJ 2025 3rd, and NJ 2025 4th to CGY for Mattias Ekholm.

We've made a number of "seller" moves to bring in some prospects and young players, but we felt this deal gave us an opportunity to improve while holding onto our top pieces.

Mattias Ekholm is a dirty Oiler, but he's an outstanding player who might have the best DF rating in the sim next year — we'll see. He's capable of logging a ton of minutes and doesn't cost very much. We're thrilled to get him.