The Islanders didn’t spend the offseason making noise, but that doesn’t mean the roster is set. Mathieu Darche and company kept their work relatively quiet after last season’s overachieving run, adding only a few pieces for the middle six and the blue line. Even so, there’s still a move that makes a lot of sense: putting Jean-Gabriel Pageau on the trade block.
Pageau just turned in a respectable season. In 74 games, he finished with 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points, right in line with his career production.
The numbers look solid on the surface, but the underlying metrics tell a different story. According to Natural Stat Trick, he posted a 46.36 CF%, a 47.52 SCF%, and a 45.61 xG%.
Those marks aren’t disastrous, but they were a clear step back from what he did in 2024-25.
The bigger issue is where he fits next season. Pageau is set to slide into a smaller role, moving from a middle-six forward with second- and third-line usage to a third-line center only.
With that kind of usage and a slight dip in effectiveness, his production could start to fall off. That would only make him tougher to move later, when his value might be lower.
There’s also the contract angle. Paying $4.85 million for a third-liner is not ideal, especially for a team that’s tight to the cap.
Moving Pageau would open up real breathing room, taking the Islanders from roughly three million in cap space to closer to eight million. That might not matter much right now, but it could be huge at the deadline.
If the Islanders are in the mix, they’d have the flexibility to chase a major addition.
The market matters too, and right now it looks like a seller’s market. The Rangers’ return for Vincent Trocheck showed what teams can get for a useful center: an NHL-caliber defenseman, a prospect who projects as a bottom-six forward, and a third-round pick.
Pageau wouldn’t bring that kind of haul, since Trocheck is the better player, but the Islanders could still come away with a solid prospect and a draft pick. For a player in his mid-30s who may be headed toward decline, that’s a strong return.
It may not be the move Islanders fans are expecting, but it would give the team more flexibility now and later. And in a market like this, that kind of timing can matter just as much as the player himself.
In Other News...
Islanders May Have A Camp Surprise Veterans Cant Ignore
Marshall Warren is heading into training camp with a real chance to make himself part of the Islanders blue-line conversation. The 25-year-old defenseman from Long Island signed a one-year, two-way deal and has spent the summer training at home alongside veteran Islanders defensemen, a useful setup for a player trying to turn a promising stretch into something more permanent. He already gave the organization a glimpse of what he can do when he reached the NHL last October and immediately chipped in two assists in his debut, then backed that up with a strong offensive season in Bridgeport.
Now the challenge gets a lot tougher. Warren is trying to win a full-time roster spot in a camp that already has established veterans in the mix, along with younger names such as Matthew Schaefer and Isaiah George, so there will be no shortage of competition for minutes. For a local product who has already shown he can contribute in the right setting, the next few weeks will say plenty about whether that first taste of the NHL was just a moment or the start of something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Blues Add Sergei Zubov To Alexander Steens Growing Front Office
John Tortorella is still looking for his next bench, even after the Golden Knights went in a different direction and elevated Ryan Craig out of Henderson. Tortorella had made it clear he wanted another coaching opportunity, and the Vegas decision only adds another wrinkle to a market that has already been moving quickly as teams sort through their offseason plans.
For the Islanders, the front-office search appears to be part of that same churn. Boston assistant general manager Evan Gold is expected to leave the Bruins, and New York has shown interest in him, while St. Louis kept building out its own hockey-ops staff by bringing in Sergei Zubov as an advisor. It is another sign that the hiring season is still very much alive, even if the next move for the Islanders remains to be seen. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders May Finally Have A Chance To Fix Their Biggest Flaw
The Islanders have spent too much time looking for a real answer on the power play, and the need is obvious enough that even a narrow fix would matter. Their top unit has lacked a dependable finisher, which is why a player with Patrik Laines shot profile stands out as the kind of addition that could change the look of that group without requiring a full offensive overhaul.
Laines game has come with real baggage, especially at five-on-five and with the injuries that have interrupted his recent seasons, but the scoring touch has not disappeared. For a team that does not need him to drive play up and down the ice so much as punish opponents when the man advantage opens a lane, that makes the fit at least worth serious attention, even if the rest of the picture remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]