The New York Islanders may look close to finished for the summer, but they can’t really act like the work is done.
That’s the reality of where they sit right now. The free-agent market has largely gone quiet, and the names still out there are mostly players waiting on a very specific deal or holding out for a team to meet their price. So if the Islanders are going to improve, the trade market is where it likely has to happen.
And there are still obvious needs. Like every team, the Islanders could use another top-six center, a scoring winger, and a few more bottom-six forwards who can handle defensive work, kill penalties, and soak up important minutes between the top lines.
Brayden Schenn is expected to open the season as the second-line center, but there’s a clear argument for finding someone who can handle that job more naturally. A player like Pavel Zacha would fit that idea, with Schenn potentially shifting to the wing and giving the lineup a better overall balance.
The bottom six is its own issue. Ondrej Palat and especially Anthony Duclair are not exactly the kind of grinders that bring a heavy, checking-line edge.
If either player rediscovers his old form, he should be playing higher in the lineup. Otherwise, the Islanders still need depth forwards who can bring more than just bodies to the bench.
That’s why the search can’t stop just because the obvious options are gone. The best teams keep looking for ways to get better, even when it seems like their roster is mostly set. The Islanders need to stay in that mode, because a lineup that looks solid is not the same thing as a lineup that’s finished.
Kirill Marchenko is one example of how a player can drift off the radar and then pop back into the conversation later in the summer. That doesn’t mean the Islanders are targeting him. It does mean there could still be a move out there that nobody sees coming yet.
A true late-summer blockbuster is always possible, too. The Winnipeg Jets, for instance, could decide that keeping Connor Hellebuyck is untenable and finally make a deal. Short of something that big, there could also be smaller moves if a team decides not to sign an impending UFA and wants to get something back before training camp.
So even if the Islanders don’t have an obvious move in front of them, Mathieu Darche still has to be thinking the same thing: he’s not done.
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Matthew Schaefer Just Entered A Franchise Player Debate Islanders Fans Crave
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Mike Johnson of NHL Network recently put Schaefer second on his list of ideal franchise starters, behind only Macklin Celebrini and ahead of names that usually dominate this kind of debate, including Connor McDavid, Cale Makar and Quinn Hughes. For Islanders fans, that kind of company says plenty about where Schaefer stands already, even with the second-season pressure about to rise around him. The next step is proving he can handle the spotlight that comes with that sort of respect. [Read more 🡒]