New York Islanders: 23-32-8, 54 pts, 14th in East, 5th in Atlantic
Status: Passive Sellers
You would think a team in the same position as the Isles would be in full blown rebuild mode, but owner Charles Wang and Garth Snow continue to defy logic in the way they’ve gone about constructing this club. They still have that albatross contract to Rick Dipietro hanging around their necks, but even with a $4.5 million cap hit for a goalie that barely plays on the books, the Isles still have the lowest payroll in the league.
The young core is there for a rebuild, with John Tavares, Matt Moulson, Josh Bailey and Kyle Okposo, and I would hope for the Long Island faithful’s sake, that Snow doesn’t plan on moving any of them out. As far as other players that teams would target for trade offers, there really aren’t that many attractive options on the Isles’ roster. Mark Streit is a talented defenseman, and a threat from the point, but at $4.1 million, his contract probably outweighs his true value.
Veterans like Mark Eaton and Milan Jurcina could garner varying levels of interest from teams looking to add a depth defenseman, and penalty box aficionado Zenon Konopka’s faceoff skills could make him a useful pickup for a team looking to add some grit. Other than that, the best available player the Isles could potentially move would be aging center Doug Weight. His playoff experience has seen him used as a rental player on a number of other occasions, but the return for his services would certainly be far less than it has in the past. Still, anything the Isles can get for their rebuild would be a step in the right direction at this point.
