The Unique Opportunity in Front of the Islanders

The 2024-25 NHL Season officially came to an end last night. The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the second straight season, emphatically beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1.

That brings silly season into focus—the NHL Buyout window opens in 48 hours. The NHL Draft is nine days away. Three days after the draft ends, free agency will follow.

The New York Islanders are on the clock. They hold the first overall pick in next Friday’s draft, and they’re widely expected to take Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick. What happens beyond that is where the fun begins.

Trading for Hagens:

After that, it feels as if every top-10 pick is available for trade, and inexplicably, nobody wants James Hagens. The number one reason? Teams are worried about his size. Teams like Utah and Chicago already have tiny cores. Nashville has not been linked to him in any particular way.

The Islanders are not one of those teams. They’d love to land both Hagens and Schaefer, and are willing to do a lot to make it happen. The issue is, the most common name linked to these deals is Noah Dobson.

The Islanders will not trade Dobson. They seem his as integral and have been actively working on an extension with the defenseman and his agents. There are rumors that the Islanders are engaging with several teams, most notably the Utah Mammoth and Boston Bruins, about their picks.

Trading Dobson creates an even larger hole. Believe it or not, 6’4 right-shot offensively-gifted defensemen do not grow on trees. Islanders’ General Manager Mathieu Darche knows this, and that’s why he’s made it clear publicly how much he values Dobson. It would be a stunning, public about-face to then trade Dobson.

The Actual Return:

The return could include Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Alexander Romanov, along with other prospects and potential draft picks. Romanov’s future became murky when the Islanders won the lottery and became enamored with Schaefer. Between Adam Pelech’s highly valued leadership and ability to mentor Schaefer, it solidified Pelech’s place on the roster. Add in Isaiah George knocking on the door, and it doesn’t make great sense to pay Romanov’s raise, even if he is a solid player.

Elliotte Friedman said on his podcast this morning that trades are complicated because “Every team is trying to get better, except Pittsburgh.”

That raises the price of a player like Pageau. The market is set, and right now, it’s 31 teams all trying to improve, with Pittsburgh the only openly tanking team.

When This Could Happen:

As fun as all the smoke and bluster is, the reality is these deals likely won’t happen until draft day, or close to it. If a deal gets done with Boston, it may come earlier.

That’s because if the Islanders land Boston’s pick this far out, they can gauge how far Hagens is slipping and if they’d need to trade up again.

Make no mistake about this, Islanders fans. There’s an opportunity here. It’s known that Cole Eiserman and Hagens are great friends, and Eiserman told another reporter how badly he wants to see Hagens come to Long Island, too.

If Darche can get this done at a reasonable price, it will happen.