Why the Islanders May Trade Down with San Jose or Chicago

It’s officially crunch time for the New York Islanders and Mathieu Darche. This morning, the NHL Draft Combine gets underway. From today through Saturday, every NHL Executive will filter through Buffalo.

Once that ends on June 7, the Islanders have 20 days until the NHL Draft. For the next six days, trade rumors will start to heat up. Elliotte Friedman said this upcoming week will “take rumor mongering to the next level.”

Then, Friedman made a massive comparison. He compared this upcoming NHL Draft to the 2003 NHL Draft. “The teams at the very top aren’t really gonna be interested in moving down that far. Maybe one spot if they know what they’re going to get.” In the 2003 draft, the Florida Panthers wanted Nathan Horton, but flipped the 1st pick for the 3rd pick and a second-round pick.

If the Islanders are dead set on drafting, say, James Hagens, Friedman says it’s very possible they could swing a deal with San Jose or Chicago to move down one or two spots, where Hagens will still be available, but adding additional assets.

Below the top three, Friedman says teams are all willing to potentially move down. That gives the Islanders another potential window into landing Hagens, the hometown hero.

What Darche Has Said:

That’s just what Friedman says. If you remember last week, Mathieu Darche said of trading back that the acquiring team would “have to really knock my socks off.”

While it’s fun to think of potentially trading down, especially after Friedman reports something like that, it’s not very likely. The opportunity to draft Matthew Schaefer fits the exact scheme and team build Darche wants to build.

A strong, fast team that can score, but more importantly, defend super well. Schaefer is the best pure skater in the draft and has the highest potential upside. Drafting him allows the Islanders to then at least strongly consider moving one of Adam Pelech or Alexander Romanov, with the latter not truly matching Darche’s dream team build.

The only certainty about the current Islanders’ predicament: They have all the control. The Islanders can take their time and build however they’d like to build. If they decide Hagens is their guy, the mission becomes to trade down to garner additional assets.