The NHL trade deadline is this Friday, March 8 and plenty of players are expected to be moved in the coming days. The New York Islanders looked like sellers a week ago but their three-game winning streak leaves them in a position to upgrade the roster with a move or two. Knowing their general manager (GM) Lou Lamoriello, that’s what they’ll do whether it’s a minor addition or a blockbuster, the veteran GM will look to pull off a trade.
Related: 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
The Islanders’ biggest needs are a two-way defenseman and a middle-six forward. Considering they have plenty of defensemen on the roster, albeit only one who can add a scoring presence from the point, the forward unit is more likely to be addressed. A middle-six forward won’t cost the Islanders a lot in return and it makes the move the most likely for Lamoriello ahead of the deadline considering the team doesn’t have a lot of assets to move in the first place.
Alex Wennberg
Alex Wennberg is the depth forward a handful of teams are looking to add at the trade deadline. Ironically, this increases his value and gives the Seattle Kraken more leverage at the deadline and it’s one of the reasons he’s being held out of the lineup. It’s understandable why Wennberg is a desirable skater to acquire. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) and 29 years old but is a two-way center who has nine goals and 16 assists this season, proving he can help out a contender in multiple ways.
The teams that fans and experts alike expect to acquire Wennberg are the Colorado Avalanche and the New York Rangers. That doesn’t mean the Islanders can’t swoop in and make a move for him. Lamoriello might have to give up a prospect and a middle-round draft selection to convince the Kraken to move him but the move would be worthwhile for both teams involved. The Kraken, who are having a rough season, could retool on the fly while the Islanders by adding Wennberg can continue their push for the playoffs and hope to make a deep playoff run.
The Islanders have no shortage of centers and Wennberg doesn’t fill a need at first glance. Then again, the team has three centers on the top line with Brock Nelson, Bo Horvat, and Mathew Barzal, all of whom started their careers as centers, playing together. It also helps that according to Lamoriello, a team can never have enough centers, case in point, he acquired Pierre Engvall last season at the trade deadline and had him play the wing.
So, if Wennberg was acquired, he’d probably play on the third line while Kyle MacLean, who has been a pleasant surprise as a call-up from the American Hockey League (AHL) would be sent down to Bridgeport. He’d play alongside Engvall and Simon Holmstrom which would allow him to take advantage of his passing and playmaking ability. The move wouldn’t be the biggest but is one to round out the forward unit and set the Islanders up for a strong finish to the season.
Adam Henrique
Adam Henrique is another forward who has garnered the interest of a lot of teams around the NHL. He’s 34, yet has a lot working in his favor that makes him a desirable player to acquire. He is playing at a high level, scoring 18 goals and 24 assists on the Anaheim Ducks, a team that averages only 2.64 goals per game. His experience also comes in handy as he’s a veteran skater a team can add knowing he can find the back of the net in the playoffs.
He’s a UFA after the season and with the Ducks in the middle of a rebuild, trading him for a prospect appears like the best path forward for the organization. With this in mind, the price tag will likely be a prospect who can join the NHL roster shortly and the Islanders have two skaters they can move in a deal with forward Ruslan Iskhakov and defenseman Robin Salo both ready. The two prospects have stepped up on the Bridgeport Islanders but don’t have an avenue to join the NHL roster and might be traded as a result. The same can be said about Oliver Wahlstrom, who can also be a part of a trade for a rental like Henrique.
A trade would reunite Henrique with Lamoriello, the GM who drafted him in the third round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. The reunion wouldn’t be an outlier for Lamoriello as he has a history of acquiring players who were on his previous teams. At the 2021 Trade Deadline, he acquired both Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri from the New Jersey Devils. Henrique was a key part of the Devils’ 2012 Playoff run, scoring five goals and eight assists with three game-winning goals, most notably the Game 6 overtime winner in the Eastern Conference Final to send the team to the Stanley Cup Final.
Henrique was 21 during that playoff run and a more dynamic forward than he is currently. However, he’s still capable of becoming a valuable part of a team looking to make a deep playoff run. On the Islanders, he’d center one of the middle six lines and provide a much-needed scoring presence to the offense. The extra benefit of adding Henrique is that he adds versatility to the lineup as he can both create scoring chances and find the back of the net himself. While he’s lost a step and won’t beat teams with speed, he’s still the ideal acquisition for the Islanders at the trade deadline.
Joel Armia
Joel Armia is 30 years old and will be a free agent after the 2024-25 season. It makes him an ideal player for the Montreal Canadiens to move at the trade deadline as they can receive a significant return. They are in the latter phases of their rebuild and will look to contend by next season yet with this season being a rough one, they’ll look to move some players for more prospects to strengthen the younger part of the team.
The Islanders making a move for Armia would help them add a scoring presence on the wing. He’s scored 11 goals this season which interestingly, only six skaters on the Islanders have done. It goes without saying that this team needs a goal scorer in the middle of the forward unit.
Armia would be a great skater to play alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau who has regressed as a scorer but remains a reliable playmaker at the center position. Lamoriello would likely flip a prospect for him and possibly add Julien Gauthier or Wahlstrom into the deal to convince the Canadiens to move on from him. He’s not a veteran many teams are pursuing but Armia would be a valuable addition for an Islanders team that needs depth scoring.
Anthony Duclair
The San Jose Sharks acquired Anthony Duclair this offseason with the hope that he could help the team contend this season and notably improve an offense that averaged only 2.84 goals per game. Fast forward to the trade deadline and the team not only looks worse but the offense has been hapless, scoring a mere 2.13 goals per game. This team is still rebuilding and moving Duclair seems like a necessary move for the front office so they avoid losing the pending UFA for nothing.
Lamoriello can take advantage by acquiring Duclair at a low cost, possibly a middle-round draft selection. Even on one of the worst teams in the league, he has stood out, scoring 14 goals in 55 games played. He’d be a reliable scorer on the wing in the middle of the forward unit and would help the Islanders make a deep playoff run, something he helped the Florida Panthers do a season ago. He scored four goals and seven assists in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs to help the Panthers reach the Cup Final and he’d add a spark to the Islanders’ offense as well.
Other Forwards The Islanders Can Target
Jack Roslovic will be an intriguing skater to watch as the trade deadline approaches. He’s a UFA after the season but at 27 years old, he’s one of the younger players who will be available for a trade. The question is if the Columbus Blue Jackets want to move him, especially with interim GM John Davidson in charge at the moment.
If the Blue Jackets are open to making a minor move with their Metropolitan Division rival, the Islanders would be a good fit for Roslovic. He’s a versatile center who can play on the third line and reliably add 10 goals and 20 assists to the forward unit. For a playoff push, he’s the type of center the Islanders would want as he’ll make the third-line skaters better while also adding a scoring touch to the offense.
The Buffalo Sabres will also be an interesting team to monitor at the trade deadline as they look like they will be sellers, despite entering the season with playoff aspirations. They might look to move pending UFA Kyle Okposo who at 35, is still finding the back of the net and contributing to the offense. The Islanders wouldn’t mind an Okposo reunion who is putting together a strong season with 12 goals and 10 assists and can also deliver a big hit when needed. He’s in a lot of ways the ideal skater to add to the fourth line (it helps that he’s in the same age bracket as Cal Clutterbuck and Matt Martin).
Is there a depth forward the Islanders should acquire? Let us know in the comments section below.
